Caitblog

Jamie Sky posted a lesson plan in which she referenced the film "Almost Famous" and its relevance to the Memoir project. I love this idea! The voice-over narrative in film is a tricky thing- for the most part, it weakens a film- however, I feel that this would be an excellent way to show student the 'voice' they should adopt; their own memoir should be a big voice-over, shouldn't it?

"Almost Famous" is a good idea, but I'd like to share some other alternatives:

*American Beauty- this is, after all, a memoir of a man's last year of his life, isn't it?

*Stand by Me- the Stephen King classic, where we all laughed at Jerry O'Connell, were entertained by Corey Feldman, and lusted over River Phoenix.

*Now and Then- the teen-girl coming-of-age story which united Rosie O'Donnell and Christina Ricci.

*Smoke Signals- based on Sherman Alexie's "The Lone Ranger and Tonto Fistfight in Heaven"; how two Native American boys living on a reservation take a roadtrip and recall significant events of their past and how they shaped their outlook on life.

*Girl, Interrupted- how someone can hit rock bottom, and get better-- meeting some colorful friends along the way.

Basically, I think using the genre of the "coming-of-age" story is a great way to get the students involved in their memoirs. After all, the coming of age story engulfs every aspect of the memoir: it singles out a specific moment in time in the invdividual's life, the invidual grows from that experience, and a life lesson is brought to surface.

Kudos, Jamie Kinsley!

I would like to take the time to express my excitement after attending last Thursday's poetry jam at the library Starbucks. I was not expecting what I saw by any means, and what I saw was a communal togetherness held together by the bonds of writing.

If anyone thinks I'm full of sh-- right now, stop reading. According to the feminist pedagogy, I should be all mushy and motherly anyway, right?

I'm not going to lie; I expected two things: one, that it would be an empty Starbucks with a small handful of creative writing geeks (I'm one too, don't think I'm being mean!); two, that I really wasn't going to be interested, and that I'd leave immediately after David Moody read. D.A. Moody was the only reason I went, because Thursday was my GLORIOUS day off and I honestly probably would have forgotten about the event if I hadn't known the poets. I can hear David's head getting bigger as he reads this, so I'd like to also mention that the other reason I went was the 50% chance that I'd get to see the man, the myth, the legend Mike S***** perform (not going to try to spell it, Mike!).

Anyway, in my poetry writing class, we've discussed the fact that we couldn't think of any published poets who were scientists- basically, that a poet is always predominantly a writer. As a teacher who is constantly encouraging my students to enjoy writing, it warmed my heart to hear a featured poet announced as a chemistry major or business major, followed by the heart and soul of said poet expressed in metaphors, analogies, and pentameter.

Not only did the diverse group of poets touch me, but the crowd at the event. Starbucks' small cafe was overflowing with a visibly diverse crowd, all listening intently to the equally diverse selection of poets. I once mentioned poetry in my class and my students groaned. Here were non-English, non-creative-writers, all present to support their friends, and yet entranced by the other poets displaying their work.

Finally, I'd like to say that Mike was hands down the best. He truly reached everyone with his loud voice, outgoing personality, and wonderful talents put forth unto the page. The atmosphere genuinely changed when Mike got up to the mic, and every member was engaged, interested, and responsive to every word Mike said.

I realize this blog jumps around a bit, so I would like to conclude with some diverse points: one, that the poetry jam proved the writing talents of student from every major, two, that said poets' friends were enticed by the writings of strangers also participating in the jam, and three, that I am incredibly jealous of all of Mike Chef-chik's students, and I would do anything to be a USF freshman, and let Mike shape my evolving love of the written word.

I found our conversation about cultural studies, composition, and pop culture quite interesting last night. Being from UConn, where composition is embedded into the general requirements, I have been exposed to a plethora of subjects, writing topics, and cultural studies.

Question for USF natives: What types of cultural courses do we have here at USF?

I was surprised that the article even raised the question of cultural studies. I thought it was a given, at any university. Do we have cultural English courses here? At UConn, we had a literature course for just about every "minority" group, and English majors were required to take at least one course dealing with such groups. This included, but was not limited to Native American Lit, ***, Gay, and Transgendered Lit, Indian Lit, African American and African American Children's Lit (great class) and Asian Lit. Most of these required heavy writing and analysis. Outside of the English department, there were cultural courses offered in just about every major. The language departments all offered at least one class in English dealing with some aspect of cultural study for said department. German film, Italian Cinema and Representations of Italians in Film, and History of Film, which surveyed international film movements from French Impressionism to German Expressionism to modern Cuban documentaries, all comprised the interdepartmental film minor at UConn. Furthermore, UConn has a huge diversity program throughout campus, with cultural centers devoted to every ethnic group: PRLACC, AACC, ASACC, Rainbow Center, etc. All of these organizations sponsor events throughout the semester which tie into their culture and offer both education and entertainment to the student population. As a freshman mentor, I had a requirement that each student attend a diversity event and write about what they learned from it.

So, being surrounded by this pro-culture, pro-diversity atmostphere in undergrad, I didn't understand why I was reading an article questioning the role of cultural studies in composition! That is why, I'd like to know where USF stands as far as promoting diversity on campus through activities and education.

I'm sorry if I'm missing something obvious here, but please keep in mind that this is my first semester here, and I've spent it in the library doing annotated bibs rather than exploring the options USF has available for students. So, please forgive my ignorance. This is my way of multi-tasking: discovering how my new school functions while knocking one more blog out of the way!

I enjoyed reading Diana George and John Trimbur's "Cultural Studies and Composition." As I've posted before, I'm all for cultural studies and exploring new mediums and topics which will engage the students' interests and thus make them better writers, using less pain.

The authors debate the pros and cons of using Cultural Studies to teach composition, but I believe that the positive attributes far outweigh any drawbacks that one may find with this regime.

"Teaching in the postwar adult education movement was a conscious choice that enabled them to develop courses in response to popular interests" (78-79).

I believe that this is a crucial factor in teaching any subject, but especially writing. My students express their disinterest in writing, but they also admit that writing about certain topics isn't "so bad". I try to tailor blog topics to suit their interests so that they will enjoy writing them, and they do some great work when they write about issues that they like rather than an educational model that is imposed on them.

One student for example wrote an excellent debate on the politics of Venezeula, his home country. This blog was the best writing my student has done all year.

I agree with Joseph Harris' idea of "looking at students as 'at once rock fans and intellectuals, who watch old sitcoms and read criticism, who wear Levis and look skeptically at advertising'" (83). If analyzing rock music brings out the most intellectual ideas from these students, then what is the problem? Rock music, like literature, is an art. The artists choose their lyrics, their chords, and their song titles for one reason or another, based on their own ideas and often cultural experiences. Why then should the study of rock music be scrutinized, if the student is analyzing it in every bit the academic manner as they would a 17th century sonnet?

To back up my support of "the role of cultural studies in promoting the reconfiguration of English studies" (87), I would like to share my own experiences in academia. The film genre is becoming increasingly accepted as a subcategory of "literature", thus reconfiguring the idea of English studies. When I was a freshman in college, I was a theater studies major. Upon transferring to UConn I was unable to keep my major, and I switched to English originally so that I could try to analyze plays and dramatic scripts. I was soon interested in analyzing all types of literature, and eventually this passion moved on to film. Some of my best essays were written for my "Representations of Italians in American Cinema" class or a "Special Topics in Literature" seminar focusing on the films of Hitchcock and Ford.

I realize that my students do not share my literary passions, but they have interests of their own. If I can get Sally to analyze a rock song or Johnny to write a stellar essay on the history of sports, then I will be happy that they have learned so much. I would rather read an A-quality essay fueled by feminist attitudes or racial issues than a C paper that fits the mold of "academia."

I believe that the future of cultural studies in composition is a necessary development. Whether students are writing about music, film, advertisements, political beliefs, their own cultural experiences- our concern as professors should be the quality of the final product.

I simply cannot fathom my students' displeasure towards writing. At the beginning of the semester, we asked, "Who likes writing?" and not one student out of 44 raised their hand.

Now that they are improving (some of them writing quite excellently), I thought that they must have changed their opinions! So I asked them again, "NOW who likes writing?" Again, I was hearing crickets.

I try to explain to them that you can do anything with words. You can paint with words, sway someone's opinion, get a law changed- if you have the write words and a writing style that's powerful enough. To prove to them that no matter what their future holds, they will undoubtedly be asked to write and they will be expected to perform well. To illustrate this point, I pulled up an email from my brother, who is the Director of Marketing for Wagner College Athletics in New York. Not an intern, not an assistant, the BOSS. The DIRECTOR.

"Impressive, isn't it?" I asked. "He must be smart to be so important." They nodded, still unsure of where this was going. "Well, when you were all emailing me last week, asking for help with your thesis statements, or asking me about organization, so was he," I explained. "This is an adult, a professional, who never cared enough to learn how to write. Now he has to ask his younger sister to proofread his press releases. How pathetic is that?" They laughed, and I think they appreciated the personal example, but it's true. They don't realize that they really NEED to learn this. No matter what profession they go into, they'll at least need a cover letter. One student commented that he hates reading and writing, and is more comfortable speaking because he doesn't "have to worry about grammar". I told him that writing is about being in charge of your words, and that if he is a proficient writer, he will be an articulate speaker. I pointed out that if he uses bad grammar in a job interview, he can't re-take it. He'll probably lose that job.

As I have stated previously, I love writing. I think it is a powerful tool and I am amazed that not one of my students agrees with me. I was also shocked at their response today when I announced that I was going to read them a poem so they could hear a poet's use of description to draw the audience into his experience. They groaned in unison.

"You hate poetry, too?" I asked, shocked. "Just listen- listen to how well he describes the place he writes about." I went on, reading a fantastic descriptie poem by our own DAVID MOODY, and the room went silent. At the end they did nod in agreement at the vivid details. I told them that when they write their descriptive essays, it wouldn't be a bad idea to read some poetry if they get stuck, and to look at the ways poets use words to wrap the reader into their feelings.

I let them Peer Review each other for the rest of the class, and I had an idea. I began writing descriptive excerpts from various poems all over the whiteboards. I knew that they wouldn't listen if I forced them into a poetry lesson, but I figured writing some examples on the board would make them curious. As they paused in their reviews and let their eyes wander around the room, they did read the poetry. When one student finished and waited for their partner, the student would look over the poetry on the board.

I can't force Comp I students to appreciate poetry, but I could see them thinking, processing the words before them. I may not have made any poetry-lovers out of them, but I think they absorbed some of the descriptive graffiti on the whiteboards.

I can relate to David's blog about the time spent on grading.

I was on holiday in Boston last weekend. Ahh the joys of a New England autumn, right? I wouldn't know; I was unable to experience it this time around. My carry-on bag consisted of 22 biography essays, which I read on the plane on Thursday, in my friend's living room on Friday, Saturday, and Sunday, and which I re-read on the plane on Sunday. I can easily say that the amount of holiday-time I spent in Boston probably was equivalent to a day-trip. No more weekend getaways for me, I suppose.

It's not just the papers, though. I love my students. I love every single one of them, and I'm willing to do whatever I can to make them better writers. Fridays are generally my day off, my day to lock myself in my bedroom for 10 hours and read until I think I'm going to go permanently cross-eyed. But when a student asks me to meet at 10 a.m. to go over a rough draft, I drag myself out of bed at 8 and drive to campus. Sure, it means that I'll be up until sunrise doing my own work, but seeing this student go from a C- to an A- makes it worth it.

Student conferences are coming up, which means my office hours are extended to fit them in. My conference hours are Monday and Wednesday from 10 a.m. until my class at 2, and then immediately after class, from 3.30 until Practicum (until Poetry on Wednesdays). Additionally, I have four hours available on Tuesdays, from 10 a.m. until my 3 o'clock class. Why so many hours? Because if the students have their choice of meeting times, they won't resent trekking to Cooper 454 just to spend 20 minutes going over their papers. They don't realize how much I plan to teach them in those twenty minutes, and I want to make sure they are open-minded when they arrive at my cubicle.

I don't mind helping my students by any means, but I do mind feeling subpar in my graduate classes. Perhaps I'm having trouble adjusting to graduate work, but it's frustrating to not be making the grades I made so easily in college.

Officemates, I'll be bringing in a coffee maker tomorrow.

My students went above and beyond their blogging requirements last week. Some of them made witty posts in their "free blog" forum, while others engaged in political debates with each other! They also have been reading and responding to each other more. It was a genuine pleasure to read and respond to 66 blogs this week (22 students times 3 blogs a week). As a reward, I changed their third blog requirement for the week. Usually I choose a news article, and they read it and respond to it. Instead of that, their third blog is a response to a classmate's blog, because that is a little easier, but still gratifying to each other as they get responses. I posted an announcement stating the change and told them how happy I was to read all of their wonderful, beautiful, excellent blogs.

Mike wrote an annotated bib on the article, "The Right to Write Badly" by Vicki Spandel. I think the points that Mike derived from the article are excellent, and as I read Mike's summary of Spandel's argument, I immediately thought of how each point relates to my own students.

I love the initial Stephen King quote, "Only God gets it right the first time". I might have to steal this idea and quote King for my students, so that I may emphasize the importance of outlines, rough drafts, and continually revising.

As the due-date for my students' Biography Essays draws near, I've already read second and third drafts from students eager to continue to improve, which shows that many of them have already accepted the fact that, indeed, "Only God gets it right the first time".

As far as ther example of the swimming-teacher who believed the child had the potential and ability, I feel that this applies to me as I believe that every one of my students has the ability to write well. I certainly hope that this is true of all of my colleagues as well. When reading the assessment essays, I could single out good qualities in every essay. One student came to my office hours after receiving a horrifying C-. I said, your ideas are interesting and unique, and I know there's a good paper in here somewhere, but its so disorganized that you lose your points. She looked semi-surprised and said, "You could tell what I wanted to say?" and I affirmed that question and gave her some organizational pointers.

Imagine my excitement when she came to have me read her second revision, and the biggest mistakes consisted of a mere handful of slight grammatical errors! The paper is simply excellent, and I had no comments for her on how to improve the organization because she had worked so hard on it already!

This point also made me think of my dear friend and colleague, Jamie Kinsley, who expressed concern with balancing negative feedback with positive comments. I suggest we all take extra care to single out what the student is doing RIGHT and showing them how to extend these talents to combat the errors.

Finally, the most obvious connection between Spandel's argument and my own 1101 class is her value of everyday writing. Mike alluded to blogging in his discussion, and I feel that Spandel's desire for required daily writing is admirable.

I've stated before on the subject of blogs that I see a difference in writing between the informal blogs and the formal papers. There is no fear of a harsh assessment in writing blogs, so the students are more free to write about what interests them, to be honest, and to think.

Thank you, Mike for spotlighting this article!

I read an article for my annotated bibliography this week, and it really opened my eyes. The author makes connections between writing styles in English and Chinese. She does this because she writes in both languages, Chinese being her first language. She recites a Chinese poem, and how it would be translated into English. First, she translates it so that it would make SENSE in English, then gives a more literal translation, omitting words that are not needed to convey the idea in Chinese.

I don't feel as if I can explain this well enough without simply posting the article, so allow me to move on to my point. As I was reading about the differences of language construction between English and Chinese, a lightbulb went off in my head.

I recognized, in understanding the construction of the Chinese language, how an ESL student might have difficulty writing in English and using conventions that were not necessary in his or her first language.

Then I thought of my role as an English Comp teacher. In helping an ESL student to better understand how to write well in my first (and only) language, I feel that I have a certain responsibility to understand the students' first language. This way, I can be a better teacher because I will be able to draw parallels and use examples in order to explain how language is constructed in English.

Just a random thought on pedagogy for all of my colleagues to ponder.

I know that everyone is in debate about blogs. We either love them, or hate them. My own undergraduate writing career consisted of "W" courses- writing-intensive courses akin to what we call, for example, Comp I (something 'rule', i believe? Can you help me out with this one?). At UConn, nearly every major had a "W" because, as we all know, you must be a good writer no matter what your career pass. I loved the "W" and I took English, Cultural Studies, Italian studies, Anthropology and Sociology "W" courses. Throughout my training as a writer, I never once was asked to blog.

I had a Blackboard-esque tool in some classes where discussions were a requirement. I never stopped to consider that when I was arguing pro-gay rights points in my Gender and Philosophy course, that I was sharpening my writing skills. Still, this moment sticks out in my mind- I was a nameless face in a huge lecture hall, and the TA graded our discussion postings. We were learning the theories that people base their anti-gay arguments on (the sole purpose of sex should be to reproduce, blah blah blah) and we were asked to analyze these arguments. I wrote a long post contradicting each point, without stopping to consider the argumentative skills I was polishing. Imagine my surprise when the professor took the time to personally respond to me and congratulate me on a strong post!

To step away from my own life story and relate this to blogs and Comp I, I would first like to point out that this is exactly why I take the time to respond to my students. The feeling of gratification I had when my professor singled out my post and responded to me personally outweighed any "A" I received in a course where I had virtually no communication with the professor. I respond to each of my students to let them see that I care, but I hope that when I tell a student that their post was especially insightful, it means something to them.

Next, I bring up my assessment of the blogs-enhancing-writing-skills argument. As I mentioned, I am a veteran of the writing-intensive courses, but this is because I like to write. I had nine professor's ideas of "good writing" drilled into my head, and I learned to understand what each professor was looking for in a paper. I learned how to write in MLA format, and then I learned how to write in ASA format. I learned how to connect German expressionist films to The Rocky Horror Picture Show and trace the character development of Michael Corleone in relation to Italian Culture throughout The Godfather . I learned how to explicate early American short stories, and I learned how to turn a six-line Langston Hughes poem into a six-page analysis. I also learned, somewhere along the way, how to collect my thoughts and share them in a somewhat informal sphere. I never really thought about that one.

Now, to once again refrain from sharing my life story and instead relate to my students: I am seeing a huge difference between their blog-writing and their essay-writing, which I believe is the key to analyzing the credibility of blogging. One student wrote a mediocre assessment essay, and fearing a low grade, asked me to make sure he is blogging properly. I check off that each student fulfilled the blogging requirement each week, but I won't give them a grade until the end of the semester. I also read and respond to each blog, but it is hard to keep track of which student wrote what when I read 60 plus blogs a week. So I told him I would go back to all of his blogs and give him an assessment.

Imagine my surprise when I realized he was that student who was writing 500-word blogs! Not only did he surpass the word requirement, but he presented beautifully articulated arguments! He would take an issue and, rather than write a one-dimensional response, examine both sides of the debate and choose the stronger argument. I was concerned that his blogs were so impressive, and his paper was not. He explained to me, "When I blog, I just... write. When I write a paper, I outline it and it seems to make sense, but I put too much effort into putting it together". I suggested to take that strategy with his paper- to write as if it's a blog, and then go back and reread it, making appropriate changes. I also explained that he obviously had potential, so he shouldn't overstress over an essay.

He was also the only student who freely responded to his classmates' blogs, and with enviable insight. He admitted that he wrote such wonderful blogs because he was allowed to choose something that interested him, and when he is interested, he gives his argument his all. He also expressed concern that he was taking the time to respond to his peers, but they weren't giving each other the same attention. Finally, to my amazement, he described his annoyances to reading redundant blogs, saying that he noticed a pattern in which several students would echo each other in their posts, proving that they aren't reading each other's posts, or taking the time to really think about and assess their arguments. Amazing.

He inspired me to forfeit my original blog topic, and make the students' third blog of the week be about responding to each other. They have so much in common and they don't even know it! Incredibly, so much more has come out now that they are responding to issues their peers have brought up, issues that they are interested in, rather than some obscure article that I have chosen and they have absolutely no interest in.

This student is not the only one who has become pointedly noticeable via the blogs. I have one ESL student who wrote her assessment essay about her favorite class- an English class. She explained that it was the "best class" because she is excited to learn the English language, because the methods of learning were unique and enjoyable, and because there were other ESL students from other cultures, so they were able to share parts of their culture during the exercises. This sounds like an excellent essay, but her points were intermingled, and her grammar was subpar. It hurt to give her a low grade, but if I gave her a sympathy grade, how would that help her in the future?

We met at office hours, and I told her I knew exactly what she was trying to say, but that she wasn't saying it correctly. I gave her some ESL materials and told her I was willing to read anything she writes, from Comp I or not, and work with her on expressing herself articulately. I just read her latest two blogs, and they are amazing. They are not perfect, not journal-worthy by any means, but if you put her discussion up against the rest of the class, you would not guess her to be the ESL student.

It's amazing the talent that comes out when the students aren't overstressed and afraid of the grade. An individual blog won't make or break their grade, so they are more free. When they drop their inhibitions, they write so much better. I read so many wonderful blogs today, and it was gratifying to me as a teacher.

It was so gratifying that it prompted me to write the longest blog ever.

Office hours. For the first two weeks, none of my students came to office hours. Then they saw their grades on the first papers. This week I've had four students come to office hours, and I love it.

There is a vast difference between teaching in front of forty students (I'm in a combined classroom) and conducting a one-on-one session. These four students have taught me that developing my teaching strategy during office hours is just as important as developing my classroom strategies.

Monday, a student approached me after class. She asked if I had time to see her. Of course I did, as I hold my office hours for an hour and a half after class on Monday and Wednesday. She explained that she didn't know if I would have other things to do and couldn't meet with her. This struck me, particularly because I'd been staring at my orange cubicle walls for an hour and a half during my studentless office hours.

I was a little apprehensive about my first visitor- in front of the classroom, I have a lesson plan. I have forty students who have the questions I have already anticipated. I have the answers to those questions. I have a co-teacher alongside of me to help illustrate my points. Now it would be a no-holds-barred question and (hopefully) answer session.

It turns out, I am pretty confident explaining myself during office hours. I can illustrate examples by pulling out a reference book or looking something up online (collegewriting.us, etc). More importantly, this shows me that my students care, and that they want me to help them.

I think my students are an excellent group. Each of them has potential, and I am excited to watch them progress throughout the semester.

I'm on the fence about wikis. I think the Teaching Wiki site has the potential to be very helpful. For example, I wanted to do a presentation on MLA citation yesterday, because many of my students had errors on the quiz. I made myself a Wiki page displaying some common citation errors to pull up for the class.

Very easy, very useful, right? Well, one problem is that there is no tool, that I could find, to do underlines. Three ticks means bold, two ticks mean italics, but how do you do underlines? I couldn't underline the titles for my demonstration.

Likewise, I just posted my first annotated bibliography. I really don't know why it took me this long to post it, as it's been finished for days and was only awaiting my copy-and-pasting onto the Wiki.

So, I copied. I pasted. I saved. And for some reason, my text was cluttered with little devil faces! Yes, DEVILS! Friends and colleagues, I have stumbled across a hidden Wiki code.

"(6)" makes little devil faces. Now why would someone think, "Hey, let's make a code so Wiki-ers can make devil faces, instead of letting them underline"?

My question is, is there a way to make the Wiki display a sort of plain text? All of my citations from page six of my source have a space between the parantheses and the number six, which just looks silly to me.

What is the "correct" way to teach writing? What are we trying to teach our students? How to make an argument? How to create a thesis statement? How to write about issues that are more tailored to their own academic discourse? Or should we be teaching them how to write like English majors, to analyze literary texts?

As I was reading Fulkerson's article, I thought back to my own experiences with writing, and different approaches that had been taught to me in order to find my own stance on the topic of the pedagogy of teaching writing. How had I been taught? More importantly, have I been taught the correct methods?

Fulkerson mentions the cultural studies method: this challenges students to interpret "structural truths about power in American society...in terms of race, class, gender, sexual orientation, etc" (661). This method exceeds the boundaries of English studies, and can be related to other genres of academia. This is true- my own experience in learning critical methods of writing about cultural studies stem from a writing intensive Sociology course. The course made me think, made me think about social problems and apply them to larger issues, and had me put my thoughts on paper. It did not, however, aid my pre-writing skills, which Fulkerson lists as a flaw (661). I could write for my English professors with ease, yet my sociology papers were missing something, something which to this day I haven't been able to pinpoint. I knew writing was one of my strengths, yet I found myself in a class singled out by Fulkerson: "a 'writing' course in which writing is required and evaluated, but not taught" (665).

Moving on: the expressivist teacher who let her students write on personal topics. Fulkerson faults such teachers by saying they "rarely find contrary views...to be sufficiently 'thoughtful'" which causes the student to defer from opposing the teacher's views and thus jeopardizing the grade (666). This reminds me of a Women's Studies course I took. It was a joke, a sheer waste of my academic time. I figured out how to please the professor (it's easy to figure out a WS teacher) and filled blue book after blue book with "poor oppressed women in third world countries" and "I can relate because I am a female". I didn't even have to reference the reading, I just told the teacher what she wanted to hear, and of course made better grades than my male peers. I just had to make my writing sound like it helped to "free" me from "patriarchy" (666).

After reading about these approaches and reflecting on the flaws in each that I've experienced, I was relieved to read about "genre pedagogies". From my experiences, this has been the most successful learning tool because, as Fuikerson puts it, "students and teachers are likely to examine several samples of the target genre...prior to students' launching their own projects" (675).

I have seen this approach work from two different angles. As an undergrad fulfilling my gen ed requirements in subjects that really didn't interest me, I was greatful to those teachers who allowed us to tie our projects to themes that interested the individual student. For example, a history teacher made appointments with each of his students to tailor the final project to thier interests. I was a Theatre Studies major at the time, and he sent me off to do a research paper on early European drama, the Miracle and Morality plays. Everything I'd learned from his lectures became more clear as I researched my topic, so I learned how to write what he wanted- a history report- while researching a field related to my own academic career.

From the teachers' angle, I feel that this works just as well. I gave out writing assignments to my mentorees, but tried to relate them to the class interests. After finding out the majors of my students, I was dismayed to learn that none of them were English majors, so my co-mentor and I tailored class topics to items of interest to engineering, pharmacy, and HDFS majors.

This is my personal response to a few of the methods mentioned in the article. I agree 100% however, that "there is no ultimate ground...that proving one approach is proper" (680), and therefore cannot write off any of the methods that failed me in my own career. I hope that I can use my own experiences however, and remember that it wasn't so long ago that I was in the position my own students find themselves in now. I hope that by reading this article, I will remain humble and be able to understand the "teacher-side" and "student-side" of writing pedagogy in order to make the most of my class time.

Here I am, 2:02 a.m. with no sleep in sight. And it's not even finals week! It's the first week in the semester! My roommate and his girlfriend just came in, and my roommate told me to do something.

"Are you kidding? I've been doing so much!" I yelled in shock.

"I mean, do something fun, would you?" he taunted back as the couple grabbed their towels and headed out to the pool for a late night swim with the neighbors.

My day was spent getting headache after headache, rather than taking a leisurely swim. I spent hours in the library doing the bibliography project, only to answer 3 questions. I learned three things, though. So that's ok. I was interested to learn that "A Streetcar Named Desire" was originally called "The Poker Night". Good conversation starter for the next time Ray Vince summons us to happy hour at the Copper Top, don't you think?

I just read about a BILLION blogs, and responded to them. I write too much in the responses though. But I can't help it! I want to communicate with these kids! I want them to know that I enjoy reading their writing!

I also read an article for my first annotated bib. I read it once, I read it twice, I highlighted passages, and I sat down to write about it... then I couldn't find the words to describe the author's definition of "synechdoche".

I called my good friend from UConn on my way home from the library. She's a psychology grad student at UNC Chapel Hill, and is very smart. She's got a year on me for grad work, so I call her with all of my graduate school worries/fears/stories/successes. We bond over it.

"Kelly," I whined. "My brain hurts".

"Welcome to grad school, Caitlin!" Kelly said with sickening glee.

Welcome, indeed. Who's down for a housewarming party at our new home- the library?

I just finished grading my students' Plagiarism and MLA quizzes. Much to my dismay, they didn't do very well. In fact, they all failed the MLA miserably, mostly in part to everyone doing the citations wrong (questions 17-20).

Some of them made very minor errors, such as adding an extra period after the initials W.D. I feel bad marking that wrong, but technically it IS wrong. Annie pointed out to a student that wrong citation is plagiarism. Period. The student was questioning the plagiarism quiz citation in which "Mary" cited Emerson by using "(Emerson 149)" but without putting Emerson's words in quotes.

We explained that though Mary was citing Emerson, she was still using his own words as her own because she didn't actually use quotations (I hope I'm explaining this well enough).

Basically, we are stressing to the students that MLA is all or nothing, and that even citing a source incorrectly falls under plagiarism. I feel bad having to mark an answer 'wrong' when it is so close, but I feel that if we don't stress the importance of proper MLA citation now, the students won't care to try to get it right.

Hopefully when they see a 65 (or lower) at the top of their quizzes it will motivate them to put 100% effort into the citations for their papers later in the semester.

I've already had concerned students try to ask me how much these grades will affect their overall grade for the course, and the best I can do is tell them that the two quizzes combined are only worth 5% , so if they put the effort into their projects they can still succeed in the class.

I really want my students to succeed, and they will not succeed if I let them off easy on their first quiz.