mhendry

Though I have had some issues about getting my students interested in blogs this entire semester, I am finding that as the semester winds down it is only getting worse.  This is sad for me since I find the blogs one of the more interesting things to grade and read.  I have tried to relate this to my students, gone over blogs in-class and highlighted the ones that I like--I even suggested scheduling tips, such as setting an alarm or sending a self-generated weekly e-mail to remind the students--to no avail.
I am wondering if I need to develop a new way of teaching blogs for the fall.  Enthusiasm and grades do not seem to be enough.  I am also toying with the idea of having an extra credit blog, but that seems to negate some of the syllabus, as well as taking away from the community aspects of the blogs themselves.

I think that blogs can be a very interesting dialogical community, and I have told them this, but I just don’t think they are interested.    

The article for this week on datagogy is very interesting in that it talks about the use of dialogical communities and technology.  I am continually amazed at how certain academic programs are afraid of technology and others are not, and also how teachers employ technology and their teaching. 

I have had teachers that employ new technology all the time and others that will not even check e-mail.  I honestly have to say that for the most part the use of technology, though interesting, did not effect what I learned in those courses.  I am not saying that the use of technology is bad; it is just that I think that technology can only be used effectively by those professors that can integrate it into their existing pedagogy well. 

This is what I like about the article is that it tries to develop and hone a new way of teaching that centers on community, versus the teacher-dominator / student dynamic.  I think that the FYC courses have done this very successfully with blogs and other multi-media.

With this in mind I am struggling with the concept “Datagogies can challenge traditional assumptions about authorship, authority, collaboration, and power. Teaching, learning, and writing can become more dialogical as opposed to presentational. Knowledge can be conditional, subject to the next edit.”  This is very interesting and I wonder how I would be able to pull this off.  I wonder is students would become uncomfortable with the concept that knowledge is conditional, though I am not saying that it is, but a lot of students feel that there is one way to learn and that there is knowledge that is developed from “somewhere” that can not be changed or edited.  It would be interesting to challenge this mindset.      

I have a serious issue with collaborative writing, there, I said it. 

I do not feel comfortable writing in a public forum, though I know it is good to do things that make us uncomfortable, I do not see myself benefiting from it.  This effects my inspiration for the project.

I have been reading some different textbooks for other classes that deal with collaboration and I realized that I do employ collaborative elements in my class.  I had them write a seven sentence story (the idea of which came from Jamie's class) and most recently had them free-write on project three, the social action paper, and then had them switch, read another student's paper and then pick a topic from their paper and free-write again (in hopes of giving them ideas, since over half of the class seemed to be afraid to have an opinion).

I know that many great novelists, such as Joseph Conrad and Ford Maddox Ford have written collaboratively, which makes me feel that they supported the idea.  But I feel that one on one collaboration may be better in order to talk about the writing and what is good or not (is that the idea of collaborative writing?) 

I also have been exposed to the criticism that said that Ben Jonson hated to work collaboratively and shot one of his co-authors of one of his plays in a duel.  This is where I see collaborative writing is headed.

What I wish collaborative writing would turn into is the form of dialogical disputes that people put forth in their writing.  Someone would say something in a poem and then another would write a poem in criticism of that idea of style.  That is what I feel is missing in today's society, passive-aggressive writing.  I guess that is what blogs are for.   

I was originally put off by the title of this pedagogy (disclaimer--I have worked for community centers, I am not against the community) generally because I was unsure how it applied to composition.  I like how most of the chapters talk about the background before they go into their theory, but during the intro I found myself anxious, wanting to see how they were going to apply it. 

As I soon found out it was by having the students write pamphlets and other public writing.  This was interesting to me, since it seemed to "real" world experience, and probably something that a student could put on their resume.  Yet I had some concerns, which have developed over my past experience with technical writing.

Let me take you back...let us say four to five years.  It was a different time then, well, of course it was, because it was not now...that is irrelevant.

I took a technical writing course for my undergrad (though not my undergrad in English) not knowing what it was or how it was going to help me in the real world.

On the first day I realized that it was about writing manuals, directions and such (though this may not be all technical writing course, Dr. Metzger seems to have a very interesting technical writing course where they learn proper business writing etiquette).  I thought it was terribly boring, but as he went on he told us we would be helping him with one of his clients, we would meet with him and devise the best plans for what he was marketing and write for it. 

I thought this was unethical and I dropped the class.  Though I know that community-service pedagogy is about helping the community I am unsure if we would be benefiting our students if we developed all of our assignments around this.  As she mentioned in the article, she found it difficult to answer questions about what templates to use, etc.  Learning how to use the processor is good, but shouldn't a student be trying to develop writing strategies that translate to other classes?  Wouldn't learning how to write a paper and use MLA format be more useful to the student in their education? 

Due to my discussions with Dr. Metzger and my small experience with technical writing I feel that these kinds of assignments are best developed in that sort of course.  Though there may be some value in this sort of assignment, I think a limited exposure to this form of writing would be beneficial for the student’s writing. 

It was mentioned in class that some people do not feel that feminism should be included as pedagogy.  My response to this, as someone new to pedagogies, is that everything else is included, why not feminism (I do not mean that sarcastically).  What I enjoy about the pedagogy text for class is that they show how everyone has been doing research and applying their ideas to the classroom.  I doubt that many of the people that practice a particular pedagogy practice one and only pedagogy throughout their career.  I think it is good to have a range and to be open to aspects of a pedagogy that may work for you as an individual and a teacher (since most of the text seems to promote looking at teaching with your own goals and values).

This is why feminism is important to pedagogy--it represents an ideal that can be applied to increase the social sensitivity of the students, since that appears to be a goal of teachers of composition (this is my understanding based on the book). 

Taylor's sentiment in class rang very true to me, that feminism is being attacked is certain.  Though I feel this has always been the case, there used to be more feminist around to argue for the feminist side.  This is waning and due to media, parents, social activity, MTV, whatever, students seem afraid to express ideas that are not "normal" to what they feel mainstream society is to them.  This is evidenced in my class, where for Project Three, the social action paper, a generally comment I heard was that they do not care enough about anything like that.

Apathy is on the rise and feminism may die out in the process.

The chapter “Critical Pedagogy: Dreaming of Democracy” by Ann George has answered all the problems I have had with radical pedagogy that was in my previous blog entitled “Radicalism”.  This was a very informative chapter, and I think I have finally found a pedagogy that I can see myself “in”, mainly for its ability to question the system, but also its capacity to not pronounce itself as the savior of the system.   

The themes that are proposed in the chapter are also very important, such as the role of schools.  In talking about fears of public schools George suggests, “…public education has not produced unrest or disobedience among the masses; it has, Kozol argues, been designed to ensure that students, particularly working-class students, are thoroughly schooled in passive compliance, if little else” (94).  I have heard this argument many times, but what I like about this quote is how she ties this in with critical pedagogies way of questioning itself. 

Critical pedagogies ability to look at cultural motifs and then proposing a way of questioning the student has the essence of radicalism, but it includes the self-reflective aspect that radical pedagogy seemed to be lacking--from my small intercourse with it.  George analyzes the effectiveness of teaching this way and the fear that teachers are not looking at education in a broader sense or as a means of economic and social boosting. 

I would like to question my students this way, in a self-reflective manner that is designed like Freire, to better the cultural, democratic and social understanding of the student, but also paying attention to literacy, continuation of culture and the ability to question and still work within and without the system.  I would like to conclude with my favorite quote, “…Shor describes students not as dupes of dominant ideology but as people fighting for their humanity without quite realizing how they might reclaim it…”  (96).

Linquist, Julie. "Class Ethos and the Politics of Inquiry: What the Barroom Can Teach Us About the Classroom." College Composition and Communications 51.2 (1999): 225-47.

In this annotation Brian discusses the rhetoric that exists outside of a microcosm, that of the classroom.  He states, “Her discussion of Smokehouse attitudes about higher education reveal the inherent belief that ‘to simply attend college is not enough to set one apart: to inhabit its philosophy, however, is’” (235).  It was interesting to see a teacher address class boundaries.  Her outsider/insider position is very relatable, not only to teachers or aspiring teachers, but of students as well.  I am not sure if it just a problem with academia, but it does take a while to feel as if you belong, or to get the hang of things.  It is always comforting to see someone with a similar attitude toward something.  I am also interested in how one inhabits a philosophy.   

The author of the article seems to overcome her anxieties.  Brian states, “Awareness of the rhetorical strategies in other communities triggers a self-awareness that is necessary for the development and maintenance of a discourse community with the composition classroom.”  Her experiences as a bar tender also help her see they way that “self-awareness” affect the discourse of any community.

Maybe I should become a bartender.    

“Radicalism in Compositional Pedagogy.” Academic Questions Vol. 5 (1992): 1-4.

This annotation deals with the idea of being radical in the classroom.  The article wants teachers to test the students’ beliefs.  Jamie states, “[a]nother way to force them into a non-idealistic state of mind is to assign uncomfortable topics which the students must explore through writing.”  Though this does seem like a good idea, I am not sure how effective assigning uncomfortable topics would be for the students.  The students that are tested would feel too much stress, and that may affect their writing.  Also, some students would build a barrier from the material and their own viewpoints, thus performing poorly on the assignment.  Though I feel that testing students is a good sentiment, it may be hard to achieve.  A mild testing, like a challenge to students’ beliefs, as well as a way of supporting the students’ ideas, throughout the entire semester would be more beneficial to the students’ writing.  That is what we are here for, right? 

A more frightening aspect of the article is a topic that has been brought up in class frequently.  Jamie continues the articles points by saying “[i]t requests that professors articulate their personal beliefs, and attempt to convince the students to also follow radicalism.”  This is an idea I am not comfortable with.  As I have stated before, I feel that the students perform better when they do not know my own views.  I let them know I have an opinion, which is something this article seems to want to get across to students.  Students seem to try to “figure” out the teacher so they can start to write the teacher’s views in hopes of receiving a better grade.  This seems to be a point that the article is not concerned with.  Jamie concludes with “[y]es, students should be exposed to sometimes uncomfortable tasks that may assist them in self-exploration, but it should be self-exploration and not a professor’s personal values.”  This sums up my point eloquently. 

My final question: in testing the students, what is gained?  That seemed to be ignored by the article as well.     

Diana George and John Timbur’s chapter on Cultural Studies is very close to what I am teaching in my 1102 class as of right now.  My students are working on ethical arguments for project two and it has been frustrating for both me and the students.  They do not like to think of things globally, outside of their circle, challenging, etc.  When I mentioned that this assignment was not supposed to be easy, I think it offended some of my students. 

Should I be surprised that it offended them?  It is somewhat of a cop-out, but ethical issues are not easy to answer on a personal level, let alone write about, especially for those students that abhor writing.

The frustrating aspect is that the students blame the assignment and I am unsure of how to answer their questions when framed this way.  I feel that the assignment is straightforward; we went over it in class many times, went over evidence, etc.  The rough drafts came out fine, yet many of them said they had a lot of trouble and that made me feel bad as a teacher (and upset they did not tell me sooner--something I did say to the class).

I find it interesting that cultural studies had to be “created” and by that I mean dogmatized, in a certain fashion.  As composition teachers we teach writing, one of things the students can write about is culture and the world around them, so why is it pedagogy?  I understand that they have theorists in it and as the author’s put at the end of the article that it is affixed and “here to stay” but was it at risk?  I am a bit confused about this chapter’s relevance.  I suppose I missed it.     

Bergum, Vangie. “Relational Pedagogy. Embodiment, Improvisation, Interdependence.” Nursing Philosophy 4 (2003): 121-128.

In reading another one of Jamie’s annotations I could not help but be interested in the way that improvisation was used.  She states, “Improvisation as a teacher appeared to be the key to relational pedagogy for this author. This section largely discussed the importance of individual experience in understanding life.”  I am supposing that relational pedagogy is how the student and teacher relate but it appears that the author takes “improvisation” differently than I do.  I find it hard to improvise in the classroom.  When a student asks me a question that I am unsure of I feel that it undermines my authority and I get nervous.  When I get nervous I sound ineffectual.  I also feel uncomfortable relating my own experiences, but when I have the students did seem to respond well to me. 

Jamie goes on to say that the student needs to be comfortable with the teacher, but the teacher should still remain as “one who holds the keys to knowledge”, or at least try to come off this way.  I found this to be the most difficult aspect of being a new teacher.  I feel as if I am bumbling through certain lessons and difficult questions will quickly trip me and set me off balance. 

Jamie begins her conclusion with “Interdependence structures itself around the belief that knowledge of the world around one will open doors to necessary learning experiences and human connections.”  Are my students “connecting” or loosing respect for me?  I guess I will find out when I get evaluated. 

Arroyo, Fred. “Models of Authority: So the Spell Cannot be Broken.” Writers on Edge. Vol. 16, No. 2 (2006): 33-47.

In her annotation Jamie brings up valid points about composition that I have been thinking about for some time.  She ties this article heavily to the memoir project that 1101 is doing and I think that it would be a good example for students to see how a memoir can have a broader application, than just relating an event in their lives--it can be used to instruct and to prove points (something that I think is valid for 1102 as well).  I also wonder if it would be pertinent to have the same project in 1101 and 1102, by that I mean a sort of “re-do” of the projects to see how the students attack the same project over again after a “year”.  I understand that this would not be very practical; most students do not have the same teacher, so there is no guarantee of it being repeated.  Also, it would be boring for most students.  I just think it would be an interesting experiment.

Responding to Jamie’s last comment, “It is the models of authority that authorize our language as we compose” I feel that I have achieved this, solely by accident, and I am quite proud of it.  I have a student that got a B on his paper.  He worked very hard and he deserved it.  He was so proud of himself and it was at that moment I realized that he was probably not nurtured in his writing throughout his career.  He now confides in me constantly about his papers and he feels that his project two paper is one of the best papers he has written, when before he was shy and hardly spoke at all.  I am happy that I did not get frustrated and took extra time with him.  I feel very lucky to have had this positive experience.    

Showalter, Elaine. "Teaching in Public: A Modest Proposal." Pedagogy: Critical Approaches to Teaching Language, Composition, and Culture. (2001) vol. 1, no. 3, 449 - 455.--Nancy Fletcher

This article talks about stage fright and how a teacher can overcome it.  Some of the comments seemed to strike me as very pertinent. 

The first was that teachers do not like to talk about the way they teach.  Though I think many teachers do, I find myself afraid to talk about it.  I even shy away from talking about it with intimate friends.  It does not seem to help that my friends always begin with saying, "I can't believe you talk in front of people--I could never do it!".  I do not mind speaking in front of a group, I used to do theatre in high school and majored in film as an undergrad.  Though I did not do much acting, I never minded speaking in front of people or doing any presentations of any kind.

I was shocked about how nervous I became over the prospect of having someone watch me teach.  I have explored my feelings and I think that it is because I have something at risk.  Teaching is very important to me, I want to continue doing it for as long as I can, and the possibility of not being good at it is very frightening.  Classroom observations brought these feelings to the forefront.  With this being said, I loved to observe other people teach.  Though I have had many classes, I have never sat in on one where I was not a student.  I learned so much and found it very enjoyable. 

The other comment was that teaching was less rewarded than academic research (and I am supposing publishing).  I have the feeling tht this will be the case in most universities, which I think is sad because teaching would seem more important, just due to the fact that teaching the students would be more valued to society as a whole.

This idea made me look at the term professor.  It is removed from teacher, like from high school, and is centered more toward philosopher in many ways.  I suppose this is why research and writing become important.  The role of professor is important in that writing teaches a wider audience. 

I am not sure if that makes sense or I am getting my point across.  I liked this annotation because it brought up some ideas and feelings that have "popped" up since my recent employment at USF.    

Clayton, Mark. “A Whole Lot of Cheatin’ Going On,” in The Presence of Others: Voices and Images that Call for Response, Third Edition. ed. Andrea A. Lunsford and John J. Ruszkiewicz (Boston, MA: Bedford/St. Martin’s, 2000): 185-189.--SaraBaugh

This is response to Sara's very well written annotation on cheating.  I do not know why I am always shocked when I hear that students cheat and that parents do not care.  My parents would have whipped me (yes, I am from the south) if I had ever been caught cheating, lying, stealing, etc.

When I first started to teach I was confronted with a teacher who abhorred plagarism and felt that it was everywhere, all the time.  I was either niave or too trusting, but I believed that a lot of work was the students own, they just had problems with proper citation, in some cases.  But I decided to stay firm and try to combat cheating, so I required (and still do) a soft copy version of their writing to turn into Safe Assignment (I miss turn-it-in, much easier to use).

I thought that would scare them straight but I did have an issuse with in-class plagarism.  For the first project two students chose the same article to analize for their paper.  During the rough draft stage it looked questionable, but their final drafts were different.  I do not feel that working together is plagarism, but I let them know that I knew that they were using the same articles and that they should come up with their own writing and conclusions.  It seemed to have worked. 

I am still disgusted by plagarism.  I have never cheated, never, and it seems weird to me that people do, but I suppose that in today's world it would probably be accepted in some instances (I am aware that this is an overarching statement). 

What do some people do about lack of interest in the classroom?  I feel lucky in that most of my students are great and try very hard.  Most of them do the work and do blackboard, etc., yet, I have students who show up to class, yet seem not to do any of the work.

I want to talk to them directly, since they are very bright and would make a good grade (if they did the work) but I have the feeling that they would not respond well to that (they might feel like they are being yelled at, and then loose ALL interest in the course).

            I have brought this up with others, but they feel that it is normal, and I know that it is, in fact, not all of my students do all the work, but these are students who are smart, and know it.

            I guess I am trying to find a way to reach those that feel “above” the course load.  Is there a way to bridge the gap between those that “need” the course and those that are “required” to take the course?  I have always let students “go” that wanted to, but that was in a course where a good grade was possible with that sort of attitude, with this course I do not feel that that is the case.  Is this a valid feeling? 

Richards, Keith. "'Being the Teacher': Identity and Classroom Conversation." Applied Linguistics 27.1 (2006): 51-77.—posted by Vivian Taylor

Identity has always been a major factor for me.  As a teacher’s assistant I was given an identity by my professor, we did a good cop, bad cop thing, and she also blamed me for mishaps.  I was alright with that, in fact it was easy, since I did not have to reinterpret my own feelings on a subject, I already knew my place and what I had to do in the classroom. 

With that being said, when I was first offered to teach on my own my first thought was about my identity and it has been a concept that people ask me about very often.  I am considered a push-over by some people in my life and they expressed great fear of me not being a successful teacher in that regard.  I got a different range of comments, but most of them were, “how are you going to be (act) in class?” (in that I was not allowed to be the way I am in real life).

I actually played with the idea of wearing black all the time, or trying to emulate some of my more professional professors whom I respect a great deal.  I knew I would not be able to put up that much of a charade for very long, so I decided to become ambiguous, and so far it has worked great.  I have had students ask me my opinions on politics, etc, and I bite my tongue and say that I find that students respond better to me when they do not know my personal beliefs.  They respect that and leave me alone. 

Yet, I do try to be personal.  When we went over grammar in the Style book I talked about my own shortcomings and that no one is perfect.  They really seemed to respond well to that. 

I liked how comments were made about a changeable identity.  Of course, since I have little identity yet, mine will hopefully change.  I am definitely going to read this article as soon as I can to see the examples (I am an example type of girl). 

I was told once that it takes ten years to become a good professor.  I hope it doesn’t take that long, and I am glad that there is an author out there that believes in multiple identities.