Clarity Before Mechanics: Painting a Masterpiece

When you think of the process of addressing clarity and mechanics in a paper, do you think of those two tasks clumped together? Well, I do! When I revise, I just sit down and truck through it. I fix the content and the mechanics all as I go. However, after reading "Clearing the Way" (Chapter 5) by Tom Romano, I'm beginning to re-think the logistics of how the revision process works. I'm sure many writers, like myself, see the revision process as just an ongoing process of correcting general mistakes. Romano, on the other hand, sees the "Revision" step as needing to come before the "Editing" step.

You may ask, "What's the difference between revision and editing? Understandable! I really didn't know the difference until I read this text by Tom Romano. In short, revision focuses on clarity, and editing focuses on grammar, spelling, and mechanics. The fact that revision comes before editing is actually incredibly logical. So many people simply read their own writing, and because of that, only the grammatical and mechanical issues stand out. However, when you read it aloud, clarity comes first. It just makes sense.

While mulling this whole idea over, I thought of a painting. The content, on which you focus during revision, is the paint. The grammar and mechanics, which you address during editing, is the canvas. Without the paint (clear content), you have no painting; it's the substance that makes the painting a masterpiece. However, if you have a hole in the canvas (grammar/mechanics), it impedes people's ability to understand and admire the painting.

Teaching to Teach

"How to teach English literature should be the concern of professors of English, not experts in curriculum and instruction ... Everything you need to know about how to teach English -- that can be taught didactically -- can be learned within the framework of an undergraduate English major"

This was an idea that especially struck me in the article titled "Teaching as we're Taught: The University's Role in the Education of English Teachers by Marshall and Smith (Published by the National Council of English Teachers). So...Should English professors be in charge of teaching how to teach? 

As I think about this question, I have to sort of relate how I feel as a Secondary Education/English student. How would I feel if I had to rely on my English professors in order to learn how to teach? Honestly, I don't think I would feel as comfortable going into my field as I do with help from my Education professors. At this point, I have taken my fair share of English courses. I've been studying English in college for going-on-five-years, and I do not know how to teach. I'm currently feeling more comfortable with the "how"s, but that's mostly because of my pre-internship. So, on a personal level -- I don't agree with English professors being capable of teaching me how to teach.

On the other hand, I think it's important to think about the role of mentor teachers, as I think that's what is going to really prepare me for teaching. This article makes the case for mentor teachers and explains why they're so important. Because mentor teachers are so crucial to the process of learning how to teach, I think it's plausible that English teachers could be taught solely by English professors, but with students having much more experience in the classroom with a mentor. If this were the case, I think the pre-internship would have to be upped to at least three semesters in various classrooms.

One final detail I think is really important to keep in mind is the differences between secondary education teachers and University Professors. Can professors really give future teachers an adequate preparation for secondary ed. teachers just by leading by example? For one, University Professors have much more freedom with curriculum and approach it differently. The standards are also different, as well as the approaches. When it all boils down, the two levels are education are whole different ball-games, and I think we should stick with specialized education for teachers. Learning by example doesn't necessarily work when you have two totally different areas of instruction.

Seeing Your Writing Through Your Audience's Eyes

      Looking back on the article about real-world audiences which we read last week, I find myself really connecting those articles to the project we are doing in ENGL 4790 right now. I put thought into how to give my students a real-life audience, and now myself and my group must create a Summer Writing Camp, as if it were very real. It's interesting because I'm seeing first-hand some of the challenges that students might face while doing a project for a "real-world audience", and I can then translate to a better sense of how to teach an assignment for this type of audience.
    One of our biggest challenges in doing Project 1 is, "How do we make this appealing and engaging?". We sort of have to put ourselves in the shoes of our audience and ask ourselves what our audience would want to hear, while also conveying important information. Sometimes when you cannot come up with a way to make your information, or in this case, a proposal, engaging, you may have to change your strategy or even your ideas. For example, our group had a name for a camp, but we could not find any way to make it engaging for adolescents. Because we put ourselves in their shoes and did not find it to be engaging or appealing, we moved on to a new idea and made it more exciting and intriguing.

     As I mentioned before, this experience can directly translate into a way for me to teach writing more effectively. I need to teach students to see their own writing through the eyes of their audience! (This is a pretty exciting revelation for me, as I didn't even think of this strategy when I was reading our article about real-world audiences last week.) If students can put themselves in their audiences' shoes, they may be able to write a more effective letter, paper, whatever it may be. It may also help them go back and revise. They can ask themselves, "How does this sound to (insert audience here)?", or "What would they think of this phrase?". It sounds simple, but when learning to write effectively and to write with impact, students may not necessarily think of this simple step. It's my job to step in and help them see their own writing through the eyes of their audience.

"Real-World Writing": Compliant vs. Impactful

Compliant vs. Impactful...
     Upon reflection of "Real-World Writing: Making Purpose and Audience Matter", the idea of purpose really struck me. We often wonder, "Why are our students not showing engagement in their writing?" However, what can we do to change this? Well, this article poses the idea that when we assign predictable assignments, with predictable restraints, our students produce predictable writing. This idea really struck me as important because it's something that we can change! If we change the way we form our assignments, perhaps we can change the way our students respond to these assignments.

     So, how do we alter the audience for students, when they know they are writing a paper or an assignment for a grade from a teacher? As the writer of this article explain, "...in the real world, Audience and Purpose matter in ways that school often shields writers from. 'Purpose' in school is usually completely absent ('Here's your homework; this is the prompt') ... There is no real difference to be caused, so there is no purpose" ("Real-World Writing", 30). This creation of purpose for students seems to be an especially difficult challenge in my eyes because not all students want to continue on with English past secondary school. It comes down to creating intrinsic motivation in students who may not see any future in writing.

     I have an idea, however, to create this intrinsic motivation, to create purpose, and to create an appropriate audience. I think this can be done through understanding what students do see themselves doing in the future. This creates, as the article describes it, "authenticity" (33) in writing. For example, if a student in his or her junior year is extremely interested in zoology, he or she could write to a local zoo about an impactful, relevant topic. He or she would then receive feedback from the zoologist at the zoo. This response helps the student understand just how much of an impact his or her writing actually made, as compared to the impact they expected it to make. This gap between a students expected impact and its actual impact allows the student to understand context and to achieve a "real-world result" (33).


The tough part, as I mentioned before, is creating true intrinsic motivation in students, and this can certainly be done through varying audiences and purposes. The reality, however, is that we must often impose restraints on students' writing, creating compliance, rather than impactful responses. Because of this, we need a balance. However, the question remains: How do we create this balance in a realistic, achievable way?

Greetings!

Hello all! Chelsea Ott here. I'd like to start off by introducing myself a little bit. I'm a small-town girl, hailing from St. Joe, Michigan. For those of you who are familiar with the "mitten map": hold that right hand up with your palm facing forward and point to the very lower-left corner, almost to the wrist. That's my home! I actually grew up in Bridgman, which is about 10-15 miles southwest of the place I currently call "home". And yes, that's right, I do commute all the way up to Kalamazoo, which is about an hour's drive!
Regarding my educational career, I graduated from Bridgman High in 2011 with about 65 other students and continued on with my education at Lake Michigan College in Benton Harbor, MI. I obtained my Associates Degree there and transferred to Western Michigan, where I am now in my second year! I'm majoring in Secondary Education/English, with a minor in Political Science. I really do love my program here and am very excited to be back for my final year! (Let me just say that again because I just cant get enough: My final year!!) As a senior here at WMU, I'm currently taking four courses: My first Pre-Internship (4060/65), Studies in Drama, Adolescent Literature, and, of course, Writing in Secondary Education. I absolutely love literature, so I'm always excited to take on the challenge of having multiple literature classes in one semester.
Finally, I think I should tell you all a little bit about what I like to do outside of the classroom. My boyfriend of four years and I love to go kayaking, camping, and swimming in Lake Michigan. One of the absolute best parts of living where I do is the fact that we're only about five minutes away from the lake. I may be a little biased, but I think our Great Lake is the greatest ;). I've also been cross-stitching since I was six years old, so I always love to pick up the needle and some thread whenever I have time. As I mentioned before, I also love literature, snagging a book whenever I can -- that is, whenever I'm not reading for class! I addition to all of these things, I'm a huge music-lover, and we attend concerts and music festivals whenever we can. I listen to all sorts of genres of music, but house music will always be my true love! One of our favorite spots to soak up the underground house culture is Detroit, so that's often a vacation spot for us. Oddly enough, Bob Dylan is also one of my favorite musicians, which is obviously on the opposite end of the spectrum!
I look forward to working through this class, especially since we have such a small group. I have a feeling this class will give me a lot more confidence in my abilities to teach writing and to create a classroom structure that is conducive to success!