Writing about Writing??

My name is Felicia, and I have been teaching Composition and Rhetoric since 2003. I was the Writing Coordinator at Texas A&M University -Kingsville for three and a half years, and I definitely learned what "teaching in the trenches meant" while instructing Developmental Writing  The job as Writing Coordinator was the perfect job in the wrong place; I began to teach my son at home (in Corpus Christi), so I had to leave my job in Kingsville. The FYC instructors at TAMUCC graciously hired me as an adjunct where I have been teaching for the past 3 ½ years.  I am a major fan using online teaching tools and programs to enhance the learning and engagement of students. I have been researching for several years virtual conferencing with students and have been able to present several times at Conference about my research.

The most surprising things I found in the readings (honestly) was how much I felt what they were saying is just plain common sense.  I found  myself  irritated because these are thoughts I had been suppressing for some time, and I felt upset at myself for not taking that leap and voicing my opinion.  Well, actually I had voiced my opinion, but I found myself being squashed into the writing for the Learning Communities discipline.  The  GA “Karen” in Elizabeth Wardle’s article “Mutt Genres” encountered the same issues I have encountered, knowing little about the writing within the a triad’s (discipline). When I was a graduate teaching within a history learning community, I did not feel the dissidence as I do presently within the Political Science triad.  I was familiar with History writing because I was a History major (double Eng/His). The issue of writing competence came when I was placed into a Political Science triad.  I was tirelessly working to create assignments that fit within the mold, and I found myself spending hours upon hours researching about everything regarding writing and research within this discipline. I felt like my lack of knowledge with regards to writing put my students at a disadvantage. Many of my students were and are not Political Science majors and they were being forced to write within this discipline. It was a relief to know that others too felt the same feelings of inadequacy as a writing instructor.

I love the idea of the focus being on writing in a writing class. That sounds so simple, yet in reading the articles it made it all to apparent that something needs to be done to change this trend of generic composition teaching. I personally have felt a certain, je ne sais quis, has been missing in my pedagogical approaches of teaching writing.  I really liked what Ms. Wardle said towards the latter part of her article with reference to Writing about Writing,

In such a course, the subject is always writing; how people use writing, how people learn to write, how genres mediate work in society, how “discourse communities” affect language use, how writing changes across the disciplines,[…] the course is to teach students the content of our discipline (784).

I must admit, at first the articles seemed a bit depressing and it was not until I read the following excerpt it did I really grasp the full intent of the previous readings. No offense to the other writers, but I was not connecting with the information.  I am feeling a bit revived at the possibility of being able to share my passion. Is there anything else that matters besides language and writing? J

Work Cited

Wardle, Elizabeth. "Writing in Genres of the University." College Composition and Communication 4th ser. 60 (2009): 765-87. Print.