"Some New Approches Towards Teaching"
Today I read the aforementioned article by Mina Shaughnessy in a book on teaching developmental English.
The article mentions two facets of writing - form and content. She details formatic concerns that students and teachers have (grammar, handwriting, spelling, organization) and she also discusses how when too much emphasis is placed on the formal aspects of writing that the exploratory aspects are overlooked. In other words, students try to 'fill in the blanks' of their pre-set essay with ideas, but that these ideas are often superficial and are often not what they think. Since the writing process is stifled, many students will not even learn what they think. Students tend to shy away from their own ideas because they are too complex to put into words. The papers are shallow.
I agree with her overall ideas. I feel that, as of late, I have spent too much time on form to the obvious exclusion of content. This changed over the years as I have become more comfortable with form and grammar. I think it was a necessary evolution of my teaching in that I now had a set form and I knew what I was working my students towards, yet now it must be reigned back and I need a happy medium between the two.
Like much theory, that is where this article ends. There are no practical considerations or ways to carry out solutions. Indeed there are no solutions given, but I do not feel that was the purpose of this article or the purpose of theory in general.
I was thinking that I could start my developmental classes out by having students do extended freewriting on topics. This would allow them to explore their ideas. Then I would have a class discussion. All of this would be based around a reading we did for class. Then, once students have thoroughly explored their ideas, then they could write the paragraphs about it. This wouldn't work for the first assignment as persuasion is not until the end, but it could constitute my writing sample. It could deconstruct ideas of good writing just as it is starting to build up the constructs.
I also thought about journaling as a way to come up with ideas. Students could react to their readings and also one other day a week. Would this be better than giving preset topics for the journals? Would it best be in addition to it? Preset questions ask students to explore ideas and I get pretty good responses from them. It shows them that they have ideas and it helps them express those ideas and put them into words. Freewriting journals may produce a lot of shallow ideas, but it could also show them that their own minds and experiences are fodder for writing.
Just my thoughts.
The article mentions two facets of writing - form and content. She details formatic concerns that students and teachers have (grammar, handwriting, spelling, organization) and she also discusses how when too much emphasis is placed on the formal aspects of writing that the exploratory aspects are overlooked. In other words, students try to 'fill in the blanks' of their pre-set essay with ideas, but that these ideas are often superficial and are often not what they think. Since the writing process is stifled, many students will not even learn what they think. Students tend to shy away from their own ideas because they are too complex to put into words. The papers are shallow.
I agree with her overall ideas. I feel that, as of late, I have spent too much time on form to the obvious exclusion of content. This changed over the years as I have become more comfortable with form and grammar. I think it was a necessary evolution of my teaching in that I now had a set form and I knew what I was working my students towards, yet now it must be reigned back and I need a happy medium between the two.
Like much theory, that is where this article ends. There are no practical considerations or ways to carry out solutions. Indeed there are no solutions given, but I do not feel that was the purpose of this article or the purpose of theory in general.
I was thinking that I could start my developmental classes out by having students do extended freewriting on topics. This would allow them to explore their ideas. Then I would have a class discussion. All of this would be based around a reading we did for class. Then, once students have thoroughly explored their ideas, then they could write the paragraphs about it. This wouldn't work for the first assignment as persuasion is not until the end, but it could constitute my writing sample. It could deconstruct ideas of good writing just as it is starting to build up the constructs.
I also thought about journaling as a way to come up with ideas. Students could react to their readings and also one other day a week. Would this be better than giving preset topics for the journals? Would it best be in addition to it? Preset questions ask students to explore ideas and I get pretty good responses from them. It shows them that they have ideas and it helps them express those ideas and put them into words. Freewriting journals may produce a lot of shallow ideas, but it could also show them that their own minds and experiences are fodder for writing.
Just my thoughts.
posted by Indisposable Mama at 11:55 PM
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