“One of the things you can count on is writing your hand off. The good thing about it is that Gian makes it really easy to write for him. He will help you in any way you want or need. Just be prepared for long nights and early mornings typing in front of a computer for this class.” (from a letter by one of my English 101: College Writing students giving advice to other students who would be taking the course in the future)
The Power of Writing
I decided to start off my teaching philosophy statement with the words of one of my students because the heart of my teaching is my effort to value what students have to say. For me, teaching writing goes far beyond correcting grammatical mistakes. Teaching writing is about helping students find out what they want to say and then guiding them as they search for the best way to say it. Too many students come to my classes hating and fearing writing. I work hard to change that. I want students to leave my classes feeling confident about their writing abilities. I also want students to learn that writing can be much more than just assignments done for classes. I want them to discover that writing is a powerful tool which helps people think, create, and wrestle with the challenges of life.
Writing Production
For students to learn the power of writing, though, it takes a lot of hard work. I ask students in my classes to write all the time. I have them write for diverse audiences, especially audiences who will make use of my students’ writing to perform real tasks, like the professional clients for whom I have my technical writing students create documents. I also have students spend lots of time talking together and reading, since writing is never an isolated communicative act. My students learn to work collaboratively, sharing knowledge and skills as they publish magazines and Internet sites that are far too complex for any one writer to create alone. Which recalls my student’s comment above about writing on a computer. Technology is always a part of how I teach writing. Writers today must learn to use e-mail, web pages, desktop publishing, and other new technologies to meet the demands of the Digital Age in which we live.
Multiple Teacher Roles
I have a lot of roles in my classrooms, guide, coach, facilitator, technical expert, but I always work hard not only to listen to my students, but to ask them to be active learners who make decisions about what and how they are going to learn and who reflect on and evaluate their own learning. My students propose their own writing projects, manage their own deadlines, and tell me how I can best help them. I want to work with my students to meet their needs and goals, not just my own.
Teacher Scholar
Finally, I believe the best teachers are teacher scholars. So I read current research in composition and educational theory, and I do my own classroom research, always searching for ways to improve how I am teaching and how my students are learning. The scholarship helps me revise my classes and try new things.