Blog 3 or The Art of Writing Without Writing

Mr. Graves, on page 116, states, "Our primary concern is reacting to someone else . . . rather than finding our own way." I have always felt this to be a problem in academia and even in my own house. I recall my mother saying the best way to survive in school is to find out what your teacher wants and then do everything to accomplish that. I heard that in HS and college. Twenty years ago when I first attended, I rebelled against that nonsense to the point were I eventually dropped out. Now that I have returned, I am still rebelling against that advice but now I know why. I do follow all the guidelines set in a syllabus, but I always write in my voice. This is what I did not understand before, my voice. I always knew I wrote a certain way and regardless whether the writing was a research paper or a creative piece, my voice came through. And most of the time it was accepted. If I attempted to change the way I wrote it felt very uncomfortable as if someone else was in my body trying to write. Blehh.

Mr. Graves also writes, ". . . the writer must find his own subject" (115). Obviously this is different than voice, but interrelated. If I or any student is not engaged in the subject matter of the piece we will find it difficult to write in our voice. Mr. Graves also mentions that the experience of discovery is emotional not intellectual (115). The "Aha" moment as it is described in a different text I am reading, though Mr. Suhor in his essay uses "Yeah!" That is a good feeling. When you find a subject that allows the piece to almost write itself.

Lesley Rex writes about students opening "themselves to the affect and effect literature has on them . . . to lay hold, to impress, and to change them . . ." (119) Frankly there was a lot of good ideas in all these essays, I do not need to write a three page blog and bore everyone. On page 121 middle sentence begins with "The dramatic impact and persuasive engagement . . ." Page 124, "write about significant experiences," p. 125, "that no secret formula . . . exists for writing effectively"

Murray, p. 329, "we are commanded to be outgoing. But writing is ingoing." And the rest of that paragraph. Writing is definitely solitary, even if you are in the middle of an classroom. Suhor talks about silence being necessary to the writer and these two essays piggyback nicely upon one another. Murray, "withdraw without shame and confront ourselves."

Suhor writes of transcendence, silence and overanalyzing. Using the silence to reflect on the work, how we wish to proceed, to brainstorm, meditate on the subject, (engage in) the joyful experience of literature.

The theme these authors seem to be expressing is that writing is individualistic, and needs to be for the writer to be most engaged. We all know this now as adult students but how many of us were taught differently and still find ourselves slipping back. Is this truly the way students are now being taught? Or are we still pushing the boulder up the hill against entrenched curriculum? I am curious, I have been out of school for a long time, many things have changed, many have not.

Find your Muse

Three of the four essays seemed to have similar purpose and scope while the fourth by Charles Suhor just did not seem to fit. This is not to say that I found the article to be overall useless. In fact, his point about art, literature, and music being interrelated did hit home. I have taken several art classes in the past few semesters and feel that this has greatly impacted my appreciation for all of the arts. I am not sure how he progressed from that idea into structured silence in the classroom. I felt like he should have separated these ideas into two articles.

As for the others, the obvious connection was the importance of inspiration in writing. From this stand point I guess I see now where Suhor's article fits. He talks about being inspired as much by Charlie Parker as he was by Shakespeare. I can imagine that one of the most frustrating aspects of teaching writing is to find a topic that will inspire thirty kids. Rex, Graves and Murray all offer different techniques to combat this problem. Graves' article sounded like a review of last week's readings when we talked about getting all thoughts on paper, no matter how sloppy. I think his quote from page 116 "when rules are foremost in our minds, then our primary concern is the fear of making a mistake" best sums up the entire concept.

Sometimes I implement the word-dump technique myself, but I have always wondered how an instructor would manage to get students to refine this into a finished product. I was surprised when I realized that Rex's article offers one way of solving this problem. She also reinforced some of the readings from last week when she explained how she used one of her own experiences as a class room example. More subtly, she pointed out the importance of setting the right mood for the exercise. Rex says that she used in class writing to create an emotional and retrospective environment. That way, the class was ready to listen and share personal experiences. I think that this concept, though mentioned somewhat briefly in the article, should not be overlooked in execution. Imagine the different reaction students might have had to Linda's sharing if they were not emotionally prepared.

I have never understood why reading and writing is so often separated in curriculum. Even in college literature classes, required writing is usually an essay or responses to the text. Teachers rarely (in my experience) have students write their own version of the assigned text. For example, I can remember having to reread "Shooting an Elephant" several times before connecting to the level of personal reflection that is present. Rex's idea of having students write their own personal essay is possibly the best way to get students to understand the difficulty and importance of such writing. In a fiction class students should be taught to write fiction, etc. I think assignments like these connects the reader to the writer, like Murray was trying to explain in his essay.

Finally, one statement made by Rex ruffled my feathers a bit. She seemed surprised by the revelation that students prefer to consider themselves in a process of maturation rather than in a state of knowledge deficiency. This sounds like a no-brainer to me. Of course students in any age group would be insulted if the instructors takes the position that she is filling in all of the information they do not know. If I had to sit and listen about all of my inadequacies, I would eventually tune out the teacher. All knowledge is built upon other knowledge and students should always feel as though they are expanding upon what they have already mastered.

By the way, if anyone is interested in Jazz, Clint Eastwood directed Bird; an excellent movie starring Forest Whitaker as Charlie Parker.

Blog 2

I didn't really like the Smith writing because I felt like I heard it all before. He did have some very valid points like Caitlin pointed out; "a reason for saying something" and "desire to say or write what needs to be said". Being the youngest in my family I was always pushed aside when it came to talking about things of importance. I think I started writing out of necessity. I had a reason and a desire because no one would listen to me.

I enjoyed Spandel's idea of a teacher writing along with the students. Until last semester, I never had this happen before. I took Engl 213, a poetry class where Prof. Wilson said he would be writing poems along with us. I think this was effective because even on hard assignments (like the Guzzle) I knew that he was "maybe" struggling with content the same as we were.

Continuing the secondary post tradition

So OED online wanted me to pay money. Ah, no. I went to Merriam Webster's Online dictionary, and here's what I got.


rubric
One entry found for rubric.
Main Entry: ru·bric
Pronunciation: 'rü-brik, -"brik
Function: noun
Etymology: Middle English rubrike red ocher, heading in red letters of part of a book, from Anglo-French, from Latin rubrica, from rubr-, ruber red
1 a : an authoritative rule; especially : a rule for conduct of a liturgical service b (1) : NAME, TITLE; specifically : the title of a statute (2) : something under which a thing is classed : CATEGORY c : an explanatory or introductory commentary : GLOSS; specifically : an editorial interpolation
2 : a heading of a part of a book or manuscript done or underlined in a color (as red) different from the rest
3 : an established rule, tradition, or custom
- rubric or ru·bri·cal /-bri-k&l/ adjective
- ru·bri·cal·ly /-bri-k(&-)lE/ adverb
Learn more about "rubric" and related topics at Britannica.com
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credit where credit is due. here's the url:http://www.m-w.com/cgi-bin/dictionary?sourceid=Mozilla-search&va=rubric

Blog 2

The reading I tackled first was Smith's WW Chapter 8, which nearly bored me to tears. I found myself thinking, yes of course the flow of words comes out that way, and afterward you can change specification based on what you intend the writing for... duh. However, I like that he called out the fact that there are two obvious requirements that drive your purpose in writing; 1) you have "a reason for saying something" and 2) you "desire to say or write what needs to be said". (108) The diagrams were cute pictures to elaborate on his drafting analogy, but this chapter pretty much did nothing for me as a student of writing.

I don't know if I was in a bad mood after reading the Smith at 2 AM last night or what, but I didn't enjoy the Spandel as much as some other classmates did. Her tone seemed too motivational-speaker-like, but I like that fact that she's trying to elaborate on how to facilitate a conducive environment for teaching students to write. I really liked that she addressed teaching writing as "preparing students for anything based on experience" (41) largely because I firmly believe it's experience in writing that progresses you as a writer. I think because it was geared toward teaching young writers, and I'm not going into secondary education, that I felt less connected to this piece.

Disappointed, I browsed the WTL book and read the Jane Tompkins piece. I really enjoyed it. The writer was very engaging, her prose was easily read, and her ability to play at humor, especially with raw honesty, was really refreshing. I like that she first dives right into the way students resent the authoritan aspects of institutionalized learning. That was always what made or unmade a class for me, whether I was being corralled by the person teaching me or whether I was being enabled (for better or worse) to take control of my learning experience. Also, the way she addresses how some of the students that are "good performers" often achieve that status because "they/we successfully imitated the behavior of adults before we were in fact ready to do so." (17) I couldn't agree with that more, especially when considering myself one of the "we" she was writing about. Her class model of handing the job of teaching over to the students is by far my favorite. The empowerment of being given the authority to address a new subject and expound upon it as a professional student is unmatched, especially when compared to lecture based or syllabus restricted teaching styles. I have learned the most from classes that follow the model. Tompkins was wonderfully witty, and I had to smile at her analogy using sex as comparison to a writing based class. She also dealt some gems on the psyche of a teacher, and how to make the experience of teaching both self-indulgent and more beneficial for students.

Blog 2

I agree with Seth on everything that he pointed out in these readings. To me it does seem strange to think of composition and transcription as separate entities in the writing process. I usually have a word or a phrase that I want to start with or build around when I begin to write and the physical act of typing it out is like a playground where I can run wild, refine, reword, and edit everything that is coming into my head. Sometimes i write things that have nothing to do with my assignment or idea in the middle of a paragraph or sentence just because my mind goes there. It gives me a chance to laugh for a second, then go back to my original idea. The conflicts that I experience do not come from the tension between composition and transcription but rather the frustration of not being able to come up with the words and wording that I feel work well for what I want to say.

I also think that 9R is an amazing book because of how well it breaks down the writing process while still leaving it up to the author how he or she wants to work. You would not cook a meal from scratch without a recipe. Finding this process is like writing your own recipe, seasoned specifically to your own taste, into which you mix ingredients (letters or words). I think that a great exercise for writers is deciding what of their work is good and I am a champion of keepers. If students had to write something the first week of school and then were not aloud to look at it until the last day of class, I think more students would be aware of their progression as writers and probably come out of the class with a much more positive outlook on their abilities.

Blog 2: Smith & Spandel

Like everyone else I really enjoyed the 9 Rights book. Smith is a bit dry but certainly valuable. I did think that the chapter on the act of writing from Smith worked in tandem with the Spandel chapter. Smith comes from an almost scholarly point of view--describing a writing philosophy, and Spandel supports much of Smith's assertions through real classroom activities. For instance Smith speaks about the flow of words never being consistent. Inspiration comes in spurts. Spandel is also anti constancy--no one child writes in the same way, the same speed, in the same manner.

I found the
Smith chapter 3 a bit weak. Recognizing the difference between transcription and composition seems self evident to me. In this class we have been talking about listening to our inner voice. Does not the inner voice act somewhat like our outer voice and change as the situation warrants? We speak differently when telling a story as we would when giving directions. Doesn't the inner voice change, almost without conscience effort, to fit the task?

Spandel is wonderful. Its gets one wanting to share these techniques with a class and see what your students would come up with. There's a current of self-discovery and knowing oneself that flows within the chapter. I like that she suggests that the students see the writing process from the teacher, that the teacher should be working through a written work along with the class. The teacher as role model.
Always, an educational environment must be a safe zone. A place where students can feel at ease to experiment & take chances. Where the teacher continually supports. Where a rigid push for mechanical perfection does not exist to stifle creativity. Spandel reinforces these concepts very eloquently in her book.

Too Much to say...Never enough blog space!

In the case of Spandel, I would like to say that I agree with teachers writing along with their students. My God! What an idea! It comes as a complete shock to me, because I never had a teacher write with me or share any of their writings with the class. I'm shocked because it's so simple and effective, yet this method of teaching (simple as it is) was never imlemented in any of my classes throughout my many, many years of education. After the initial shock wore off, I realized that I would have loved to read some of the work from my professors and high school teachers whom I had idolized growing up. I remember thinking that my English teacher in high school was brilliant. However, this was only because she was the authority in correcting my work. I just knew that in order for her to do that, she must've been an expert on the subject.

Now that I'm facing the same challenges that she did, I think differently. I never knew her at all. I think that a teacher sharing their writing with their class is critical in teaching at least one important lesson; that teachers are human and fallible as well. We place so much emphasis on teachers being brilliant, well-rounded and appearing so much more knowledgable about writing, that there is much segregation between students and their mentors. I always feared handing in my work to her, because I knew that she would (brilliantly) criticize and "edit" my papers, and I was always writing as if she were my only audience--always trying to impress her. Years later, I now know how human she actually was. She made many mistakes throughout her career as a teacher, and many of us didn't learn perhaps what we should have. She spent a lot of time making us believe that she knew more than we did, and we believed her, because she had more symbols and fancy punctuation habits than we did. And for that we lost our faith in her and ourselves. How brilliant was she?

If I would have been able to connect to her through her own writing, I believe our relationship would have been completely different. Instead of learning how brilliant she was, I would have learned how to create masterpieces in composition and would have expanded my horizons in writing, with possibilities not previously thought of. I would have had an actual teacher, a friend who could spark my creative lust and eradicate the fear of exposing my inner speech. I wouldn't have been afraid to open myself to her in return, and would have had more confidence in my own writing because I'd be learning from her on two different levels, through her eyes and her methodology. I do believe that teaching is a team effort (where students and teachers are considered equal). We all know that teachers learn from their students as well as the students learning from the teachers. How then, can teachers remain so distanced from their students? And wouldn't we be more confident in our teachers ability to teach if we had an understanding of their gift? After all, having confidence in a teacher's ability to teach is crucial for students because they have to trust that this person not only knows the material, not yet having mastered it completely, and that they are willing to continue to polish their talents. We have to teach learning and we have to learn how to teach.

In school, I was raised with the idea that once you graduated college, you knew everything, or at least much much more than your students. How sad, and how untrue. We need to impress upon our students that the idea of teaching is about continuously learning, as a team, in an open and creative atmosphere which will allow our best efforts to flourish. As the book and some others in our class already stated,"Good writers are not always good editors..." I wholeheartedly agree.

As for the idea of writers writing for their own "style and preference", I have one question: How do we not? I mean, how do we keep our own individual ideas separate from a piece of writing? We have to be in there somewhere, right? Otherwise, we might as well have robots writing our papers for us. And yes, we all do have our own way of composing, brainstorming for topics and methods of learning. However, when I read about Teachers implementing different styles and techniques into their classrooms, I don't wish to give them credit for the idea. Rather, I automatically assume that it'd their job to teach that way and should have been doing so all along. It's almost as if people are debating as to whether to adopt the strategy. Diversity in writing is the only strategy--and it shouldn't need to be discussed, just an automatic delivery. I can't say that every teacher I ever had used the old paradigm in their classrooms, or that they diidn't influence my creativity in writing, but I do know that the newer models of today are a hell of a lot more influential and effective. When you find something this good, you don't question it, you just use it--period.It seems sometimes as though teachers today are trying to influence other people that the new methods of teaching are effective and worthy of acceptance. I say, no explanation necessary. It works and we can prove it by the thousands of kids across the country right now tht are actually learning to love to write, and doing it effectively. Case closed...

Blog 2

I'm jumping on the Spandel bandwagon as well. While he certainly lays out the necessity for a writing process (your drafting, prewriting, revision, etc) he presents many ideas that stray a bit from the standard. I was always a writer that felt comfort in a rubric and he does well to point to the comfort that having a start and a finish can provide for students. While it's probably true that a piece of writing is never really finished, students (myself included) often feel the need to be "done" (44, 9R).

My favorite notion that Spandel presents is that teachers write along with their students. This idea is one i've never personally encountered but it got me thinking of the positives that could be achieved through it. For struggling writers, seeing somebody else, especially a teacher, struggle though the processes that go along with writing can, as Spandel points out, "provide infinitely more than..a number of lectures." The fact that one can go away from the standard process is great, and I think it's very important for writers to find their own way through the process.

Blog 2

As I was reading descriptions of different writers, they all seemed to describe me and experiences I've had with writing. I think the point was to illustrate that no two writers are alike, but it occurred to me that the same writer might not be the same in every situation. If I find myself with plenty of time and no paper, I can compose an entire piece in my head and then just write it down word for word when I get the chance. When I worked for a newspaper, I often did this during my drive back to the office after covering an event, and I still do it during my commutes to and from campus. Most times, I sit at a computer and type, constantly revising as I go. My rough drafts are never really rough, unless I've had to hurry to meet some sort of deadline. I like the idea of exposing students to different approaches but ultimately encouraging them to find and embrace their own writing process instead of forcing them to follow somebody else's. I had to write a research paper in high school that broke the assignment down into smaller graded assignments. Our thesis statements were due by a certain date. Specified numbers of notecards with individual pieces of information from our research were due by certain dates. I felt like I was wasting time doing work just for the sake of turning it in for a grade when I could have been using that time in a way that worked for me.

P.S. How great is the term literary flab?

My highlighter got a workout

Like many of you, I still do not have the Smith book yet but I did find that the reading in 9R was extremely helpful. While I was an undergrad at Hartwick the EDU courses that I took spent a lot of time spilling philosophy but not creating any concrete examples of how to put these ideas into practice. The idea of the teacher completing the assignments as the students doesn't seem revolutionary but I cannot recall a teacher or professor ever beginning and completing a writing assignment as we did in any of my experiences as a student or in the many hours I have observed teachers. At best, a teacher would bring in a copy of their final product, reinforcing the focus on product, not process.

I believe that Erin also highlighted the Henry Miller quote that "most writing is done away from the typewriter, away from the desk" (45). I couldn't agree with this point more. When I have a major assignment looming (as I do now) I don't sit down at the computer and begin to write. I get my best ideas at the gym, in the shower, or just as I am about to drift off to sleep. As tired as I am, my brain seems to be the most active just as my head hits the pillow. The classroom environment, however, is not the best for fostering writing. Spandel stated that students "need an environment in which the process can flourish" (41). Most students don't do their best writing sitting at a desk in those uncomfortable metal chairs, their neighbor to their right scraping their chair against the floor while their neighbor to the left coughs and sniffs. Spandel provides some great examples for creating an environment that encourages writing but one thing that I think isn’t mentioned that should have been is GET THE STUDENTS OUT OF THE CLASSROOM. Again, this isn’t a revolutionary idea but I don’t believe that it is done often enough. My freshmen year I had a great composition professor who got us out of the classroom as often as possible. I will never forget the time that he surprised us with a mile hike at 8:30 in the morning to the practice football field to compose a short story about anything we observed along the way. Later we shared our pieces and it was some of the best writing that most of us had done all semester.

My

Blog 2

I went to the library to catch up on the Smith reading I had missed because Amazon doesn't realize that I'm in my second week of class so they haven't gotten me my damn copy that I paid for 3 weeks ago yet. Boyoboy, am I glad I did. I really wish I had read it before Monday's class, since the section of chapter three on the tension between composition and transcription is exactly what our directions (I'm sorry "guidelines") for the peer review process were all about. I've definitely experienced the words flowing into my mind faster than I can slap them onto the paper, regardless of how sloppy I let my writing be. Since I never learned to touch-type I'm destined to have a Ferrari mind and a Chevy Chevette hand. The only real possibility is a transcription program, and from what I've heard (thanks Erin) even though software like Dragon is useful, it's nowhere near perfect.

A couple specific points made by Smith really stood out. He writes,"There is a limit to how much the human brain can be aware of, can consciously direct at any one time. (23)" He then goes on to point out the competition for mental real estate that goes on between the composition urge and the transcription urge, noting that anxiety, when present, also grabs for room in your head. I immediately thought of how the carnival that seems to constantly be running in my brain marks its own territory as well, calliopes blaring, drunks crawling around in the dark corners, masked revelers dancing away and doing unspeakable things on the balconies. And in the middle of all this, I attempt to write an argument or a research paper or, heaven forfend, a love note. And make sure I don't youse the rong spilling, or start my sentences with conjunctions. Now where did I put that rum?

Later on, in chapter 8, he points out how the momentary act of writing differs for each individual "-sometimes the hand leading the inner voice, sometimes the converse, and sometimes the two proceeding in tandem...[for some] the hand alone, there is no inner voice." I think the idea of no inner voice seems odd, but realize it might just be too quiet or too obvious to notice, as in times of writing during extreme emotional stress. If I'm on the verge of tears, or angry enough to shake and shout, I write without conscious thought, almost as if the composition process is bypassing consciousness and needs to simply act. These are times when some of the darkest, cruelest, most vitriolic things end up on pages in front of me, and I wonder how that could be something I wrote. Has this "automatic writing" ever happened to anyone else?

Regarding the chapter in 9R, I was most impressed/surprised at the point started on page 50 about allowing students "to decide for themselves whether their own work is good." I think it's a wonderful idea, but I think it's going to make periodic evaluation difficult. I never was given freedom to make this determination on my own, instead always having some template to conform to. How are we to monitor progress over time if the student is their own evaluator? I realize that this would be an encouraging principle, but maintaining balance with scoring, testing, and grading would be very hard, regardless of verbal spin by the teacher in rejecting works that do not "make the grade."

blog 2

I'm really digging the Spandel book; it seemed to be the most helpful of the three for new teachers. It gives you concrete examples of things that we can do to foster a love of writing for all our students. One of the ideas that I really liked was the "author's chair," I think some students will really enjoy that and some will just hate it. When I was a kid, I would not have liked being on display, but I think if the teacher would explain it as the author does, "sharing is an act of courage as well as a gift to be honored," shy students would be more receptive to the idea.

It makes sense that it helps the student to see the teacher writing as well. I just don't know how feasible that is sometimes. Teachers have to be diligent that they are making sure they are students are on task and see if the students need any help with their own writings. I know this is going to be very difficult for me in a classroom. I cannot use my dominant hand for writing anymore, so writing is a very labor intensive activity for me. To combat that, I use voice recognition software. It works very well at home, but it might be very distracting for students in the classroom because I have to talk what I want to write.

I also like that the author gives us procedural advice like the students should know you were preferences for headings, fonts, etc. as well as student should know what days, time, and how long they will be writing. That helps establish a routine.

For a quote that I enjoyed in this chapter, it has to be from Henry Miller, "Most writing is done away from the typewriter, away from the desk." I would have to agree with that, as most of my ideas of writing began when I'm in bed, I can't sleep, and my brain won't shut up.

I didn't really enjoy the Smith writings; they seem to be very dry. I like his idea of groundwork and review as opposed to a rewriting and rewriting, but everything else in Chapter 8 was horrible to read it.

Sept12th-Blog #2

The Right to Personalize Writing Process in 9R paints a touching portrait of the ideal scenarios for learning and developing in the writing process at a relaxed pace. The recommendations by Spandel certainly would initiate more confident and competent writing and even helped invigorate me a wee bit. I really believe that a set, predictable, and comfortable environment can assist the author in the correct mental state to spring ideas into words. Right now as I write this I am at my computer station in the basement of my home. My late step-father in law was a true renaissance man, a Colonel in the U.S. Army and an accomplished artist. I mention this because just above my computer screen is a large painting by him of a Hawaiian beach at dusk that relaxes me instantly. The precise brush strokes, color, and mood of the piece provide me a productive mood for most written work. The Colonel is looking down and pleased that one of his paintings had such an effect. However, a calm tranquil environment may not be a writer’s best option when critique is needed. Dialogue with fellow students, teachers, editors, etc allows a healthy exchange of observation, which as a result will allow you to gauge your intent, audience, and structure in a broader sense. The book stresses individualism as an important tool for student’s confidence. The fear of failure over just one piece can damage a young writer’s psyche, so allowing the student to decide how he or she wants his or her work circulated is important. I truly do not know if our world needs more great writers, but I certainly know our world would be a better place with more skilled writers. Applying many of these suggestions would certainly emphasize the writer more than the writing and should permit students to find their potential.

The author-author collaboration spoke of in WW is a dynamic and refreshing process. At my internship just today I experienced such a partnership and it was pleasant to have the two heads during the process to make our work more accurate and concise. I do want to mention that we were not working on a creative writing piece, but rather attended a House committee hearing on Labor Relations and wanted to align our facts and make the information gathered as streamlined as possible for our time deprived audience. The details of what I am doing are not important, but rather I recommend if you have the opportunity to collaborate with a trusted counterpart or even just a friend you will be surprised at the efficiency and ideas generated. Currently I am afforded the luxury of learning with this method until I am comfortable to cover assignments on my own, which I fear is soon.

What a relief!

Oh, how I wish someone had explained this to me earlier!
I'm beginning to think that it may indeed be possible to "teach" writing. It just can't be as pedantic as it was when I was "being taught" how to write.
The idea of a writing process comprised of semi-tangible, measurable phases is nothing new to me, but I was never permitted to personalize the process as Spandel suggests all writers have the right to do. In all of the English classes I can remember, everyone had to be on the same phase at the same time. Peer review was limited to one or two half-period sessions, and that was all the audience a student ever got for his piece before it was handed in to be scrutinized by the instructor. For me, the process has also been a little more fluid as Smith suggests it is in Chapter 8. I struggle with Smith's notion that the composition and transcription of a piece are separate and that composition must take precedent over transcription, which must always come last, because for me transcription (more specifically the process of word choice and grammar) is a major facet of composition. While I can see that treating these as two separate entities would be helpful for some writers, especially beginning writers, it is not conducive to the way in which I write. Smith seems to be arguing against the right of a writer to personalize the writing process.
While reading this weeks assignments, I was relieved to learn that just because I don't write as my teachers taught me, doesn't mean I'm doing it wrong. I can imagine how these principles and ideas have the potential to make it less burdensome for students who feel that they can not write. These reading were also the catalyst of a whirlwind of ideas for my future classrooms.

Blog 2 or The Specification of Contextualizing Conventions

Okay, whew, Chapter 8 from Mr. Smith was a lot like reading Philosophy. There seemed to be a large amount of words where possibly less would do. Not that he didn't have valid points and ideas, it just felt to me that it took a long time to get there.

On the positive side, I would love to have "someone" to transcribe my thoughts. (Chapter 3) I have made the effort to buy a recorder and dictate my stories and thoughts to myself. Unfortunately, I am at best a six finger typist and since I was the one doing the transcription it consisted of a lot of stopping and rewinding and ultimate frustration. I either write it out by hand or just sit at the computer and hunt and peck.

(An aside: Did anyone else get a flashback moment when he mentions the value of electric typewriters and word processors? Or are you all too young? I looked at the copyright date a couple of times just to make sure I was not back in high school. Scary)

Smith p.21, "Composition and transcription can interfere with one another." I do agree, but I also find that using a computer with spell check and grammar check enabled makes it hard for me to ignore the red and green underlines. I can't skip past them as much as I have tried. I have moved on in my writing but my mind's eye still sees those colors no matter how many pages previous and I have to go back and fix it or I get bogged down. Maybe just control issues? I understand his concept: don't get hung up on the form, let the words and ideas flow and then go back and fix the stuff during the revision and editing phases. If I turn off the spellcheck do you think I'll still see the red line anyway?

9R--Gotta love the name, Sneed B. Collard III. You almost have to be a writer with a name like that. Did you notice his son's name is Braden? Not ...IV. But, I digress.

Spandel's Chapter 4 reiterated some of the ideas we were talking about in class. Every person has a different way of approaching a project, any kind of project. The individual should be allowed to find and cultivate their own process and then follow it through. Where the problem seems to lie is in getting the teachers/instructors/whoever to break out of their own programmed modes to bring this into fruition. How we learned and what we learned always will remain somewhere in our heads and it seems to pop up when we find ourselves jammed. We reboot and go back to original programming every time the power goes out. She makes many other good points, way too many to cover here, but maybe in class. For instance: balance (45), structure (45), prewriting, keepers, you decide if your writing is good, the teacher showing their own writing. Why does that seem like such an odd concept when it should be perfectly natural? As we talked about before, shouldn't a writing teacher write? Alas.

Blog 2

I began with the 9 Rights book that we were supposed to read this week, mainly because I have yet to obtain a copy of the other book and loathe spending time in the campus library. Normally I love libraries, but there is something about the one on campus that makes me despise setting foot within, however, I am going away from the point of this topic and really need to get back on it. As I read the first lines I first smiled and then cursed, in one very short paragraph Spandel manages to say exactly what I spent seven and then after revision five pages saying for my upcoming writing portfolio. Personalized writing is something I highly believe in, nothing less can get me to write, and while many will believe that a prompt is the best way to help a person write all it does for me is cause writer’s block. In other words, I find prompts far too limiting, but again I am getting away from what needs to be done with this blog. Spendel talks about atmosphere, about the workplace of a writer, and while beautiful (and as I look around my apartment, true) I find that as a future teacher I cannot see myself being able to do many of things she describes. Space, time, money, and the position of the school administers all factor into such a thing, and unfortunately a teacher may end up being forced to keep the “standard” classroom appearance. So I wonder how much of an affect space and atmosphere have on the writing process. What Spendel has done, more then give me ideas on how to make myself a better writer is give me ideas on what to do with my students. I love the idea of writing everyday, and although I do not think I can give time in class for that every day I think that writing nightly would be the only assignment I would ever give. At this point I am wondering if a weekly writing, which would be worked on for 30 minutes at home every night of the week by students and peer reviewed the next day would be a good idea. Furthering that thought is a spinning wheel, with numbers (for the desk) and including the teacher which when spun would indicate a student who would read their current writing to the class (again including the teacher so that the students know even the teacher writes). I think this would be an excellent way to open up a class; however, I am not sure whether or not the idea would work well in actual practice.

Chapter 3 of Writing and the Write offered a chance for me to discover at the very least the reason why I became easily angry with one of my former classmates. Smith says that when a person speaks “at slower rates[less the 250 words a minute] the speaker becomes much more of a strain on our patience and on our memory”(22). This is easily true, and is something that can be very annoying, however with that in mind, the number of words especially it is interesting to see how the rate of words per second remain constant in every form of language but writing, with only 25 words per second for handwriting and an average of 60 words for typing (actually I wish I could type that fast) is amazing and shows just how much it takes mentally for a person to be able to write. I think that Smith’s initial analogy with the secretary and the boss (19-20) work well with his statement at the end of the essay about how to reconcile the oppressing forces of composition and transcription and shows that different drafts need to exist and that first or rough drafts are nowhere near a polished quality.

While I found chapter 3 of Writing and the Writer to be interesting chapter 8 was rather boring and for me did nothing but reiterate what I have already read for two different classes this week. I also found the blueprint analogy to be off in my opinion, but that may be because I was a draftsman before deciding to come back to college for a degree in a field that would see me taking a 40,000-dollar pay cut.

Best quote: “the author need not be able to spell or punctuate …”(Smith 20)

blog 2

Like others I loved Vicki Spandel's chapter on the right to personalize the writing process. I think the best way to teach anything is to lead by example, so what better way to teach writing than to do just the same. As I was reading this chapter I kept thinking to myself, 'just imagine how much fun writing would have been and how much I would have learned had we implemented these strategies when I was in school. I love the idea of a non-judgmental writing environment that nurtures and strengthens writing. I thought her idea of the students actually seeing the teacher struggle for topic sentences, pause for thought, stumble over words, and hesitate as they write was a great image, and hopefully one that will materialize in many classrooms. I liked how she stressed the idea that every writer should personalize the writing process to suit his style and preferences, and there is no right or wrong way to right (as opposed to what I have often been told). I like Spandel's quote on page 43 telling a student, "this is not the way to write, it is one way to write."

I thought chapter 3 in Writing and the Writer was also interesting. I had never considered the difference between composition and transcription before, or the fact that they can compete with one another. I agree when the author says that composition and transcription should be separated, but if you are working solely on a project I think this is hard to do sometimes. I can certainly understand how writing and thought are in competition with each other. Many times I forget what I wanted to put on paper or the idea I was formulating because my hand can't catch up with my head. I'm sure everyone has experienced this. I find it frustrating and annoying. How wonderful it would be to have a secretary around when I am writing a paper!

Chapter 8 was the least interesting chapter for me because I felt the author was re-hashing the same things we discussed before, but I still found some good information in the chapter. I liked the replacing the word 'prewrite' with 'groundwork' and 'rewrite' with 'review.' I think these words better sum up what is done during these stages of writing. I thought the analogy of likening the specification for the text to the blueprints of an architect was a helpful and useful metaphor.

One of my other favorite quotes from these readings also came from Spandel's chapter. She quoted Anne Lamott saying, "perfectionism is the voice of the oppressor, the enemy of the people" (Spandel 41). I agree with this idea in the world of writing. I know when I am overly concerned with grammar and sentence structure, I often lose my creative track or become so frustrated with the assignment that I lose focus with the bigger picture.

Blog 2.

Within the reading from Spandel, I keep seeing one idea that sticks out at me- the idea of the teacher doing the assignment along with the student, as if to say "I know what this is like, I'm right here with you, we'll figure this out together." It's such a different concept to me, one I've rarely experienced as a student. In school, teachers would always sit at their desk or walk around the room or just lecture. They never sat down and showed that they were in it with me. I don't mean to sound as though I'm criticizing them, because without them, I wouldn't love reading and writing as much as I do. But I think it could have pulled in some of the more reluctant writers in the class if the teacher was in it too, sharing their own difficulties and offering us tips to help us get over ours as a group.

I also like the idea of letting students find their own way. When I write, I take up the whole page with thoughts and half-finished ideas taking up room in the margins of my notebooks. I love my computer and would be lost without it, but when it comes to writing, the bulk of it is always done by hand. Maybe another student likes a detailed outline. Maybe someone else likes to wait until the perfect inspiration strikes them, and then they don't stop writing until they have twenty pages. (I tend to get my best ideas in the car or right when I'm about to fall asleep-- then it's a matter of trying to find a writing surface to get the thoughts out before I forget!)

There's a website and yearly writing project called National Novel Writing Month, or NaNoWriMo. Every November, hundreds of thousands of writers both young and old, from all corners of the world, converge on the project's website and spend the entire month trying to bang out 50,000 words. In the site's FAQ, it stresses that the writing isn't about quality, it's about quantity. No revision, not much prewriting, just dive in and see what happens. To me, it's an online version of the writing community and classroom Spandel was describing. If you just want to quietly do your own thing, you can. If you need to discuss writing, find help, defeat a block, it's all there. In the end of 30 days, there are amazing results. My first time, I only made it to 40,000 because I couldn't turn off that inner editor, that "transcriber." It wanted everything to be perfect and I couldn't be perfect and be creative at the same time. It's the same for anyone, I think. Smith pointed out the importance of keeping the composer and the transcriber separated, and I think our challenge is to show students that it doesn't have to be perfect right away. It doesn't have to be fixed and revised until you manage to get everything out- you can always go back and straighten things up. (Even in Blogger- just look for that "Edit post" button.)

Blog 2

In The 9 Rights of Every Writer, I particularly appreciated Vicki Spandel’s notion that “when we teach the writing process, it’s like preparing students for anything that’s based on experience, such as traveling” (41). I think she is right on point in stating that writing comes in many guises and looks a little different each time one undertakes it. Even when traveling to the same location, the experience can be completely different, with the destination itself varying depending on the time of year one is visiting or the type of people who happen to be encountered there. Spandel goes on to compare writing to traveling in several other ways, which in turn, leads me to form some of my own comparisons between the two.

When going on a trip, some people plan for weeks ahead, carefully booking hotels and identifying places they want to be certain to see along the way. Others, however, forsake prior planning and simply go with the flow, preferring not to prearrange precisely where their travels might take them. Rather than following a blueprint, they base their journey on what may suddenly strike their fancy. To a similar extent in writing, some individuals plan where they want to go and map out all the stops along the way, while others simply sit down and see where their writing takes them. In a related vein, some travelers faithfully depend on handy forms of guidance, employing maps and travel guides to keep them on track. Similarly with the writing process, some writers swear by the use of a thesaurus or/and dictionary.

I also agreed with Spandel’s point toward the end of the chapter that good writers are not always good editors and vice versa. I would like to add here my own personal opinion that good writers may not necessarily be the best teachers of writing. As a music major in my undergrad degree, I can certainly attest to the fact that not all amazing singers are amazing voice teachers. In order to be the latter, one must understand the appropriate techniques necessary to teach someone about such a unique and personal form of expression. Also, one must be able to adapt his or her teaching style to effectively mentor various types of singers. To a very similar extent, teachers of writers must be able to adapt their teaching approach to differing types of writers.

In Chapter 3 of Writing and the Writer, I found Smith’s focus on separating the aspects of composition and transcription to be very insightful. There have been numerous instances in my own experience as a writer when I have stopped an extremely productive flow of thoughts just to go back and fix a grammatical error that could have easily been mended at a later point in time. As Smith notes, a writer must be careful not to let the task of transcribing stand in the way of the creative process.

Finally, I found Smith’s use of the words groundwork and review in place of pre-writing and rewriting to be highly appropriate. It is important to remember that both of these aspects of writing take place during the actual writing process, not only before and after it. As a future educator, I definitely plan to employ these writing terms in place of the ones traditionally used by my English teachers. I also hope to convey to students Smith’s idea that finding the words to fit an intention is the purpose of composition.

September 12th Blog

"[Students] need to observe writing in action so they can begin to understand how process can work and can look" (Spandel 41). I think this is very important for students to grasp writing skills. The process of just telling them about or having them write over and over can only go so far. But to actually show them... now that's another story. It's like someone trying to describe Las Vegas to someone. You can talk about all the neon lights, the free drinks, the gambling, and all the other attractions, but until you actually show someone Vegas it's only then that they fully understand what it's all about. Spandel further explains herself by saying, "Writers need a classroom culture that supports writing, a culture in which everyone, including the teacher, is part of a writing community" (Spandel 41). I think this is very important as well. By having teachers practice what they preach, I think it would create a much healthier writing environment for all the students. Once they see that their teacher is doing the same thing they are, they might feel more at ease with whatever writing assignment laid in front of them.

As for the writing process, my favorite quote is " we need some clutter and mess when we write, for that's how writing in process looks. 'Tidiness,' Lamott says, 'makes me think of held breath, of suspended animation, while writing needs to breath and move' (29)" (Spandel 41). This reminds me a lot from when I was in high school when all of us had to write the exact same thing the exact same way. We didn't have any freedom to go through the writing process the way we felt most comfortable. There was a right way and a wrong way. Unfortunately for me, the right way was rather burdensome for me. For example, what is the point of writing an extremely detailed outline? Outlines were more of a headache for me than the actually writing assignment. What I ended up doing was writing the paper first and then going back to write the outline. It's the only way I could do it. Don't get me wrong, I do usually outline to help me organize, but I'll jot down a few notes on a piece of scrap paper. I don't outline every single sentence that I use in a paper. That's just a bit much for me. I think by giving students the freedom to choose what ever method works best for them will in the long run give them the best opportunity to produce their best work.

Random side note... Smith's book got me thinking, probably a little off subject, but he says, "Slow speech is not a sign that we are thinking more about what we are trying to say as much as an indication that we do not know what to say, or how to say it" (Smith 22). This whole section he talks about the rate of our speech and I was thinking how Central Pennsylvanians speak very quickly. He said average is about 200-300 words per minute which seemed like a lot to me, but as Central Pennsylvanians do we speak more than that? We are probably all used to how quickly we speak, but I'm sure when we've traveled outside this area or if there is anyone who is not originally from this area all accuse us of speaking fairly quickly. Does this affect our writing? Does this make us slur our writing skills as much as we slur our speech?