Retake 20

Yesterday afternoon I was filmed to appear in a documentary entitled “Retake 20”. The film is being modeled after another entitled “Take 20” - a short documentary directed by Todd Taylor from the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill. The initial hour-long film centers around the responses to 20 questions posed to 22 scholars in the field of composition and “captures a corner of an ongoing conversation about current practices, changing conditions, and emerging ideas around the teaching of writing” (Bedford/St. Martin’s).

“Retake 20” intends to complement and expand upon the dialogue opened in Taylor’s work by offering a platform for the often unheard, commonly muffled voices of part-time and contingent faculty who currently teach 75% of all first year writing courses in institutions of higher learning across America. The film is expected to premiere at the 4C’s conference in Louisville in March.

Here are the questions I was asked to answer, along with a sketched version of my response:

Q: What do you remember about your first time teaching?

A: I remember my apprehension and my intense awareness that teaching was probably the most out-of-character thing I could have chosen to do (I had, and still have, a strong aversion to attention from large groups of people). I also recall the very small age gap between myself and my students. The average student was 18-19 years old and I had just turned 21. As a result, it took a good five minutes for me to quiet the class and convince them that, yes, I was their instructor. More than anything else, I recall an innate fear that one day the Fraud Police were going to burst through the door of my classroom and drag me off stage with an over-sized Charlie Chaplin cane. After all, who really has any idea what they’re doing that first semester – there was so much trial and error involved before I came to a place where I began to feel that maybe, just maybe, I was starting to get the whole teaching thing right.

Q: What are the aims of your writing course?

A: The principal aims of my writing course are a) to assist students in finding out that writing can be…gasp… fun. b) assist students in finding their individual voice as a writer. c) assist students in understanding the role writing plays as a tool for thinking, and processing the world(s) they live in. d) assist student in increasing their confidence in their skills as writers and communicators. d) assist students to walk away from the class feeling deeply proud of at least one of the pieces they wrote during the course of the semester.c.) HAVE FUN!

Q: What is the biggest surprise about teaching writing?

A: I am surprised every single day by my students’ capabilities

Q: How do you organize your course syllabus?

A: I take each day and each class session as it comes. I determine assignments and the pace of assignments based on the needs of each class as a whole.

Q: In what ways are the realities of your job as an adjunct different from or the same as what you expected?

A: I can’t say I went into it with specific expectations. Adjuncting is what it is. You do it because you love to teach, even if it means you are rewarded with meager wages.

Q: What is the one thing that every adjunct writing teacher should know?

A: Every adjunct should know exactly what drives them to take on the position they have assumed. If you can’t identify and intrinsically know and be in touch with the passion you have for what you do on a daily basis, you should reconsider why you’re doing it to begin with.

Q: How do you create a writing assignment?

A: I base assignments on the interests of the students, on the needs, and skills, and strengths, and goals of the class. I strive to create an atmosphere where my students’ strengths are highlighted, and I attempt to do the same in creating writing assignments – while at the same time enabling students to practice improving the areas in which they may be lacking.

Q: How do you address process and product?

A: 90% process. 10% product. As important as the final product is, the struggle and joy are in the process. There is no product without process. This is so for all areas of life.

Q: What do you wish you had been taught in grad school but weren’t?

A: There was a time when I wished I had been taught how to teach, but now I am grateful that I wasn’t. Not being taught how to teach has forced me to conduct my own process of trial and error, figure out what works and what doesn’t, to be the student and let my students be the teachers, to figure out who I am as a facilitator and how I can best provide for my students. Had I simply been told all of these things, I wouldn’t have found my own way or found a that works best for me and for the person I am.

Q: How do you respond to student writing?

A: Always in pencil. I consistently remind my students that an author can feel finished with a piece of writing, but no piece of writing is ever finished. Therefore, my marks and feedback should be as temporary as the stage they are at in their writing process. Every aspect of creation is in a constant state of being “revisable” and I want my erasable marks to reflect that temporality.

Q: What have you learned from your students?

A: The question should instead be “What haven’t you learned from your students?” I learn from them every day.

Q: How has technology (re)shaped your teaching?

A: Although I have taught online before and used blogs as a way to supplement the ongoing discussions occurring in the traditional classroom, the largest impact upon instruction would have to be email. When I was a student, my professors were available to me when they were standing before me – email had not fully come into the fore as an acceptable mode of communication between students and teachers. It was more typical for me to seek out my professors face-to-face than to pose my inquiries in an email. As an instructor today, however, I am able to make myself available to my students sixteen hours a day – they know they can email me if they have questions, require feedback, or want to schedule a time to meet. This makes me more available to them, and I hope it gives them the sense that even if they’re sitting alone in their dorm room at 8:00pm having difficulty with a piece that’s due the next day, they’re not entirely alone.

Q: What textbook/reader do you use and what guides your decision?

A: The Norton Field Guide to Writing with Readings and Handbook. I just adopted this text this semester, so only time will tell if the decision I made was a sound one; I chose it because it’s versatile, nicely organized, and all-inclusive.

Q: What scholar/theory informs your classroom practice?

A: I don’t rely on theory to inform my classroom practice. The simple adage “Do unto others as you would have others do unto you” is the principle that informs the dynamic of the classes I teach. A successful writing classroom environment requires kindness, respect, and an open mind. A class devoid of even one of these qualities creates a recipe for disaster.

Q: How do you stay current with best practices in writing instruction?

A: I feel that the the most effecitve to stay current with best practices is writing instruction is to stay current and in tune to my students’ needs and lifestyles. If I am not in tune to the way they live and what they are immersed in outside of the classroom, it’s difficult to create connections with them and between them. When that connection is absent, very little real learning occurs.

Q: What’s the most exciting thing you’ve done recently in your classroom?

A: Placed more control in the hands of the students. I have begun to offer them choices when we have the time and flexibility to do so (ex: “Do you need more time to work on this particular assignment, or are you ready to move onto something new?" "Would you like to continue this conversation next class, or should we talk about _____?”). I want them to see that this is THEIR class, not mine, and that they are in control of their own learning and advancement.

Q: How do you approach or address issues of plagiarism in the classroom?

A: I approach the topic of plagiarism as a teaching tool to assist students in better understanding and respecting the reasons for citation standards and formats. (First, define plagiarism – talk about what it is, why it happens, how to avoid it, etc. Then, explain why we cite and why and when certain formatting types are used. Finally, show how to use formatting types when conducting research and incorporating citations into a work.)

Q: What’s on the horizon for writing instruction in the 21st century?

A: With language being as organic as it has proven to be, I believe we are on the brink of a major evolution in English language usage. With the advent of social networking sites, IM, and texting, the way we use language is rapidly shifting. I believe writing instructors must be in tune to these changes and willing to address them in the classroom.

Q: What is the biggest challenge you face in your teaching?

A: Trying to help students to wipe the slate clean. Many students come to class with negative experiences from past English courses, as well as negative impressions of themselves as writers. My biggest challenge is in getting them to open their mind to a new experience, and open their hearts to the possibility that writing can be something they can be good at, and that they can enjoy doing. 

Q: What--if anything--would improve the conditions of your job?

A: Because a large percentage of adjunct instructors cannot survive on an adjunct salary alone, most of us supplement our incomes with second and even third jobs. Sometimes these secondary commitments deter us from focusing on teaching and teaching alone. Better pay would enable us to do perform at our maximum capacity.

Q: What’s next for your career as a writing teacher?

A: I don’t know. I ask myself that same question regularly. The one thing I am sure of is that teaching, despite it being the most out-of-character thing I have ever undertaken, has somehow seeped into my blood. I hope that no matter where I end up, or what I do, I will always be teaching in some form.