Category Archives: Teaching Composition

working class and the classroom

Posted on September 16, 2006 by Michael

Like Donna LeCourt, and many other academics, I grew up pretty working class. My dad helps Grandpa run the family farm — in the family for 103 years now, I believe — while also taking on three part-time jobs. Mom … Continue reading →

Posted in Anger, Social Justice, Teaching Composition | 1 Comment

don’t look now but i’m reading more geoffrey sirc

Posted on September 12, 2006 by Michael

Sometimes it seems like Sirc is the only stuff I can stomach. When everything else is ringing of the ridiculous — saying the same thing over and over again only with a new terminology or with a slightly different slant … Continue reading →

Posted in Teaching Composition | Leave a comment

They Say, I Say

Posted on September 8, 2006 by Michael

I just finished reading They Say, I Say: The Moves That Matter in Amademic Writing by Gerald Graff and Cathy Birkenstein. I really appreciate the book’s ability to de-mystify some of the things that happen in academic writing, both for … Continue reading →

Posted in Teaching Composition | Leave a comment

Tryon’s use of blogs in the classroom

Posted on September 6, 2006 by Michael

I just read Charles Tryon’s “Writing and Citizenship: Using Blogs to Teach First-Year Composition,” and I was amazed with how public his course became right away. His first assignment to students was to post a blog post analyzing the rhetoric … Continue reading →

Posted in Blogs in Classrooms, Teaching Composition | Leave a comment

blackboard discussion used to avoid conflict

Posted on September 3, 2006 by Michael

My friend Sarah sent me this link to Bedford St. Martin’s LORE: An E-Journal for Teachers of Writing. The article’s author starts: Classroom discussion tends to drift off–topic no matter how much the instructor tries to control the conversation. Usually … Continue reading →

Posted in Irenicism, Teaching Composition | 1 Comment