Ask MetaFilter questions tagged with writing and teaching

Short passages of particularly strong or weak nonfiction prose?

cymru_j — Sat, 17 Oct 2009 08:04:34 -0800

In search of short passages of especially strong or weak nonfiction prose! I’m hoping to build a composition class around short examples of effective and in effective writing. I'm thinking of passages of about 1-6 sentences.

We'll look at excerpted passages as a class and analyze what makes them more or less effective. Maybe we'll even try rewriting them in various ways to note the effect.

Passages from well-loved (or well-hated) prose stylists are very welcome, but bonus points for writing whose quality seems surprising or out of context, i.e. poor writing where one might expect strong (from a respected magazine, author, columnist) or good prose that pops up in off-beat venues (blogs, advertising copy, tabloids, etc.).

Any comments on why said prose is effective or ineffective are also welcome.

Thanks very much, guys!

Online writing system?

cymru_j — Sun, 26 Jul 2009 13:50:49 -0800

Online systems for writing teachers? I am a college writing instructor, and I've been asked to preview the following system for possible adoption in my classroom: http://www.mycomplab.com/newtour/index.html.

This is new turf for me, and I'm not sure what to think.

The benefit of the system is its inclusiveness; it's a one-stop shop for students' writing needs: grammar help, online paper submission and more. It also seems to be a potential boon for instructors, since it allows them to provide feedback on student work efficiently.

That said, my concern is that it might be unwise to adopt something so monolithic. If the system breaks down, the entire course effectively grinds to a halt.

Then again, I don't want to be resistant to electronic resources. Though I do use Blackboard, it's only one aspect of the course, and I'm wary of going all electronic (unless, of course, the system is superb).

Questions:
- Have you used this or a similar system?
- How does this particular system look to you?
- I'll be meeting with a rep who'll demo the system. What kinds of questions should I ask at that meeting?

Thanks in advance!

Another composition question

puckish — Wed, 18 Feb 2009 11:34:38 -0800

Help me come up with better models!! (re: essays and argumentation) I have a roomful of freshman comp students, and I'm trying to teach them how to "put texts together" -- specifically, critical texts taking up specific real-world issues (right now, it's academic freedom in the classroom). They get how to move from global to specific -- giving a sense of the argument as a whole, and then choosing ONE thing they want to talk about. This is fine. What I'm having a problem with is getting them beyond the compare / contrast structure, and toward, you know, actual arguments. This is basically how they go right now:

"X and Y say it's important to look at multiculturalism in the classroom in these ways. When we look at what they say, we learn that it's really important to look at multiculturalism in the classroom."

I'm trying to give them different models for structuring their papers, but I'm having a hard time brainstorming useful examples (also really tripping up on the metaphor of "conversation") This is what I have on scratch paper.

Example 1: Description
“X is true” (X being your thesis, loosely cribbed from Critic 1, for why diversity in the classroom is a good thing) “This is why X is true (Critic 1's argument)” "This is how X differs from Y" (Critic 2's argument) → a "proof" that's actually a summary, where you’re not actually being asked to make any kind of independent claim

Example 2: Point / counterpoint
“If X is true” (X being whatever argument Critic 1 makes about academic freedom in the classroom) “this is what we learn by comparing it to Y” (Y being what Critic 2 has to say about it) → a slightly nuanced version of Example 1, but where the point is to contextualize, rather than compare -- works well when the critics supposedly "agree" with one another (letting them tease out differences) -- not so well when the critics obviously disagree

Example 3: Doing a close reading
“Critic 1 says Z about academic freedom in the university” (Z being a specific claim or argument IN THE TEXT). “This is how Critic 2 interpets X’s statement – or similar statements.” (again, looking at a similar bit of text “This is what I have to say about the difference” → also a compare / contrast, but focusing on tone, word choice, stylistic differences --> lets them work mainly with block quotes, gets you away from broad "gist" generalizations

You see the problem. Maybe this is making it too complicated? What I told them that DOES seem to make sense is really simple: "What do we learn from reading your paper that we don't just learn from reading the essays?" But I think that just made them concerned.

Help? I KNOW there are people on this site who are better at this than I am. Put your pedagogical caps on, and help fix my examples!

Examples of teaching drawing or writing in Second Life?

zainsubani — Wed, 10 Dec 2008 09:46:37 -0800

I will shortly be introducing a friend of mine to Second Life. She's an academic, and will be most interested in locations in SL that are related to the teaching of art (especially drawing and cartooning) and the teaching of writing. I would be most grateful for any suggestions anyone might have of locations we could visit.

Salvaging freshman comp?

puckish — Wed, 12 Nov 2008 00:03:36 -0800

Help me to not suck at teaching! (focus on analytic reading) I'm halfway through my first semester teaching freshman comp. I'm great at one on one workshops, talking through essays, giving feedback. What I'm not so good at is getting them to be excited about the reading. Enthusiasm might be a bit much -- but you know, curiosity? Interest? They're bright kids, but sometimes they look at me as if I'm in the process of slowly driving a stake through the heart.

What I'm mostly concerned about:

1. Basic participation -- getting people to actually DO THE READINGS, so that they can actually talk meaningfully about the texts. Short of mandatory participation (which I think kind of defeats the point), what's the best way to get the level of participation that *is actually mandatory* for good discussion?

2. Making class discussion meaningful-- What happens when they want to talk about how this relates to the movie they saw last weekend?

3. Gauging how much I should actually care about this?

I'm really interested in hearing from other people who have concrete improvement stories -- I've got lots of examples of "great teachers I've had" that I can draw on, but that doesn't really help in figuring out how to replicate this yourself, you know?

What you might need to know:

1. The class is structured around 3 essays, in which they gradually integrate more sources into their essays, and develop their own arguments based on the texts we're reading. The texts are a mix of popular (New Yorker) style criticism and more concrete academic work - Susan Sontag, Anthony Appiah, etc. Strong emphasis on "current affairs"

2. Most of the problems (in class and in papers) have to do with analytic reading -- getting them to sit through, parse, and then use arguments from other texts. In other words, writing is not strictly the problem (though I'm mining this post and this post for advice)

3. Not surprisingly, nobody likes this class. Including the grad students who have to teach it. We try to suppress this as much as possible, but it's pretty much a given that by the second week, they've figured this out. This, I understand, is a problem.

Thanks in advance!

How to fill 70 minutes of in-class writing time?

toomuchkatherine — Wed, 10 Sep 2008 14:08:17 -0800

Help a freshman comp teacher out! I need a fun writing exercise to fill 70 minutes of class time. I'm teaching freshman comp. The students are not stellar but they're all right, though most of them hate writing (and see it as drudgerous and formulaic). The three main assignments I have to give them this semester include a process essay (basically a how-to article), a short research paper, and an essay on a novel. We also have a textbook but they seem to hate it, and I can't say that I blame them much.

Tomorrow we have a fairly free day; on the syllabus I inherited, it just says "in-class writing exercise." Actually it says "timed writing exercise." Either way, I need to fill 70 minutes of class time with writing, or writing and group work...and I'd like to make it fun, because we haven't been having enough fun in class lately, and I think that anything I can get them to do to enjoy writing and use it to explore their thoughts and feelings will be useful.

Any comp-teacher ideas?

Where Can I Find Self-Reflective Profiles?

themadjuggler — Tue, 08 Jul 2008 11:27:42 -0800

Where can I find examples of profile-writing that say as much about the profiler as the profilee? This year I will be leading a publication project with my ninth-grade English language arts classes in which they profile members of their community (local artists, musicians, shopkeepers, civil workers, etc.). Hopefully, my students will be able to look at these people's accomplishments/struggles and think about who they want to be in the future and how they will contribute to the community themselves. I want them to strike a balance between writing about their interviewees and writing about themselves, but I can't think of any good works of this genre to use as model texts.

My students have a wide range of academic abilities including some with special needs. There is a significant proportion of English language learners, as the school is in a largely Hispanic neighborhood of Brooklyn. At the very least, we will look at Sandra Cisneros's vignettes in The House on Mango Street, and perhaps Ernesto Quiñonez's Bodega Dreams.

What are your best suggestions for this group of young writers?

How can I improve my students' writing?

obliquicity — Thu, 08 Nov 2007 20:34:14 -0800

How can I help students improve their writing via comments on written assignments? I am an art history professor with plenty of experience teaching art history and no experience teaching writing skills. At the moment, I'm primarily teaching undergrads -- mostly juniors and seniors. I grade my students' written assignments on the quality of their prose as well as that of their content, and generally make corrections on their papers to grammatical, spelling, and punctuation errors. But the larger issues -- organization, sentence structure, etc. -- I generally just note with an "awkward," or similar short, not-particularly-instructive comment. I'd like to be able to give them more than a critical response and a suggestion to use the writing center (that they inevitably don't follow up on).

After the first assignment in any given class, I usually make a handout that addresses common problems, such as: the use of broad generalizations to introduce or conclude the paper; lack of proofreading; citations and appropriate sources; etc. (I find they vary from class to class, otherwise I'd hand this out with the syllabus.) But again, these categories of problems are more straightforward than the organization/sentence structure/logic problems I feel like I'm failing to address.

Last semester I tried asking students to hand in an outline of their final paper (something an undergrad prof of mine did, and that I found incredibly useful as a student learning how to write long papers), but I discovered that I was pretty terrible at addressing some of the problems their outlines presented. Basically, if a student demonstrates an inability to create logical arguments, I don't even know where to start helping them address that issue. While my front-page question is about written comments, I do have a mandatory meeting with my students once a semester, so in theory I could also address these concerns in person.

Is this something that people who teach freshman-comp-type classes are taught how to do? Is there a book you'd recommend? Or am I crazy for trying to teach my students writing skills that they should have learned in those freshman comp classes, and should I just stick with the "awkward"s and let them sort it out?

Help me find images with some mystery.

argybarg — Thu, 28 Jun 2007 08:21:24 -0800

Please help me find some good mysterious images for students to write to. I like to have my 4th-grade students write to images that demand an explanation, but at the same time seem at least a bit open-ended. I put up the picture on the screen, they write. Any images you can share with me? (And please share links, so I can find the highest-res image possible.)

What are the best recent articles on immigration?

josh — Wed, 11 Apr 2007 06:50:36 -0800

Help me find illuminating, educating, eye-opening articles on immigration for a class I'm teaching at the Kennedy School of Government. I'm teaching a workshop next week for policy students who are writing about immigration. I'd like to find a small collection of truly superlative articles on immigration--immigration *anywhere*--from popular press sources: anything from Slate to Time to The Economist to the NYT, the New Yorker, the Atlantic, and so on.

My students study immigration of all kinds and all the issues associated with it: refugees, brain drain, unskilled workers, highly skilled workers, remittances, immigration and culture, immigration and language, immigration and children.... I'd like to put together a wide range of great articles on everything from the technocratic problems of managing immigration to the experience of being an immigrant.

What have you read that's really opened your eyes, amazed you, or educated you about immigration?

Hand writing and note-taking

Knigel — Tue, 24 Oct 2006 21:36:09 -0800

I am an ESL teacher, and I have several types of classes; however, I have one problem, my handwriting looks as if I were a five year old scribbling with a crayon. So I am curious if anyone might have any suggestions on getting better at handwriting and printing for someone who doesn't have time to go to a course. Also, a second related question, are there any ideas for making conversation corrections? When my students are speaking, I write down various things that they are saying, and make various corrections, or simply offer alternatives, or local dialect. What are some of the most effective and useful ways to do this? If there are any people who have spent any time learning other languages, what ahs helped you most? Thank you all in advance.

Teaching Blogging to Writers

clairezulkey — Fri, 01 Sep 2006 11:00:00 -0800

OK, I'm teaching a 3-hour seminar on blogging--to be specific, it's not about the technical aspect, but for writers hoping to use a blog to promote and enhance their own writing. What should I be sure to touch upon? I'm working on my outline for the course and what to say on each topic but I want to make sure I don't miss anything. Based on your own writing blogs or the great ones out there, are there any topics or tips I should be sure to include? I'm nervous as hell! I could probably impart all this information easily IN a blog post, but faccia-a-faccia is freaking me out.

Here is the description of the course:

In this seminar, you will learn about:

* How to come up with blog material
* What writing works best for your blog vs. freelancing/short stories
* Building an audience and promoting your blog
* Not letting your blog run your life
* Using your blog to brand yourself and your writing
* The community of blogging: links, comments and real life

Many thanks in advance!

Help me design a course on writing

josh — Tue, 22 Aug 2006 05:12:11 -0800

This September I'll be teaching a workshop on writing skills at Harvard's Kennedy School of Government. Help me design and choose some great readings for the course! Students at KSG are in one of two programs: Masters in Public Policy or Masters in Public Administration. I've been working with them for the past year one-on-one, and they have a variety of writing tasks to perform: they write, for example, op-eds, memos, emails, academic papers, policy analysis documents, and synthetic summaries of extant research. All of them are very smart and very motivated. Every week they are reading The Economist, the WSJ, the NYT, Foreign Affairs, and so on. A lot of them are former consultants or have previously worked in a business environment.

The workshop will meet every week for about 75 minutes. I'm anticipating that different students will come on different weeks, although some students may be coming every week. I'm envisioning something like this:

- 1-30: Presentation on a particular writing strategy or challenge;
- 30-60: Workshopping of one or two pieces of student work;
- 60-75: Q&A about grammar and style.

Ideally, I'd like to present the students with some examples of really great and really bad writing from the world of news, politics, and public policy. I’ll be focusing on what I’ve perceived as weak points in the typical student’s writing arsenal. For example, I’ll be presenting on:

- common logical fallacies and failures of argument (e.g., the genetic fallacy);
- avoiding mixed metaphors, and using metaphor and simile effectively;
- dialectical argument;
- organization in memos, op-eds, and academic papers;
- using humor;
- using storytelling;
- using statistics;
- writing for oral presentation vs. writing for reading.

So, that’s the course so far! What I’m looking for are great (or horrendous) readings that relate to this kind of writing (either reading about writing, or examples of great writing). What are some truly great op-eds, for example, that you’ve admired? What are some sources for consistently shoddy writing? I’m also really interested in your personal experience with this kind of writing. What’s made you a better writer? What are some important problems or strategies that you use as a writer? As I’m just organizing the course now, I’m interested in hearing about everything. The more the better.

What essays for freshman composition?

wheat — Thu, 27 Jul 2006 12:37:04 -0800

Pimp my freshman composition class: what essays would you put on the syllabus? The fall semester is rolling around again. Our college uses one of those custom published text books, for our first-semester freshman composition class. I've never been very happy with the selections (and the lack of support material). There are a few favorites which will surely make the list, but I'm interested in your opinions about other essays, classic and contemporary. The emphasis of the class is essay writing and using secondary sources. The reading focus is non-fiction. These are junior college kids, if that matters to you.

Here are some things I've used in the past and will probably use again: MLK, Jr.'s "Letter from Birmingham Jail," Orwell's "Shooting an Elephant," Lars Eighner's "On Dumpster Diving," Joan Didion's "On Morality," and Olaudah Equiano's "Interesting Narrative."

Pieces dealing with political/ethical quandaries are okay, but I don't want to turn it into a political science class. I also would like to convey that political/ethical opinions come in lots of flavors--not just the polarized versions presented on the cable new shows.

What should I use for a blog in my classroom, and why?

fionab — Wed, 31 Aug 2005 15:53:47 -0800

Blogging in the classroom. I've decided to set-up a blog for my students this semester. This will be the place for their response papers, writing exercises and a few other tidbits. It needs to have access for 5-10 members, a very easy set-up, free-to-near-free pricing (although I would pay or find the dollars to fund if it was warranted), and very clear posting/linking instructions for the students. Advice on selecting a blogging system needed. What should I use?
- Blogger has a free version, with "team blog" as an option, and it looks like a Microsoft Word plug-in or something. This looks pretty attractive. What is the downside of Blogger? Privacy? Ads? The searchbar? Support?

- Moveable Type has educational pricing at $40 for my needs, but is it rather difficult to install, customize, set-up, etc.? I don't know anything beyond very basic HTML; I'm pretty techno-savvy [as in, I can do lots of stuff on computers and other gadgets but no programming] so I could follow instructions, but as the semester has already started, I don't want to put oodles of time into this. Is there a way to have it ready-to-go for me instead?

- I use TypePad for my (currently neglected) blog, so I'm familiar with their process and keys, but don't see how it would work for our class right now. Could it? With 5+ members?

- What about Drupal?

- What else should I consider? I found this old thread, but I know that the last year-and-a-half has been busy in the blogging industry and educational blogging. What do I need to know about blogging with my class? Dangers? Advice? Good grades for all who respond!