*Belief [bih-leef] n., 1. an opinion or conviction 2. confidence in the truth or existence of something not immediately susceptible to rigorous proof 3. confidence; faith; trust

Are my students’ ideas about writing opinions? Convictions? Impressionable notions of truth that are susceptible to the influence of material proofs? Confidences that could be reinforced or shaken, faith that could be strengthened or disillusioned, trust to be rewarded or broken? I suspect it varies from student to student—maybe even from moment to moment or assignment to assignment. Certainly my own “beliefs” about writing and about teaching writing—my attitudes, pedagogy, impressions, goals—change all the time. At the bare minimum, I think they have believe they must engage in writing in order to pass this class and to be successful at WWU.

 

*Write [rahyt] v., 1. to express communication in writing 2. to fill in blank spaces with writing 3. to execute or produce by setting down words, figures, etc.

Although we’ve talked about writing in different forms of composition, I think my students still don’t totally understand what constitutes writing—the things that make all of them writers—like social media, texting, journaling, letters, etc. To my students all forms of writing beside the academic seem to die to them as they cross the threshold in to the classroom. Pulling out of them their ideas about how images or objects constitute writing—as the execution or production of material—is often like pulling teeth.

 

*Writer [rahy-ter] n., 1. a person who commits his or her thoughts, ideas, etc. to writing

I don’t know what my students say to themselves when they write, but I know what they say to me about being writers. Some tell me that they’re not good writers because they’ve never heard anyone say that they are. Some tell me that that they are good writers because they wrote such-and-such number of essays in senior English. Some tell me about experiences and institutions that have told them that their disabilities or bilingualism or lack of interest in traditional skillsets are obstacles to overcome as writers rather than opportunities to shift the paradigm of what writing and being a writer mean. Time will tell whether their experiences in this class shift their concept of themselves as writers. Time will tell them, at least; I may never know.

 

 

*All definitions taken directly or paraphrased from Dictionary.com