For my portion outside of the collective reading, I focused in on the sections titled: “You’re Going to Need This for College” and “Anyone Can Teach Writing”. Both of these sections are interesting reads, and I think that they illuminate a couple of interesting points to keep in mind as we move forward. Starting with the first piece, Andrew Hollinger goes over the pitfalls of the teacher falling into rational that centers around something to the tune of, “You’re going to need this college.” Hollinger argues that this answer is a form of passing the buck that does everyone a disservice. He points out that on the whole teachers across spectrums agree about what is important to learn about writing, and that this answer is essentially a lazy way of addressing the students valid questions about the activities they’re engaged in. Teaching doesn’t need to be a magic show, and he underscores this by talking about the need for the teacher to address, specifically, why something may be being taught. By going into a short or long, detailed discussion on why particular styles of citations are applicable (for example) and important, the teacher is better able to explain and encourage the student to learn the material rather than leaving the rationale to the next instructor in line. He also argues that the style of passing the buck essentially ignores the possibility of potential in students. For those who may not attend higher education or get to the setting in which the teacher states, it will make them tune out and not actually learn the information that could be useful to them down the road regardless.

In the article, “Anyone Can Teach Writing” Seth Kahn sets out to explore this topic and its ramifications. His argument is one of access and philosophy. He argues that because of the difficult conditions that adjunct faculty are often put in, that even if they are great teachers and capable that they will not be able to adequately perform the task of teaching writing. There are issues with pay, health insurance, and the bureaucratic structure of higher education, that, for Kahn, stand in the way of anybody teaching writing. He focuses in on the need for these teachers to be taken care of and supported. In his own words, “In its simplest form: Anybody who is trained and supported well and treated like a professional can teach writing.” Instead of the focus remaining there, all too often, the idea that anyone can teach writing creeps in. He reminds us that while it is perfectly fine to strive to teach students better writing, it is also important to not assume that a system that has many flaws in and of itself, a system built on a bad premise, gives the teachers the tools they need to realize writing goals in college.

I think that these portions were interesting to read in conjunction with the pieces that we all covered. I think that they work in conversation with each other and highlight important points. I found that the articles covering the misconception of writing in general and introductory writing courses being aimed at right or wrong, especially when it comes to grammar, particularly interesting. I think that by remembering the messages of those articles and applying them to the ones I have covered sheds some light on important things to keep in mind when moving into the field. By focusing in on the bigger elements in writing and by motivating students to create, we can effectively teach writing. I think that this tactic as well is particularly effective when there is constraints in funding. Regardless of what is available to you, the need to expand their minds on what their writing can involve and how they can do it, I think, can be done with relatively few supplies and amenities. As well, I think that by remembering that they need to create a product to feel as though they are actually being successful at writing, we can keep that forward momentum in the learning process. I think that the obsession with prewriting is too much, and the article going into that was a good reminder to teach the process while still keeping an eye focused on the creation.