My student’s struggle with writing is the struggle of all writers against that eternal fiend which is ever present: Apathy. I could talk about sentence structure, transitions, reading drafts aloud and so on, but I find these deficiencies all pale in comparison to people’s ability to give a crap about what they are doing beyond […]
Passion
“Good Writing” as Myth
I don’t know when the fear of writing became so widespread amongst incoming undergraduates, but it is certainly something that weighs heavily on the minds of my students. On the first day of classes, I had several students raise their hands when they came to the paragraph in my syllabus that discussed “good writing.” Although […]
Passions First, Writing Second
For first year writing courses, I don’t care if my students leave with a love of English. I want my students to leave impassioned by something, impassioned by anything that they care about. The first step in enjoying reading and writing, in my opinion, is finding a topic or interest that one is invested in. […]
Fun, Passionate, and Practical Learning
One of my most prized teaching approaches and beliefs is the idea that learning can be fun. Obviously, this is a difficult, and sometimes seemingly impossible, but in actuality I really just mean that I prefer more activity-based lessons over lectures. I’ve always enjoyed classes that incorporate more engaging and hands-on activities, and I’ve noticed […]