Instructors modeling student writing

After reading Warnock’s Teaching Writing Online: How & Why, I ponder the traditional experience of a writing classroom where the only instructor generated writing students see are either directive instructions in the form of their class syllabus or writing prompts or the short criticism, compliments, or commentary on paper feedback. Neither of which place the instructor in the role of co-learner or writing model. And, I strongly believe that modeling writing should be a primary task for writing instructors.

I know some instructors here at SFSU do model writing. Joan Wong bravely sits in front of her class with an overhead projector and illustrates the messy, struggling process of writing that very first draft to the writing prompt. And I have heard that Mark Roberge writes papers to his own writing prompts, participating in the writing process alongside his student writers. Both of these give students a first hand experience into how their instructors write. But, this is limited to the essay and draft-writing.

The message board Warnock gushes over, gives a  wonderful opportunity for instructors to model the kind of written brainstorming/dialogue that’s preparatory to any critically thoughtful writing.

Peer Response on New Media Project

I’ve finished my new media project and, while I know peer response isn’t part of the assignment, I’m interested in any feedback on my “composition” you all might be willing to offer – your impressions, commentary, interpretation, critique. Then, if you’re willing, you can give feedback via comments on this post. My first question would be – do you think this is a New Media Composition since less than a handful of the words are mine? ummmm…. what about this:

http://www.wix.com/olioxon/Oliox?orgDocID=Bo%3B%5FHz%5FExUM%2Da&wsess=fwdee4cwaw7%252BO24cLzIN1Tya3EuVj%252FV3vSdytQAOUz%252FHTwpwgEzWcLd7mnLZyaUzzTvuJU4RxhAC7H0tIgDBEQ%253D%253D&gu%5Fid=b5c71c36%2Dc5be%2D4727%2D959a%2D0143f9d39a96&wixComputerID=pLKJ1a0tsfZ%2FvU1kIHpE6zxNxmsZQJFTTdEqtmo7dnXyZ9wFMND49XpZiaWJ353dlsBA1HBPQClcMUOtZ5hd8w%3D%3D&experiment%5Fid=empty&partner%5Fid=WMGs4POB1ko%2Da

All about Resources

While searching for images to create what’s below, I came across a fun mock-up for Blogs that I wanted to share. It has little to do with my posting except to represent the mass production of blogs underway as mentioned by Richardson, (p.19).

As to my posting, since I read the flexknowlogy definition of creepy treehouse, I’ve had a picture in my mind of the label below. So, I went online and with the help of a label making site, some clip art in powerpoint and then my paint program, I managed to create this:

Warning: Creepy Treehouse

For the 30 + minutes it took me to put everything together in the label, work out the kinks of production, I kept thinking there had to be a faster way if only I knew more programs that were available – more free programs. If only I knew the web better, my way around, what’s offered, how to find it – search for it and then know whether I should download it or not. This is web-literacy and it encompasses my personal system requirements – to know what my PC capabilities are, what sites and softwares are safe for download and browsing- not just virus free but they won’t bog-up my system, in addition, determining what words and phrases to use for searching and how to judge content for authority and usefulness. And this is only the Read portion of the read/write web. If I’m still a novice at this half… Let’s just say I didn’t even know that contributors to wikipedia have behind the scenes discussions about what to include and how to organize content (which I find fascinating!). Or that Star Trek has the most impressive wiki-sites out there.

What I’m saying is: I have a lot of catching up to do and I’m not looking forward to the time commitment necessary to come up to speed. The RSS feed alone suggests thousands of scanned pages! And, for all the wonder and thrill of having students compose in online, authentically real environments, I’m resistant to spending Composition class time on web-literacy in order to facilitate text-literacy within online venues.

So, I feel a little like a Jekyll and Hyde character – “Yes, teaching with online resources is awesome!” “No, teaching with online resources is wasteful.” All I can say is that I’m looking forward to some resolution, some formula for compromise that will allow me to incorporate my “web-policy” into a teaching philosophy by the end of the semester… Wish me luck!

Ushering In a New Order for the University

Has anyone else been thinking of the larger ramifications of subsuming new media texts into the composition classroom?  – Not just what it will mean for us in our classes or the shift in and expansion of our field of study as we integrate various fields of study (psychology, depth psychology, communication&media, computer/software programming, art, music, sociology, anthropology…etc.), into our teaching, as our readings showed us this week, in order to accommodate the needs determined by the global direction of the world’s new means of composing meaning and communicating. But what implications our decision might have, what possibilities it might open for restructuring the university? And I don’t mean the difference between face to face and virtual classrooms.

Writing is writing. Or is it?

The potential for incorporating online composing within the composition classroom is about as sexy as comp studies can get. Michael Wesch’s fast paced, youtube video “The Machine is Us/ing Us” gives a taste of the possibilities of finding information on any and all topics in the world while also connecting me with anyone on the planet. All of which, I see as having a guaranteed lasso-effect on student motivation and investment since surfing and interacting online is this generations soda-shop hangout. But I don’t necessarily agree with Lundsford’s determination in “Clive Thomspon on the New Literacy” that the writing students are already doing online is academically skillful. I rather agree with Wiz1764 who posted a comment noting a number of elements missing from his students, regardless of their online usage.