What I Learned (Final)

     A Guide to Teaching: The Norton Field Guides to Writing, is one of the books we read for graduate school this semester.  I particularly enjoyed reading this book. I learned how to be a better instructor.  While I've been teaching Basic Writing for a number of years, I realized ways to be better.  A section that I particularly enjoyed reading was learning how to better respond to students' essays.  Richard Bullock suggests that instructors should respond like a reader, write personal responses or ask questions in response to students' writing.  This provides a basis to help students revise their essays.  Bullock also suggests limiting our responses on students essays. I am guilty of this.  I would comment in-depth on content and grammar at the same time.  Now I know it is better to limit my response to one area of higher order of concern and then find a major pattern of grammatical error.  Also, by recognizing which stage of the writing process the student is in, it will focus my feedback and minimize the urge to cover too much.

I also enjoyed the diversity of scholarship this semester.  It was a joy to read essays from different ethnic groups and minority writers.  I would have liked to spend more time discussing Mina Shaughnessy's Errors and Expectations.  I still have some questions about her work that I would have liked to discuss.

An essay that I particularly enjoyed reading was Akua Duku Anokye's "Oral Connections to Literacy."  My experience has taught me that many students in Basic Writing do not have the same exposure to print literacy as their counterparts.  Consequently, they rely heavily on their ear to spell words.  Anoyke's essay taught me how to incorporate their linguistic community in the classroom. As I grow as a scholar in the field of Basic Writing, I am discovering that I enjoy analyzing the connection between minority communities, their home language and how this affects their success as first year students.  I have decided I want to research this area.

Having read "Oral Connections to Literacy" was in line with my passion to better understand students with spelling irregularities and it made reading Beyond the "SP" Label: Improving the Spelling of Basic Writers and Learning Disabled Students even more enjoyable.  I love working with students who have spelling errors and this book provided practical strategies and a historical foundation to help me improve the spelling of the students I'll have in Basic Writing classes.  I enjoyed learning the difference between learning disabled and basic writing students. I also learned how various print systems--logographic, alphabetic and syllabary--effect students who speak, read, and write in more than one language.  Then my co-presenters and I virtually compiled our presentation about the book.  All of us contributed equally and only met 20 minutes prior to our presentation.  However because all of us were thoroughly prepared, it made presenting easier.

What was most challenging this semester was writing my literacy narrative.  I had no idea it would be so difficult, but it was.  I wrote three different drafts.  All were equally emotional and honest.  I decided to write my narrative about learning  to read and write Legalese in order to keep my son in my primary custody.  His father had access to more money and made heinous accusations against me.  In the beginning of this process, I didn't know how to articulate my ideas clearly to the court or read and understand the copious amounts of paperwork that go along with filing court applications.  I had to research legal databases, consult with lawyers and prepare court documents.  Once I began understanding how to compose my ideas and present them to the court, getting the court to believe me became easier. 

Even though writing the literacy narrative was emotionally difficult writing out my ideas and working through my confusions on my blog was very helpful.  The blog was mine.  I customized it, used natural language and inserted images and links into my writing.  I decided I wanted my blog to be multimodal as soon as I learned we could personalize it.  I inserted images of me and my son, Gloria Anzadula and images of the books we read in class to engage the reader.  

My blog was thematic: What is Basic Writing?  My quest was to discover who basic writers are and what basic writing is.  Along the way, I learned that students enrolled in basic writing classes have more challenges than students enrolled in Freshman Composition courses.  They have to learn the same material more quickly than students in FYC.  They also have to produce similar essays as their peers, even though many of them enter college with deficits in their learning.  I asked questions on my blog about this and wanted to understand what I could do as an instructor to better help them.  Writing informally gave me permission to be authentic.  I was.  My blog became my journal.  I liked it so much that I will incorporate blogging in my classes.  It will replace a print journal.  It is my hope students will like it as much as me.