The Jigsaw Puzzle, the Kangaroo Signpost, and the Blind Squirrel

First-year writers at the University of Mississippi compose reflective ePortfolios in which they examine their writing practices throughout the year.  Work on the ePortfolios begins in the first week of the semester.  In my classes, students begin their ePortfolios with a writer’s statement called “Me as a Writer.”  They write a paragraph describing how they see themselves as writers, upload […]

The First Week of School

A new semester has just begun, and I once again find myself struggling to introduce a new group of first-year students to college writing.  This time, I tried to think of a new way to help them understand the necessity of active engagement in a writing class by stressing the difference between content classes and skill classes.  I explained to […]