This week I’ve been reminded of why I love what I do. I talk to students all day about their struggles with writing. This week, I talked to a high school student who’s old enough to be a sophomore but is still categorized as a freshman. With his creativity and quiet curiosity, this kid has stolen the hearts of my […]
I recently reviewed a book called Remixing Composition: A History of Multimodal Writing Pedagogy by Jason Palmeri. Among other things, the book made me think about what “multimodal” actually means, why it matters to teaching writing, and what we’re supposed to do with it moving forward. One of the most important things I took away from it is that multimodal […]
Next Monday, 8 a.m., is my favorite teaching moment of the year, the first class on the first day of college for my students. They shine with bright expectations of the adventure ahead. This year I will shine, too, with expectations of how I can help them see themselves not just as students, but as writers. I started thinking about […]
I love it when the writing consultants get excited. Peer writing consultants, our close links to students we serve, often have a better sense of what their peers need from the writing center than we do. The most successful writing centers have consultants who are engaged with and invested in the writing center’s mission, actively participating in the running of […]
At the beginning of my teaching career, I was very fortunate to work with great colleagues who served as great mentors for me. One professor and I discussed how to incorporate valuable teaching moments. He referred to it as teaching grammar within context by giving “micro” or “mini” lessons. This term quickly brought back memories of studying the works from […]