A Sense of Doubt blog post #1905 - UNFREAKING THE FEAR OF ENGLISH - Don't be afraid...
How classes both begin and end because everything is cyclical, the snake swallows its own tail.
Two great writers featured in the next video:
ANNIE DILLARD
and
WALT WHITMAN
THE VIDEO #0
THE VIDEO FOR ALL THE CONTENT BELOW
THE CONTENT THAT FOLLOWS IS FEATURED IN THE VIDEO IMMEDIATELY ABOVE
HELPFUL POST FROM THE INSTRUCTOR'S DESK - UNFREAKING - SUBJECT: Don't be afraid...
Breathe. It's normal for people to be nervous. But the nerves mostly come from a misconception about what we do here.
Students often suffer from a debilitating condition known as
I am here to UNFREAK all of you about English before we proceed with our writing class.
To vaccinate you against this plague of English Fears, let's remember the following
MEDICAL PROTOCOL TO UNFREAK YOU ABOUT ENGLISH
- It's not algebra - English is something you use every day.
Duh, right? Seems obvious.
But not really. Think about it.
How often do you use algebra in a day unless you're a physicist or a math teacher?
Don't get me wrong.
I ADORE algebra. Really.
But having fear of algebra seems more realistic. You don't use it, it's a weird language, and sometimes to some people it seems counter-intuitive.
Not so with English. You use that. You are surrounded by it. You read it, you text it, you hear it, daily. Even if it's not your first language or you live with people who speak Spanish or Chinese, you still experience the English language on a daily basis.
You have TONS of experience with English.
Also, we're writing English more than ever before. Now, don't write academic papers like texts. That's not the point.
The point is to feel comfortable with English. You know it better than you think you do.
- Writing classes are not about your mistakes; they are about helping you to improve your writing skills.
Part of the fear of English comes the mistaken belief that you will be humiliated as all we English teachers do is focus on your mistakes and make you feel like shit about them.
Granted, we English teachers care about good writing; we want you to achieve writing that is clear and correct.
- We are not nit picky about grammar here. Writing correctness is important, but content, organization, and style are more important.
"Errors" are minor things that are easily fixed. When we teach writing, we are more focused on bigger issues like content, purpose, audience, organization, and voice.
I also like humor within the confines of academic standards.
- You cannot learn everything about writing in one semester.
- A writing class is like the Top 100 Album Chart From Rolling Stone magazine - you are at 25 - our goal is to at least get you up to 24th on the chart.
More on this idea below.
AND SO.
I ENCOURAGE.
I respond to writing with a form I call PRAISE SANDWICH!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
I encourage. I will praise you in grade feedback, give advice for improvement, and then end with praise. If I don't follow this model, smack me upside the head.
Praise is just as important as a motivator than advice for improvement.
I do not respond to writing with corrections,
things to fix,
just edits,
what's wrong,
criticism,
constructive criticism,
or any other pejorative concepts.
PRAISE -
- ADVICE FOR IMPROVEMENT -
- MORE PRAISE.
That's what I do.
It's my contract with you. Hold me to it.
FOLLOW THIS MODEL: PFEM
Here's how we study writing and approach a writing class.
Practice
If we just gave you writing assignments, and you did them, with nothing else, your writing would improve.
Writing is like exercise: when learning to play the piano, you know when you hit a bad note.
The more you practice, the better you get, but if you add the other elements to the practice, you will improve even more.
Feedback
We will aid your practice by sharing feedback meant to steer you in the right direction but also increase your confidence with praise.
ADVICE FOR IMPROVEMENT.
It's up to you to take the advice, implement the advice.
Exposure
I share many samples of excellence in writing, (and some flawed examples) even beyond those in our text book, which are the ultimate. Learn from these samples and from each other. Seeing good writing helps you to know what it looks like.
Learning to write means studying writing. Read the writing of others. ANALYZE the writing of others. Read about how to write, elements of writing.
Many people call this kind of work LEARNING.
Motivation
Be motivated. Want to improve. I will try to motivate you because I am "turned up to 11," but I am only part of the equation. If you are not motivated, if you do not put in the hours necessary, you may not succeed.
Want it.
Get after it.
Put in the time.
Together, as ever, as one.
I see a writing class like the top 100 chart at the back of Rolling Stone magazine.
Everyone debuts somewhere on the chart. The goal of a writing class is not to get to number one. The goal is to get from where you debut, say at 25, to 24.
Improvement is the goal.
Learning to write is like learning any language or mastering mathematics. You don't acquire all the knowledge in one short course. It's a life-long journey of learning.
A class exists to improve your skills not equip you with all the knowledge of the subject. Mastery comes through study but never in one course.
No one is up there at number one on the chart. Everyone still has things to learn about writing, even Stephen King, Brandon Sanderson, or Nora Roberts.
Well, maybe not Margaret Atwood... she's pretty perfect. :-)
So just don't think you have to get it all.
You just have to learn and improve and know what else you want to do to improve more.
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| https://ultimateclassicrock.com/70s-rock-albums/ |
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- Bloggery committed by chris tower - 2005.06 - 10:10
- Days ago = 1768 days ago
- New note - On 1807.06, I ceased daily transmission of my Hey Mom feature after three years of daily conversations. I plan to continue Hey Mom posts at least twice per week but will continue to post the days since ("Days Ago") count on my blog each day. The blog entry numbering in the title has changed to reflect total Sense of Doubt posts since I began the blog on 0705.04, which include Hey Mom posts, Daily Bowie posts, and Sense of Doubt posts. Hey Mom posts will still be numbered sequentially. New Hey Mom posts will use the same format as all the other Hey Mom posts; all other posts will feature this format seen here.
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