How can we extract the kind of writing from each other that all of us would want to read? (We have to do this with our students.)
I don’t know anything
about my classmates. Maybe I would care more to check your blogs if I did. I suggest we start a challenge: Design a post topic that everyone will want to write
about, that will illicit responses that everyone will want to read.
I've seen this work on Reddit (a site for sharing and voting on Internet content). From time to time, a user will propose a question, intended to invite personal responses, and the user (or OP, Original Poster) will begin with an example of his or her own. I like this model. And it seems to be successful.
Here's some examples: (Because I can't vouch for the posted comments, links are NSFW)
The sentence "I never said she stole my money" can mean 7 different things depending on where you put the emphasis. What's your favorite fun fact? (6000 comments, more than 20,000 unique votes)
What are the most intellectually stimulating websites you know of? I'll start. (2600 comments, 25,000 votes)
Throwaway time! What's your secret that could literally ruin your life if it came out? (36,000 comments, close to 50,000 votes)
That last one turned out to be the biggest post in Reddit's history. Clearly, it's too personal for our purposes. So let's meet somewhere in the middle (closer to the fun facts, probably).
I've seen this work on Reddit (a site for sharing and voting on Internet content). From time to time, a user will propose a question, intended to invite personal responses, and the user (or OP, Original Poster) will begin with an example of his or her own. I like this model. And it seems to be successful.
Here's some examples: (Because I can't vouch for the posted comments, links are NSFW)
The sentence "I never said she stole my money" can mean 7 different things depending on where you put the emphasis. What's your favorite fun fact? (6000 comments, more than 20,000 unique votes)
What are the most intellectually stimulating websites you know of? I'll start. (2600 comments, 25,000 votes)
Throwaway time! What's your secret that could literally ruin your life if it came out? (36,000 comments, close to 50,000 votes)
That last one turned out to be the biggest post in Reddit's history. Clearly, it's too personal for our purposes. So let's meet somewhere in the middle (closer to the fun facts, probably).
Hi Eric,
ReplyDeleteWhat a cool idea (re Reddit). Since I've never been on Reddit, I've never seen these threads, but adapting an icebreaker from them seems like one way to bring a class together on the level of personal investment, especially when our blogs are so academically-focused.
Since I don't have any professional experience teaching, I find myself attracted to ideas (like that of a writing community) that I don't know how to implement. But I think it would be fantastic for our group to stay in touch for precisely that reason: we can share practical advice, support each other's class projects (even in very minimal ways, like contributing to page views), and keep each other up-to-date with the latest technologies.
Thanks for the read!
Hey Merit.
DeleteI guess the class wasn't too keen on the ice-breaker. I think though, it's for the best. It would be, ultimately, another artificial device. The effort you're making to read and comment, and share your concerns, I think that't really where I need to start.
I know you're concerned about your lack of experience teaching. Have you ever been part of a writing community? Since I moved to NYC, I've been part of 2 small groups. The meetings were informal, we would share short stories or poems, and then share our thoughts at a cafe. But I learned a lot about how to provide critical feedback. I was reading Louise Rosenblatt (The Reader, The Text, The Poem). I tried to write comments as a reader, rather than a teacher telling them what to "fix."
Your concerns about your lack of experience won't really go away until you start teaching. But, you can certainly try put yourself in positions your students will face, and observe yourself (what works, what doesn't).
I'm not sure this is the practical advice you were talking about. It feels like I'm just lecturing.
One last thing, if you have the time, I'd recommend volunteering to tutor. I think it's a lot easier to make mistakes one-on-one.
Hi Eric,
DeleteI'm sorry--just saw this response! Does Blogger have any kind of alert system that would tell me when someone's responded to a comment of mine on his or her blog? I keep missing things!
Your advice is great. I can use all of it that I can get! I've been part of writing communities in the classroom by default--our senior thesis seminar operated that way, as did some of my creative writing workshops in college. But I've actually been looking for a creative writing group in NYC. Do you think TC has one? Do you have any to recommend?
I've also volunteered / worked as a tutor in writing centers. This has been good prep, but I'm still nervous about teaching--it still seems very different from what I've done before! But I suppose the only way to swim is to jump in the water, so to speak, and I'll figure out if I have what it takes come September. Hopefully we'll all still be in contact then!
Merit,
DeleteFirst, I don't know how that kind of commenting alert works for non-authors. I guess that just puts the pressure on me to respond in a reasonable amount of time, so that you can see my reply.
Your right about the tutoring, it doesn't prepare you. Before I started student teaching, I taught adult ESOL for 4 years. It was my classroom. I designed all the curriculum. And I still felt I wasn't prepared when I entered a high school LA class. Not trying to scare you. Just be forgiving with yourself. You will probably have a few lessons that are an absolute disaster. I'm not saying this from anything I've seen from you in class. What I will recommend is finding reliable support. Lean heavily on your Supervised Teaching of English instructor. Complain and ask their advice. I wish I had taken more advantage of this.
Writer's group: Make a blog post and invite people to submit writing to you. I started writer's groups through Craigslist, expecting a lot of creeps. But really, only people actually interested in writing responded to my posts. You can send your writing to me. I would be happy to read it and share comments (not on the blog, of course).
I think the class IS actually keen on your "icebreaker" suggestion; judging from the posts I have read, people seem to have adjusted your prompt to, "Design a post topic that everyone will want to write about, that will illicit responses that everyone will want to read," AND THEN WRITE IT. In other words, everyone is writing on different topics, but with the main objective of targeting the interests of our classmates (or the presupposed interest of our classmates). You threw the gauntlet. I'm finding much to respond to in the blogs this week.
ReplyDelete