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Prior to beginning this course, I believed that some people have a natural ability to write.  I did qualify that assertion with the caveat that "everyone can finesse his or her writing style and everyone CAN learn to write well." Our primary text, however, refutes the notion that anyone acquires the ability to write genetically.  I now believe that the ability to write well is not "natural" but what distinguishes good writers from great writers prior to any of my instruction (students in my school generally have the same feeder school teachers too) is 1. intrinsic motivation to improve and 2. amount and quality of outside reading.

Collectively, this course has made me a better writing instructor.  When crafting assignments while cognizant of the threshold concepts, I built in more intentional scaffolding exercises and meaningful conferencing and peer editing activities.  Because the Composition course I teach at my school is small and has very intelligent students, I had started to ignore their need for scaffolding without even realizing I was doing it.  I would assume they didn't need help during drafting, for example, when they definitely did and since I have started assisting through every stage of the writing process again, their work has improved and their skills have advanced much more quickly.

Threshold Concepts such as Writing is a Social and Rhetorical Activity caused me to consider every assignment I crafted to make sure I encouraged interaction as well as a targeted, meaningful, relevant audience. Threshold Concept
Writing Enacts and Creates Identities and Ideologies has made me more sensitive as I comment on student papers.  I should give students the benefit of the doubt rather than always equating an unacceptable standard of work with a lack of effort.  The collaboration in this course helped me build upon the Threshold Concept  All writers have more to learn because I was able to take peers' ideas to make peer editing more meaningful and in doing so, hold peers more accountable when examining student work.  Ultimately, this class has helped me most through the threshold concept Writing is (Also Always) a Cognitive Activity.  Student reflection was lacking in my lesson plans.  Through the assignments for this class, I have researched the immense value in student reflection and I have worked in reflective memos and self-assessments which radically improve student metacognition and transfer of learning.

This course also affirmed some assignments I have used which I noticed some of my classmates taking and using such as the Individualized Writing Improvement Plan. It also helped me introduce multi-modal components I had never even heard of previously, including Padlet.

Overall, I have enjoyed this class and I am a better teacher as a result of taking it.  Thank you to everyone for your weekly contributions.

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At six years of age, I lined my baby dolls across my bed in neat rows and columns.  Using a Barbie Doll swimming pool piece as my pointer and my older sister's Writer's Inc book, I launched my career as an English teacher.  Fast-forward to high school, I fell in love with a brown-eyed baby boy born to an acquaintance of mine -- she was my age.  At fifteen, babysitting evolved into part-time parenting and as I continued onto college with an Area in English Education at Murray State University, I decided to make that brown-eyed toddler an official member of my family.  After graduation, I legally obtained guardianship as the young man's biological mother had long since disappeared into a life of drugs and crime.  I moved to Evansville to secure my first teaching position at Central High School and to begin my Master's Degree in Education.  I married a saint soon thereafter and have since faced various adversities and welcomed many more blessings than I could mention.

At Central High School, I taught every level of English over the course of six years, but my passion was AP Literature and Composition. As a teacher, I am known for my rigor and my strong rapport with students even after they graduate.  Writing instruction is a strength of mine, but I attribute much of that to a strong group of students with a genuine love of learning.   You’ll read all about my philosophy of teaching composition on the Padlet below, but I continue to work in education because I love to watch students grow as writers and to see their passion and confidence with writing grow as well.

In terms of my career path, I left the EVSC in 2013 as I grew tired of the bureaucracy and realized my values differed greatly from the leader in power.  I accepted a position at Mater Dei High School where the administration values autonomy and focuses on students rather than the bottom line.  Since complacency is not in my genes, I have continued to pursue my education, earning my principal’s license and now taking these IU classes as a CAP instructor through USI.  After this program, I plan to pursue my doctorate in leadership and I am exploring some online universities for that goal.

Although I am hyper-focused on long-term goals, I make a concentrated effort to enjoy the present.  Every day, all day, I am surrounded by reading and writing.  I begin each day reading scripture and I end each day reading children’s literature to my four-year-old daughter.  In the middle, I read student work and classic literature from class to class and I genuinely love my work.  I am also writing more now than ever before.  My son is currently a Navy recruit at boot camp and I write him daily, but I also write for IU coursework and on student papers and on staff e-mails and on my ever-evolving grocery list…   Ultimately, I hope my legacy as a teacher of composition will be of someone who loved English, loved people, and loved learning.

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Students should always feel welcome to ask questions and initiate discussions; students should feel compelled to develop their thoughts and their individual writing styles.

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A writer who wants to improve his or her writing MUST be an avid reader.  I assign some imitative writing (see attachment for The Things They Carried) All of the essays I assign align with readings.  For example, when we write a compare/contrast essay, we read The Other Wes Moore and when we write our argument essay, we read Dead Man Walking.
Students also benefit from peer feedback when we "workshop" each essay.

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Although I believe some people have a natural ability to write, everyone can finesse his or her writing style and everyone CAN learn to write well. The most effective writing instruction is individualized through conferencing and in my classroom, I use an ongoing assignment called the Individualized Writing Improvement Plan. From essay to essay, students work on recurring weaknesses in their writing.

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Students write differently!  I do not like assignments or rubrics that box students in too much.  I also dislike mandated pre-writing techniques although I am a huge fan of process writing.

I believe every student should have the option to revise every piece of writing.

Timely feedback is SO DIFFICULT as a teacher but also SO VALUABLE!

Every piece of writing (even the dreaded research paper) should allow for student voice and style  (plug for Nancy Dean's Voice Lesson series over diction, detail, imagery, tone, and syntax).

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Students invest more in their writing when they think about an audience beyond the teacher.  I am exploring more digital rhetoric this year and a balance between technical, creative, and traditional composition.

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I agree with Patricia Taylor in her article, "Thinking About a Philosophy of Teaching Composition," when she writes, "Writing is essential for every student because of the powerful correspondences between writing and genuine thinking" and "Writing is the bridge that links all subjects, all discourse." I believe that all students need the ability to write effectively and I believe in a curriculum that focuses on the writing process and individualized instruction. One of the reasons I am a teacher today is because I enjoy watching students grow as writers. As a teacher of composition and of English in general at the high school level, I believe in high expectations and in emphasizing critical thinking with every single assignment.

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Writing conferences are KEY to writing instruction. I teach as much through conferencing as I do through formal lessons. For specific, written feedback, I use the comment feature on Microsoft Word and students submit their work electronically. I avoid generalized comments such as, "Work on syntax" because it fails to acknowledge the HOW. If students knew HOW to use advanced syntax, wouldn't they have already demonstrated that mastery? I also stay cognizant of discussing my suggestions with students so that their final draft stays true to their own voice and does not morph into mine