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I see myself as a social-expressivist in the classroom;a compatible blending of social constructionism and expressivism. I say social constructionist because I want my students to be aware of the world around them and be pro-active in that world. I say expressivist because I am not convinced that every issue and every thought is socially constructed. To me, there has to be a mind's imagination that is simply magical, enchanting, and creative. It would be a very sad, dull world if that were not the case. I stress critical thinking skills to my students; I don't want to teach my students what to think, but how to think. If a student can intelligently evaluate all sides of an issue, and make an informed decision based upon that evaluation, I feel I have been successful as a teacher. I administer the Meyers-Briggs personality test to my students, and while I do not rely solely upon those findings to individualize my teaching, I do utilize the results of the test often to evaluate a student's particular style of learning and writing, and to help me form collaborative learning groups in the classroom. Writing is taught as a process, and I employ a variety of teaching methods including lectures, in-class writings, journals, small group work, hands-on learning, and play in the composition classroom. Play in the classroom ranged from an idea adapted from Lynn Troika;the prison riot simulation game; a role-playing game, out of which came interesting writing, to learning about the revision process with Play Doh.I do not rely completely upon the personal essay in my composition classroom;I challenge my students with essay assignments such as problem/solution, process analysis, and informative; Mini-conferences set up similar to a writing center are held throughout the semester, and the students make great progress in their writing with the frequent one-on-one conferences. |
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