June 2010 Archives

...effective writing depends on desire. - Jamey Gallagher, "As Y'all Know": Blogs as Bridge TETYC, March 2010

Desire. I'm a writing teacher and inconsistent writer, an identity that troubles me when I'm not chin-deep-distracted with student papers. I write hundreds, even thousands of words each day, but not to be published. I write for one student at a time--in margins and emails and Moodle pages. Sound familiar?

I'm an industrious and creative adjunct writing instructor, but does my teaching count as writing craft? I don't think so. All the marginal comments I've ever written don't add up to a body of work. My fiance, a freelance writer, reminds me of this about once each semester. He's right.

Ever since I heard Leif Enger talk about writing Peace Like a River in the wee hours of the morning, just an hour or 2 each day before going to work, I've wished that I could carve out this same kind of time to write. I want to write a book. I want to write articles (though as an adjunct I'm not pressured to publish as my tenure-aspiring colleagues are). I want to be reviewed and considered. I have something to say. But my Desire runs shallow. Or does it?

In Clueless in Academe, English professor and former MLA president Gerald Graff emphasizes the idea of "inviting" students into academic discourse. This idea is fundamental to everything that I do as a college instructor. My teaching philosophy is driven by the need to invite and encourage students. The following forthcoming article fits into this invitation theme and deals directly with the kind of blogs that my students are writing.

In September, Computers and Education will publish "Using blogging to enhance the initiation of students into academic research" by Eddy K.M. Chong. I'd like to read this article right now, since so far I've struggled to find much writing on the idea of blogs as research tools. When I designed this assignment I had just this "initiation" in mind.

Juniors and seniors in college (like those enrolled in my Advanced Writing class) are not beyond initiation as it relates to topic selection, research, and using sources effectively. They're savvy thinkers and critics, yes. But they struggle to generate good research questions, navigate library databases, and to avoid plagiarism.

Still, I like to think of what I offer in my advanced writing courses as, well, advanced initiation. Perhaps an ongoing public "inquiry" blog could help with this initiation process?

Most of my students have now created and published their first blog entries. Some are stellar; others are awkward; still others are missing altogether. But overall, I'm pleased.

Before I get further into evaluating the progress of this blog project with my students, I wanted to explain the assignment. I'm calling this the Inquiry Blog Assignment.

What kind of blogs are we writing?

We are writing blogs to encourage ongoing research and idea development on our individually chosen research questions/topics. By having students write these blogs, I'm playing with Wendy Richmond's idea of blogs as big cardboard boxes--to collect and synthesize materials and thoughts, to ultimately reflect upon (and SHARE) a work in progress (see this entry for more on Richmond).

I love the idea of using these blogs as living annotated bibliographies. But I encourage students to treat the blog as a weekly evaluation of their own current thought on their topics, as well as a weekly digest of research they found that week. I encourage students to describe, interpret, and respond to research materials. I ask them to critically assess their own evolving views on their chosen topics. These blogs also function as thesis-seeking tools.

I'm trying to replicate this very process in this blog--my own inquiry blog. I'm working alongside my students. My research topic is obvious: blogging with students... will it work? what's the most effective way to blog with students? what will my students teach me in this process? what will I change for the next time around?

But a blog, because of its nature, gives permission--even encouragement--to share work-in-progress. --Wendy Richmond, artist and educator, "Blogging with a Different Perspective"

As a writing teacher, should I be blogging? Should my students blog? What kinds of Blogs will we write?

Blogging gets a bad rap: too easy, unedited, self-absorbed, for naught, irrelevant, and ranty. Not to mention the sheer saturation of blogs, blogs everywhere.

But I read blogs, and I'm drawn to them. I'm drawn to the sharp, rich, well-written ones (and to those with fantastic imagery). I like that blogs serve writers and readers all at once and immediately. You write a blog entry; I read it; I comment; you comment; I start my own blog; you link it; and so on. Even if realistically a blogger has very few readers, the possibility of any reader at all is intoxicating. I'll come back to this "intoxicating" idea in a moment.

What's this blog all about? I want to know if blogging will work, for me and for my students. I'm going to blog about blogging (and my students blogging) until I'm satisfied that I've reached some good answers. And then I'll let the blog evolve into a new project, storing the filled cardboard "blog" box away to make room for a crisp, empty one: A New Blog.

But this is my blog for now. I can't wait to pack it.