My writing experience throughout my academic career is mostly the neglect that Gere talks about. The only time I ever received really any attention at all to my writing like Gere talks about was in my English 102 that I took last semester. Even at UW-Madison no class took the time you really sit us students down to discuss our writing as to how to become more successful writers. Even when I was an English major at the time, writing papers all the time. The only thing that was ever stressed for what they saw as effective writing was the importance of a thesis sentence and format. My freshman year I took what was supposed to be the Madison equivalent of Milwaukee’s 102 was a speech writing class. Yes, I took a speech writing class even though I am pretty sure I would never in my life give a speech where such a class is needed. In this class, the importance lied in the actual giving of the speech and not really even the writing of the speech. I do have to say that that class was absolutely awful in that it gave me absolutely nothing for my college-learning career.
But where I do believe writing extra curriculum like Gere talks about needs to happen this most is in high schools. This is where writing really starts for students and they begin to find the voice inside themselves. As important as it is, writing in high schools is almost not talked about. I pretty much had no idea how to write at a college level when I first got into college because I was not taught how to do it in high school. As I sit here trying to think of any writing activities or teachings given to me in high school I come up blank. At my high school it was pretty much just not so important as part of the English curriculum to have writing in there. This is another reason why I want to go into English teaching is so that other future students do learn how to write before getting into college and not after like I had to.
The whole notion that I thought of myself as an actual true writer really did not sink in until probably the middle of my sophomore year. I realized one day that after writing a great number of papers for classes that I am not only a writer, but thought of myself as a pretty good one too. I even realized that I do some degree enjoy writing papers, especially English papers when I argue about something in a book that I just read. Even last semester at 102, I am really proud of my paper and wish that others would read it. The notion of being a bad writer I don’t think was ever assigned to me by a teacher of even myself. It was more that I did not know how to write effectively because I was never taught or talked about it as discussed earlier.
I had sort of had a epiphany like this my first year here at UWM. I had never been challeneged with my writing until my 102 class. I spent many nights up stressing about this class, worrying that my professor was going to fail my research project because i wasn't a skilled writer. I suddenly felt that all those english classes i thought i had done so well in in high school had done nothing for me. I wasn't prepared for something like a 102 class. I had the hardest time trying to learn how to think critically. I constantly thought to myself how did i make it here, yet i'm lacking the skills that i need to write in a college english course. I soon realized that all those classes i took in high school weren't worried about anything but how i structured my paper. the actual writing wasn't important enough to the teachers. I think teachers in high schools and even middle schools need to take a few ideas from college professors. When teaching an english class they shouldn't only be focused on if the student is writing their paper in the correct format, but they should also be focusing on the contents of the paper and discussing with the students what could be done to improve their writing.
ReplyDeleteI can definitely relate to the high school experience you had. I did not learn true writing skills until i got into college, and a teacher pretty much took me under her wing to help me. I too also thought i was a bad writer or not a writer at all. Due to a situation in high school, i had a specific teacher that put down my writing any time she had the chance. Coming out of it though college is what really helped me become a true writer. I totally agree with you that extracurriculum needs to start in high school. Kids do need to start building the tools they need in middle school, but I think it’s most important in high school, to get them ready for college. so if I had to ask you one question, what was the reason for you to become a teacher?
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