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U N I V E R S I T Y O F P I T T S B U R G H |
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Volume X, Number 2 |
November
2004 |
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U N I V E R S I T Y O F P I T T S B U R G H |
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Volume X, Number 2 |
November
2004 |
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Geeta Kothari, EnglishThe drive to write has to come from within. I spend considerable class time teaching students how to identify and question their own writing process.
My primary interest as a teacher is in writing, which is a central focus in all my classes. My goals and approach in the classroom have been influenced by my work as a tutor. When I tutored, I wanted students to learn how to rely on themselves and draw on their own resources, as well as on learned strategies, when writing a paper. The idea was to avoid creating a situation in which students came to depend on the Writing Center. Similarly, in my classes, I want students to learn how to rely on themselves as critical readers and writers. Thus, I am wary of teaching students, especially at the introductory and intermediate levels of fiction writing, to depend on feedback from their classmates or me. The drive to write has to come from within, especially for the writing majors. While I can’t create this drive in students, I can teach them practices and strategies that will help them to write beyond the classroom while also preparing them for the next class. I spend considerable class time teaching students how to identify and question their own writing process. I try to create a classroom space where someone can ask a seemingly obvious question: “Did you have to learn how to revise or did you just do it? How does that happen?” My composition and creative writing classes integrate regular reading and writing. Published writing provides models that teach students what to read for in terms of narrative, language, style and elements of craft. As they become better readers of literature, they become better readers for each other and for themselves. I have also found that in literature and writing classes the discussions are more productive and interesting when we focus on issues of form before content. This is a challenge, in both classroom settings, because students often do not have time to read closely or more than once; the texts I assign often require a second reading. Therefore, I try to ask questions that will encourage them to explore and examine the readings again. Other effective techniques I use are open-book quizzes in writing classes, and in-class writing exercises in literature classes. | ||||||||||||||||||
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