The Circle of Life: Mentor Reflection

I told my students that they can think outside the box about who to pick to write their mentor papers about. I was thinking about how Steve Harrington in Stranger Things is such a great mentor to Dustin, and how I would encourage Dustin to write about Steve if he were taking my class. People…

Barbed Wire Redemption: Mistake Essay

“I’d wear a mustache if I were a dude.”

Invention Day #2: Following the Unexpected and Finding a Purpose in My Childhood Reflection

Last week when I went up to the board to show my class how to do a Memory Map exercise, I thought I had a plan of what I was going to discover. I was planning on drawing my white floaty diaphanous curtains and then writing my childhood reflection about laying in bed, staring at…

Using Snapshots to Show not Tell

Today in ENGL 1101 I’m introducing three important skills for helping students show more effectively in their writing. I took these concepts from Laura Harper’s “The Writer’s Toolbox” from Language Arts in 1997. The three main concepts I take from this reading are: Snapshots: using the visual strategy of zooming in on and out from…

New Photo Reflection: Invention Day #1

I’m back to the drawing board with my new assignment: the photo reflection, in which students will pick a photo of themselves that tells a story and then write a description and reflection abiit it. I was sure I would have picked a photo to write about by now, but I truly find the picking…

Relationships, Identity, and Authenticity: Updated Statement of Teaching Philosophy

I decided I needed an updated teaching philosophy on file at work since I’m doing things so different now. I’ll submit it with all the traditional fall semester paperwork this week. This is the long, full version. I’d like to condense it heavily before submitting it, but I really like it as it is! When…