With class enrollment quickly approaching, hear from Dr. Erin Workman on WRD 540: Teaching Writing, the course that she will be teaching this Winter Quarter 24. Here, Dr. Workman offers her insights into this year’s installment of the class and what students can look forward to. We delve into an in-depth exploration of what this course entails, its recent modifications, and the myriad of opportunities it opens up for its students.
Course Overview
Join our WRD 540 community to learn more about current approaches to teaching writing that center antiracist and antiableist teaching practices. Through engaging with composition studies research and scholarship, composing multimodal projects, facilitating class discussion and activities, observing a writing class in action, responding to and assessing sample student work, and designing course materials, you will develop a robust teaching portfolio complete with your own theory of writing and teaching philosophy.
What has changed in the Teaching Writing course since its last blog Spotlight?
The primary change for WRD 540 is the modality in which it will be offered, with five meeting dates on campus and five synchronous meetings on Zoom. Other TWL seminars have been offered in this hybrid modality, including Teaching Writing Online and WRD 551 Teaching Apprenticeship Practicum, but these courses alternated between on campus one week and Zoom the next; however, the course design for WRD 540 doesn’t lend itself to this meeting pattern, so we’ll meet in person for weeks 1, 2, and 4-6, and on Zoom for weeks 3, and 7-10.
While most writing assignments and activities will stay the same, I always revise the reading list to incorporate several newly published texts and cut readings that weren’t as generative as I would have liked. I also consider the feedback that former WRD 540 and WRD 551 students provide about their experiences in the course and look for ways to incorporate their suggestions; for WQ24, I will modify the course calendar to ensure that practical application of our theoretical and conceptual material is evident throughout the quarter.
What major projects will students complete in this course?
For the first weeks, students focus on articulating their own understanding and conceptions of writing by reflecting on their literacy experiences, writing processes and practices, and beliefs about and values for writing, and this unit culminates with the Midterm Writing Portfolio. Students begin the course by defining writing as they understand it—a reflective writing and drawing activity that they repeat again in weeks 5 and 10—to articulate their personal theory of writing. Students continue exploring their personal conception of writing through composing, workshopping, and revising a literacy narrative and simultaneously documenting the writing processes, practices, strategies, and technologies they use to compose and revise the literacy narrative. This work is graded in the midterm portfolio assignment.
The second half of the quarter shifts our attention to more practical pedagogical issues, such as supporting students’ writing development and processes, responding to and assessing student writing, being mindful of the language ideologies guiding response and assessment, designing and scaffolding writing assignments, and crafting a course and syllabus that are attentive to and informed by scholarship on antiracism, accessibility, and linguistic justice. These assignments are included in the Final Teaching Portfolio alongside a teaching philosophy and annotated responses to student work.
Who should take Teaching Writing?
In the past, students have come to WRD 540 from a range of backgrounds, including MAWRD students, ENG MA students, adult learners from the School for Continuing and Professional Studies, graduate students from the College of Education, and students from the College of Liberal Arts & Social Sciences Interdisciplinary Self-Designed graduate program. Students typically have a range of backgrounds with writing and teaching writing, including some current high school and community college instructors, non-degree seeking students, students who have served as peer writing tutors, students who have no prior experience with teaching writing, and even a tenured faculty member from another department interested in further developing their approach to supporting student writers. Students from a range of disciplinary backgrounds with a variety of interests connected to writing and the teaching of writing should find the course valuable. I encourage anyone who thinks they may be interested in teaching writing, whether it be first-year writing at a university or community college, writing in a particular discipline, dual-enrollment writing courses, or secondary writing instruction to take the course because the more diverse students and their interests are, the richer the class conversations become.
Why should students take Teaching Writing?
For students who are certain about pursuing a career in teaching writing, WRD 540 is an essential course that serves as a prerequisite for the Teaching Apprenticeship Program (TAP) and the Teaching English in Two-Year Colleges Graduate Certificate, both of which provide opportunities for graduate students to either serve as instructor of record for WRD 103: Composition and Rhetoric I or to intern with a participating faculty member in a local two-year college. Aside from the valuable knowledge, skills, and practices that WRD 540 students develop and acquire, Teaching Writing also provides structured support and instruction in composing documents frequently required for college-level teaching position applications, such as a teaching philosophy informed by current composition studies scholarship, sample writing assignment and activities, and, in some cases, responses to student writing. Regardless of one’s intended career path, students who take 540 can expect to learn a lot about writing, writing development, writing processes and practices, writing technologies – and about themselves as writers. Even for students who have no plans to pursue teaching writing, the course offers a valuable opportunity for recognizing and challenging common misconceptions of writing, reflecting on and strengthening one’s own writing processes and practices, and trying out new approaches to writing and composing in the current moment.
In conclusion…
WRD 540: Teaching Writing presents an immersive and transformative opportunity for learners of diverse backgrounds and aspirations. The course, under the guidance of Dr. Erin Workman, offers an intersection of foundational concepts and current best practices, empowering students to navigate the realm of writing education with expertise and confidence. Whether you are a budding educator, a seasoned professional, or simply passionate about understanding writing pedagogy, this course promises to help you develop your teaching skills. As the Winter Quarter 24 approaches, seize this opportunity to redefine your perspective on writing and teaching.