Teaching is a very dynamic process. With each group of type of class, group of students, and particular meeting of personalities, a teacher must adapt to the always changing situations. The long term course plans and momentary decisions, though, are guided by the underlying beliefs that a teacher has come to hold. I am no exception. The courses I have taught and designed show the core set of beliefs I hold.

There are times when an answer needs to be provided or when a fact is necessary for only a day. Often, though, an idea discovered exists beyond the bounds of the classroom. I believe that it is important to understand contexts and situations in order to determine the best course of action. I choose to engage these abilities in students through an active learning environment that encourages discovery in multiple ways such as genre analysis, experimentation with different writing techniques, and class discussion. In this manner, students can begin to build on knowledge and combine what they know in the classroom with what they know beyond classroom walls.

This means starting students on path, asking questions that help them when things get tough, and truly listening to their response. Interaction with the students in class and in conferences is an important first step.

I support this goal by creating an environment that allows students to comfortably ask questions, that supports discussion, along individual and group activities careful crafted to help students ask pertinent questions about the rhetorical situation and to consider how to adapt to new rhetorical situations. As students work with ideas through a problem-solving process, they appropriate the skills necessary for those and other situations

Much of the knowledge that people acquire will be used in very specific contexts. Thus, students need to learn how to understand and manage contexts. A class cannot teach students everything they will need to know. This is particularly true in the writing classroom, but a writing class can help them learn how to find that information and talk about it. Along with discovery, a guided sense and heuristic for uncovering the written and unwritten rules connected to a writing situation is also needed. I choose texts, activities, and assignments based as much as possible on the specific needs of the students in each class. I do my best to link group activities to the meaningful situations in the lives of the students. I encourage students to experiment with techniques for the different audiences with which they are linked. My writing assignments promote engagement in local communities and with local issues in order to get students to think about the different identities that they present to the audience in and out of class. As all students are different, I also try to work with course objectives and writing skills through a range of activities and interaction between students and their writing, whether it is a card trick or collaborative paper. I design activities around specific goals, such as understanding the relationships between context, writing, and function by analyzing and comparing local genres to help students make informed decisions in other writing situations.

An example of these principles in action can be found in the seemingly traditional research essays assignment. For this assignment, though, I incorporate methods of oral history collection in the classroom. After asking a local oral historian to discuss interviewing and analysis techniques, several weeks were spent investigating debatable issues in either the area of their major or their hobby. Students then used the oral history techniques to interview members of that local community. We also worked with the analysis of genres connected with their chosen audience addressing the features of the genre and the functions of those features. One young woman interviewed a local female doctor to address issues of sexism in the medical field while another student interviewed the lead singer in a local band regarding influences and representation in song writing.  In this way students gained experience not only in researching, but were also able to better understand local rhetorical situations and how best to address those situations.

Understanding how to recognize a genre or address the needs of a specific context, however, does not mean that a student will understand whether or not the writing is effective. Similarly, it doesn’t necessarily provide the skills to articulate judgments about the writing of others in a productive way. Thus, I also use writing assessment as a teaching tool to help students to become overt assessors of writing. I incorporate discussion of student writing. While it is necessary to work within local and programmatic structures, I bring assessment to the forefront through peer review, the use and discussion of writing assessment materials, and student designed assessment materials. This helps students actively address what makes writing effective. Furthermore, I try to model strong writing assessment techniques through carefully designed informal and formal assessment practices. This starts by designing of writing assignments to emphasize rhetorical decisions and continues through the grading process when grades are necessary. This also means adapting, wherever possible, to the various needs and learning styles of students when I provide feedback.

After helping students discover the knowledge and techniques, it is important to provide many different opportunities for them to develop and display these skills. Along with various drafts of formal writing assignments, which help to learn, cement, and demonstrate knowledge of rhetorical and technical skills, I provide other means by which students can show what they do and don’t understand. This involves an interactive classroom environment promotes experimentation with new techniques and forms of delivery. This means, when necessary and where possible, working in alternative formats both in instruction and with student creations. It also means helping students understand genres of new media and assessment. Be it creating an electronic portfolio and podcast or drawing self-portraits to understand the effects of mode on the message representation, I try to address and use technology in a way that allows students become comfortable with many forms in a safe environment.

I have not come to these practices on my own. I choose to conduct my class as guided by theorists both in and out of the bounds of traditional composition theory. I look to scholars such as Charles Bazerman, Paul Prior, Donna Kain and Elizabeth Wardle for their use of these systems in the classroom. Scholars like Bob Broad, Kathleen Yancey, and Brian Huot have been influenced my classrooms through their work with authentic assessment. Mary Pipher has influenced me through her work on creating writing that makes a difference as well as Cynthia Selfe, Gail Hawisher, and Richard Selfe for their work with technology in the classroom. These are just a few. I owe a particular debt of gratitude, though, for the very positive influence of the teachers, mentors, and scholars I have had the pleasure of working and learning with at various institutions.

In the end, the classroom truly is a very dynamic place that brings together the needs, goals, and dreams of many different people. While the needs, goals, and dreams will often concern lives beyond the classroom, they will affect actions in the classroom. By creating an environment that is open and adaptable to the various needs and situations, it is possible to help students learn not only what is necessary to succeed in my class, but in other situations as well.