Week 9: List 5 key terms from the course that you still don't know how to define

Here are my five key terms, as well as my attempt to define them more accurately:

• Authority: The power of one who writes (read: authors) or creates the truth that others accept as being truth
• Collaboration: The act of individuals working together as a community to achieve a common or socially-constructed goal
• Composing Processes: The various methods through which writers can compose a text. Implies a post-process and multimodal approach to writing.
• Composing: The general act of creating a text. Implies that both writing and texts are multimodal in nature and include more than just written language
• Dialectic vs. Rhetoric: Dialectic engages both speaker and listener in a reciprocal dialogue, whereas rhetoric predicts the response of an imagined audience

Trying to define authority is hard because it's such a complex concept that includes institutionalized views and power relations. It remindes me of the way United States Supreme Court Justice Potter Stewart ultimately defined the threshold for pornographic obscenity in Jacobellis v. Ohio: "I know it when I see it."

Also of import, I'm not satisfied with my definition of Dialectic vs. Rhetoric. I feel like I'm oversimplifying or shortchanging rhetoric, but it seems like the most significant difference is that dialectic engages all participants in a dialogue, whereas rhetoric seems to largely function one way, from speaker, to the mental simulation of the audience (imagined audience), then to delivery. It doesn't seem to engage speaker and listener in a sustained, equal, and reciprocal way like dialectic does.

Week 8: Discuss an assignment that uses collaboration and technology

Until the last few semesters of my graduate studies, I had never been very interested in collaborative assignments. This semester, however, I've started to become very interested in collaborative writing. I'm not super familiar with designing collaborative assignments (good ones, anyway), so my description will be short and probably underdeveloped. Any feedback, references, or suggested readings would be much appreciated.

During my undergraduate creative writing workshops, we experimented with various community writing activities, such as the exquisite corpse game. Once, we even collaboratively developed character cards, where we would come up with a character name, then pass the cards to the next person, who would list a few defining physical characteristics, then the cards would get passed along again for the next set of details. By the end of it, we all twenty-something characters to write about, all of whom were characters that none of us could have created alone. We swapped cards a few more times to randomize who had which card, and our assignment was to write a flash fiction piece about the character who was on our card. Mine was a saucy, southern, bounty-hunter type, and when I looked at my card, I could see him there, sprawled out disrespectfully on a set of steps, smoking a cigar, and meeting my gaze with a steady look that made known his impatience to get the show on the road already.

My assignment draws from this experience, but instead of developing character cards, I would have students work in small groups to collaboratively write a short piece of flash fiction in groups. I would also ask them to illustrate their story using whatever method or technology they agreed upon (that would be reasonable for the scope of the assignment, of course). I would let students decide whether they wanted to each write sections of the story, or if they wanted to collaboratively agree upon a plot and have just one or two group members write the text version of the story. Likewise, they could all contribute to the illustration, or they could all discuss how they wanted certain characters or scenes to be portrayed and have one or two group members compose those illustrations. However, I would require all group members to make some kind of contribution to both the textual and the visual versions of the narrative, and I would give them plenty of class time to work in their groups, which would help me make sure that everyone is contributing ideas and no one gets left out.

My primary objectives with this assignment would be to encourage a post-process approach to both writing and technology and to engage students with the differences that medium can impose on the same narrative. I would also have students reflect on how their group's social interactions influenced and directed the narrative. My hope is that this would allow students to begin to see that all writing is situated in a social and cultural context.

Week 7: The Composition Classroom as an Act of Freedom and Presence

Foreword: I've been thinking on this topic since one of the first courses I took in graduate school. I was inspired and encouraged (read: en-couraged, as in bravery) to write this by Brandy's blog post about her response to the culture of fear that has permeated our classrooms and homes in the wake of the many recent school shootings. Here's a link to that blog post. Also, I apologize for the quality of the images in this post. It was the best I could do this late at night.

The Composition Classroom as an Act of Freedom and Presence

If you have a sharp eye for reading, as I'm sure my fellow word nerds do, then you may have noticed that, in the title, I have attempted to turned the composition classroom, a noun, into an action. The word "freedom" is probably familiar to certain camps of compositionists, but "presence" (used interchangeably with "mindfulness" in this post) is probably an unfamiliar practice in composition studies. Yet, it is one that, in the midst of our fast-paced and escapist culture, I argue is desperately needed in the composition classroom.

Mindfulness is a deceptively deep practice that comes from the Zen tradition. Simply put, it is the practice of fully inhabiting the experience of the present moment. Being present means not being pushed or pulled by our fears, stresses, or the millions of obligations we seem to face every day. When practicing mindfulness, one should remain aware of one's physical state, as well as one's mental and emotional state. This kind of awareness can be built up by focusing on doing one thing at a time, paying close attention to detail and not getting in any hurry. Zen Master Thich Nhat Hanh describes mindfulness as applied to the seemingly trivial act of washing the dishes:

"While washing the dishes one should only be washing the dishes, which means that while washing the dishes one should be completely aware of the fact that one is washing the dishes. At first glance, that might seem a little silly: why put so much stress on a simple thing? But that's precisely the point. The fact that I am standing there and washing these bowls is a following my breath, conscious of my presence, and conscious of my thoughts and actions. There's no way I can be tossed around mindlessly like a bottle slapped here and there on the waves." (Hanh, Peace is Every Step 4-5)

So, what does this have to do with the composition classroom?

Students often come into our classrooms overworked, weary, or confused; and, if we habitually teach on autopilot, we may not be able to tell the difference between overworked or overtired students and those that are simply disengaged. By constantly remaining aware of our actions as educators, we may be able to better connect with the needs of our students. 

Students will likely come into our classrooms not knowing how to deeply reflect either on themselves or their actions. Drawing or freewriting can serve as powerful focusing activities if done in the spirit of mindfulness. An in-class activity that I have done in the past (as a student) asked us to slowly and carefully fill up a page of cardstock with the word "fear." We were given about ten minutes; and, during that time, we were also asked to reflect on our deepest fears about starting graduate school (we were first-semester grad students at the time). This assignment could easily be tweaked to have students explore their fears or frustrations with writing. Here's an image of mine after it was all finished:

When we were about halfway through filling up the page, we were asked to flip the paper over and freewrite about that fear with no fear of judgment or that writing to ever be read by anyone besides ourselves. After about five minutes, we were asked to flip the page back over and spend another few minutes filling the page up with the word "fear." However, this time we were asked to contemplate on seeing that fear as a part of ourselves and to meditate on ways that we might bring healing or positive change to those parts of ourselves. Once again, we were asked to flip the page back over and freewrite. Here is the other side of mine, as an example of what you might expect (sorry if the quality is too poor to read):

This kind of meditation, for personal insight, has been called the backward step by some Zen writers. It is a moment in which we slow down in life, sit, and listen for whatever is present, both internally and externally. However, these Zen writers have also acknowledged that life seems to be a rhythm of forward and backward steps, alternating between periods of action and periods of reflection.

These are supposed to be stick figures holding hands to symbolize a united world.

By teaching students to reflect on themselves and their own actions, we are also teaching them how to reflect on others in the same manner. In the vocabulary of Zen, when we teach our students to be present with themselves, we are also teaching them to be present with others. By examining their own reactions, whether they be towards fear, social issues, or whatever, we are also teaching our students how to anticipate the reactions of their audience. Perhaps it may also help students to realize that their audience is made up of real people. Either way, this kind of presence is deeply needed in composition classrooms today by both teachers and students.

Week 6: Response to an Extended Analysis

Response to Bailey Cundiff's extended analysis project:

Summary: Bailey's extended analysis argued that Google Docs can be used in the classroom to provide students with real audiences, collaborative writing opportunities, and opportunities to engage in co-constructing knowledge rather than passively receiving predetermined truths.

At first, I was very skeptical about whether Google Docs could provide these benefits to students any better than other technologies or peer critique workshops. However, I was convinced by the power of Google Docs to show students that revision is a process. Bailey's discussion of this is superb, and it is worth quoting at length:

When students have an audience that comments on, edits, and potentially helps compose, their work, they find what Nancy Sommers ([1980] 2011) calls “dissonance”—the “incongruities between intention and execution” that lead to productive revision (52). This process helps students see the composition process as ever changing and never complete. In addition to collaborating with peers, students can synchronously watch teachers grade and comment on their papers (Purcell, Buchanan, and Friedrich 2013, 54). This interaction, though not peer collaboration, can also encourage students to consider what it means to revise their work as they watch their teacher note problematic points in an argument or paper. Whether each student writes his or her own paper or multiple writers collaborate on a single document, the writing process is “transparent…through page history and through explicit discussion of the process” (Lundin 2008, 439). Students become part of a larger whole and learn to articulate their beliefs and understandings while learning those of their peers.

I am especially interested in reading more about the potential benefits and consequences of giving students the ability to watch teachers grade their work. I think the page history is a powerful tool that can be used to show students examples of what kinds of changes a full revision should bring to a document, and it can also provide teachers with a way to show students the differences between a full revision and the "revising" that many beginning writers typically do. Google Docs also allows students to synchronously revise a text and discuss those changes at the same time. Bailey argues that this allows students to engage in a real conversation about the problems and potential revisions for a document, but I'm still skeptical about how often these conversations would happen in reality. 

Bailey also argues that the collaborative writing enabled by Google Docs allows students to actively engage in knowledge creation with their peers. Rather than promoting a banking model of education, this kind of collaborative writing engages students in constantly switching roles between writer, editor, and commentator. Normally, students would fill the role of writer for the majority of an assignment, and they might switch to the role of editor or commentator for one or two class workshops. I think this dynamic role-switching would be invaluable in showing students that writing is an iterative process of communication between author, reader, and text. In print media, this process of communication is extremely passive and, often, disconnect between reader and author. However, using digital writing technologies changes the text to allow for readers and the author to engage in a dynamic conversation with real-time feedback and response. That is a powerful learning tool.

Finally, Bailey discusses the teacher's role in using Google Docs in the classroom. I think she nails it in her description: "Google Docs itself facilitates writing, collaboration, and learning; it does not inspire it." I wholeheartedly agree with her decision to differentiate between the tool and the agent. Google Docs provides a potentially powerful teaching tool, but the teacher must still inspire and guide the learning process. 

Overall, I thoroughly enjoyed Bailey's extended analysis, and I am eager to read more about her topic. My suggestions for Bailey to improve her argument are as follows:

• Compare the difference between digital collaboration and face-to-face collaboration (specifically related to student conversations in peer critiquing workshops).
• Expand on ways that teachers might expose student writing to wider audiences (maybe non-colocated audiences that also respond to student writing? Students would see them as a genuine audience, and it may help students understand that an audience, in general, will consist of real humans that have real responses to the student's document, even if readers aren't physically or immediately present.
• Elaborate on the technical problems that might occur and potential ways that teachers might resolve them (maybe available resources too). For example, discuss the potential problems with students overwriting each others' changes and suggest some potential solutions that teachers might employ.
• The "Knowledge Formation in Collaboration" section knocks the argument out of the park by drawing on the extensive benefits of using Google Docs for collaborative writing. Expand this section! Please?