Myths and Reality in Teaching WAC

Myth 1. I have to be an expert writer to teach writing.

Reality: No you don't. If only experts taught writing, very little writing would get taught. But you do have to understand and respect the above principles.

Myth 2. I have to like to write.

Reality. No, but you do have to believe that writing is important. The more you write the more comfortable you'll be with the writing process--and it's likelythat you'll get better. (If you don't like to do it, just don't tip your hand to your students!)

Myth 3. I can't teach writing--that's not my subject.

Reality: Whether or not we are professional writing teachers, all of us write, and as Shirly Brice Heath has demonstrated, all of us write a lot more than we think we do--grocery lists, letters (of love, of complaint), lesson plans. The principles of teaching writing are actually very simple--it's the translation into one's own discipline that requires the specialization

Myth 4. If I teach writing it will take up too much valuable class time needed to teach the subject matter.

Reality: If you incorporate writing as a way to learn the subject you're teaching, you'll be teaching both at once, with an emphasis on the discipline

Suggestions: Before you give an assignment that involves writing:

Know and understand your own purpose(s):

Learn to write? or Write to learn?
Write to demonstrate understanding? mastery (of what)?

Basic concepts, fundamental definitions, conventions of the discipline
Understand the way people in the discipline

think
do their work--individually? collectively?
select and use evidence, data, other support, write for their peers--form, format, style or outsiders? if so, who? first person OK, taboo?
write for what audience?

Make your students aware of the wide variety of types of writing in your field--research report, executive summary, argument, literature review, critical or analytic paper
Possible opportunities for students to write:
microthemes, reading responses, definitions of key terms, explanation of controversy in the field, explanation of process or method in the field, computer program, research paper, hypertext

Myth 5. I'm already overworked and stressed out. I can't possibly manage the extra paper load.

Reality:* Bloom's Law: Class time spent in giving and explaining writing assignments is time saved in grading--a vaccination against bad writing.

Set aside a few minutes of class time at each meeting to discuss ways of handling the writing assignment and to entertain questions.
You don't have to comment personally on everything your students write! Don't become an editor of your students' writings, either of their drafts or their final papers.

Employ peer editing, peer responding
Writing buddies out of class, or in class

Use a check sheet or some other response format that suits your taste and the assignment. Supplement that with computer-written comments, if possible.
Consider portfolio grading, especially of assignments with multiple drafts.
You don't have to put a number or letter grade on every assignment, or on every stage of every assignment.
Decide when not to comment--at all, or minimally. Particularly true of experimental or exploratory stages of writing.
Decide what to focus on in responding to a particular piece of writing--perhaps one or two of the primary traits you identified in the assignment.

Avoid response overkill--too many comments make it impossible for the student to sort out what's important.
And they're self--defeating; how can a student correct so many blunders all at once?
Better to pick a primary trait or two for each assignment; build on those in successive assignments as you escalate the complexity of the demands, and also your expectations of higher quality.

Decide what to focus on at a particular stage of student writing:

Early--key terms/concepts
Process, sources
Limitations/boundaries of particular topics
Middle-thesis--creation, revision on organization, logic, development of ideas, use (and finding of) support materials if division of labor, responsibility and team effort, adherence to/departure from/ innovations in disciplinary norms, conventions
Late-editing

Myth 6. If I focus on write-to-learn it will be at the expense of learn-to-write.

Reality: Not if you employ some, perhaps all, of the ways I've suggested.

Myth 7. Writing is elegant and easy for real writers. It's hard and messy for me. If I'm not a real writer how can I teach my students?.

Reality: Writing is hard and messy for nearly everyone. If it's too easy, they're not doing it right.

Understand how students (and you yourself) can attain a realistic and manageable composing process (or processes, for different types of writing--memos vs. research articles, for ex.)
Behavioral Dimensions:

Time management--students need to give writing time a high priority, in quality and
quantity of time:

Scheduled when they're at optimum alertness:

Morning, afternoon, or night person?
Time of fewest competing demands on time, energy
One hour of alert, prime time = 4 hours of tired, distracted time

Scheduled, preferably over a period of days, weeks, to allow for thinking,
instructor feedback, multiple drafting/revising

Context management--A room of one's own

With few distractions (not in the middle of traffic)
Comfortable--light, temperature, furniture
Where one can leave one's work support materials out (such as books, papers, data, etc.)

Provide a realistic time schedule. Help make students aware of time management in planning, researching, writing assignments.

Optimum time, context to write
Schedule research/writing time over period available to do it in--work backwards from due date to present.
Identify due dates and indicate when/if you or peer group will examine and comment on:

Formative
Preliminary theses, outlines
First or early drafts (How many drafts/versions do you expect students to write?)
Intermediate draft(s). Will you allow for revisions?

How many will you/peers look at? At what stage(s)?
Summatived. Final version

Have students build in small rewards during the writing process to help themselves keep at the work.

Myth 8. I've never been trained to teach writing; I can only teach it the way I've been taught--with lots of emphasis on grammar, spelling, and rules.

Reality: It's never too late even for teachers to learn new ways to teach.

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