Monday, September 24, 2012

Setting your own pace

To be honest, for most of the time that I was reading this article I seriously wondered what could possibly be the point.  First of all, 1977?  There has been so much discussion about writing and composition in the classroom since then, so what could possibly be relevant about this article?  Secondly, the title: "Writing as a Mode of Learning."  Well, what's new about this, I thought?  Of course we learn when we write - isn't that common knowledge?  Isn't that why we dedicate semester-length courses to composition?

Of course, by the end of the article, while I was still feeling as though Emig was telling me what I already knew and believed, she did bring certain things to light that I would not automatically have thought of when I think about writing.  The most important point that she brought up for me was that writing matches the person's own learning pace.  Emig writes, "...writing is self-rhythmed.  One writes best as one learns best, at one's own pace.  Or to connect the two processes, writing can sponsor learning because it can match its pace" (126).  While this is probably self-evident, it is something that I had not really thought of before this weekend.  I have been researching ways to incorporate social media in the writing classroom, and one of the authors of the articles I am exploring notes that students enjoy reviewing and commenting on other's papers online because they can do so at their own pace.  This stands in stark contrast to the classroom, where the student is expected to give a spontaneous answer when called upon, and can often fell nervous or simply "go blank."

Accommodating the rates of learning for all of my future students will certainly be difficult.  I may have fast learners and slow learners in my classroom, and I also must decide at what rate I personally feel comfortable moving through the material.  The beauty of writing, though, is that it allows students to move at their own respective paces, regardless of how fast or slowly they feel the material is being covered in the classroom.  Writing will set all of my students on equal-footing time-wise (whether or not they decide to utilize the time given wisely is, of course another issue).  I think this is important for all kinds of classrooms, whether or not the focus is on writing or biology - if you want to give your students the ability to work at their own paces, give them a take-home writing assignment that will not force them to feel those in-class pressures.

3 comments:

  1. I was also grabbed by Emig exploration of self-rhythmed learning strategies. However, as a slow reader and drag-ass writer I feel like my internal metronome clocks a few beats slower than most peoples. To put it smartly, I have no rhythm. For this reason, I would not entirely write-off in-class writing. Some of us need the crunch to get the juices flowing; we need to practice the rhythm.

    I am imagining playing piano before a concert hall. I have a difficult piece of music, but I am not confident about my rhythm. Flashback: I am now practicing the piece at home. First, I start slow and then I gradually build to a comfortable coherent speed. Thinking about this learning strategy as a practice helps visual myself developing a comfortable rhythm: a rhythm that does not feel the limitations of self but rather is truly self-rhythmed.

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  2. One of the textbooks I'm really liking for next year is "Everyone's an Author". It attempts to empower students about writing through showing them that they already write a lot and are authors--through facebook, text messages, emails, &c. One wonders if this "writing is self-rhythmed" idea might be responsible for students being able to produce copious amounts of text out of class rather than in class (of course, there are more variables). How can we incorporate self-rhythm into the classroom? Although it would be timed, perhaps starting every day with free-writing might help students find their rhythm and help prepare them for writing outside of class.

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  3. I agree that some sort of free writing would encourage students to become more comfortable with their own pace for writing. That being said, I think students will also need to produce writing in either timed or spontaneous settings for the rest of their college career and they need to be prepared for that also.

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