Since this week’s reading is multiple mini-essays on the topic of writing, I’m going to address my thoughts about each one separately.

“You’re Going to Need this for College” by Andrew Hollinger

• Hollinger definitely understands the time constraints that teachers are up against, and I appreciate that he acknowledged that.
• He asserts that if you can’t answer the questions “Why do I need this?” or “Why are we doing this?” then maybe whatever it is needs to be reevaluated to determine if it should be used in the classroom. This is a helpful thought to keep in mind as I start revamping curriculum for the classes I’m teaching.
• Hollinger points out that students often see writing (and education in general) as simply a means to an end. The goal should be helping students realize that education is a personal endeavor that everyone should enjoy because it’s fulfilling. I would love some tips on how to help students realize this.

“Dual-Enrollment Writing Classes Should Always Be Pursued” by Caroline Wilkinson

• The school I teach at offers dual-enrollment courses with Middlesex County College, and I never really stopped to think about the potential drawbacks, so this was an interesting read.
• Wilkinson points out the many ways that dual-enrollment fails to prepare students for actual college classes, including the difference in high school and college atmospheres, less time for discussion, changes in course workload, lack of instructor experience, and the difficulties of conferencing with students one-on-one. Ultimately she argues that dual-enrollment courses don’t properly reflect college level classes, which is a detriment to the students.
• She does offer some possible solutions to the problems caused by dual-enrollment classes. These include the college sharing its objectives, curriculum, syllabi, schedules, and assignments with high schools, as well as giving proper training to the high school instructors who will teach the course.

“Secondary-School English Teachers Should Only Be Taught Literature” by Elizabethada A. Wright

• Wright thinks the issue of lack of writing preparation for first-year college students stems from lack of teacher preparation on how to teach writing. (Since I was an elementary ed major, I can’t speak to this from my own experience, but I can say without a doubt that current high school English curricula don’t include enough writing instruction. It’s something our district is currently trying to rectify.)
• She notes that literature classes are important and shouldn’t be replaced with writing courses, but that more writing courses need to be available, with specific focus on rhetorical writing strategies.
• I disagree with the claim that high school English teachers are using formulaic writing because they don’t have a solid enough understanding of rhetorical writing. Kerri explained the reasons teachers do this quite well in her presentation two weeks ago.

“Face-to-Face Courses are Superior to Online Courses” by Tiffany Bourelle and Andy Bourelle

• I have to assume the Bourelles are speaking solely about college courses when they make the claim that there’s “no significant difference between learning in online classes versus classes taught in f2f environments” because the two-year learning gap that we’re still dealing with due to the pandemic would beg to differ with that statement.
• The Bourelles point out that online courses integrate multimodal approaches to writing, which improves students’ 21st century communication skills, which is true. However, f2f classes also do this, so it’s inaccurate to say that it’s solely a benefit of online courses. In our district, we’ve been taking a multimodal approach for at least a decade, exposing students to videos, news broadcasts, websites, podcasts, etc. in conjunction with traditional novels, short stories, and poems.
• Given that this article was published way before the pandemic, it doesn’t address the biggest issue with online learning when you consider the differences between K-12 and college education. It comes down to this: College students, who presumably WANT to be taking the classes they’re taking, are going to learn better virtually because they have a vested interested in the course, whereas K-12 students who are forced to take classes based on the standards set forth by the state, will easily lose interest when not in f2f environments.

“Anyone Can Teach an Online Writing Course” by Beth L. Hewett

• I’d like to make a motion to permanently delete the words asynchronous, synchronous, and hybrid from the English language. If I never hear them again, it will be too soon.
• Hewett asserts that teaching writing online requires different skills than teaching it in person, in order be successful. This is absolutely true, and one of the reasons that virtual learning was so difficult is because most public school teachers had exactly 0 training before we had to use it.
• She does a good job of explaining the specific skills needed for instructors to successfully teach online writing.

Overall, it was interesting to see some different and controversial opinions about the teaching of writing, especially the ideas that I had never considered before.