by Alisha M. Cromwell

After 13 semesters as a Teaching Assistant in various capacities, from grader to teacher of record, I was a little annoyed to learn that I would have to attend a class every Friday afternoon for the Writing Intensive Program. My initial reaction was “what are they going to teach me that I don’t already know,” and I am gratified to confirm that I have been doing several things right all along. However, I have learned a great deal from discussing writing, grading, teaching, and just listening to all of the great things my colleagues in other departments have to say about similar issues that they face in their interactions with students.

I am very strict in my thinking and do not necessarily like change in the classroom. I do not use technology in my lectures since students have been under-stimulated by power point presentations and over-stimulated by their ability to gain immediate access to information. I do not like students to start a sentence with “it,” which is often an empty subject or lacks a clear referent. I am also very adamant that if you didn’t staple your rough drafts to your final copy of the essay you are handing in, then it is late. These are just a few examples of my hard lines, and I very rarely sway from them.

However, as the WIP class has progressed, many things have challenged my pedagogical ideas. One person utilized a youtube video to clarify the answer to a common mistake in her students’ essays. The individuals who had made the error were directed to the video, and those who watched it did not make the same mistake in the next assignment. This made me think of ways to incorporate technology into my assignments without necessarily allowing computers in the classroom. Someone else suggested having the student grade their own essays for grammar errors instead of using a worksheet to teach grammar lessons. Being very wedded to tried and true methods, the idea of shifting from students working on a grammar handout to actually engaging with their own grammar mistakes was a revelation. Another person was in favor of incorporating a type of response sheet when grading essays that answered specific questions about the argument and sources for each paper. Having a structured comment sheet could streamline the process of grading while also providing useful feedback to students. All of these suggestions were new and interesting to me. I even put down my red pen when grading in favor of a pencil and have been more confident that my comments are, in fact, helpful to the student and that they focus on the construction of the argument, not just on grammatical or sentence-level errors.

Without the ability to engage with my peers and be challenged in my teaching style, I would not have been able to grow as not only an instructor of writing, but as a writer myself.