FINAL REFLECTION

When I first came into the class Issues in Composition I had no idea what the course was going to be about. I figured something to do with writing, but my thoughts were somewhat wrong. The first day of class we all wrote what composition was and my thoughts on that was composition is when a person writes their thoughts and ideas down to try to persuade the other person to be fond of what they are writing about. Now as the class has ended I believe composition addresses many different aspects in writing. Whether it’s from using technology in a class to teach composition, showing how something rhetoric can be effective, and how teacher’s responses to students writing can be effective. Composition encompasses a variety of elements, these are just a few.
I’ve learned that composition is not where someone just expresses their own ideas on a piece of paper and organizes it in a five paragraph format. Composition includes technology such as, using blog posting to help students jot their ideas down without worrying about mechanics and grammar. My presentation consisted of students interacting "face to face and using online discussion". In the article I’ve read the majority of students liked using online discussion because the students were not being judged. I believe online discussion is a great way to see the students writing and how they feel about a certain topic. But what I also, found out is how face to face interaction is very vital as well. As a teacher I believe you should incorporate both strategies in writing because some students may like one or the other more. This can help the teacher interact with the student’s as well.
Also, Kamerin Ipock a student in the course described how poetry can be used to break down the meaning of a certain poem. She revealed how student’s used a "certain poem to make their own interpretations of the poem on a power point format". This certain presentation helped me to see how students can put their own interpretations to the poem. It gives the teacher a way to see how the students look at the poem and what the poem really means to them. As a future teacher I plan to use this certain strategy to help understand my students and to see where they are at as a writer and reader. This will help me pin point out their strengths and weakness. But one thing I worry about is how to grade this certain activity.
When Garrison talked to the class about "rhetoric analysis" I did not know it affected everyone until I wrote the paper. Rhetoric analysis plays a big part in composition because when a certain person writes a book or a poem it displays some type of persuasiveness. For example, in a section in Lanham’s he discusses how textbooks are so formatted that the students are so tired of using textbooks. He says textbooks are considered to “revise” most of the time and don’t give students a chance to fee write. In this book he is trying to persuade the evil of textbooks and so much more things that I didn’t understand. But by reading the book you can see where he is using a persuasive format. Garrison taught the class how rhetoric analysis is used everywhere such as, what I am wearing what the other person is wearing or what they are saying and doing that reflects to the whole society. By looking at all these different factors of rhetoric analysis it showed me to see why people write the way they do and why we as students are obligated to write a certain way in high school and a certain way in college. I know for a fact I plan to advise my students on rhetoric analysis because it is very crazy how society works to persuade someone to do or act a certain way.
Another presentation I found interesting was Meredith’s presentation about "teacher’s responses on a student’s writing". From her article the author suggested for teachers to elaborate on their responses and give valuable advice to students about their writing. Don’t just simply put “Good Job” or “Well done”. Take it much further so the student can correct their mistake. I think this presentation showed me how students will react to different comments and I totally understand why they would want a more elaborated response. I think if the teacher elaborates on their responses and tell the students what to fix in their paper and give them advice the students will become a better writer. I believe garrison is a great example of showing how responses should be done. He basically pin points what needs to be fixed then writes a long response to encourage what you can do to become a better writer in the future. Don’t get me wrong all the presentation where very memorable and I plan to incorporate some in to my activities.
The most memorable class period I had in the course is when we talked about cannibalism. I was like why are we discussing this? But then I read the article called "Born Canibal" I came to realize that composition is not where someone is typing or writing anything it is a variety of elements and as for James Miles he expresses his thoughts on how we as a society are cannibals. He does this to express his own ideas and thoughts about humans and canibals, showing writing in a different perspective, where everyone is in shoct of what he has written. His article really made me think and it helped me to see why language is so important. Till this day I don’t really know if where cannibals or not who knows?
I found this course to be very beneficial for the future and I plan to use most of the things I learned in this class in my future class.

The Course

Well let me see, most of the topics that we discussed where not what I expected, but thats a good thing. I've learned and have grown from this course any many different aspects. I really like how Kevin uses different styles of learning to help us understand any confusion we may have. This course has been very beneficial to me as a student and a future student. I really didn't think a course like this one would help me to incorparate information as a future teacher. Everything we talked about was very interesting and I really liked when we had group discussions because I not only saw my views but others as well. One thing that I enjoyed the most where listening to all the presentations. The presentation that I presented help me to see how gender can be a big issue in a class room. Other presentations that I really liked where the poem interpretation (using computers) and the comment presentatoion. Don't get me wrong each presentation were very beneficial those were the ones that caught my eyes. Overall the class was great, everyone had a chance to speak their mind and discussed issues that we have never thought of. Some of the issues we touched base on does matter to me like, the Moo because if teachers are using this type of system, then they need to realize none of the students are learning anything , but just random comments.

Richard Lanham

Well I found Richard Lanham's book very difficult to read, so for the most part I did not like it. But I don't hate the book because it did provide useful teaching skills that I plan to use when I teach. Some parts were entertaining and some were boring. I think the part that was boring was the parts that I could not understant. I found it interesting that he was bias against text books because most teachers teach throughout the text books. I would have to agree on his view on how students are taught to write well formatted papers then writing what they believe in and expressing their ideas and thoughts. If teachers don't show students that they can express their ideas in writing then student will only know how to write formatted paper. Lanhams seems like a very intellegent man, but was his argument valid?

I believe future students will find this book useful because they can see his perspective in writing and compare his thoughts to others. Also, students can learn new information they did not know that Lanham's discusses in his book. I don't think this book was that awful, but if we analyzed the texted more into detail I would have got a better understanding.

Online Education

I think that online education can be very beneficial for students who are very familiar with the computer and internet. If online education gets the students to write and express their ideas then online education is beneficial. I believe some students are intemidated to have face-to-face discussion and online may be a solution for them to express their thoughts and ideas.

I never experienced Topic, but from what I've heard I didn't like it myself. I don't think it's right at all for someone else grading a specific paper that is not the professor. The professor knows their students best and if they have time to teach the course then they have time to grade the papers. I know its not up to the professor, but if the school knows this is a problem why has it not been resolved. So much for the students opinion about topic. And when they do change something about Topic its useless, like knowing the names of who grades your paper. Its not like you can go talk to that person and ask why you got the grade you got. Thank god I never had to go through TOPIC.

I've used the Moo before and did not like it because everyone got off subject. I think its great for someone to chat on, but not for learning purposes. If the system was organized then it would be a better system.

The Use of the Internet

I believe the internet is a great way to help students in a compostion class. Even if some students don't like to use the internet you can have them do their assignment or writing by hand. Teachers should give their students options rather than just giving them one option to do a certain assignment. The internet can also, be useful for students who don't know how to use it and the teachers can introduce this technology. By introducing the internet for those students who never had access to it, they can show them the benefits of using the internet and the right ways to use it, rather them knowing the cons.

Thats a good question, is the internet all a pipe dream? Well for right now I would have to say yes and no. The internet has it's pros and cons, but if we take someone elses work from a source and don't cite it is called "plagerism", which helps everyone to think on their own. The benifits of the internet is finding information about a certain topic and learning different facts ect... I think in the near future as technology grows it will all "be that PiPe DReAM".

I don't think the internet could supplement the pedogogy, but it can be another source for the students to use if they feel more comftorable using the internet.


The internet could be a danger to students because they can come across images that are not very pleasing, but this is why some parents teach their kids to stay out of things that they are un aware of. Their is a lot of bad things out their that technolgy brings to society, but at the same time the most intelligent students learn through technology.

I would say im a big fan of technolgy because sometimes thats what keeps me busy, most of my classes consist of me being on the internet. Also, I love my ipod it keeps me jammin lol.....who dosent love their ipod!!

Berlin's Theory

The theory that I enjoyed reading was the pedagogical approach of the New Rhetoricians. I really was not aware that this approach was very effective towards students. But Berlin displays that this approach is really effective and a way to get students involved. I would have to agree on Berlins thoughts on this certain pedagogical approach of the New Rhetoricians and the ways of students learning abilities. Each student is different and display aspects like the reader, writer, and reality. This certain theory could help me teach towards all the students because if I can touch on every learning style, then more students would understand the topic that I will be trying to get across. This will also cause less difficulties for the students to get frustrated with their work and they would not just simply give up. If all teachers would take the time and teach towards these aspects more students would feel better about themselves and their own school work. I believe his distinctions are very useful because they can cause for a student to be more intelligent then what they already where or it could help those who struggle with work, make the assignments more easier.
In class when we where in groups and talking about what kind of style helps us write, I found it interesting that I fell under rhetoric. I really like blogging rather than writing tons of papers where we get criticized on are grammatical errors. Most students want to have their own opinion and voice about a certain topic and if their opinions get them to write a well organized paper, I think we as teachers should take the rhetoric style into consideration. I believe teachers should include all three styles into their lesson plans like Mr.Garrison does. I find it very helpful because if I don't understand the certain topic we are talking about I here examples from my peers about the topic. Berlin's ideas can help many students succeed and achieve their goals if teachers are willing to use his theory in an effective way.

Humanism

Well when Mr.Garrison was discussing his arguments on humanism I really was very unclear. I really don't know what humanism really is, but heres a big guess. I guess from my perspective humanism is where all people want to be the happiest person in their lifetime and make othershappy as well. Also, it's about caring for one another and putting all the materialistic things away. Focusing on other people and doing what is right, sort of like a utopia. I'm not sure if this is correct, but I hope I was close. lol

From my definition I think humanism work up to a certain extent because not all people are happy, but they all can make themselves and others happy. I would say some type of humanism is used throughout the world whether we know it or not. For example, a lot of people try to make others happy everyday whether its for their own good or for that other person. Humanism to me can be a good thing and a bad thing because if someone is doing something really cruel to another person, and thats what makes them happy, it's using humanism in a wrong way. I might sound unsure of what humanism is and how it works, but hey we all got to start somewhere.

Teachers play a big part of humanism because they teach what they like, which is writing. And in saying this they try to show students that writing is fun and they should be happy in the fact that they are learning how to write and read. Also, the students experience humanism when they can free write and show others how their writing can put them in a happy mood. Writing is a tool that can persuade anyone to do something or act a certain way, just like language.