Looking Back and Forward

What did I learn this semester in ENGL 5060?

Primarily, I learned that freshman composition isn’t an easy subject. I tested out of ENGL 1301 and 1302 as a TTU undergraduate, and I was happy about that because I felt like the class had nothing to teach me. As a student, it probably didn’t.

However, as a grader, a graduate student, and future teacher, freshman composition has a lot to teach me. The theories behind composition are so complex. Engfish? Underlife? Post-process pedagogy? I’d never considered composition from a teacher’s point of view before, let alone a scholar’s point of view. This class has definitely given me some critical perspective on what composition is (and can be) as well as on what teachers actually are (and should be) doing in the writing classroom. However, I’m left wondering what I will do with those ideas in the future.

When I teach ENGL 1301 next year, I will be teaching according to someone else’s pedagogical standards. After I graduate, I will likely end up teaching at an institution that has a clear standard regarding what should be taught in composition and how it should be taught. Will I ever get the chance to try out a class like Ira Shor’s (which looks challenging, but also like a lot of fun)? How many times in my life will I be given the opportunity to implement my dream syllabus? As we have discussed in class, teachers often don’t have time to read composition theory. By the time I really get down to teaching, I might have forgotten most of the names and terms I learned here. I might get worn out, get jaded, fall into bad habits, etc.

I guess, then, if I could take away only one lesson from this class, I would choose Fulkerson's admonition to practice self-reflective teaching. Whatever else I don't know now or forget later, I can at try not to fall into mindlessness.