What I've learned in Creative Writing.
Nov. 29th, 2006 11:52 am![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
icarusI would be a much better creative writing teacher than my professor. God, I just have my head in my hands watching him.
I'm learning a lot in his class. I've learned nothing about writing, but a great deal on how to teach (and how not to).
First, the attitude towards the students. Yes, yes, beginning stories suck. But when we try something new we're always terrible at it. I'm a decent writer now and my friends laugh at my original Lord of the Rings fics. Everyone goes through phases where their writing sucks royale. When you first rode a bike, how did you do? You fell off, of course!
People need to learn how to fail. We need to be comfortable with falling flat on our faces as adults, so we can continue growing and learning. Writing automatically takes you out of your safe zone and students can sense if your attitude is negative.
Second, professionalism. You can be friendly with students in the same polite way you're friendly with business clients: there are certain subjects that are off-limits. You don't discuss your faults. You don't discuss how "wow, we did badly on your company's project, heh, heh." You don't slam other clients -- i.e., other students. You remain pleasant and recall that you're representing your profession even when off the clock.
Third, feedback. It's good to be able to say "I don't know," but you don't leave it there. A good teacher says, "Let me think about that" and revisits a question they don't know the answer to. It's a sign they care about the subject.
Creative writing feedback is aimed at mining the gold out of a story. Since the source of the story is the student, the focus needs to be on open-ended questions. You need to be honest, but since 90% of beginning students are unsure of themselves, most of the feedback has to be focused on the positive, developing the students' skills as they are.
The goal isn't great stories. The goal is improved writers. There's a difference.
Fourth, flexibility vs. toughness. How do you deal with a student's irresponsibility? That's a tough one. I think the student's learning comes first but leeway for lateness et al should be doled out with a moment's pause, a sigh, and then, "Okay, I'll do it this time. But please be on time for the next." One quarter isn't long enough for the student to figure out you always say yes. ;)
Though it depends on the subject. Creative writing I'd give more leeway. History, I might bump the grade down .5 points for every day an assignment's late.
The most important aspect of discipline is to lay the rules out in advance and follow them. The person who gets any leeway is the student, not you. Don't break your own rules. If you've said that mid-terms are going to be graded, don't change your mind and say, "I've decided not to give grades for the mid-terms." (Oh yes, my creative writing teacher did just that.) You also don't start out soft and then later come down hard.
If you need to be late on something, be honest. The teachers I respect most have been honest with me: "I'm still grading those papers, but I'll get them done as soon as possible."
Build into due dates extra time for students to be late. It's a reality that someone's going to be late, so make your life easy. It's like my old babysitting job: I set the kids' bedtime for 8:30, with the full intention of actually sending them to bed at 9. At 8:10 and 8:15 I gave them warning that it's time to get ready for bed. They complained and begged and pleaded, and I (grudgingly) moved the deadline to 9. I do this at the office, too.
Fifth, preparation. This is where I probably would struggle myself. But never try something new without a good game plan. If I'm short on time to prepare, it's time to bring out the lesson plans that have worked in the past. (Yes, my creative writing professor tried something new when he was running behind. Midway through the quarter he threw in mis-matched materials that had nothing to do with what he taught earlier.)
The teachers that have impressed me most have had Powerpoint presentations with photos, art, diagrams and maps to back themselves up. The Powerpoint presentation with just bullet points might as well not be used.
Workshops should have a hand-out that describes what points a student should cover in workshopping stories, so the conversation doesn't go in circles or focus on "I like, I don't like."
Writing exercises should be 50% in-class exercises, 50% take-home exercises. Some students need the spark of in-class writing. Others don't do well with it. I would require a writing journal, absolutely, and require 10 photocopied pages from it for the final portfolio (counted towards class participation). I would have a few minutes of journal time in the first few weeks of class, just to give people a sense of it. I'll keep copies of the in-class writing exercises partially to check handwriting on those journals. ;)
Sixth, grading. If I've been consistent and reliable, the students should feel that I'm going to be a fair grader. I think giving a quiz early, or some other form of graded work early in the first 2-3 weeks should give the students a feel for how I grade so they can adjust their efforts accordingly.
I think that a creative writing class should largely be based on a final portfolio of writing, but students should be collecting check-marks for assignments handed in.
I think a mid-quarter quiz on aspects of lecture and readings is important so that students who aren't talented writers can earn points for their hard work.
I would want all final stories to be handed in with a copy of the first draft and attached with all the feedback sheets. Students who didn't edit, who ignored all the feedback, would be dinged for that.
Oh.![[livejournal.com profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/external/lj-userinfo.gif)
wildernessguru wants a shot at the computer, so I'll leave it at that for now.
I'm learning a lot in his class. I've learned nothing about writing, but a great deal on how to teach (and how not to).
First, the attitude towards the students. Yes, yes, beginning stories suck. But when we try something new we're always terrible at it. I'm a decent writer now and my friends laugh at my original Lord of the Rings fics. Everyone goes through phases where their writing sucks royale. When you first rode a bike, how did you do? You fell off, of course!
People need to learn how to fail. We need to be comfortable with falling flat on our faces as adults, so we can continue growing and learning. Writing automatically takes you out of your safe zone and students can sense if your attitude is negative.
Second, professionalism. You can be friendly with students in the same polite way you're friendly with business clients: there are certain subjects that are off-limits. You don't discuss your faults. You don't discuss how "wow, we did badly on your company's project, heh, heh." You don't slam other clients -- i.e., other students. You remain pleasant and recall that you're representing your profession even when off the clock.
Third, feedback. It's good to be able to say "I don't know," but you don't leave it there. A good teacher says, "Let me think about that" and revisits a question they don't know the answer to. It's a sign they care about the subject.
Creative writing feedback is aimed at mining the gold out of a story. Since the source of the story is the student, the focus needs to be on open-ended questions. You need to be honest, but since 90% of beginning students are unsure of themselves, most of the feedback has to be focused on the positive, developing the students' skills as they are.
The goal isn't great stories. The goal is improved writers. There's a difference.
Fourth, flexibility vs. toughness. How do you deal with a student's irresponsibility? That's a tough one. I think the student's learning comes first but leeway for lateness et al should be doled out with a moment's pause, a sigh, and then, "Okay, I'll do it this time. But please be on time for the next." One quarter isn't long enough for the student to figure out you always say yes. ;)
Though it depends on the subject. Creative writing I'd give more leeway. History, I might bump the grade down .5 points for every day an assignment's late.
The most important aspect of discipline is to lay the rules out in advance and follow them. The person who gets any leeway is the student, not you. Don't break your own rules. If you've said that mid-terms are going to be graded, don't change your mind and say, "I've decided not to give grades for the mid-terms." (Oh yes, my creative writing teacher did just that.) You also don't start out soft and then later come down hard.
If you need to be late on something, be honest. The teachers I respect most have been honest with me: "I'm still grading those papers, but I'll get them done as soon as possible."
Build into due dates extra time for students to be late. It's a reality that someone's going to be late, so make your life easy. It's like my old babysitting job: I set the kids' bedtime for 8:30, with the full intention of actually sending them to bed at 9. At 8:10 and 8:15 I gave them warning that it's time to get ready for bed. They complained and begged and pleaded, and I (grudgingly) moved the deadline to 9. I do this at the office, too.
Fifth, preparation. This is where I probably would struggle myself. But never try something new without a good game plan. If I'm short on time to prepare, it's time to bring out the lesson plans that have worked in the past. (Yes, my creative writing professor tried something new when he was running behind. Midway through the quarter he threw in mis-matched materials that had nothing to do with what he taught earlier.)
The teachers that have impressed me most have had Powerpoint presentations with photos, art, diagrams and maps to back themselves up. The Powerpoint presentation with just bullet points might as well not be used.
Workshops should have a hand-out that describes what points a student should cover in workshopping stories, so the conversation doesn't go in circles or focus on "I like, I don't like."
Writing exercises should be 50% in-class exercises, 50% take-home exercises. Some students need the spark of in-class writing. Others don't do well with it. I would require a writing journal, absolutely, and require 10 photocopied pages from it for the final portfolio (counted towards class participation). I would have a few minutes of journal time in the first few weeks of class, just to give people a sense of it. I'll keep copies of the in-class writing exercises partially to check handwriting on those journals. ;)
Sixth, grading. If I've been consistent and reliable, the students should feel that I'm going to be a fair grader. I think giving a quiz early, or some other form of graded work early in the first 2-3 weeks should give the students a feel for how I grade so they can adjust their efforts accordingly.
I think that a creative writing class should largely be based on a final portfolio of writing, but students should be collecting check-marks for assignments handed in.
I think a mid-quarter quiz on aspects of lecture and readings is important so that students who aren't talented writers can earn points for their hard work.
I would want all final stories to be handed in with a copy of the first draft and attached with all the feedback sheets. Students who didn't edit, who ignored all the feedback, would be dinged for that.
Oh.
wildernessguru wants a shot at the computer, so I'll leave it at that for now.
no subject
Date: 2006-11-29 08:59 pm (UTC)It sucks that you're going through this, 'cause you could have got so much out of a decently run course.
Which is better the easy-but-useless of this or the omg-brain-strain! of the Sanskrit?!