This quote, from Ralph Keyes’ The Courage to Write: How Writers Transcend Fear, has become my philosophy for teaching writing. I want to create a classroom environment that fosters creativity,growth and encourages writers to overcome any doubts or fears they may have about their own writing. I would like to be able to show my students that writing can be an enjoyable experience – not just a course they are forced to sit through their first year of college. My goal will be to emphasize the experience of writing, of trying to create voice and share experiences, while also teaching them what they will need in order to do well on writing assignments throughout their college career. When assessing the students’ writing I will take every aspect of the work into account, not just grammar and mechanics, and work with the student to improve their writing rather than criticize their mistakes. I will try to set up the classroom to feel more like a community rather than a lecture hall and encourage the students to learn not just from myself as their professor but from everyone around them.
CJ's Writing Room 