Week 1 reflection

Man, this is quite an undertaking. Teaching high school full-time and starting an MA program as a full-time student at the same time is not for the weary, though it has left me weary after one week. I have to admit that financial aide issues are the reason I find myself in Teaching College Composition, but already I find myself invigorated by the course. Mostly because it is the course I am taking that has the most immediate effect on my day job. It has already got my thinking of how I can better serve my students in the area of writing. I need to figure out a new system because my current one is leaving behind too many students. It is tough not to get bogged down in the conventions of writing, even as the new Common Core Standards emphasize that ideas are more important than conventions. I want to buy into that thought, and maybe this class will help me reconcile my reluctance. Professor's Hayes enthusiasm for the subject of teaching writing is certainly helping, as well. After a long day, it is nice to sit in a classroom and let someone else have the energy. I have been thinking about the question he posed: Why is college composition important? I have a few answers to this question because I get asked "Why is writing important" at least 209 times a school year. The real problem lies, not in answering the question, the real problem lies in the problems with convincing teenagers it is important for all of the reasons I lay out. Every year former students come back and say "I wish I had paid more attention in your class, especially with writing." I ask them to tell my current students that, but it rarely helps. The student who is brilliant at math cannot see how writing will help him in his life because high school math requires so little writing. It can be defeating.