I ended up learning a lot more in boot camp than I initially thought I would, considering I came into the training thinking it would be just that – training – without a lot of academic reading or work involved. That being said, I have a much stronger (still not great, but better) grip on what rhetoric is and what it involves, the idea of genre study, and the difference between composition and writing, especially considering that I came into bootcamp with no experience with rhetoric and genre theory, and no real conceptualization of the difference between composition and writing/literary study. One of the things I struggled with consistently through the semester is separating composition from writing, and from what I understand the subject of English to be in general. Throughout my educational experience, composition like we’ve discussed in class has been something that was relegated to the graphic design/computer or journalism type majors (such as the EWM program), and it was something I never particularly had interest in exploring or attempting to do. Because of this, I really struggled with many of the articles, because I was viewing them through the lens of a writing and literature centered English department, versus a composition program. As I’ve managed to make that shift, I’ve definitely changed my perspective on the role of composition within the English department. I’m still struggling a little bit with the validity of including social media, but I can understand the importance of discussing audience, different genre structures, and the way both influence the way we communicate in different rhetorical situations. I think it’ll be interesting to see my students interact with those idea when I end up teaching in the Spring, and I look forward to learning more about it in the pedagogy class in the fall.
One of the most influential pieces I read over the course of the bootcamp was Reiff’s Moving Writers, Shaping Motives, Motivating Critique and Change: A Genre Approach to Teaching Writing. Previous to this piece, I wasn’t sold on the genre approach; it too closely mirrored the high school standards and course layouts that made me move from the MoST English Ed degree. However, Reiff makes some great points about genre that I hope will be included in 2135 classrooms, including the accessibility and the emphasis on choosing genre per audience expectation. Tobin’s Teaching a Composition Class: Combine and Conquer was also really helpful in understanding my role as a future composition instructor, how sometimes not everything goes to plan, and the ways to help make the classroom and learning experience go as smoothly as possible for both me and the students. The practical advice was really helpful, especially when combined with the theory articles, and it made me a little less apprehensive about teaching.
My strongest efforts in the classroom were definitely made trying to understand the connections between my experience in ENC1101 and 1102, and FSU’s 1101 and the new 2135. Attempting to understand those lead me to probably one of the more important lessons I’ve taken away, which is the importance of looking at things from different perspectives in order to understand their value. I could have tried harder to understand some of the articles, especially the ones I didn’t agree with or felt like they pushed theory that I didn’t see as valuable. I’m still struggling with this, but I think the continued pedagogy classes and seeing the new strands for 2135 will help with my understanding of the purpose of the course and how it fits with the skills students are supposed to come out of university with.
One of the most influential pieces I read over the course of the bootcamp was Reiff’s Moving Writers, Shaping Motives, Motivating Critique and Change: A Genre Approach to Teaching Writing. Previous to this piece, I wasn’t sold on the genre approach; it too closely mirrored the high school standards and course layouts that made me move from the MoST English Ed degree. However, Reiff makes some great points about genre that I hope will be included in 2135 classrooms, including the accessibility and the emphasis on choosing genre per audience expectation. Tobin’s Teaching a Composition Class: Combine and Conquer was also really helpful in understanding my role as a future composition instructor, how sometimes not everything goes to plan, and the ways to help make the classroom and learning experience go as smoothly as possible for both me and the students. The practical advice was really helpful, especially when combined with the theory articles, and it made me a little less apprehensive about teaching.
My strongest efforts in the classroom were definitely made trying to understand the connections between my experience in ENC1101 and 1102, and FSU’s 1101 and the new 2135. Attempting to understand those lead me to probably one of the more important lessons I’ve taken away, which is the importance of looking at things from different perspectives in order to understand their value. I could have tried harder to understand some of the articles, especially the ones I didn’t agree with or felt like they pushed theory that I didn’t see as valuable. I’m still struggling with this, but I think the continued pedagogy classes and seeing the new strands for 2135 will help with my understanding of the purpose of the course and how it fits with the skills students are supposed to come out of university with.