Creative Quote: George R.R. Martin's Architects & Gardeners

Here's a Haiku Deck "remix" of a quote by Game of Thrones author George R.R. Martin. I took liberties with his phrasing, but I hope I've captured the essence of his meaning: Writing is rocking back and forth and toggling between two distinct mindsets. 

One approach calls for the kind of planning and mechanical processes we might associate with architects. The other mindset approaches writing from the more romanticism inspired, "faith-based"of gardening. 

These apparently divergent ways of thinking about the creative process are less a static "right/wrong" or "either/or" opposition than of an active shifting within a dynamic equilibrium (that was a mouthful!). 

Two types of writers - Created with Haiku Deck, presentation software that inspires

Writing Alongside Students, "Readicide", & Empathy

"You are the best writer in the room!" The facilitator repeated this refrain several times during his workshop for English professors. He seemed to know I needed a push, a reminder that, in my classrooms, I am the most experienced writer. I'd never thought of it that way. Yet the fact is, I've written quite a bit already - as a student, as a professional, and now as a neophyte blogger - I have decades of experience. Definitely more than most if not all of my students. I see now that this isn't bragging; it's the truth. 

The facilitator, Kelly Gallagher (a major proponent of using mentor texts) put us through several activities demonstrating how we, as the "best writers", could (and should) model writing for our students. That's a message I've heard before: write alongside ours students. Students need to see the how writers (I'm still uncomfortable with that label) generate ideas, craft sentences and paragraphs, and make revision and editorial choices - it's the "show" part of "show and tell" so crucial to learning. 

I've always liked the idea of writing alongside students. And I've "threatened" to do so a few times, doing an activity here and there with them. I've drafted a few paragraphs, demonstrated how I brainstorm to generate ideas, and have on occasion shared a draft, asking students to make suggestions about what I could do to clarify my ideas. I've even shared a couple of blog entries with them, but have been hesitant to encourage them to read them because I don't want them to feel obligated to "like" my entries. 

I decided this summer would be a good time to give "writing alongside students" another try. I teach in a special program for first-year college students that began in June. Our summer assignment is to read Toni Morrison's The Bluest Eye and write a response over the summer break. The purpose of the assignment is to introduce the theme of our learning community (African American perspectives), reduce "summer melt",  to promote reading, and send students a message that we mean to work hard in our program.  

Reflecting on our Learning

I use a variety of techniques to get students to "think about their own thinking". Most are quick-writes where I ask a pointed question about what students make of a lesson or a unit. Sometimes I'll use exit slips. I lean heavily on weekly take-home journals that students complete over the weekend. I ask questions to compel students to reflect on how what we do in class relates to their “real lives” (as if school isn't real), what they make of the material, and how they experience their own learning. Here are a few sample questions:

After introducing the concept Rhetoric: In what ways does "rhetoric" apply to your everyday life? With any of your other classes? Your intended major? Your intended career? 

After two labs focused on learning Google apps: What are your thoughts and feelings about using Google slides and docs? How comfortable are you using this technology? What benefits do they possibly bring to your writing process? What risks and obstacles do they bring to your learning? Give examples from class, i.e., setting up your G-Drive, sharing slides, starting your Google.doc sharing.

After a particularly tough group-work session: Discuss one moment in class where someone said or did something that helped you understand the material better.  Or, write about a specific moment in class where you helped somebody with the material. What was that like?

After our first "Jigsaw" activity: What are your thoughts and feelings about the Jigsaw Protocol we did today?  How does discussing and sharing answers with your classmates compare with reading alone or listening to a lecture? What are the benefits of using the Jigsaw? What are the risks? What do we lose by doing the jigsaw? How can we make the process more effective?

I ask students to use writing to discover the relevance of the material we cover in class. I want them to consider the ways in which community and inter-dependence can help with learning. I want them to compare and contrast different methods we use in class so they can evaluate for themselves how they learn best.

In all cases, I’m not looking for an accurate or right/wrong of answer. My purpose is to help students develop a habit of introspection, specifically, a practice of reflection that relies on writing. I am, after all, a writing instructor!

Sometimes, I’ll preview the questions prior to assigning them for homework, letting them answer them in pairs or small groups. Other times, I’ll compose the prompts after class, tailoring the question to reflect on a particular moment in class,  and post them on our learning management system.

I’d like to make my questions stronger and a bit more varied. A quick peek at Pinterest, and look at the anchor chart I found for formulating different questions! I’m also looking carefully at reflective questions we are using in this blog challenge (the reason I’m writing this blog!) to see what I can adapt for my classes.  I like the creative ways these questions get me to think deeply about my own practice, my own habits of mind. I've already “hacked” three of the questions to use for my own students’ blog challenges (I stole that idea, too).  Perhaps I’ll feature a few of their blogs in a future post.