Get Me Out Of Here

I want to talk about teaching.

I received an email from a student yesterday. This is it, in its entirety:

“what is the subject we are talking about for the discussion”

No greeting. No punctuation. No capital letters. Sent to an English professor. For a writing class.

Now, you’re probably confused, as was I.

Before every class period, I post a Course Announcement for the class period that details what we will be covering for the day, including what writing assignment(s) the students will be completing, a rationale for these assignments, the due date for these assignments, and where students should submit these assignments.

I instruct students, if you have to miss a class, please log into Brightspace, read the announcement you find there, and complete the work. Here is that announcement:

Workshop 1 :: A Spectrum of Writing Tasks :: Process Writing: Reflecting on the Writing Experience

Process writing is about telling the story of what happens when you write — not just what appeared on the page, but the thoughts, decisions, feelings, and obstacles you encountered along the way. It’s a chance to step back and observe yourself as a writer, not to judge or critique, but to notice and reflect.

Think of process writing as an honest and detailed account of your experience, told in a spirit of curiosity and acceptance. What did you feel while writing? What choices did you make, and…