Tag: teaching

The Fear of Those Who Are Different (and the power of writing) Part 2

On By VickieIn Writing2 Comments

This is the second in a series. To read part one of The Fear of Those Who Are Different, click here.

protestorsA story I relate to my classes each semester regards a proposal made a number of years back in, I believe, the Oakland Unified School District. It stated that the required literature assigned to high school students must be written by authors who reflect the gender and race makeup of the student body. So, for example, if the required reading included ten novels, and fifty percent of the student body were female, then five of those books would need to be written by women authors. And if sixty percent of the student body were Hispanic (which was the word of choice at that time for people who came from countries whose primary language was Spanish), then six of the authors would need to be Hispanic. And so forth.

Continue reading “The Fear of Those Who Are Different (and the power of writing) Part 2” →

The Fear of Those Who Are Different (and the power of writing)

On By VickieIn Self Development, Writing4 Comments

hateMy daughter was home from college for winter break, and after watching yet another news story about a horrible crime steeped in hatred, we found ourselves discussing how much hatred there seems to be in the world. My daughter resignedly asked if I thought there would be a time when people are simply accepting of others.

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“I Tried Really Hard!”

On By VickieIn WritingLeave a comment

bikeWhat is more important? The effort or the results?

I guess it depends.

I teach at a university on the side of my writing. And I teach writing – no surprise I am sure.

But I had an interesting exchange with a student yesterday. She was upset that she received a C on the report that I had just returned in my business writing class. I have turned this class into much more than simply business writing, however. I have emphasized professionalism and leadership as well.

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The Necessity of Feedback

On By VickieIn WritingLeave a comment
csun
First day of the semester

I’ve neglected this blog, but I am back! A large reason I have disappeared for a minute is because I teach part time at a local university, and the new semester began. I am teaching more classes than I usually do, and so I have been busy getting into a groove.

But as I grade papers, I have been thinking a lot about feedback and it’s importance. I tell a story at the beginning of each semester about a poetry class I took in graduate school. As I paged through the first essay returned to us, I noted periodic checkmarks, which I assumed meant that I was hitting a point the professor was looking for. On the last page, he wrote “Good” and gave me a B. Hmmmmm. That made no sense to me. I must have uttered my confusion out loud because a student next to me assured me that the problem was probably that I had a lot of grammar errors – hence the B.

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Preparing for My First Interview

On By VickieIn WritingLeave a comment

Mike Lizaraga, Michael Lizaraga, screenwriting, The Shell, student, writing, short story, horror genreI am meeting with Mike Lizarraga tonight for my first interview for this blog!  The reason he is my first is actually a great story, so I wanted to share that with you beforehand.

I have taught college English for 20 years. But like everyone else, there is always that first semester. In fact, I just spoke with my niece Josie the other day as she is finishing her first year as a teacher (she teaches fourth grade, something I think only saints or crazy people can do!).

Talking to her reminded me of my first class. Continue reading “Preparing for My First Interview” →