Synopsis – December 2009/January 2010: Director’s Annotations > Susan Coller Carlson

Welcome to the final issue of our WAC newsletter for 2009! In the spirit of the holiday (which translates to “everyone’s busy preparing for visitors or travel, Christmas shopping and all the other details that go into this special time of year”) we have decided to combine our last issue of 2009 with the first issue of 2010. It’s been a great year at KU, and next year promises to be even better. Since we have moved online a little over a month ago, our newsletter has been read in over a dozen different countries including South Africa, Pakistan, Turkey and the Philippines, and almost all of the United States. (Do we have anyone in Montana at KU?)

Our first article this month begins with Kate Stephenson’s Revising Revision: Teaching Students to Rewrite Essays Effectively. Kate discusses a common impression our students have when it comes to the true meaning of “revision.” Many erroneously believe that “revision” is the same as editing, so it is essential that we not only illustrate the difference, but help students realize why revision is such a crucial step in the writing process. Like most of us, Kate feels that “WAC provides us with a golden opportunity to reinforce” revision skills and help our students become stronger writers and more engaged learners. What are your thoughts about the difference between revising and editing? Is this something you address with your students in the projects they submit in your courses?

In Challenges Faced By Our Students, JoAnn Funk inspires us to become more attuned to our students and work harder to foster an environment that clearly supports their emotional, social, and academic needs. With a more attentive approach, students are happier and retention rates can improve. Chrissine Rios, in her engaging article, Beyond the Text, supports JoAnn’s ideas by showing how a tutor’s relationship with students must be based on “communication beyond the text,” that is, tutors must make an effort to more fully engage students on a variety of levels. Chrissine makes a strong case for communicating beyond the text and points out how the assumptions we make can affect our perceptions—negatively as well as positively.

In The Case for Teaching The Bluebook: A Uniform System, Ally Howell argues that our legal and paralegal students at KU must learn to use Bluebook. Whether one should learn MLA, APA or any other style of documentation always seems to spark controversy, so I can’t help but reflect back to Christie Zgourides article in our September issue, Getting Real About APA: What a Documentation System Can Teach About Every Career—it’s worth a second look. I know many of us struggle with APA (myself included) but it (like all styles of documentation) is simply a formula, a nomenclature. The impetus behind teaching students APA should first focus on ethics: we do not steal another person’s work and so always give credit to the original writer, researcher or creator of a work. Students need to understand why this is essential, and it is our responsibility to instill this culture of integrity prior to digging into the particulars of APA, Bluebook or any other form of documentation.

In our next article, Low-Stakes Writing with a High-Tech Twist, Kella Hammond inspires us with her take on “writing as a form of unevaluated exploration.” Kella refers to Peter Elbow who believes low-stakes writing is not only “livelier, clearer and more interesting,” but oftentimes more understandable than high-stakes writing. Kella challenges us to consider incorporating more “low-stakes” writing assignments into our courses using technologies such as Twitter, Thinkmap’s Visual Thesaurus, and chat room “stop and jots.” If you are using low-stakes writing assignments in your courses—especially if you are teaching a non-composition course—we would love to hear how you do it and what kinds of results you have noticed. Please share your ideas with your colleagues by posting a comment after the article.

On the heels of Kella’s thought-provoking article is Stretching Bodies and Minds: A Disciplined Writing –Yoga Connection by Joni Boone. Joni makes a strong connection between the discipline needed for yoga and writing, but hints that discipline does not have to carry negative connotations. It is the consistent practice of writing, whether formal or informal, serious or playful, that truly strengthens one’s skills, and I think we can all glean some inspiration from Joni (and her adorable daughter, Harper).

Mike Jensen reveals what he hopes Santa will bring him this year in his amusing article, On the Lighter Side: All I Want for Christmas Is To Be A Math Teacher. And wrapping things up for this issue, Diane Martinez explores how we can show students that writing does matter beyond the halls of the university and beyond the scope on one’s career goals in Going Beyond a Utilitarian Approach to Teaching Writing. Self-discovery and insight into the world in which we are a part of can be enhanced by writing no matter which discipline one belongs to, but the catch is that we need to find meaningful ways to incorporate the writing process into our courses so that students have time to hone these skills. Has anyone noticed an overriding theme this issue?

So as I sit at my kitchen table in the wee hours of morning and wait for the first major snowstorm of the season, I leave you with this thought. We know that helping our students become strong writers (better yet, strong communicators) has to be one of our highest priorities for 2010 and beyond. We have formally incorporated the WAC General Education Literacy (GEL) into our courses, and so now it is time to “make good” on this GEL and actively support its functionality and foster its effectiveness. If you are not a writing teacher per se and don’t know where to begin, we understand. Please know that you have a team of people ready to support you. Contact the Writing Center staff, attend our faculty workshops, read our newsletter, and become involved in the KU community of writers—we are here for you just as we are here for our students.

A colossal thank you goes out to all our contributors (and especially our editor, Diane Martinez) and all our readers for making this newsletter a success. I sincerely wish everyone a safe and happy holiday and a wonderful New Year! Two inches of snow per hour? Did I just hear the weatherman correctly?

Best,