Post Process

To me, post process seems to be simultaneously the most useful and impractical of theories. What it does is remind us about certain things we as teachers need to keep in mind:

1) Dialogue is a complex process that takes place along several axes: students, teachers, texts, institutions, audiences, and format/medium are all part of a complex system of communication in writing.
2) There are limitations to the practical application of any theory. Both product-based and process-based theories of composition have their uses, but can be severely limited.
3) Many in-class practices that embody post-process theory are already in use, including peer reviews, group work, writing to multiple audiences, series of drafts, portfolios, workshops, and writing centers. What is important is that we keep in mind the implications of these practices and how we implement them. In other words, everything must be considered as part of a complex system of interactions. Teaching done without much thought can hardly be considered useful.
4) The more degrees of complexity and reflexivity that exist in our pedagogies and classrooms will open up new lines of dialogue and ways of learning.

I think that post-process theory is something that tends to affect the attitudes teachers have and the way they approach assignments, grading, etc., rather than any specific in-class practice. It is extremely useful in the ideological realm, and can positively affect the classroom when it becomes a means of reflection and guidance towards more open lines of discourse.

Post Process Assignment

Today in class, we created assignments that attempted to reach some of the goals of post process composition theory. I imagined mine as a semester-long project that would hopefully tie together many of the composition aims we have discussed.

1. Set an overarching theme for the course. In high school, I participated in History Day; each year, the project had to address certain themes such as Rights and Responsibilities, Frontiers and Pioneers, etc. I think such themes would give students enough leeway to choose topics in literature, history, philosophy, psychology, sciences, or other disciplines while still providing some sort of framework.
2. Have students pick topics inside these themes with sufficient classroom instruction about how to choose a topic (broad vs. specific, comparative vs. critical, etc.).
3. Students turn in any sort of freewriting pertaining to their topic (outlines, brainstorming webs, rants, etc.) to be evaluated as pass or fail (student turned in approximately one-three pages or student turned in nothing).
4. Classroom instruction turns to finding and evaluating proper sources. Students begin to search for appropriate sources.
5. Students turn in an annotated bibliography, which, in my opinion, asks them to think critically about their sources and how they apply to their papers.
6. Students turn in an abstract/prospectus with any additional annotated sources they have found.
7. Students turn in the first draft of the paper, which receives extensive comments from the teacher.
8. Several class days are devoted to workshopping these drafts.
9. Though only one more draft (the final one) is required, students will be given the opportunity to have any subsequent drafts evaluated.
10. The instructor sets up one-on-one tutoring meetings with the students to open a student-teacher dialogue, allow the student to defend his or her ideas, and work on strategies to refine the writing.
11. Student turns in a final draft of the essay.
12. This will ideally lead to a number of auxiliary assignments, including letters, editorials, flyers, debates, speeches, and creative projects.
13. At the end of the course, a class conference is held and each student gives a presentation, allowing the students to be awarded for their intellectual work and giving them the opportunity to teach each other about their topics. They might include a poster, PowerPoint, or video and incorporate both the academic (research) and non-academic (functional and creative) components of the assignments.
14. The final consists of a portfolio of all materials compiled for class. The portfolio also includes a short reflective paper about the student's project, revision (as it is affected by workshops, drafts, one-on-one meetings, etc.), and what was learned.

Please let me know what you think!

Teacher-Student Discourse

One thing I have noticed in taking the video for our group project (with Lauri, Kim C, and Megan from Dr. Rickly's section) is that students are very unclear about the aims of freshman composition. A question we asked them was, "Why do you think Tech is teaching composition with TOPIC?" The answers were all over the board, ranging from "to make it easier on the CIs" to "I honestly have no idea." Most students seemed to think that TOPIC/ICON is a way for Tech to take the "easy way out," that the program is a sort of institutional laziness or cheapness (and in few ways, isn't it?). This problem approaches something that has been brought up in class often--the necessity of communicating educational and pedagogical aims to students. Why aren't student's briefed on the nature and purposes of TOPIC? Why don't we tell them that we're trying to avoid having them write to their professors, that doing everything online saves paper, and that online comments help prevent graders from imposing their style on students? Why don't we inform them and then let them tell us how the program is or isn't working towards these goals? The only recourse students have against the TOPIC program is to test out of it (many students we interviewed advised incoming freshman to "take freshman comp somewhere else") or give negative evaluations at the end of the semester when grades are mostly set. This is similar to a need to inform students about other issues in class; to mention something that came up in class today, professors should let students know if they will be using their papers anonymously as examples in other sections or later in the course and give them the opportunity to opt out of such use of THEIR work (after all, we pound "intellectual property rights" and anti-plagiarism rhetoric at the beginning of class, but avoid these issues ourselves when it comes to using "student writing" as examples--thusly implying that when they turn in words to us, their writing becomes ours--or using turnitin.com). Students are in class to learn, but we as teachers need to be responsible for not only transmitting information, but also informing our students as to WHY we teach the way we do and HOW these strategies will help them learn. We also need to give students the chance to critique our aims and methods because, let's face it--as a teacher, you already know how to write. Your job is not to emphasize your intelligence or mastery of writing craft, but to foster this knowledge in students. If they find your methods lacking and can think of ways to improve it, then we have a responsibility to listen to them. After all, how can you reach the post-process aim of student-teacher discourse if these concerns are avoided?