My writing has transformed immensely over the course of these past four years and I owe it all to the incredible teachers that cared enough to help along the way.
Writing has always been a type of love/hate relationship in my life. While I absolutely love to write in general, I've struggled all my life in trying to master how to write academically.
I had absolutely no troubles when it came to writing for myself. There was no specific format that had to be followed, directions that had to be completed exactly as listed, but most importantly there was no limit on the ideas to consider and write about.
It took some time and many red-marked final drafts to realize that my academic writing was hurting not because I was incapable of meeting the basic requirements but because I became too caught up in writing exactly as that particular teacher expected. I lost sight of my identity in my work and gradually became so overwhelmed by producing work that each teacher considered "A" grade material. By the middle of sophomore year of college my passion to write had faded tremendously. For someone pursuing an English major I didn't have the option and especially the time to lose any passion to write.
Education Courses
Some where in the midst of a rather difficult time in my personal life I found my way in Kelly Killen's Literacy Studies class. On our very first day of class with her she told us that as future teachers we should be embarrassed by our classroom in Sangren we were assigned to. The classroom had bare walls, broken desks, and no resources to successfully teach and learn within. Yes, the classroom was quite terrible but what room in Sangren wasn't? I was undecided if I thought I was missing a very significant "teachable moment" or if I found my way into the twilight zone. As it turned out the joke was on me because Kelly's class was one of the main reasons that not only me as a person but the writer in me came back to life.
Her passion for her students and teaching in general was so contagious. The very teacher I wanted to become and I had thought no longer existed reappeared again. Kelly help our class to use our writing in relation to things that were of interest to us. We didn't have to spend an entire semester covering topics and assignments that were of no interest to us. On the contrary it was through our interests and personal identities that we used to incorporate our writing.
Writing at its Finest
This type of set up was one of the many creative writing produced in Kelly's classroom. The creative set up incorporated writing and positive feedback/relationship between the student and the teacher. She opened our eyes that writing doesn't always have to follow specific guidelines or presented in a five paragraph essay format. Writing can also be formated through back and forth communication placed on a post it note.