Affective Dimensions of Writing
Do you think of yourself as a writer?
o I have never really thought of myself as a writer. Because most of my writing has not been because I wanted to do it. That being said I have written a lot of things in many ways. Working as a design draftsmen I communicated with technical drawings, notation, and symbols. Though these are not usual considered literary masterpieces but they communicate very specific things. Also I have written many pages of engineering journals for record of what research I have done. These also served as a guide when the company I worked for applied for patents and copy-write. Quite often my engineering notes were to remind me from day to day what I had done that day and what I was going to do the next.
· What kinds of writing did you do recreationally as a child?
o When I was younger I use to draw pictures of what I was thinking about. Mostly pictures of trucks.
· What kinds of writing do you do recreationally now (texts, Facebook status updates, emails to friends, journals, etc.)?
o Now most of my writing is for school assignments and occasionally in my personal journal. I also like to write and read cowboy poetry.
· What kinds of writing assignments did you have in school that you particularly enjoyed, and why did you enjoy them?
o Most of my writing assignments in school I did not enjoy. I did take a class in creative writing when I was in Junior High and I liked creating my own stories.
· What kinds of writing assignments did you have in school that you disliked, and why did you dislike them?
o Most school assignments are writing what the professor wants. You are never able to give your own opinion because you need a grade. So you give the professors opinion like it was your own and hope nobody you know ever reads it.
· How will your answers from the previous questions influence how you structure opportunities for your students to write (or otherwise express their understandings) in your discipline?
o I feel it is much more important for students to express what they think not what I want them to think. I will always strive for students to be creative and express their own feelings about what ever topic I assign.
I feel the same way. My experience in High school was a joke I think. I really like the changes in the literacy and in schools in general. If I had classes that let us write what we like I probably would have enjoyed it a lot more. After writing a lot of papers in college I think it would be useful to get our student writing about something that they are interested in.
ReplyDeleteI think making sure your students are writing is a great way to get them thinking and to assess them formatively.
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