Quoting the dictionary: Faculty responses

In an unscientific poll of Composition 1 instructors at JCCC, 8 have weighed in. When asked how they felt when a writer quoted the dictionary in the introduction of an essay, 7 of 8 chose “Arrgh. I hate it” with the remaining voter selecting “I rarely see it work but it doesn’t bother me.” No one chose a positive (“I love it”) or neutral (“Fine. Whatever.”) response. The survey was anonymous, faculty had to follow a link, and perhaps that attracted only those with strong feelings; however, there seems a consensus that quoting from a dictionary does not succeed in comp. 1 classes or higher classes.

In response to the question I posed to the faculty list-serv , however; colleagues offered more useful, nuanced and reflective replies. I asked (all emphasis – bold – is mine):

How do instructors here feel about students quoting the dictionary (particularly in an introduction)? This may be a personal bias I need to address. I don’t generally like it, and I’ve had colleagues who felt strongly about it, but I once taught from a writing textbook that encouraged the practice…..-I’d like to be able to honestly tell students if this is a personal style issue specific to an individual instructor, or if citing the dictionary is generally unsuccessful with college writing professors.

Prof. Brannan explained:

particularly for developmental writers, patterns and other structure are critical. The dictionary gambit can be used as fluff--which it often is in Comp I, II, and beyond--but is useful for our 106 and 102 writers. It is especially useful when these students also see the classifying/dividing element in good dictionary definitions and have the concept of specific, detailed examples reinforced.

In the Precomposition class (roughly the equivalent to JCCC’s ENGL 106 ) I once taught elsewhere, the book suggested incorporating a dictionary definition. This lends support to Prof. Brannan’s thoughts. Prof. Lillich expressed:

I just finished grading a batch of definition essays and had several students use dictionary definitions as jumping off points/introductions. This is the developmental level in Engl 106, where the chapter on writing the definition essay suggests incorporating the dictionary into your pre-writing and using your specific definition in your essay. I really think it all depends on what level writing you are teaching AND who your students are.

There seems to be consensus. There’s a time and place for it, but Comp 1 students should be in the process of moving out of the practice. Prof Allen wrote:

At the risk of sounding like I worry about template writing a lot, I think this comes back to that. Students are given certain patterns, tricks of the trade early in their writing experiences and they are never moved out of that. What I don't know is why. Are they not given enough opportunities to think? After all, writing requires the ability to think not just regurgitate facts. Or are they encouraged to stick with what "works" for so long that they fear leaving the security of it? What I do know is that the definition opening is one of those strategies encouraged early on as an "opening technique" for young writers.

Maybe my overexposure to the technique (because I teach comp 1) has contributed to some sort of allergy. The repetitive exposure results in a numbness or fugue in others. Prof. Karle explains:

Dictionary definitions are boring and, as I tell my students, a missed opportunity to say something that is actually interesting to the reader and significant to the paper's argument. I also tell my students that if they must define a word, their own definition (for example of the word hero) would be far more interesting to the reader.

Prof. Schmeer tells writers that their goal is to:

grab our attention and “delight the reader”--that is, engage us and make us want to keep reading. Dictionary definitions are the written equivalent of Ben Stein’s character in “Ferris Bueller’s Day Off.” It helps to show a YouTube clip of the roll-call scene in FBDO or read students papers aloud in a Ben Stein voice when you explain this. They get it right away…
But beginning writers need templates to follow. I think we all forget that we needed templates at some point, too. Learning to think isn’t easy. Learning to trust your thinking is harder. Learning to trust that what you put on the page is often a poor representation for what you think and you need to think harder and represent those thoughts better is impossible unless you are willing to put forth the effort.

I’m going to share the video link in class next semester to provoke a free write on the analogy Prof. Schmeer talks about (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=G7zYyTotwfE). I like analogies. Prof. Fitzpatrick posited:

I have always thought of things like modes or the known/new pattern or even “claim-logos support-pathos support-ethos support” models as solid training wheels for students to use while they are finding their bearings in this new world of academic writing. ….But you don’t keep training wheels on forever, and the trick is helping students know when to take those training wheels off —and I think it is particularly difficult in late 106 …and early Comp1 (where some students come in with the stock patterns, which have given them success in high school and that are damn near required for standardized tests, and assume every kind of thought can be squeezed into one of those templates). That is something that, in my opinion, needs to be done on an individual basis with the student and the intention of the essay. But, for me, the place to start is to make sure students understand that these things are training wheels (or scaffolding) that will disappear once the ideas have enough wherewithal to support themselves.

This dialogue responds to the question much better than a simple and reductive rule for or against a practice; hopefully my students will read it. Lance Armstrong could show up to a bike race with training wheels and those who knew of him wouldn’t laugh He’d likely win the race, but for most riders, once they reach sufficient proficiency with a bike the training wheels become a hindrance rather than a help. ( I imagine he’d use them like the wheel weapons in the chariot race in Ben Hur, or like those vicious chrome plastic lug nut covers on semis).

Prof. Heflin makes an important distinction and relates the question to larger issues of research

if the student feels compelled to justify her/his point of view on an idea with a definition, I require that they use an authoritative dictionary, not a common one....so I remind students that they are not doing research by using a common dictionary, but merely doing preliminary research. I push my students to realize that the easy sources can be accessed by anyone, but a scholar accesses the authoritative, hard to find sources, which helps to build the writer's own authority in the process… that is also the rationale I give about avoiding using Wikipedia or eHow or any other abbreviated or condensed encyclopedia--it is not authoritative enough in and of itself (besides other issues).

All comments collected from email over the period of 12/9/10 to 12/12/10 and reprinted with permission of the authors.

Inquiry-based Service Learning project

At the 2010 KCPDC Master Teacher Retreat, I had the privilege to sit in on a group discussion where several teachers shared success stories of a service learning projects informed by inquiry-based learning pedagogy. This pedagogy / andragogy works for students of any age - but unless you've gone to a Montessori school, you may not have had much experience with it.

The process is fairly simple.

1. Choose a problem of global or campus wide significance that is relevant to our community.
2. Research the problem.
3. Inform the community.
   

In this project the students keep the following rules/ mandates in mind.

• Every step of the process must be ethical
• No one can get hurt
• The students have to live with the consequences
• the community has to have the chance to respond.

As one professor put it: pick a topic, tell us the truth, explain how we know the truth and pose possible solutions.

These teachers described profound learning, with students generating funds for charities, making proposals to student senate, and generally making their world a better place while meeting the objectives of the class as listed in the syllabus.

The students make the decisions and choose the directions, and the instructor acts as a coach, mentor or guide - which is a more realistic role if we want what happens in class to compare or prepare students for real life and the workforce.

What I'm learning Re: SRTOL Papers - Rhetoric

These comments apply to many papers.

I see semantic confusion facts vs. opinions (if this is a rhetorical ploy - it doesn't work on the well-educated; consider your audience).

I hear semantic confusion. Define terms as you will use them. The papers have taught me that voice may be to dialect what an individual is to a small community. Voice may be personal and unique - and dialect may be where we find social connections and collective identity. No class has discussed "Voice" as eloquently as this semester. Consult reference books but don't directly quote them unless absolutely necessary. Paraphrase - define for yourself. Goals of this class require demonstration of nuanced understanding of at least all the terms and concepts listed here. 2 people used the word "slang." What did I say about that? (Scroll down page of link to see written record).

People still call America a "melting pot"? For at least a couple decades (before most of you were born) I've read and been told this metaphor oppresses individual rights. Everything that goes into such a pot loses its individuality and unique/ distinctive characteristics and integrity. It disappears into the stew (or is it a pot of molten metal which produces new alloys? As a kid I saw metal), hence the politically correct image: we are a "tossed salad." Each item contributes to a whole while retaining its integrity and individual flavor. At least a dozen or so papers so far go off on the melting pot analogy. Is the tossed salad thing political correctness gone too far? Do we need the melting pot analogy? Why? Are students reacting against political correctness or have they simply been exposed exclusively to conservative/ dated images?

The people who founded this country spoke English so ... (immigrants should learn it, we should all have a standard dialect, etc)? This argument reminds me of the assertion that English was good enough for Christ, it should be good enough for immigrants. Re: English roots of our founders:

1. What about the millions of Native Americans who'd lived here for millennia. Don't they count? Why not?
2. What about California and the west, as well as Florida - which if we discount native Americans (big if) were settled by Spanish speakers and which Spain claimed or settled before England or colonials?
   
3. In lands added to the United States by the Louisiana purchase (from France) - this includes Kansas - the original white settlers/ missionaries spoke French.
4. BTW - Most know Kansas takes its name from the Kansa Indians - so why the superflous "s" at the end? Appleton's Journal- volume 15 page 758, published in 1876, as well as other sources - notes that it is the phonetic English pronunciation of notes taken by French missionaries. In French final "s" sounds get dropped. Our current state name results from a mispronunciation due to common ignorance of French and or the etymology of the name. If we appeal to tradition/ origins should we start pronouncing our state's name "Kansa"?

English is the most difficult language to learn? Says who? According to what criteria? What research or evidence supports this opinion (not fact)? I've heard this statement from people who speak only English, but I've never heard a non-native speaker of English say this. The polyglots I know rather emphatically say this is not true. Even a cursory web search (wikipedia, other) calls this assumption into question.

What I'm learning Re: SRTOL Papers - citing sources

I've only read a handful of papers. 1/2 have been amazing, and half have been ... uninspiring but generally ok. That's not too bad. Some advice, tips or clarifications for you-all.

In text quotations
Re: block quotations. Only one person's followed MLA so far. I notice Purdue's OWL and several other sources get it WRONG. Page 7 of the PDF Norton provides free online re: MLA format says:

When quoting more than three lines of poetry, more than four lines of prose, or dialogue from a drama, set off the quotation from the rest of your text, indenting it one inch (or ten spaces) from the left margin. Do not use quotation marks. Place any parenthetical documentation after the final punctuation. [emphasis mine]

See also the sample paper page 5 on pdf page 46.

Also:

• every source quoted or used to support an argument should show up in the works page. Even when you quote media such as: songs, films, TV, etc.
  
• if you quote something, there needs to be and immediate (or ajacent) indication of where to find citation info on the works page. Usually this is the author's last name.
  
• when quoting, include page #'s to help readers find the original quote. This is essential if quoting from a book, or database that uses PDF's with page #'s, or a periodical or anything that provides page #'s. Assume the reader will track down your quote, and make it easy. You may have to go back yourself.

Works Consulted info isn't just for your reader - it can help you track down your source again when you lose a draft, print out, whatever. That's why I work on / update the works page every time I find a new source. Just heard a sad story of a great source lost forever. I've been there. Work on your bib page from the beginning and keep it up to date.

Diversity and blogging: a brief look at research

Blogging helps expand community and can be a particularly powerful tool for diverse and minority populations. As I say in my dissertation, educators must look:

at the opportunities for instructional technology to not only enhance the linguistic power of individual students, but we need to also assess how that power can be used in constructive ways to strengthen local and global communities (Cummins). Literacy defines a person’s ability to communicate and creatively produce and use information (Jones-Kavalier and Flannigan, 2006) and is therefore required for full and active democratic participation.

Surprisingly, although it may seem counter-intuitive, less advantaged ethnic and linguistic minority students appear to be even more likely to own and/or use valuable instructional technology hardware (Lenhart and Fox, 2006; Madden and Rainie, 2005; Patten and Craig, 2007), though they may not use it for educational purposes or otherwise use it differently. Pew Reports indicate greater minority involvement in online blogging communities (Lenhart and Fox, 2006), and that minority students are more likely to own personal media players (Madden and Rainie, 2005). A poll by the American Speech-Language-Hearing Association (ASHA) cited in The Hispanic Outlook in Higher Education (Allen, 2007) reports additionally that Hispanic boys listen to portable media players longer and louder than any other demographic. The different use of technology by diverse groups may be because, as Troyka (1982) asserts, these students are more social and “more comfortable in an oral rather than a written mode” (p. 258).

I'll post the citation information soon, and add links as they become available - but I want to get this up ASAP in honor of Black History Month.

JCCC Writing Center resources

Located on the 3rd floor of the library in room 308, the Writing Center (or WC) holds a slew of resources. they have a copy of each textbook used by English and Journalism faculty - maybe each text book used by humanities. MLA Handbooks, EasyWriters, and other style and usage texts also litter the tables.

Many instructors keep a binder with assignment prompts and examples of student work. Sometimes an example is worth more than any other kind of explanation. Look for mine.

They also have scads of handouts, but the most useful resources are the peer consultants. Talk to them.

REMEMBER: you need your JCCC ID card for many services.

advice to students

Attendance is necessary for success - and no matter how often I tell students ,about 3-7% don't seem to "get" that; however, just showing up and doing the minimum required by the assignment won't get you an "A." About a third of students don't get that.

How can I get these ideas through to students better?

Further advice - straight from students - can be found in a couple of videos I shot and edited in 2008. Student perspectives are different from teachers' - and sometimes we can learn better from a peer than we can from a teacher. See here, and here. The videos are short and fun.

P.S. all numbers and percentages pulled out of the air - but my best estimate. I may be venturing into "do as I say; don't do as I do" territory.

Comp 2: week 10 notes.

Check Angel: new lesson plan at a glance posted. Also 2o points for posting necessary bibliographic data and available links or other material (it's behind a firewall - so it's a protected environment). ALSO: Bring 3 copies of a 2 page rough draft/ outline/ executive summary plus free write. Be prepared to talk 3-5 minutes on your paper/topic. Up to 50 points available.

Each student needs to meet with me face-to-face for a conference to talk about this paper/ class in general. If you can't meet me outside of class time let me know Thursday 10.22.9. That time will reserved for those with inflexible schedules.NOTE Schedule posted to ANGEL

Sign up outside my door - see schedule to the right for times available (double click to enlarge).

Conferences will be in my office: 153D GEB (General Education Building).

What Kind of Car Would I Be?

In my teaching demo, and in classes this semester, as an icebreaker, I've asked students, "if you were a car, what kind of car would you be?"

In both cases I avoided questions about my answer. I had a pat answer that was no longer valid, and I recognized that my identity had changed but hadn't had the time or motivation to find a more accurate response.

So, new answer: I'm a 2006 Honda Element. Atomic blue. The vehicle tends to defy classification, but generally gets lumped with SUV's. The height and shape make it stand out. The design is thoroughly practical. The rubber floor and walls can be hosed out. There are minimal buttons, lights and switches. Fewer things to break. The most amazing part of the on-board computer may be that you don't realize it's there - but it makes decisions re: power supply, time for maintenance, etc. It's also functional. The rear seats are ingeniously designed to fold down, fold up and out of the way for a van-like experience, or come out: all with no tools and minimal effort. Perhaps most importantly, you can depend on it. It's reliable.

Some things might be unpleasantly analogous to my effect on students. The unusual styling grows on one - but first impressions tend to be negative, and the suicide doors look cool but are a bit pretentious. It isn't made for off-roading but it looks like it ought to be.

I heard a funny story about the marketing of this car. Forbes mag notes that it was very intentionally created for the active 20-something market. Looking around at owner fora (forums?) the mean age seems like 43. Owners are unemployed adolescents or much older, and.... Something unexpected happened. It appealed to a different demographic more than it appealed to the demographic it was designed for.

FYI: the slogan from the Honda website = "Unorthodox: built for those who live their own unique way." I do challenge orthodoxies on a daily basis - pretty much can't help it. Real character flaw in polite society.

[photos from http://www.conceptcarz.com/vehicle/z10764/Honda-Element.aspx]