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Dealing with Challenges

emaitre's picture

"Writing White"

Submitted by emaitre on Sun, 01/29/2012 - 3:21pm
"...if our option is for (wo)man, education is cultural action for freedom..." ---Paulo Freire

Saturday, I began my first day on the job as a MAST writing tutor to high school students excited at the chance to be a resource and mentor to four brilliant, students of color. Not wanting to impose, as Ivan Illich would say, my views around education, teaching, and, of course, literacy, I gave my students the freedom to design the writing curriculum and classroom space.

I was very pleased with the outcome! My students wanted to learn how to write resumes, research papers, SAT prompts, and to write poetry! I was extremely impressed, not because their answers were not expected, but because I definitely did not worry so much about these things my freshman year of high school.

Before the start of class, I had been instructed by my superiors to collect writing samples from my students. And so, on a topic of their choice, they each wrote a one page argumentative paper. However, when reading their writing samples, I became incredibly sad and discouraged as a tutor. My kids, who knew what was expected of them academically and even professionally, did not know how to write "well." It was more than grammar and spelling (these areas could be worked on easily), it was the style, the flow, the tone, the words used in their writing that I knew would be looked down upon in higher education. They had not mastered what one of my students had labeled as, "white writing."

alesnick's picture

Agency Journal Compilation and Reflection

Submitted by alesnick on Tue, 05/24/2011 - 8:55pm

Hallie Garrison

Empowering Learners

 

This student reflects on the entires she wrote in her agency journal for the Empowering Learners course.

alesnick's picture

Applying for Success

Submitted by alesnick on Tue, 05/24/2011 - 8:46pm
See video
See video

Hallie Garrison

Empowering Learners

 

 As the subtitle of this essay says, "Can college students effectively navigate the intricacies of mentoring high-risk youth?

 

alesnick's picture

Dialogue—Communicating Disapproval with Students: A Spin-Off Piece in Response to On Becoming an Effective Praiser

Submitted by alesnick on Tue, 05/24/2011 - 8:30pm

Amanda Fernandez

Empowering Learners

 

Fernandez shows deep thinking in her piece about how to appropriately convey disapproval to students.

alesnick's picture

Cross-Cultural Connections in the ESL Classroom: Forging Respect and Shattering Societal Barriers

Submitted by alesnick on Sat, 05/21/2011 - 10:02pm

Riley Diffenderfer

Empowering Learners

 

 The author responds to an earlier paper in this handbook, focused on transcending cross-cultural barriers in mentorship and teaching.

Apocalipsis's picture

Chorost & a Continuation of Teknolust

Submitted by Apocalipsis on Wed, 04/13/2011 - 9:17pm

Our in class conversation on Monday with author Michael Chorost's skype was certainly dynamic. Although I enjoyed the topics discussed, I found that at one point I asked the wrong question and didn't get the more appropriate one across. If I could get the chance to speak with Chorost again, I'd ask him the following:

alesnick's picture

Exploring Boundaries: Fences, Not Walls

Submitted by alesnick on Wed, 11/10/2010 - 8:26pm

 David Harris

 

This paper takes on the idea of boundaries in education, and why they should be viewed as fences rather than walls.

natmackow's picture

Oliver Sacks: An Anthropologist on Mars

Submitted by natmackow on Sun, 05/09/2010 - 11:18am

    Oliver Sacks’ novel, An Anthropologist on Mars, contains seven fascinating and strange neurobiological stories that explore unique perceptions and experiences of both the world and oneself in the world. The first tale, “The Colorblind Painter”, is about Jonathan I., a painter who, after an accident, lost his ability to perceive color in the world, his memories, and even his dreams. He could not remember what color ever looked like (the entire concept was obliterated from his brain), yet, intriguingly, it was determined that he could discriminate wavelengths of light.

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Narrative is determined not by a desire to narrate but by a desire to exchange. (Roland Barthes, S/Z)

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