Philosophy

The praxis described above is unified by a clear philosophy: that writing–much like learning–is a practice, one that must be engaged with humility, patience, open-mindedness, and commitment.

In its application, writing-as-a-practice takes nearly as many forms as there are students in a classroom. As an instructor, I am creative yet practical, demanding but responsive. In my writing courses, the aim of any activity, assignment, reading, or discussion is always to offer my students the experience of writing as a process that is alive and where the argument’s ideas, like all living things, need care to grow.

This differs from the notion, reinforced by ubiquitous standardized testing, that both a student essay and the reading it emerges from are disembodied, static products, assembled in only one correct, predetermined manner. Reading is the bedrock on which this belief stands. 

“Good writing starts with good reading,” I tell each class on our first day. Across my courses, I emphasize the symbiotic nature of close, critical reading and candid, cogent writing. I teach dialectical reading and annotation skills. I also carefully model that care with my own selections of work representing a wide range of lived experiences, including work by writers of color, women writers, queer writers, international and immigrant writers, and Deaf/disabled writers. When students see themselves in their readings, it makes participation with other members of their discourse community that much more authentic.

To read my full teaching philosophy, click here.