Jacob Runyon

Dr. Cook
English 3580
Daybook Reflective Essay
Teaching writing has proved to be a very difficult subject matter for me. Deciphering just
how much students should have, how picky I should be about their papers, whether or not I
should provide extremely detailed rubrics are just a few of the many issues that I have learned I
must face. Through this course I have not learned about myself as a writer as much as I have
learned that writing is different for everyone.
Quite honestly, I believe I have had my identity as a writer since high school. I do not
mean that there is no more room for me to grow as a writer. I mean I truly believe that I have not
made any major feats in my writing since high school. Frankly, I have hated every single writing
class that I have took at Appalachian and truly believe that English 1000 and 2001 are a waste of
time, especially since, depending on the major, you are going to have to relearn a different
format of writing, each department containing its own rules and standards. With this said, I do
not believe that my writing style or disposition that I illustrate in my papers has been impacted
by the work of this course. My identity and attitude towards writing is: just write and whatever
needs to come out will.
Now, I know that it sounds like I am displeased in the way that this course has gone, and
looking at the stand point of has my writing improved; how have I grown the course has been
dissatisfying. However, I do not consider the point of the course was to become a better writer
but a better teacher of writing. Now, it may be that to become a better teacher, one must become
better at what they teach. Again, not to be conceded, but I know what does and does not work for
me as writer. How have I grown? I have not grown by completely reviewing myself as a writer
and coming to the conclusion that everything I knew about writing is a lie. I have grown by
realizing that all writers approach writing differently. I have grown by understanding that
everyone is capable of writing and that writing is individualized.
Throughout the semester, I have read various works about how boys learn males and
females learn differently. Whether or not you believe that should affect the way you approach
writing, personally, I believe it should, it made me realizes that all students, all learners of
writing will learn differently. For some, having a hundred things I love list is a great way to get
their minds thinking about writing, which really helped me when thinking about free writes.
Another important fact to keep in mind is to remember that not all students will approach
prompts the same. Some may write humorously and others more seriously. It is important to
keep a safe, caring classroom where ideas are free to float around and students will not feel
condemned because of the content that they wrote about.
Discovering the characteristics of a healthy classroom environment may be the biggest
area in which I grew this last semester, both throughout this course and in my other education
classes. I always felt like the teachers were to never be questioned when I was in school. Even if
they had a view that was different than your won, you accepted it, moved on, and complained
about it to your friends later on in the hallway when you were out of site of the classroom.
However, especially through writing, I realize that this should not be the case. Students should
feel free to express themselves in the way that they best know how. This may mean taking some
heavy critic from your students and then applying what they are telling you in their writing. I
have also learned that teachers should not bleed red ink all over a students paper. In my
daybook, I recalled when I got my first ever research paper back and there was so much red
scribbled everywhere that you could see where the teachers ink pen ran out and where it
appeared like she cut a vein and used the blood as ink to complete the grading. It was torturous to
see, especially after working so hard. All the work she showed that I still had to do completely
turned me off to wanting to resubmit a final draft. We have to remember that students will take
critic in different ways, and it will be different for every student.
While I have seen and believe that students benefit most from individualized, personal
feedback, I afraid about how that will work out in the classroom. I would like to say that I would
do anything for my students, and I would like to believe that I realistically I will not be too far
off from this view, but I worry. I worry that one day I will have 24 students in a class, all
expecting a grade, and me losing sleep and getting stressed about trying to individualize every
students paper. My biggest challenge will be learning how to visualize and organize a classroom
that is set up to create that safe learning environment that I know I so desperately need. It is one
thing to realize its importance; it is another to actually implement its practice.
I also appreciate that I have realized how vague of a term literacy is in our multimedia
world. I have grown to realize that English is a bit more than just reading and writing, but
English is about creating meaning. Literacy stretches from news reports to articles on Facebook
to reading Shakespeares classic sonnets. As educators, it is our job to create writing assignments
that are relevant to where the students are developmentally. For middle grades an excellent topic
to write about would be identity, who they believe they are.
While I do not believe that I have necessarily grown as a writer because of this course or
daybook reflective, but I feel as though I have grown as an educator. I know that different
students will respond to various activities differently, and that we should do our best to
individualize lesson plans and create a classroom that is free for flowing of ideas. It is important
for me to remember from this class that all writing is good writing, and everyone can learn how
to write. Teach the students, not the standards.