fell off the eart's face

wow. over 5 full months since i've been back here. got slammed with the demands of teaching. i've developed some excellent and effective activities and assignments with all the effort though. that's the result of hella work. 

i started the semester yesterday. things went well. didn't feel the full effects, though. the first day is always easy. teaching an upper-level business writing class. my students have given me a lot of energy. there is so much potential for learning in the class. students, though many don't have formal experience in the business environment, have learned some interesting theories from the various majors they represent. i'm excited about trying to harness their knowledge, tease out new and rich understandings for all of us!

 

wikis and composition: developing new audience possibilities

for the past year i've been researching wikis; specifically, i've focused on this web 2.0's possible applications in the composition classroom. for a review of my preliminary research (and ideas) on this topic, you can visit the wiki i've developed at http://wikisandwritinganewprocess.pbwiki.com/. mind you: this is the first text i drafted on the topic of wikis; my ideas have progressed far beyond this and become more focused on "wikis and audience theory/possibilities."

i'm working, this year, on developing a publishable article on this topic, because i think it's a valuable area of research for fyc classrooms. if you'd like more information on this--for instance a bibliography of sources, to talk about wikis, or to discuss potential assignments using the wiki application--drop me a comment and i'd be glad to give my $.02.

justin

the beginning

this fall i'll be beginning my first semester as a writing instructor. no, this is not my first year teaching. as a graduate student at csu, i acted as the primary instructor (alternatively known as a graduate teaching assistant) of several sections of fyc. this fall, however, will mark my first position as a nttf member--full-time--at the university of colorado at colorado springs.

i've decided to begin blogging, here, now, because i am aware of the importance of support in this developmental period in my career as a writing instructor. i invite everyone who visits this blog--and the subsequent posts that will develop the entirety of this site--to comment, respond, and otherwise share insight into the life of a writing instructor and the field of composition studies. i hope, too, that this blog may act as a site for writing practice for all who visit. as writing instructors we know we need it!

it is my intention to develop many facets of this sight. i'd like very much to have one section dedicated to assignment theory and sharing; that is, i intend to post/discuss assignments i've developed (and will develop) and i'd encourage any visitors to do the same. additionally, i intend to post challenges i encounter in the classroom over the next year (and hopefully longer) and i encourage any visitors to do the same. while i intend for the topics to be "allthingscomp"-related, i cannot promise that this will be the case. i do promise to try to make this the case though.

again, welcome and please contribute when you feel like it!