If teaching is "a small miracle," then teachers are miracle workers.

“Teaching is an impossible chicken-and-egg dilemma. It’s a small miracle whenever it works” (Lynn 250). Absolutely, and anyone who says differently has never been a teacher. There are many obstacles to overcome in order for teaching to “work,” and Richard Haswell’s article on the complexities of responding to student writing outlines just one of the numerous challenges for any teacher, particularly one who teaches composition. I think his warnings against shortcuts taken for teacher convenience alone are good reminders not to forget the goal of education, student learning. I love his candor in saying that “if productive response to (student) writing, despite all the shortcuts we can contrive, still is laborious, that is what we are paid to do.” Yes, the life of a teacher is not glamorous, and there are weekends or evenings taken up with reading and responding to student writing. Anyone who has spent any time in a teacher’s lounge is familiar with all of the teacher gripes, but in the end, we are getting paid (even if it’s not enough) to do a job, and nobody said it was going to be easy.

The teachers' lounge was a place I usually stayed away from, in part to avoid listening to all the gripes and complaints about students. It can be a disillusioning place, and so my t-shirt would more aptly say, "What happens and what's said in the teachers' lounge is best to be avoided," although it's certainly not as catchy.

Still it is comforting and “uplifting to know that less can sometimes be better” in regard to responding to student writing. I think Haswell gives some excellent examples and practical advice, and I like his philosophy of “minimal marking.” If only I had known about it before I entered the classroom; again I’m angry at the inadequacies of teacher education, mentoring, and on the job training. I may have used a pencil instead of a red pen for my marks, so my students’ papers looked like explosions of ashen smudges instead of blood baths, but they were of course no less detrimental. I remember in particular one student who was so distraught by all of my markings on a paper he thought was going to get an A. He was totally disheartened and lost all interest in revising his work. I had gotten into teaching in part to make a difference, to build students’ self esteem, not to break their spirit. And I can’t wait to try again someday, this time older and wiser, stronger and more assured.

Am I the only one who thinks it should be the cat instead of the dog who wants to annihilate his human's writing? I just know my cats think they're smarter than me.

Once again, I found Lynn to be a pleasant read with much sage advice, such as: “Give assignments that will inspire and educate your students; mark their papers fairly and constructively in ways that help them.” I also like that he advocates for teachers to do what works for them as far as what to be called, how to dress, how to format a syllabus, etc. These types of concerns were covered extensively in my education courses, but often with more biases towards the conservative, like wearing pantsuits instead of khakis and button-downs. I also remember the clichéd advice, “Don’t smile until Christmas.” Come on! I knew that wasn’t and never will be me, and I appreciate how Lynn understands that everyone is different and what works for one might not work for another.

Lynn believes that "writing pedagogy begins with your answer to the question of the meaning of life" (257). Let's just hope you don't get your answer from a bathroom stall.

But before Lynn gets to this practical new teacher advice, he discusses the theories that underlie composition pedagogy, and he even delves into politics in the classroom. Although I see where Hairston is coming from in her assertion that “the classroom is not the place for politics, progressive or otherwise,” I also think that it can’t be ignored, much the same as cultural and societal issues can’t be ignored (as discussed in last week’s class). Although I feel like it’s not a teacher’s role to advance his/her political agenda, it also isn’t right for a teacher to have to “disappear” and take on a neutral identity. As a student, I am always disappointed when a teacher refuses to answer a question like, “Well what do you think about gay marriage?” I think honest and open discussions are a hallmark of a good teacher, and when students are writing about and peer editing papers on issues that affect their lives, these political questions will arise. In the end, I agree with Lynn that “we are better off if we pose the right problems and give students the right tools, trusting them to find the right sides for themselves.”