Teaching English in the Two-Year College (TETYC). March 2006.

Some ideas on teaching English from Teaching English in the Two-Year College (TETYC), March 2006, a publication of the National Council of Teachers of English (NCTE).

Scale of the value of each idea to me, RayS.
* Not much interest, either because the ideas are not new or the topic is uninteresting.
** I'll think about it.
*** Very much interested.

Why don't students revise?
Extra work. First draft is as good as it's going to get. Won't have time to revise on the job. Done only to satisfy teachers. RH Zigmond. TETYC (Mar. 06), 296. *** [RayS. Students need to understand the purpose of revision. James Thurber said it best: I revise to make what I write seem effortless.]

What are some criteria for evaluating writing?
Readability: Engaged; interesting, easy to follow; understandable; ambiguous; confusing.
Argument: Clear, logical; clear, lucid; logical; incomplete; little argument.
Revision: Thoughtfully reconsidered; revised in response to feedback; sentence-level revisions; little revision; no revision.
Mechanics: Correct; minimal sentence errors; distracts from reading; interferes; incoherent; frequent to severe. RH Zigmond. TETYC (Mar. 06), 302. *** [RayS. Another method of communicating strengths and weaknesses in writing to students. Of interest because a frequent complaint by students is that they do not understanding teachers' comments on their writing.]

How write a college handbook on writing?
Review of a textbook: Make it all-inclusive from the process to a handbooks of usage, punctuation, etc. An interesting wrinkle: author writes from an "I-You" perspective, giving clear opinions on every problem in writing. W Murdick. TETYC (May 06), 315-317. *** [RayS: Sort of like what I do when I review articles in professional journals.]

Other topics: History of writing laboratories in two-year colleges. Guidelines for writing centers. Sometimes people who should know do not know that the writing center exists. No longer peer tutoring or peer response, but peer evaluation of other students' writing. Forum on adjunct faculty. *