Respect the Process

I am a big enthusiast of the Writing Process, so much so that I teach it in every English class that I teach.  I feel that it warrants discussion because it breaks writing up into smaller, manageable pieces that make the task less frightening.

Most students, especially college freshmen freak out when given a writing assignment.  They see that they have to write 3 pages, and begin to fret & think… “I won’t be able to write that much.”  Then they look at me like deer caught in headlights.  I assure them that they can do it.

I say… “I had to write a 25 page paper for a class one semester.  I was overwhelmed, but I broke it up into pieces, and I was able to write an “A” paper that the professor raved about.”  That usually impresses them and calms them down at the same time.

The Writing Process has 5 steps… prewriting, writing, revising, editing, and publication.  It is a process that takes the writer from inception to completion.  It makes the writing task easy to do because you do it step by step.

In pre-writing, you generate ideas and plan out the task.  This is very important, and a step that most of my students usually don’t do.  You think about your topic, come up with ideas of what to research (making notes on and about your research so that you can use it when writing your paper and to avoid plagiarism is important here), what to write about, and how to organize your essay.  You also write an outline or essay map in this step.  This is vital to the success and quality of your essay.  Without an outline or a map, you can ramble in your essay, creating an essay that has no logical flow.

When you write, that’s just what you do… WRITE!  You write out your words, or type out your words.  You do not focus on anything else other than getting the words on the page… no editing, no revising, no researching…  just writing!  (You may want to turn off the grammar/spell checker in your word processor when writing.) çNote to self!

As I tell my students… it’s okay to have errors in your writing at this step of the process.

When you revise, you look at the content… in other words… “Am I saying what I want to say, in the way that I want to say it?”  “Does this make sense?”  “Can I use better words?”  Revision is making your writing SOUND better!

Editing is looking for errors.  I teach my students the COPS method of editing… Capitalization, Organization, Punctuation, and Spelling.  Editing makes your writing look better!

You have to revise and edit in two different steps.  YOU HAVE TO DO IT TWICE!

Publishing is fun.  You may turn in an assignment to a professor, you may post it online, or you may just read it to yourself.  However you publish, you should be proud of your work.

Using the writing process is beneficial to all levels of writers.  We all need to remember… WRITING is a process, and we need to RESPECT THE PROCESS!

Technical Writing in Corporate America

Now, more than ever, people in corporate America need an understanding of Technical Writing.  Specifically, with the use of social media, it is imperative that people understand how to use technical writing in their careers.

Technical Writing is becoming a required course for many degrees.  That is good because it helps people who are getting these degrees learn how to communicate using technology.  Technical writing teaches people how to create documents that look good, as well as sound good.  It teaches them the importance of how a document looks using various medias, as well as drawing attention to the way words are written and arranged on the page.  Tech Writing even focuses on how to write for people across genders and cultures.

It is important to understand how to use printed media and digital media.  With more communication being done through technology, we must adapt and learn to use these technologies to our advantage.  Tech Writing teaches people how to do that.

Taking Tech Writing is worth the money.  It teaches you valuable skills that you can use to enhance your resume, as well as boost your company brand.  As a student learns various skills through out the course, they will be able to use these skills immediately in their career, so the cost of the course pays dividends immediately.

Technical Writing is a class that needs to consider when getting a college degree.  It will help you learn how to communicate in this technological world that we live in, and it will provide you with skills that will enhance your resume.

Minored in Technical Writing, But Majoring in Teaching

Minoring in Technical Writing is one of the things that caught the dean’s eye when she was interviewing me to be an English professor at Collin College.  It was (and still is) my endeavor to be a Creative Writing professor.  Now, I know those classes go to full-time professors, and it may be awhile before I can teach one of those classes.

Here is the funny thing… I never thought about teaching Tech Writing.  I enjoy creating, designing, and revising documents of all types, but I never had the desire to teach others how to do it.  I have shown a few people some techniques I use, but I never set my mind to be a TECHNICAL WRITING professor.  It never entered my mind.  Looking back, I see that I had a narrow view of who I could be as a successful professor.  – I thought I would only be happy if I was teaching Creative Writing.

I teach Tech Writing.  I love it.  It is one of my favorite classes.  To see the growth of the students over the course of the semester, is amazing.  To see the students start out disliking a project, then to see them change their mind is great.  To see an email from a student saying that they were able to use something that we talked about in the previous weeks at their job, makes me smile.

As I write this, tears fill my eyes because I can now see that I had one vision for myself as a college professor, but God had another vision for me.  He thought me worthy of helping to make people better technical writers.

Do not limit yourself, be open to wherever you can go in life.  It could be a better place for you, and you could have a lot of fun on the journey.

What I Learned Last Week (What I Taught Last Week)

This is the third time I've written this post.  I'm trying to think what I can write about.  Not much came to mind as I thought about beginning to post.

But, as I began to write today, all kinds of thoughts ran through my mind.

I’ll post them and explain them.

1.       If you need help, ask me.
This is so important for me as a professor because I want to help my students, but I can’t help them if they don’t tell me they need help.  Since Tech Writing is an online course, this is even more vital because I can’t see the students’ faces to see if they are struggling or not.
I stress… If you need help, ask for it.  That’s the only way you can get help.

Asking for help doesn’t make you look stupid, either.

2.      Read everything!
Be sure you read the assignment/project descriptions.  Be sure to read the whole document.  If you don’t read all the instructions, then you want know how to do an assignment.
Reading is vital to your college success.

I’ve probably answered the question in the document already.

3.      Start early.
Don’t wait to the last minute to begin your work.  It never fails.  When you try to rush and do something, it’s gonna go crazy.

Murphy’s Law - "Anything that can go wrong will go wrong!"

I’ll continue to teach these lessons, and they apply to all my classes.  Hopefully, the students will learn them, and apply them to their life.

Spring 2018

Well, it's the Spring semester.  Time to get started again.  I made posts all the way through October.  I'll get further this semester with posting.

Can't wait to see what this semester brings.

Speaking of criticism

Speaking of criticism… I just had my performance review for Richland.  I was so nervous, which is unusual, but it was a hard week for me, having learned of a tragedy involving one of my students that weekend.  I believe I will receive a favorable review because my dean got involved with the conversation.  (I love it when that happens).  Plus, her response to me after class was good.

It’s a Process… Baby!

My favorite and most widely used writing tool is the WRITING PROCESS.  I teach it in every English class I teach.  I usually spend a whole lesson, if not class period on it.  This is the most essential tool a writer can have in their arsenal.

The writing process is… prewriting, drafting, editing, revising, and publishing.

The writing process breaks the writing down into bite size pieces that can ease a writer’s anxiety, as well as ensure that they complete the writing assignment in a timely manner.  It also guarantees that all areas of writing will be covered.

I use this tool regularly whenever I write something.  From start to finish, I cover all five steps.  There are times when I combine some steps, but I cover all of them.

Prewriting is a fun step for me.  It has changed since I worked on Master’s Degree because I now include research in all of the writing I do, instead of just academic writing.  I never considered doing research for non-fiction writing, but after working on my Capstone, I realize how important and effective it is.  I’m a big believer in outlining.  It’s where I figure out my story.  I probably go too deep with my outlines, but they work for me.  I have had to revisit my outlines on a couple of occasions, but they are still helpful.

Drafting is a hard step for me.  It requires me to focus, think, drain myself, and turn off my inner editor.  It’s the part of the process that provides a sense of accomplishment for me.

Editing and revising (they should be done separately, but I tend to combine them) are tedious because they require me to reread what I wrote, dissect it, and tear it down to make it better.  It’s hard work annihilating my writing in a way that will make it sound and read better.  Yes, annihilating is a harsh word, but that’s how I feel about editing and revising.

Publishing is enjoyable.  I like having people read my work.  That’s why I write.  One of these days, I’m going to make money from my writing. J

In every profession, there are tools of the trade.  These tools are valuable and should be used.  In writing, there are many tools that can be used.  The Writing Process is a valuable tool to know and use.

Now that’s an e-Portfolio!

When I began teaching 2311, I discovered the e-portfolio as a job search attribute while looking at the textbook as I designed the class.  It intrigues me, as an assignment to give to the class, as well as a useful tool.

I’ve never used an e-portfolio in my job search, but in the future, I plan to use it when the opportunity presents itself.  It’s a great way for employers to get to know you.  You can showcase yourself, and the employer can see who you are before ever meeting you.

If you look at my e-portfolio, you will learn about me as a professor.  You can see what classes I have taught, view sample syllabi, as well as sample assignments.  Also, you can see where I’ve worked and my letters of recommendation.  You get an overall picture of me.  One thing I eventually want to include is videos of me teaching classes.

When viewing my e-portfolio, you can get a good view of me as a writer.  I include many of my writings, both published and unpublished.  I think I show my writing skills successfully.  I have this section for two reasons, other than just to showcase my writing skills.  I want people to read my work, and I want to inspire people with my writing.

Overall the e-portfolio is a great way to showcase yourself.  Even if you don’t use it to showcase yourself, it’s a great way to create a monument to remember your successes in life.

Bad Habits All Around

Changing a bad habit is hard to do, but it can be done.  We must remember that a habit is just behavior, and behavior can be changed.

For most people, change is hard.  It’s hard because once something becomes routine, we don’t like to change our routines.  Writing is no different.  We develop habits when we write.  Whether it’s a common error or style of writing, we develop them, often times, not even realizing that we have this habit.

I don’t know that I have any “bad” writing habits, maybe too many comma errors, but I don’t think of any as bad.  I have a weird writing habit. I like to handwrite my first draft, but I can only write it on a particular style of paper. The paper is only sold at the beginning of the school year at Wal-Mart.  I generally have to stock up on it as well.  I also have a certain type of pen that I like using.  I can use other types of pen, but I feel better using my favorite style.  The only thing about my favorite style is that it is only sold in a 12 pack set, which includes two of them.  Thankfully, the other colors of the pen are cool, and I like using them.

Changing a habit takes patient and dedication.  Once I heard that something becomes a habit when you do it 21 times in a row.  I usually try the same thing when unlearning a habit.

Wikipedia… It has it’s Place, But Not in an Academic Essay

Wikipedia is a good starting point for person to begin their research.  It gets your brain to thinking about the subject matter, as well as provides links to other sources that may give you some ideas as well.

The biggest problem with Wikipedia is that regular people, who often don’t verify their sources, or provide accurate information, write the information.  It’s not verified or checked in any way either.  There’s no editor.  No experts review the site.

I remember one time Wikipedia kept saying that comedian Sinbad was dead.  Mike and Mike discussed it on air, and Greeney was very upset with the Wikipedians.  Calling them out for writing the false information.  It took a while for the site to get the information correct.

To use a source, remember to evaluate it using the following items:

·         Authority

·         Currency

·         Accuracy

·         Objectivity

·         Usability

·         Appropriateness