Teaching

Too often we give children answers to remember

rather than problems to solve.

~Roger Lewin

There was a time that the word "default" meant only something that failed, like a loan. In computer terms a default is something that is preset and goes back to that setting unless it is intentionally programmed to do otherwise. The default color for MS Word is black. I could make it blue for this blog, but the next time I create a new document it won’t be blue but will default back to black.

There is a default culture that people fall back to as it relates to behavior or practice. I have seen this concept in my class for years, but never thought about a term. When speaking of “time” I have seen that my students can learn to be “on time” if he/she has a class which requires punctuality, but since many students are notoriously late for everything outside the classroom they default back to being “event” oriented. Enculturation is a pattern of behavior set by culture and it’s a process that is deeply ingrained in a person early in life and becomes their default setting throughout their existence on earth.

Default behavior is not only cultural but is true with personalities as well. If a person has grown up where education is valued, or if a person has seen some member of the family become successful because of education then attitude towards betterment through books is quite natural.

If on the other hand, hard work is the what is prized above all else, having one’s nose in a book

will seem like a colossal waste of time.

I believe it is possible to change some cultural or behavioral tendencies as a person gets older, but precedent has been established early and few people will change basic dispositions after they are past puberty. Implications? Perhaps waiting to start basic writing in the college years is a decade or so too late. Setting students default setting early to a love of learning can’t be over emphasized.

"There is a privacy about it which no other season gives you ..... In spring, summer and fall people sort of have an open season on each other; only in the winter, in the country, can you have longer, quiet stretches when you can savor belonging to yourself."

~Ruth Stout

Basic writing and the writer

Basic writing is learning how to make thinking visible. A process whereby we can inspect and reflect on what we are thinking about. If language does indeed give birth to thought then written language provides a way to refine our thoughts since, unlike speaking, it can be changed and refine until it accurately reflects our thinking.

Writing is like any other profession - you have to know your tools to really do well - simple things, like grammar rules and tense, and more complicated things, like scene development and details, dialogue tools, characterization, and themes.That is not to say that there is not a measure of instinct involved - a writer has to have that too, and all the grammar classes in the world can never make up for natural rhythm and imagination. But if all it took to be a good writer was a vivid imagination, then the world would be FULL of good writers. Anyone who has browsed the bargain bin area at Barnes and Noble lately can attest to how many truly good writers are out there—or not.

I have noticed something about my own writing - it is hard work. Sometimes when I am writing, it is pure joy. Words flow from my brain and down to my fingers as I tap out the rhythm of language onto my keyboard. Other times, it is like trying to find a diamond from a mountain of rock - painstaking, boring, and frightening. I know something great is there—somewhere. I read, re-read, and re-read again until I can’t look at the page anymore.

Being a writer and teaching writing are two different roles. I hope to share the joys and understand the frustrations.