Sherwood’s Teaching Philosophy

Jul 2007

I recently had an opportunity to do an impromptu writing assignment that describes my teaching philosophy. I had already written my philosophy before, at least twice, but I wasn’t happen with any of my previous versions. But when I sat down to write this impromptu assignment, my philosophy just spilled out of me, and I liked it. Plus, it was a 5-paragraph essay, which one of my professors told me all English majors should be able to do without hesitation. I, however, am not a 5-paragraph essay kind of gal, so I found it amusing when I finished writing and realized my philosophy was a 5-paragraph essay. And so, without further ado, my teaching philosophy….

When I began freelance writing, I kept hearing the same advice over and over again – write what you know. This advice was important when starting out because it gave me a way to avoid the whole conundrum, “I need clips to get published, but I can’t get published without clips.” When I began freelancing by writing what I knew – parenting – I received writing assignments. With parenting clips in hand, I began pursuing and receiving assignments writing about what I didn’t know. Although I’ve never even been in a semi-truck, I’ve had articles published in Road King magazine, a trade publication for truck drivers.

When I began teaching, I realized my students were entering my classroom thinking they couldn’t write, and they would never be able to write, and they didn’t want to write. The master syllabus for the course, however, listed one of the goals as “to create a community of writers/thinkers,” which created a conundrum of its own. If students don’t think they can write, how can I create a writer community? In this, I relied on my own experience in freelance writing. I had to develop a philosophy that allowed by students to become experts.

Of course, most of my students aren’t experts in writing when they first enter my classroom, but I don’t ask them to be. Instead, I try to begin by helping students recognize what they already know, and how that knowledge might transfer to writing. To do this, I build on what students already do in their everyday lives – communicate verbally. I help students recognize the choices they already make when speaking are the same choices they can have when writing.

In my selection of texts, assignments and even word choices in the classroom, I actively work to undo any misconceptions students may have about writing or about themselves. I emphasize the process of writing, and that all writers – even professional writers and English teachers – make mistakes and/or grammatical errors, especially in early drafts. I have students participate in writer workshops instead of peer groups, and I ask students to write “author’s notes” about their writing whenever they submit it for someone else to read.

I work to help students recognize errors in their own writing and the writing of others. I want students to know what mistakes they tend to make frequently. To do this, I often refer to my own writing, and I offer extra credit whenever students find an error in any writing I do. I give students hints about what errors I tend to make. For instance, I tend to have verb tense errors in early drafts. Once students start seeing a trend in the types of errors they make, they can focus on learning how to fix those errors. It doesn’t mean the errors won’t happen anymore, but the student will know what the error is and the resources available to help fix it. With this philosophy, I can reach that course goal of creating a community of writers and thinkers.