FYWP

I arrived at this work with dual interests: the struggle of new writing teachers and the political theory of Hannah Arendt. When I started to work with Arendt's three-part theoretical construct of labor, work, and action, which she establishes most fully in her 1958 work The Human Condition, as a model for studying new writing teachers, I had to confront the interdependence, balance, and, at times, interchangeability of these three concepts. They are in orbit with each other. Each offers ways of thinking about writing instruction, the writing classroom, and teacher development. However, as soon as we begin to match theoretical pieces to real-life teachers, the delicate tensions amid the concepts intervene to underscore the unpredicability, distinctiveness, and play within and among writing teachers themselves. In other words, there is nothing simple to say about writing teachers. From my efforts to apply Arendtian analysis, I learned, first, that I cannot put real people and real situations into neat categories.
~ First Semester: Graduate Students, Teaching, Writing, and the Challenge of Middle Ground

I've just begun reading Jessica Restaino's new book, and already it's giving me plenty to think about in terms of how I approach both teaching my own FYWP classes and how I mentor graduate student instructors. I expect I'll have plenty to say about it in practicum next fall — and if others are interested in reading it, too, perhaps we could have a discussion. (The college library purchased a copy at my request, which will be available whenever I return it.)

In addition to the Restaino book (and plenty of fiction, and research for a novel), I plan to reread Dobrin & Weisser's Natural Discourse: Toward Ecocomposition, because I've been working with some ideas from it for a couple of years now and want to reconsider the text through that experience. I'm also reading Net Locality: Why Location Matters In A Wired World, by our Emerson VMA colleague Eric Gordon. It's not rhet/comp, but it's helping me think about the materiality of genre and text, especially in the types of place-based field guides and proposals I ask my WR121 students to write.

So let us know: what's on your reading list for the summer?

Following up on a link I posted recently about the rhetoric of computer programs, I'm intrigued by this description of 10 PRINT CHR$(205.5+RND(1)); : GOTO 10, a new book by Ian Bogost, Nick Montfort, and others:

This book takes a single line of code--the extremely concise BASIC program for the Commodore 64 inscribed in the title--and uses it aa a lens through which to consider the phenomenon of creative computing and the way computer programs exist in culture. The authors of this collaboratively written book treat code not as merely functional but as a text--in the case of 10 PRINT, a text that appeared in many different printed sources--that yields a story about its making, its purpose, its assumptions, and more. They consider randomness and regularity in computing and art, the maze in culture, the popular BASIC programming language, and the highly influential Commodore 64 computer.

A United Nations investigator probing discrimination against Native Americans has called on the US government to return some of the land stolen from Indian tribes as a step toward combatting continuing and systemic racial discrimination.

--Via The Guardian

GRADHACKER SEEKS MORE WRITERS -- GradHacker, anInside Higher Ed blog produced by graduate students for graduate students, is seeking new writers.

Gradhacker has inhabited a space somewhere between the worlds of social sciences, humanities, and education but has had guest authors from disciplines as varied as astronomy and law. Authors have blogged about issues like Banishing Imposter Syndrome and the Perils of Perfectionism while also providing practical advice on How to Write a Course Proposal, How to Read a Book and Stripping Down the Writing Process.

If you are interested in Gradhacker's efforts, they can benefit from your input in several ways. First, Gradhacker is always looking for permanent authors who are motivated and enthusiastic about sharing knowledge. Second, the Gradhacker podcast launched its second episode last week and is open to feedback, ideas for interviews, and iTunes subscribers. Finally, Gradhacker is building networks between graduate student organizations throughout the country to help connect people and ideas. Please share this exciting project with those who may be interested at your own institution and feel free to contact co-editor Alex Galarza (galarza1@msu.edu) with feedback or questions.

According to an announcement yesterday, The Boston Globe is doing away with the traditional "yesterday, today, tomorrow" usage of newspapers and will instead use specific dates in articles. Here's their explanation:

The reason for the change is that articles are no longer written only for the newspaper. Breaking news is posted immediately on the Globe’s websites; stories are then fleshed out, posted again, then put into the process for the next day’s paper and the next day’s web entries. With all that traffic, a reliance on "yesterday," "today," and "tomorrow" is an invitation for error.

The one print exception to the rule applies to headlines.

This could be a useful example for our classes of how fluidly language, genre, and medium interact, as changes in one necessitate adaptations in the others. (Via Universal Hub, and there's more commentary at the Nieman Journalism Lab.)

The Common Core State Standards provide a consistent, clear understanding of what students are expected to learn, so teachers and parents know what they need to do to help them. The standards are designed to be robust and relevant to the real world, reflecting the knowledge and skills that our young people need for success in college and careers. With American students fully prepared for the future, our communities will be best positioned to compete successfully in the global economy. @ Common Core Standards