Professional Journals on Writing 22

How should teachers respond to students’ errors in writing? See if students’ errors cluster in patterns. Is there an underlying pattern that unites the errors? MP Shaughnessy. College Composition and Communication (May 78), 190-191.

Should English teachers write? “English teachers should write. They should write even when they have papers to correct, lesson plans to make, reading to do, committee meetings to attend, Anacin to buy for their headaches, TV programs to watch, spouses to love, meals to eat, a face to prepare to meet the faces they must meet. Yes, English teachers must write even if there is little time to write. Because writing is important, they must find time to write.” EF Suderman. College Composition and Communication (Dec. 77), 357. When I share with the students my own frustrations and problems in writing, a barrier begins to come down. CA Jacobs. Teaching English in the Two-Year College (Sept. 04), 43. Teacher says that to teach writing well, one must write—along with the students—in order to share the experience of the process with them. The teacher becomes a student in her classroom. J Domuragli. English Journal (Sept. 04), 22.

How should teachers give writing assignments? “Some of us would benefit if we adopted the procedure of never assigning a paper which we ourselves have not attempted.” EF Suderman. College Composition and Communication (Dec. 77), 357.

How relate writing and literature? “The teacher [or student] who has tried to write a sonnet can more easily appreciate Shakespeare’s mastery of the form….” EF Suderman. College Composition and Communication (Dec. 77), 357.

What can students learn from analyzing the work of professional writers? Study passages from a particular writer. What rules about writing can be inferred? L Garrigues. English Journal (Sept. 04), 59-65.