I really enjoyed Romano's book, and the whole idea of Muligenre papers is very intriguing. I would love the opportunity to attempt this kind of a paper in the classroom. In a number of ways, it revitalizes the traditional idea of a paper and seems to put emphasis on student learning, understanding, and creativity as opposed to structure and rules. It also reduces the anxiety involved in having to write a certain number of a pages on a subject by allowing it to be broken down into manageable pieces.
Here is my main issue...and I would like to emphasize that this is MY issue, and not a problem with the idea of the multigenre paper itself. Having very little teaching experience, I feel that I would be much more comfortable teaching how to write the kind of paper that I know and understand (personal narrative, research paper, etc). I have experience with writing these kinds of papers and I feel that I would be able to field questions well and be able to explain and define the assignment so that expectations are clear and understood. Since I am in the very early stages of my teaching career, I feel like I need to work on some basic building blocks before I attempt this kind of project.
I'm worried that because I have no experience with multigenre papers outside of Romano's book, I will end up with a room full of confused students with blank stares. I'm worried that they'll have questions that I won't know how to address. I think that once I have more experience working with student writers, I'll feel more confident about how to go about teaching this very intriguing form...but I think I might need a year or two to get some of the basics down first.
I bet it would help my understanding immensely if wrote one or two multigenre papers (ideally in a workshop setting).
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This site has several ideas for Multigenre projects. The first one also links to an assignment sheet with a huge list of genre ideas:
http://www.webenglishteacher.com/multigenre.html
This site covers a lot of the basics of Multigenre projects, in a fairly succinct format. It includes answers to a lot of commonly asked questions, as well as "methods for taking notes," and a "project checklist" (which includes ideas for scheduling due dates for various parts of the project).
http://www.sheboyganfalls.k12.wi.us/cyberenglish9/multi_genre/multigenre.htm
Hi-C,
ReplyDeleteI hear you on the whole preparedness front but I think a big reason why we are getting into this biz is because we like to be uncomfortable. Sure taking on a multigenre paper might seem incredibly daunting but just doing what you mentioned in your post makes it a lot easier to process: "It also reduces the anxiety involved in having to write a certain number of a pages on a subject by allowing it to be broken down into manageable pieces" (Center 2009). The same can be said for us teachers. It gives us the total flexibility of working with the students in developing the criteria - something else we've been pounded with, and something else we probably wont be comfortable with.
My point is that while at first it seems like the MG paper is pretty damn daunting. Horrifying maybe for a student or first time teacher. But recognizing the freedoms of the paper as benefit rather than a hindrance for both student and teacher makes it too appealing for me to pass up during student teaching. I'll let you know how it goes if I get the green light from my co-op.
-Josh
Josh,
ReplyDeleteI'd love to hear how it goes! And just for the record, I will definitely attempt Multi-Genre papers...and probably sooner rather than later (they just sound like so much fun!)...just not on day (or month) one.
Good point about "recognizing the freedoms of the paper as a benefit rather than a hindrance" (Rosenblatt...I mean Lehr, 2009).
I'm happy to hear that you'll be trying the MG. I'm working on my LP for my Cont. Lit class which is going to be really structured. I think I'll use the MG paper in my Comp. class to see how things turn out when the details are more loosie goosie.
ReplyDeleteI wonder if Rosenblatt would sign a picture for me...