Tales from a first-year teacher

One day around the beginning of class we got on the topic of style. Through the course of the discussion, I mentioned stream-of-consciousness and gave them a brief definition. After class one of my students came up to me and said, "Hey, what did you call that again where you just talk on the paper, saying what's in your head and stuff? Cuz I think I do that." I told him what it was called and gave him a little deeper definition and some authors who practice it as a specific technique. "Yea, yea," he said. "I think I do that." His head cocked to one side and his eyes took on a far-off gaze. When he snapped back to reality, he looked almost confused. "When you read what I turned in today, will you let me know if that's what I do? Because what I gave you is how I usually like to write." What I found in his paper was a wonderful example of stream-of-consciousness writing and I told him so. Since then he has been more excited about writing and developing that which he thought was just an easy way to put thoughts on paper.

I have a student whose family is Chinese. She grew up in California, picking strawberries on a field while the world was still dark before going to school all through elementary school. She told me she's finding her voice through writing - a voice that was never allowed by her family. She's scared, but she never fails to venture onto that limb. She asked me to push her a little and make her speak up more because she finally feels comfortable in an environment where that is encouraged and praised.

This marks one of my student's first year in school in 23 years. After leaving an abusive husband and caring for a dying (now dead) mother, she is ready to reclaim her life and figure out who she is and what she's doing. She thought writing would be a good way to do that, so she signed up for a writing class.

I have a dark presence in my room in the form of a young, attractive man who only writes what he thinks I want to hear. I sense fear in him - fear of providing me with something I have the power to dislike. His last reader response was a complete summary with no reflection. The last sentence stated that he "now knows the importance of peer review." I keep trying to push him for more, for something a little more open and giving, while at the same time praising him for bringing interests to class topics and assignments. He's naturally quiet and shy, I suspect, and his declared major is construction management, so I presume that his opinion of taking a writing class is pretty low on the priority scale. Perhaps more than anyone else, I want him to crack, just a little. Perhaps it is because of his reluctance, but perhaps it is because he may just have something wonderful to say. I just want him to give me that chance.