I really liked Boice's advice about "avoiding premature closure" (48). In conferences the most common thing I was asked about the first paper was about what it should look like. I told them not to worry about form too much; to just write it as they thought it should be written. I told them that their peer review sessions would be a time (hopefully) for their classmates to provide them with feedback that would help form their papers into more polished second drafts. My classes are going to do the peer workshops tomorrow, so I can't say as of yet whether this will happen or not, but in my past classes my students said this process made them feel much more comfortable (and dare I say excited?) about starting the first draft. I think maybe this is sort of what Boice is suggesting; that trying to limit yourself too much from the beginning is damaging to the creative process. That is sort of what I told my students. I said that I didn't want to give them a formula because I didn't think there was one. Some of them were kind of freaked out by that at first, but once I explained the peer review process (or what I hope it will be) they seemed to more open to the idea. I guess I'll see how it goes tomorrow....
Tuesday, September 4, 2012
Becoming Geniuses the Hard Way
In this second chapter, Boice talks about the misconception that "I shouldn't have to struggle if I'm truly creative and smart" (52). Going back to my previous post about the first chapter, I really feel this is where my students (and I personally) get trapped in the I-hate-writing-sneaky-hate-spiral. One block or pause in momentum follows another, and it seems like my true goal is to fill a page rather than to make a point.
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Kacy - I would love to hear more about exactly how you conduct peer review. I have a process in mind for Friday (which I think will spill over into Monday), but I became a little concerned when I conducted a peer review workshop ("This is how we peer review" sort of thing) for my classes today. Most people seemed to be on board with the concept, but I have a couple of truly resistant students who I sense are affecting how comfortable everyone else is with sharing their work. Perhaps you have figured out a way to curtail this type of phenomenon a little bit?
ReplyDeleteKacy- that's great that you were so open with them about not worrying about a form. It's funny how some of them always panic and others fist-pump with the concept of being creative and risky for a grade. Do you think that initial panic has to do with lack of confidence or lack of experience, or both? I also could see them relating to the idea of just writing to fill a page. When I began my conferences today, I started off by asking what their challenges had been with writing this paper so far. Probably half of them said "trying to meet the page limit"--which is a little scary, because it only had to be four pages. :) But, I was pleasantly surprised to see that almost everyone had the overall structure of the paper down--just needed to flesh out each scene with more details or specific examples. I think I'll have "Show not Tell" written on my tombstone.
ReplyDeleteAnne, I think it's a combination of lack of confidence and experience both. Some kids have probably been told that if they're interested in certain things they're not creative, or they've gotten that into their heads themselves...so they don't engage in creative activities ever, and so the idea is cemented further that they aren't creative. We need to give them the idea that imagination and creativity are things cultivated through experience and the assimilation of ideas -- it's not about these awesome revelations just magically popping into people's heads.
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