WMU English | Third Coast Writing Project | English 1000@WMU | English Education@WMU | email
| I'm
an associate
professor of
English Education at WMU and a
co-director in the Third Coast Writing Project. I was tenured and
promoted to associate professor this past summer. Here's a bit about my
vision of our profession and my place in it: a statement of professional purpose. Janet Alsup and I wrote But Will it Work with REAL Students? Scenarios for Teaching Secondary English Language Arts (NCTE, 2003). I take my entire family out to Denny's semi-annually on the royalites. (Mmm..... "Moons over My Hammy"... ) I just finished with a recent book project, helping Connie Weaver with Grammar to Enrich and Enhance Writing (Heinemann). Currently, I'm beginning work on a first-year composition text, tentatively titled Writing at the U: Writing With, At, and For the University. The text is meant to integrate first year writing students in their university community and use that community as a site of research, inquiry, and publication, based on our work in the developmental writing program at WMU. My next idea - I'm also working on a draft of a proposal for a new grammar pedagogy text: Big Ideas for Teaching Grammar. An Essential Guide for Teachers. Most of my other academic work involves drawing connections between English education and composition studies. I founded and co-chaired the CCC Special Interest Group "English Education/Composition Connection." I'm the also founder and co-chair of the CEE Commission on Writing Teacher Education. I've also published some articles on technology and teaching English language arts, with a specific emphasis on debunking blind enthusiasm without critical consideration of goals and context in relation to those technologies. Recently, I have taken over the Basic Writing program at WMU. We've made some drastic (and exciting) changes to the overall scope and direction of the program. We've reducd whole-group instruction and built in an in-class 'writing studio' that involves close support from writers across campus. I see a lot of great connections between composition studies and English education in our basic writing program; our teachers are all undergraduate English education students, and the role is that of a writing program administrator (WPA) -- really, quite a hybrid program that shows how composition and English education are complementary fields. |
 The ellipses are coming ... the ellipses are coming ... Time flies when you
aren't updating your website. Here's a few things that have been going
on
|
| A Little Community Activism/Griping
... Here's
a recent editorial I wrote for the Kalamazoo
Gazette about youth coaching and sports. I'm continually
frustrated with the 'win at all costs' attitude America seems to be
moving towards with our young children. The concept of 'wellness' seems
to be falling to wayside as the notion of 'performance' takes over a
measure.
I'm even more frustrated when I see adults working to sap the joy out of sports by confusing 'coaching' with 'controlling.' Strange thing, though; I think I'm pretty lonely in this view. When I bring this topic up among sports parents, at best, I get a sympathetic shrug. More commonly, I'm thought of as a local crackpot eccentric. Judge for yourself: 'Lesson for Coaches: Sit Back, Enjoy the Game" (Sept. 28, 2006) |
| Resources
and Key Links Syllabis English 4790 | English 5740 | English 1000 Resources Curriculum Vitae | Placement | Grammar Central |
| Good Books, Vol XXVII |
It's March; the last time I added to this site, it was early Fall. Hmm ... I should probably update the site a bit more often Here's a few good academic and non-academic texts I've read recently.
The World Without Us (Alan Weisman)
A book that is both disturbing and engaging. Alan Weisman asks what would happen if we suddenly disappeared. How would the world recover? What would take over? A book I'll be thinking about on and off for a long time. His conclusions about what to do are a bit disturbing, though ...
A Short History of Nearly Everything (Bill Bryson)
Probably the most intellectually-challenging book I've read in some time (I'm no dummy, but it's an all encompassing physics, geography, and biology book -- written for dummies, of course). All of Bryson's trademark wit is present in this impressive and interesting book.
(I also recommend pretty much anything by Bryson -- A Walk in the Woods, A Sunburned Country, and The Life and Times of the Thunderbolt Kid, at minimum)
How Soccer Explains the World (Franklin Foer).
Don't worry, soccer-haters -- Foer's book isn't really about soccer as much as it about world culture and politics, using soccer as a means of analysis. If you are a soccer fan, you'll learn a lot about the sport you didn't know, though.
And a couple of excellent novels ...
The Reluctant Fundamentalist (Mohsin Hamid)
One of the most well-developed and suspenseful novels I've read in a long time. Hamid really does more with less. Wow.
The Kite Runner (Khalid Hosseini)
An engaging and tragic story with a lot of relevant and important cultural overtones.
Where Do I Go From Here? Meeting the Unique Educational Needs of Migrant Students (Karen Vocke).
This is the new book by my friend, Karen Vocke. This is really a great book. Karen's unassuming and friend voice, and clear writing style makes this book one of the more enjoyable and informative academic books I'ver read in a long time. A must read for anyone who works with migrant kids or their families.
| Is
this a badly designed page? A bit too texty? Perhaps, but not by
mistake ... This page is a bit of an experiment; rather than follow the more traditional hierarchy of multiple nodes, each with limited text and a tight, limited focus, I've specifically developed the page to mirror the design I've seen in with online sites from traditional print journalism. I have used defined tables and set frames in order to create a single primary node, with minimal offshoots. The reasons: ease of maintenance, ability to create a single, easily-updatable site, and general personal preference. I've worked to keep the horizontal and vertical lines intact, use contrast, and tried to keep browsers from having to interpret alignment and design. The result has been a look more akin to a blog than a site, but so far, I like it. We'll see how it goes. |