On the Road Again: Adapting to a New Student Population
Lore: An E-journal for Teachers of Writing
Being Adjuncts, Summer, 2003, Issue
Deadline: May 1

Lore: An E-journal for Teachers of Writing, is an online forum edited by TAs,
adjuncts, assistant professors, and others charged with the teaching of first-
year composition, and it is published by Bedford/St. Martin's Press. It can
be found at http://www.bedfordstmartins.com/lore/.

For the Summer, 2003, Issue, we are looking for teachers to tell their
stories of how they adjusted (or are trying to adjust) to a new student
population. Like Nicolas Cage’s characters Donald and Charlie Kaufman in the
film Adaptation, we may find ourselves as conflicted “twins”—perhaps one
moment like Donald, the twin who seems to adapt successfully as a novice
screenwriter in Hollywood, while at other moments like Charlie, the twin who
resists such adjustments and struggles hopelessly to maintain his own values
as he writes (ironically) an adaptation. Perhaps, like the Kaufman twins, as
you teach writers, you have adapted to your students in innovative ways.

Given the gaps between where we attend(ed) school and where we teach, and the
range of student populations, adaptation is part of teaching writing. While
the Council of Graduate Schools estimates that almost fifty percent of
graduate students attend Research I and Research II institutions, many
graduate students work at institutions other than the one from which they are
seeking their degree, and many of us ended up in positions at schools unlike
our alma mater—liberal arts colleges, community colleges, or masters
universities. Adjunct Faculty may face even more frequent adjustments. Not
only might Adjunct Faculty be teaching students unlike those they encountered
in graduate school, but some might also have the challenge of addressing
diverse students at dissimilar institutions—sometimes in the same day. What
kinds of changes have you adapted to as you’ve hit the road--learning
styles? needs? knowledge bases? values? technological savvy? language
facility? language backgrounds? religious backgrounds? attitudes? In
other words, how has geography changed your pedagogy?

Please write a brief (500-1000 words) response to the topic of how you’ve
adapted your pedagogy. If you or someone you know is interested in writing a
response to this section, email Tina Kazan, Staff Editor for Lore, at
tkazan_at_elmhurst.edu by May 1. Along with your submission, please include a
statement of your experience teaching composition and current position. If
space is no longer available, we will definitely keep you in mind for future
issues, topics, and sections.

Lore needs to know what you have to say, so join us!

Tina Kazan
Staff Editor, Lore
tkazan_at_elmhurst.edu

--Tina S. Kazan, Ph.D.Assistant ProfessorDepartment of EnglishElmhurst College190 Prospect AvenueElmhurst, IL 60126-3296(630) 617-3134 =============================================== From the Literary Calls for Papers Mailing List CFP_at_english.upenn.edu Full Information at http://www.english.upenn.edu/CFP/ or write Erika Lin: elin_at_english.upenn.edu ===============================================Received on Tue Apr 15 2003 - 22:16:13 EDT