Course: ENGL 803 (Advanced Nonfiction Workshop)
The one major problem with this instructor is that there's only one of him. Everybody wants a piece of him--myself include--and I don't know how he holds up under the strain. Murray could give each student in this class 40 hours a week of personal attention and it still wouldn't be enough. He's like money--the more you get the more you want, and I've never known the man to say "no" to anyone if he thought a "yes" would help their writing. For example, because everybody wants a piece of him, this course was packed with students. We couldn't all fit around the tables in the typing room. Murray didn't ask anybody to leave the course--he split the class into two sections which tripled his course load and tripled his conference load. I never heard him complain about it--it was voluntary and we were all grateful for it. It seems this department ought to see its obligation to keep its best teachers healthy by not placing them in positions where they have to do (or want to do) triple the amount of work because they are so good. Simply put, the man makes a difference in students' lives and writing. His lessons go far beyond the classroom.
Teacher one-on-ones were not effective. Teacher news to put more into this area. More critiquing. Perhaps draw out students thoughts and ideas.
It appears that students in this class were encouraged to actually send their work out: "...and now sending it off to a magazine and awaiting a reply."
As to his process of teaching: "I like the way our paper was spread out over the entire semester, so there was time to concentrate on each aspic of its writing process."
Although I have taken this course before, I am always surprised that I find new insight about writing and writing process each time I have taken it. I don't think it comes from the classroom, but rather from the work that we do--from the material, technique, struggle, and thought that we all put into our own work--and, to a varying degree, from the connections that we make between our own experience, the experience of others, and the more formal "teaching" that goes on in the classroom. The freedom to glean those insights and the freedom to make those connections for ourselves are really the essence of teaching and learning for me.
It would be interesting to tape those classes when the professor is not present so he could hear the difference...
May dish out praise a bit too much.
Don believes...
Themes:
Self-confidence
More feedback
conferences
freedom ("Gives you the freedom to do what you need to--knows when to push/stand back")
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