Hello and welcome to "I'm the Teacher That's Why." I'm starting this blog as a way to communicate with my freshman composition students. This is the first semester that I am requiring them to write response blogs to some of our readings, and since many of them are new to blogging I thought it would be nice of me to blog along with them. Their first assignment consisted of writing a short entry introducing themselves to me and their fellow classmates, and telling us what to expect from them, so I'll do the same.
My name is Danielle Tillman and I am a PhD student in the English department at Georgia State University. My current research interests are composition pedagogy, writing program administration, and writing center studies--with a focus on using writing to help students who many feel are not "academically prepared" for college not only pass the class, but also thrive as a college student. I currently teach English 1101 and 1102 depending on the semester, and I <3 teaching... yes I'm a graduate student who actually enjoys teaching...shocking lol. I named my blog "I'm The Teacher That's Why..." for a few reasons:
1. My mom always used that as an excuse to get me to stop asking questions and it drove me crazy growing up.
2. I thought it would be ironic since I'm not that kind of teacher... well I try not to be... I like when my students ask questions and challenge the readings in class and I don't ever want them to write what they think I want to read. Sure there are guidelines for the assignment that they need to follow, but teaching them "how" to write is a lot different from telling them "what" to write.
This current semester I am teaching English 1102 "Introduction to Argument" and we will be exploring different myths in American society/culture. We are using First Arguments and a reader entitled Rereading America. The latter contains essays, articles, poems, short stories, and pictures that challenge our views on family, education, gender, success, etc in America. I'm looking forward to the interesting arguments that my students come up with based on these readings and their own experiences in America.
It is my intention to update this blog weekly with my own stories about our current readings and class discussions, as well as with commentary from my students.
