Daybook essay 3-5 pages

Throughout the semester, Teaching Composition and Theory has been the class to write
in. The entire class is based around creative writing and how to teach it, but what the teacher
really wishes to focus on is the creative growth that can occur in even such a short amount of
time like a semester at college. The most important part of writing, like traveling, is not the
destination, but the actual journey portion of the travel. Dr. Cook decided the best way for her
students to provide exampls of growth was by keeping a day book journal. This day book hold
the hopes and dreams; the fears and failures; and the students thoughts and opinions within a
small composition notebook. For illustrative purposes, I have chosen five samples of my day
book writing to show my own growth as a writer.
The most interesting thing I learned about myself as a writer is that I find myself to take
impersonal writing prompts as an invitation to write something more personal. I also discovered
that I am not inclined to want to write in a professional tone unless forced. Take the sample
writing (the third image) of elaborating on a piece of a sentence from another form of writing.
The idea was to elaborate and understand that a simple phrase can have different meanings
depending on who is writing. Instead of taking the true meaning of this lesson to heart, I felt the
need to push my own views into something as simple as a mini lesson example.
I learned that being a teacher of writing isnt impossible anymore. If the impossible
becomes possible with making me write about a book I hated, then I can learn how to reach my
future students and let them see the joys of creative writing. I say creative writing because that is
what the class focuses on and we didnt, at least I didnt, write anything not under the opinion
category. In a way I am disappointed in myself for not writing more about the facts rather than
the opinion, but in many other ways I am glad I didnt do anything that focused on facts.
Without the pressure to write editorials and other boring ideas, I felt the freedom to
explore different varieties of creative writing. My favorite being the day book entry on a time we
failed in something (the first image). I really enjoyed how Dr. Cook designed the lesson so that
no one would have to share their story unless they wanted to. Since there was no pressure to
perform, the students who felt most comfortable came forward. Dr. Cook then talks about how
modeling for your students is one of the most vital forms of teaching, as the student will be more
likely to mimic what the teacher does. This was like the biggest teacher-related epiphany I have
ever had. Of course students will mimic the teacher, how else will the know what to create with
their knowledge? From that moment forward I vowed to try to always model the proper way to
execute a task for teaching purposes.
One of the most concerning issues with this class was the realization that I would be less
inclined to assign factual and research based essays due to my own personal bias towards them.
With this bias in mind, I found that I was also blaming my own professors and teachers for my
distaste towards research papers. In the second image, I think my bias truly comes forward in a
most unattractive manner. With the realization that my aversion to these types of papers, I have
decided to make more of an effort to make research papers more fun to complete and make it feel
more like fun rather than a forced commitment. Im not too sure how I would make these essays
more indulgent to the fun loving side of my students, but I believe if there is a will there is a
way.
The most interesting way of grading throughout this entire class was in the use of
descriptive words to paint a scene for the audience (the last picture). I felt that this was one of the
more clever mini lessons, and while it has been done before, sometimes traditional is best. The
pair had displayed a subject and an event and how to describe this to someone of that subjects
age. I had decided on the fair and chose to describe it to a 90 year old lady. My favorite
interaction during this writing process was trying to decide what part of the fair to write about.
With different people comes different responses, and I feel that this also made the writing more
unique in itself. The fact that the audience was a 90 year old lady made it hilarious, as someone
my age, 22, describes the fair and why it is fun to someone who likely goes to bed at five p.m.
Overall, I felt that my absolute favorite thing to write about was the top of my 100
favorite things list, which is my boyfriend, Edgardo. I wrote about the first time we met, and
this served as a base of my second genre piece. The genre piece turned out to be a letter to the
past self about what one of the most important moments in my present selfs life. From this
fourth image I was able to realize that writing doesnt have to be boring and that my engagement
increases when I am passionate about my subject. The best part of the entire session of writing
was when we worked in groups and shared what we wrote about.
I wish had taken the time to write more factual papers and essays, but I feel that I have
explored those genres within my freshman and sophomore year of college English. I feel that I
have grown in my awareness in my writing, and that may make me self-conscious later down the
road, but I have also gained a new respect for people who can write in different genres without
batting an eye. I have also learned a new respect for those who are less likely to get caught up in
their own opinion rather than the facts. I can only hope to become someone who is more
balanced in writing genres and can come to terms with my own bias against essays.