“There’s the story, then there’s the real story, then there’s the story of how the story came to be told. Then there’s what you leave out of the story. Which is part of the story too.”
–Margaret Atwood
I teach the page as a place of exploration, discovery, and personal reckoning. In my work as a journalist, writing for The New York Times, The Tampa Bay Times and St. Petersburg Times, I’ve found that we make sense of ourselves through the stories we tell. I believe people learn best when they are self-motivated by interest. My role, therefore, is to act as a mentor and to nurture the natural urge to create stories.
My classroom is a community where students are inspired to explore and take risks in their writing. We work in a mutual search for meaning in the stories we read and write, while recognizing the complexity and diversity of humanity.
Because my classroom is student centered, I use a variety of techniques to stimulate varying learning styles and adapt pedagogy to my students’ skills. I tell them I want them to engage with the material not as a chore, or as check toward a degree, but because the work challenges and engages their minds. Everything is an interesting puzzle to solve. I love to give my students choices and allow curiosity to direct their learning. As much as possible, I let them make decisions, from choice of readings and lesson topics to deadlines.
If you were to stop by my classroom, you could find my students creating TikTok’s or analyzing quotes in magazines or in the middle of a debate about the use of second versus third person. I use scent jars to inspire writing with emotional resonance. We write prompts together for ChatGPT and then analyze and improve on stories created by AI.
Good writing is a result of critical thinking, which can take place ideally in conversation with peers. I group students so they see advantages of working together. I use formative assessments such as points for participation, Gallery Walk, where students design short lessons they teach each other and Think Pair Share. For written projects, I assess writing tools with rubrics. I employ strategic assignments to prepare my students for a lesson before they enter the classroom, with a reading and discussion post. I then build off that. In class, we trace back how a writer elicited an effect, analyzing imagery, tension, or momentum.
I make the lesson purpose clear. For example, I tell them how vocabulary will allow us to analyze literature, which is useful not only in the class projects, but in everyday writing. I start with goals and align class activities to achieve these goals. I want them to write not just for publication, but to see what language can do and to analyze how it does this, so they are better consumers and producers of information. I keep a teaching journal to reflect on classroom lessons, request feedback from students. I strive to improve by reading pedagogy literature and professional development.
With a background in journalism, I have been entrusted with stories of people from diverse countries and mindsets and I often reported on underprivileged and underrepresented peoples. When teaching, I look at students holistically, considering their intersecting racial, social, cultural, and economic differences. I adapt my course, from attendance policies to in-class activities to meet needs. I design activities with global perspectives, and inclusive discussions and workshops. I strive to create a space where students feel safe to speak and inspired to create.
“In the end, we’ll all become stories.” –Margaret Atwood
Elisabeth Parker 