Things You Need to Know Before You Take Your Kids to Disneyworld for the First Time

I know I've been bad this last month about keeping up with my blog. It's been pretty crazy, what with doing all the housework and yardwork I neglected during the semester. Then, of course, we were down in Disneyworld for 7 days. We just got back on Sunday, and here's some stuff I learned:

1. Kids aren’t as thrilled by Disneyworld as you would think
As parents, we spend a lot of money and go to a lot of trouble arranging a trip to
Disneyworld. So when we do finally get there, we don’t imagine our kids could possibly be miserable. How could they be unhappy in the happiest place on the earth? Simple. You take them to a place that’s so hot you feel like you flew into the face of the sun, force them to stand in line for hours at a time, cram all the color, parades, characters, and shows down their throats, and let them see the thousands of souvenir stands and shops. If you have more than one kid, you can bet there will also be incessant fighting between them. I promise that if you go there, you will have a recipe for a total nuclear meltdown. I saw a lot of meltdowns. And not just from my kids.

The first couple of days we were there, I wanted to hand my kids over to an adoption agency. At ages ten, eight, and five, they whined incessantly. “It’s hot,” “I’m tired,” “Can’t we just go back to the hotel and swim?” When they weren’t whining, they were fighting. I swear, the 3 Stooges were reincarnated as my children! Michael, the oldest, typically started it by pinching his sister, Gabby, who promptly slapped him back. The youngest, Adam, would get upset at this and shout at them both. They, in turn, would gang up on him. In a matter of seconds, they were slapping, kicking, and pinching each other!

On the third day, after I had nearly pulled all my hair out in frustration, a sympathetic mother gave us some advice. Go to the parks in the morning when it’s relatively cool. Then, around lunchtime, when the heat becomes unbearable, take them back to the hotel. Feed them, let them swim in the pool to cool off, let them take naps. Then go back to the park in the early evening. They’ll be happier and more relaxed. My husband and I, figuring we had nothing to lose, tried this out. What a difference it made! The kids started having a better time, so we started having a better time as well.

2.Orlando, Florida is unbearably hot
This seems to fall into the “duh” category, but if you’ve never been there, there’s nothing I can say to prepare you for that tropical heat. It’s not that the temperature is hotter, per se, than here. The temperature was in the low 90s the entire time. The problem is the humidity. Flying into Orlando, I couldn’t help but notice all the standing water. There are major lakes and ponds every five feet. It hangs like a curtain in the air too. I’m certain that if it were five feet lower in altitude, it’d be completely under water. Coming from Pueblo, I was in complete and utter amazement at it all. But all that water makes the heat feel worse, so you sweat more than you ordinarily would.

Ironically, this type of climate dehydrates you quicker than ours would here in Colorado. We were trekking around in the hot sun all day and sweating buckets, so we got dehydrated quickly from the rapid loss of electrolytes. If you go to Disneyworld, you need to drink tons of water and/or Gatorade. They sell it in the parks, but you’ll have to pay for it with your firstborn child. Of course, if said child is having a meltdown, this might not be a bad thing…I recommend either going to Wal-mart (which is conveniently located down the street from Disneyworld) to buy bottles of water, or taking your own refillable plastic containers because you are allowed to bring them into the parks. If you go that route, however, you should know that Orlando’s tap water is nasty. It tastes like sulfur, like someone just extinguished a bottle rocket in it. My son, Adam, actually called it “firework water” and refused to drink it.

To beat the heat, plan to go in the fall or the spring when the temperature is tolerable. Don’t be an idiot like me and think it’d be awesome to go in June. For one, June is one of their busiest months of the year. So the parks are terribly crowded. My husband and I started to swear that if one more inconsiderate parent ran over our toes with their stroller, if one more New Yorker forcefully shoved us out of the way without so much as an “Excuse me,” we were going postal on them. In June, the rude crowds (and they are rude!) and scorching heat are a recipe for you to have a meltdown of your own.

3. Disney’s secret motto is “Highway Robbery”
You know how you go to the movie theater and can’t believe they have the audacity to charge you $4 for a small soda? Disneyworld is like that, but worse. I had no illusions that it was cheap. I knew it would be expensive. So I budgeted more than I imagined for food and souvenirs. It wasn’t enough. Take your worst possible estimate for things. Now triple it. A regular hot dog with ketchup cost $10. A small soda cost $5. An ice cream sundae from the Ghiradelli Soda Shop in Downtown Disney cost 20 – yes, I said 20 – smackeroos.

If you’re anything like me, you probably had a heart attack seeing that last one. I don’t think of myself as stingy, but even I felt my purse tighten up more than a snare drum. Unfortunately, they get away with charging that much because they know people will pay it. Not this mom! To conserve on food costs, my husband and I wound up going grocery shopping. Our hotel room had a small refrigerator, so we had a place to store milk and other perishables. For groceries for a week, we spent $50 at Wal-mart, the cost of just one “cheap” meal at the parks. They allow you to bring in sack lunches, so you’d have to be crazy (or independently wealthy) not to take advantage of this.

On the souvenir front, they have these autograph books that cost $10 that you can buy at nearly every store or stand. The idea behind them is to let your kids collect the Disney characters’ autographs. They’re relatively inexpensive, they keep the kids entertained, and the kids leave with a unique souvenir that’s all theirs. For the other souvenirs, budget at least $20 per person. If you want to get someone a simple t-shirt, budget at least $40. I am not joking. Disney is extremely proud of Mickey Mouse.

4. The Fast Pass is your best friend
The Fast Pass is awesome if you’re like me and are completely impatient. Most of the rides at Disneyworld have it. You use your regular park admission tickets to obtain these passes that tell you what time to come back to the ride. It’s completely free, and when you come back at the appointed time, you’re taken straight to the front of the line. This is really handy when you want to go on rides with long lines like Splash Mountain, Space Mountain, Thunder Mountain Railroad, etc. If you opt to wait instead, you’re going to wait in line for at least an hour. Why would you do that to yourself, especially if you have three whiny kids like I do?

5. The shows are surprisingly awesome
Disney really knows how to entertain people, and this quality shines through in their various shows around the parks. I was reluctant to go to any, but in retrospect I’m glad I did. They were an excellent way to cool off, to sit down and relax for a while, and to have a good laugh. Plus, the whole family loved them because they were all hysterical. The first one we saw was Turtle Talk with Crush at Epcot. They have Crush, the turtle from Finding Nemo, in an interactive show where he talks to the kids in the audience. The adults were roaring with laughter just as much as the kids.

At Magic Kingdom in Tomorrowland, Mike’s Laugh Factory features characters from Monsters, Inc. Again, it’s interactive and encourages audience participation. The object is for the characters to make the audience laugh so much they fill the energy canister to power their city.

Mickey’s Philharmagic, also at the Magic Kingdom in Fantasyland, is hands down the best 3-D movie I’ve seen. Donald Duck borrows Mickey’s Sorcerer’s Apprentice hat without permission, and it magically whisks him through several Disney movies. What makes this show unique, however, is that during water scenes, the audience is splashed with water, and during the song “Be Our Guest,” Lumiere waves an apple pie in front of the audience and the auditorium suddenly smells like fresh baked apple pie.

But my favorite show of all was Captain Jack Sparrow’s Pirate Tutorial in Adventureland right across from Pirates of the Caribbean. He comes before the crowd and teaches them how to be pirates. He even brings kids on the stage and instructs them how to swordfight. Lastly, he invites a small group of kids on stage and swears them in as official pirates. I’m proud to say my kids were sworn in. As a reward, they’re given a special scroll that states they are under his protection now.

Thor

Well, my summer movie season officially kicked off on Mother's Day when my husband took me to see Thor. And no, this wasn't an insensitive move on his part. I totally begged him to take me. I'm not a chick-flick sort of girl. I love superhero movies, and while I'm not really familiar with the Thor comic books, this one was no different. My husband is a lucky, lucky man.

Anyway, we went to see it. Now, the standing joke amongst English majors like me is that we can't go to the movies because we spend the whole time analyzing it to death. Or, if we do go, we're inevitably miserable for the same reason. I drive my family nuts because it's hard to find a movie that impresses me anymore. Usually, I can drive a bus through the plot holes I see.

But Thor definitely impressed me.

I'm shocked, really. I do love action movies, but those kinds of movies are easy to screw up. It's hard to find a superhero flick with a good plot line, good characterization, good balance between humor and seriousness, etc.

Honestly,Thor whipped all the other Marvel superheroes' asses. It even topped X-Men. I never thought I'd see the day when that one lost its title. Whereas most Marvel superheroes are torn about their power and their duty, this one was more focused on learning how to survive in an alien world. And it wasn't unbelievable like they usually are in that it didn't have this all-powerful hero fighting humans or even a super-villain. Thor, stripped of his powers and strength, faced off against humans for most of the movie. And he wasn't invulnerable by any means. Some of the funniest moments in the movie revealed just how frail he had become. I think my favorite element of the whole thing was the family dynamic, not just between Thor and his family, but between Jane and her little rag-tag band as well.

I know I'm being vague with my examples, but I'm trying to avoid spoiling it for people who haven't seen it yet.

Anyway, I walked out of the theater wanting to walk right back in. It's pretty rare that I want to see a movie twice in the theater, especially at the 3-D prices. Thor is a damn fine movie.

Of course, Batman is still my favorite superhero. Yeah, yeah, that's DC Universe, I know. But Thor is a close second.

Captain Spiers, Tertius, and Me

Long story short, today, I was worried about my reputation in my family for being tough-as-nails. But my dad said something that made me feel immensely better about myself. We're both fans of the TV show Band of Brothers, and he told me I was a lot like Captain Spiers. He referenced a couple of lines from the series:

Spiers: Well, I'd better get back to Battalion before they disappear. You want to ask me, don't you?

Lipton: Ask you what, sir?

Spiers: You want to know if they're true or not... the stories about me. Did you ever notice with stories like that, everyone says they heard it from someone who was there. But then when you ask *that* person, they say *they* heard it from someone who was there. It's nothing new, really. I bet if you went back two thousand years, you'd hear a couple of centurions standing around, yakking about how Tertius lopped off the heads of some Carthaginian prisoners.

Lipton: Well, maybe they kept talking about it because they never heard Tertius deny it.

Spiers: Well, maybe that's because Tertius knew there was some value to the men thinking he was the meanest, toughest son of a bitch in the whole Roman Legion.

Well, Dad didn't quote them verbatim, of course (I looked up the exact lines), but he said, "Katie, don't you think there's some value to people knowing that about you? You're many things, but no one's ever going to pull one over on you. And if they don't know it yet, they will."

Thanks, Dad. After a day like today, I needed to be reminded of that.

Summer Break

Huzzah! It's summer break! I just emailed my final paper to my professor, and now I can officially begin my vacation. Of course, that sounds a lot better than it really is. Grad school really has the power to make you neglect certain things in your life. So now, my poor house needs some serious TLC. I need to do my spring cleaning inside, and get the yard fixed up outside. With all the dang tumbleweeds infesting my yard, the whole place looks like God's little acre. I foresee tons of grueling work in the next few weeks.

And then....

Disneyworld!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

The best part is that our kids don't even know yet! In the 12 years Larry and I have been together, we've never taken a vacation, not even a honeymoon. So our family has never gone anywhere together. But this year, we decided to change that.

We're going to surprise the kids the day we go. Our plan is to create a treasure map for them that leads them on a hunt through the yard for various clues. Each clue will be something they'll need on their trip like sunglasses, sunscreen, beach towels, etc. These clues will ultimately lead them to the big clue in the house, which we will have strategically set up while they're running around the yard. The last and final clue is a sheet cake that is decorated with Mickey and Minnie surfing on a huge wave of icing beside an icing beach (we'll be going to the beach when we're down there too!). This cake will be accompanied by an envelope containing a letter that reads: PACK YOUR STUFF BECAUSE WE'RE GOING TO DISNEYWORLD!!!!

In the near future is the 4th of July, my birthday. My favorite part of the day, besides the fireworks display, that is, is the infamous water parade in Pueblo West. If you've never been, I pity you. It's a parade, but everyone has one gigantic squirt gun fight! The most awesome part is when the firefighters drive by on their trucks and spray down everyone with their hose. Not one dry soul can be found when it's over! It's much better than a stuffy old parade.

So my summer is going to be jam-packed with pure awesomeness! I can't wait!

Pedagogy Statement

The ink of the scholar is more sacred than the blood of the martyr.
-The Prophet Mohammed

Muslim lore states that their holy prophet Mohammed was once an Arab merchant, and one evening during his travels he fell asleep on the roadside. Suddenly, the archangel Gabriel appeared before the Prophet and, after waking him, dictated the Koran to him, expecting him to write it down verbatim because it was the Word of God. While Gabriel’s apparition and Mohammed’s task were immensely special, the true miracle of this story is that at the time it took place, Mohammed was reportedly illiterate. While I can never be sure of the story’s validity, one thing is for certain: modern composition teachers (and students) can infer from it that one doesn’t have to be a naturally gifted writer in order to write something important. Everyone is more than capable. This is the attitude I approach my pedagogy with. I believe that everyone, no matter how talented they are, can learn to write better.

Learning to write better, at least in the academic setting, means learning to engage the texts and teachers in a manner that is conducive to scholarly discourse. I am fond of saying that English is my favorite subject because it gives a voice to all the other subjects. Mike Rose seems to agree with me when he says, “Indeed, it is worth pondering whether many of the ‘integrated bodies of knowledge’ we study, the disciplines we practice, would have ever developed in the way they did and reveal the knowledge they do if writing did not exist” (593). The point is that whether they admit it or not, the other academic disciplines look to composition teachers to chisel at the marble that is the inexperienced writer and turn him or her into La Pieta. This is the noblest calling, I feel, because our very existence as a specialized discipline and a necessary component in the university curriculum rests upon how well we sculpt our students. Our role is even more important when we consider how traditional education, according to Faber and Eilola, “is merely assumed as a baseline skill, important but not particularly valuable” to the corporations who will eventually employ the students we teach (1074). So teaching students to write better, then, is not only to introduce them to scholarly writing, but it is also to adequately prepare my students to write in a real world setting.

I believe I must begin by teaching them to think about themselves as writers and not as students. To do this, Robert Brooke argues that “we must help both them and ourselves to see our interaction in writing classrooms as cut from a different mold than ‘regular’ classrooms” (729). To achieve this goal, I will take David Bartholomae’s advice: “the student has to learn our language, to speak as we do, to try on the peculiar ways of knowing, selecting, evaluating, reporting, concluding, and arguing that define the discourse of our community” (605). In my experience, this language is rhetoric, the art of persuasion, the art of arguing. There is very little real world application for purely explicative writing, or for compare/contrasts essays. No matter what a person in the real world writes, there is always an argument driving it. So I believe in teaching students how to argue professionally and in a scholarly manner.

Furthermore, I believe that in a composition classroom, students should be writing because it is a skill, and Mike Rose argues that “a skill, particularly in the university setting, is, well, a tool, something one develops and refines and completes in order to take on the higher-order demands of purer thought” (592). Similarly, James Moffat argues that “students learn to write by writing, not by talking about writing” (qtd. by Lindemann 98). Both men elegantly cite that old adage, “practice makes perfect,” especially when it comes to writing, and I agree with them wholeheartedly. So my classroom will be writing-intensive. I will instruct them to rhetorically analyze their reading assignments so they can make arguments about their assignments in regular responses. As an undergraduate in David Keplinger’s poetry survey course, I, along with my classmates, was required to write weekly letters to him in response to letters he wrote to us about the discussions or readings for the week. This introduced us to the notion of scholarship by means of conversation, but it also helped us establish our identities as writers and scholars ourselves, and I will implement this exercise in my own classroom. As with our Theories class, I would like to begin my class time with “Sacred Writing” because I believe it will help students get into a writing frame of mind; when one goes to the gym, he or she must warm up before moving on to serious exercise. That’s what “Sacred Writing” is to me: a warm up activity that prepares the students for serious writing. I will also finish classes with “Evening Pages” to further nurture the students’ creativity and identity. And of course, there will also be the mandatory essays to gauge how well they’re progressing as writers, as critical thinkers, and as scholars.

James Berlin argues that “writing…is an art, a creative act in which the process – the discovery of the true self – is as important as the product – the self discovered and expressed” (674). His words resound with me because being a writer has always been a significant aspect of my identity, and I have observed that it is not a static skill that stops improving the moment the writer learns how to make letters. Professional writers don’t churn out perfect drafts on their first try, and they certainly aren’t Shakespeare right out of the gate. They are constantly pre-writing, writing, and revising. Student writers need to understand that the writing process is a fluid, living thing that is always changing and evolving. Maxine Hairston argues that teachers “have to initiate them into the process that writers go through” (446). I believe she is correct, and that is why in my classroom I will emphasize the importance of drafting and revising.

However, Bartholomae also rightly argues that “if writing is a process, it is also a product; and it is the product, and not the plan for writing, that locates a writer on the page, that locates him in a text and a style and the codes or conventions that make both of them readable” (611). Teachers don’t grade students on their personal writing processes. They grade them on their final products. This is why grammar, specifically sentence mechanics is important to me. “Writers need to develop skills at two levels,” argues Patrick Hartwell. “One, broadly rhetorical, involves communication in meaningful contexts…The other, broadly metalinguistic rather than linguistic, involves active manipulation of language with conscious attention to surface form” (579). I am a firm believer that too many surface errors detracts from the meaning a writer tries to convey, so in spite of what many researchers think on the matter, learning correct grammar is important. However, the word “grammar” has such a strong negative connotation that when students hear it, they automatically tune out anything that seems to be related to it. But if the word is not used, I think the students will be much more likely to retain knowledge of it.

That is not to say I believe in, to paraphrase Stanley Fish, the rote memorization of different parts of speech (15). Hartwell suggests, and I agree, that students already know more about grammar than they give themselves credit for, having learned the basic mechanics of English when they learned to speak it. That is why I don’t want to teach grammar with formal drills and exercises. I will address grammar in subtle ways, like catching mistakes in their drafts and before the final product is due. This relates back to my emphasis on the writing process because it reinforces the idea of revision during drafting. I prefer to do it covertly as Erica Lindemann suggests in Rhetoric for Writing Teachers, by not letting students know they’re learning it. This means I will not circle mistakes in a red pen. Rather, if I see a student struggle with the same issue, say a tendency to write run-on sentences, I will gently point out one example of the mistake and instruct them to find the others. This will help me keep from focusing on errors, and it will help the students learn how to proofread their own work.

Returning back to Mohammed’s legend, one can’t overlook Gabriel’s role as teacher. If we assume for just one moment that he was not a divine being, we are forced to acknowledge his tremendous patience, dedication, and love for communication. These things compelled him to teach Mohammed how to read and write, and because of his efforts, he created a profound thinker who left a lasting impact on the world. I don’t know if any of my students will ever be the father or mother of any major philosophy, but I do know that if I follow Gabriel’s example, I too can create profound thinkers who will contribute something to the life of the world rather than be indifferent spectators to it. Gabriel taught Mohammed more than just the Koran that day: he taught him that writing is God’s work. Writing is sacred. And hopefully, when I’m done with my students, they’ll know that too.

Works Cited

Bartholomae, David. “Inventing the University.” The Norton Book of Composition Studies. Ed. Susan Miller. New York: W.W. Norton and Company, 2009. 605-630. Print.

Berlin, James. “Rhetoric and Ideology in the Writing Class.” The Norton Book of Composition Studies. Ed. Susan Miller. New York: W.W. Norton and Company, 2009. 667-684. Print.

Brooke, Robert. “Underlife and Writing Instruction.” The Norton Book of Composition Studies. Ed. Susan Miller. New York: W.W. Norton and Company, 2009. 721-732. Print.

Faber, Brenton and Johndan Johnson-Eilola. “Universities, Corporate Universities, and the New Professionals: Professionalism and the Knowledge Economy.” The Norton Book of
Composition Studies. Ed. Susan Miller. New York: W.W. Norton and Company, 2009.
1059-1080. Print.

Fish, Stanley. How to Write a Sentence: And How to Read One. New York: HarperCollins Publishers, 2011. Print.

Hairston, Maxine Cousins. “The Winds of Change: Thomas Kuhn and the Revolution in the
Teaching of Writing.” The Norton Book of Composition Studies. Ed. Susan Miller. New York: W.W. Norton and Company, 2009. 439-450. Print.

Hartwell, Patrick. “Grammar, Grammars, and the Teaching of Grammar.” The Norton Book of
Composition Studies. Ed. Susan Miller. New York: W.W. Norton and Company, 2009. 563-585. Print.

Lindemann, Erica. A Rhetoric for Writing Teachers. 4th ed. New York: Oxford University Press, 2001. Print.

Rose, Mike. “The Language of Exlusion: Writing Instruction at the University.” The Norton Book of Composition Studies. Ed. Susan Miller. New York: W.W. Norton and Company,
2009. 586-604. Print.

Dr. Hugh Burns' Workshop at CSU-Pueblo, February 24, 2011

First of all, let me start by saying that I really enjoyed the time I spent with Dr. Burns. He's this genius of a man, and a big shot in the world of academia, but he never treated the Thunder-pups like we were inferior. Rather, we were equals. He seemed especially intrigued how I used a Muslim legend in my pedagogy statement rough draft, and he talked to me about it a few times. He even flattered me by asking if I wouldn't mind sharing it during his workshop. As it turned out, we didn't have time for me to share it, but just the sentiment was touching. He was just a nice, down-to-earth, pleasant guy to hang out with. I came home and told my family that he was the perfect embodiment of the kindly old grandfather, the kind of grandpa everyone wants because he's generous, funny, and smart, but not the kind of grandpa everyone is blessed to get. I know I sure didn't! My grandpas were crotchety and mean.

So I attended his workshop. I wasn't sure what to expect, but I thought I'd hear some interesting revelations about the art of teaching writing. I don't think that was the case, but I did learn a new word: propadeutic. The best I can figure, it is the rhetorical equivalent to the Boy Scout motto, "be prepared." Dr. Burns explained that it was the theory of being prepared to engage in hermeneutic and heuristic processes. I'd like to know more about this.

Dr. Burns had us break into small groups to discuss a time we felt fear in our lives and a time we dealt with a reticent student. Well, since I'm not a teacher yet, I've never had to deal with a reticent student, but during this exercise, I reflected on myself last year. Although I consider myself a good student, I struggled terribly. So what Dr. Burns said about fear resonated with me. I was terrified my troubles were going to buy me a one-way ticket out of the program. I think the events of that entire semester tore me down to nothing, but only so that I could be re-built as a stronger and smarter person. Kind of like the Million Dollar Man.

Still, upon reflecting on my own experience as a reticent student and listening to my group and the entire class share their experiences, I realized that everyone must have that moment at least once in their life, that one moment that made them feel sub-mental and stupid, like they were incapable of learning. Dr. Burns said we should try to remember that time from childhood where we felt fear in order to learn empathy for students experiencing fear. But I think we should remember that one moment when we felt reticent so that we can understand what they're going through. This would allow us to think about what our teachers did that either pulled us out of our rut or made things worse, and we can apply that knowledge to our practices. For me, I'll never forget Dr. Eskew channeling Yoda when he told me "you must unlearn what you have learned." His remark struck me as funny, and I mentioned it to him. This led to a discussion how all the great philosophers all said similar things - Yoda, Jesus, Aristotle, etc. - and that somehow made me understand where I went wrong. Everything just clicked. I still don't know why. It was just like that time when I was struggling in high school physics, loving the science but not comprehending the math, but when I woke up one day, I just understood. When I'm a teacher, I want to impart that bit of pop-culture wisdom to my students because it helped me overcome the most humiliating experience of my academic life.

Listening to the class talk, I realized there are a lot more reticent students than I thought. This played to what we also talked about in my group, about where does a teacher draw the line between trying to empathize and giving up? It was like that old saying: you can lead a horse to water but you can't make him drink. But what if it's not as simple as that? What if it's partially due to the teacher?

Not long ago, my daughter was constantly struggling in school. She's a smart kid, but she's got ADHD, so she's high-maintenance. I was getting a phone call every other day from her teacher or her principal telling me just how awful she was. Every morning, she'd invent some mysterious illness just so I'd keep her home from school. She was truly convinced her teacher hated her. I didn't believe that until I went to her classroom for her Halloween party, and I saw that the woman had shoved her desk in the back corner, facing the wall, and far from her own desk and the other kids'. "Gabby," I said, "how long have you been back here?" "Weeks," she replied. No wonder she hated school! I finally believed her teacher hated her. Her teacher was a very young woman, fresh out of college, and almost certainly had no experience dealing with ADHD kids. After talking with her, it was clear she didn't want to teach the kids with issues, only the ones that could do what they were told like mindless automatons. I immediately demanded a new teacher. Since my daughter has switched classrooms, she hasn't had any problems.

In the college setting, I wonder how many students are lost because they were paired with a teacher who just didn't have the patience to deal with them. How many could have gotten it, if only they had been paired up with a teacher who cared enough to try? And how many teachers have made students feel dumb and worthless because it was harder for them to learn than for other students?

Anyway, returning to the workshop, my only criticism was that it didn't last long enough. I don't feel like an hour was enough time to really get involved in any serious classroom training. But, for the time we did have, I enjoyed myself and appreciated the chance to get to know my classmates and teachers better. And I also appreciated Dr. Burns beginning the workshop with something along the lines of Sacred Writing. I'm not terribly good at creative writing on the fly, I have to think about it for a while, so I didn't finish his Texas anthem. When I get more time, however, I will try to finish it for him. His exercise was just one more example of what we've been talking about all week: that academic writing is creative too.

Writer's Block

My favorite essay so far in 501 has been "The Essential Delay: When Writer's Block Isn't" by Donald Murray. He says that "each writer fears that writing will never come, yet the experienced writer knows it may take days, weeks, and months to produce a few hours of text production" (716). Spoken like someone who hasn't had a deadline! But I understand the gist of his argument.

Still, I have days when I feel the pangs of doubt, and I spend them wondering if I'm a talentless hack because the words won't come on command (like today, for example). On these days, I think of the writers from past generations who used drugs to breach the divide in their mind, and I wonder if I know anyone who can get me some opium! Of course, I'm just kidding here, but the point is that even though I've been writing since I was six, an experienced writer (I think), I have days when I feel completely and utterly worthless, and depressingly anxious because I can't do what I was made to do. Murray cites quotes from very famous writers on the matter, and while they are inspiring words, they are also disheartening. It's as if, because I don't have these similar insights about writing, I'm nothing more than a rank amateur.

In some ways, I feel like Maria, the student cited as an example in "Remediation as Social Construct." Like her, I was born into a life of English studies. But I have Asperger's, so not only is it hard for me to interpret social cues, I have trouble thinking of appropriate things to say in a situation and therefore I am not as well-spoken as some of my classmates. But I can easily discern annoyance, so I can tell when people are agitated with my speaking shortcomings. Knowing this about myself, it's hard to turn to teachers, friends, and family for writing advice. I remember my undergraduate adviser, David Keplinger, always patiently dealt with my neurotic episodes of writing insecurity, but I could tell sometimes that he was secretly annoyed with me for needing help.

I don't feel like teachers can, as Murray did, cite famous authors and hope that their inspirational words help students through their writing struggles. I also think that teachers must be aware of how much they really say without uttering a word. I think the saddest aspect of "Remediation as Social Construct" was that the teacher, June, had no idea she was killing Maria's love of writing by projecting her annoyance with the girl's shortcomings to the class with her body language and tone of voice. How many great writers have been lost to the world because of teachers like that? I think good teachers are there to help the student work through the struggles such as writer's block.

Hull, Glynda, Mike Rose, Kay Losey Fraser, Marisa Castellano. "Remediation as Social Construct: Perspectives from an Analysis of Classroom Discourse." The Norton Book of Composition Studies. Ed. Susan Miller. New York: W.W. Norton and Company, 2009. 1059-1080. Print.

Murray, Donald M. "The Essential Delay: When Writer's Block Isn't." The Norton Book of Composition Studies. Ed. Susan Miller. New York: W.W. Norton and Company, 2009. 1059-1080. Print.