Textbooks

As a writing teacher, choosing good materials for students is very important. I think that’s why Dr. Strickland would ask us to do the book report and textbook review. Only having known both the strengths and the drawbacks of the book could we teachers really make wise use of the book and make it really beneficial to our students.

On the other hand, the definition and interpretation of “good” and “bad” may vary among our students, therefore we shouldn’t limit or confine our practice and field of view to just one particular book. Like what Dr. Strickland has done, she did not ask us to buy any book and authorize any text as our “textbook”, instead, we were asked to read chapters from different books or journals. Many other teachers in our college are also teaching in the same way. In so doing, our thoughts are liberated and our horizon is broadened.

However, how much reading materials are necessary or sufficient for a writing class? And what should we expect our students to do after they’ve read the articles we’ve assigned? How can we effectively build up the connection between what they read and what they write? What activity may lead them from the images and words that they read to the images and words that they write by themselves?

And what materials/articles I should include in my writing class? How will I make sure that those articles have covered all the important issues/topics in writing? There’s still a lot that I need to know…