The following text by Andy Fogle is an excerpt from his contribution to from the January 2009 issue of English Journal.听
My status as a poet and book critic has certainly led to an assortment of classroom experiences: workshops,聽discussions of my poems, a behind-the-scenes look at the evolution of one of my book reviews, a聽project where students submit to publications outside our community, anecdotes about writers I have聽been lucky enough to know, and applying writers鈥� statements on craft to what we鈥檝e read.
But those are all little day-to-day issues; what has really mattered has to do with philosophy and聽attitude.
Most importantly, my writing life has given me the confidence to challenge and extend notions聽of what student writing is allowed to be and do.
My students complete an independent writing project聽each semester: There is a sequence of parts to the project, but the form and content are up to the student,聽as is the pacing and schedule (except for the final draft).
My challenge to them is: You have no other choice but to be a writer of some kind, but you聽may be a writer of any kind. What choice do you make?
In all kinds of other assignments, from argument to autobiography to research to literary response,聽I let鈥攐ften insist鈥攕tudents use 鈥淚鈥�; I allow purposeful one-sentence paragraphs and sentence聽fragments; I push them to include quotations from friends and family.
And in terms of preparation for聽state tests, I do just a bit more than the required minimum because I know聽if I have students reading聽and writing regularly, widely, and authentically, then the only real challenge they鈥檒l have with the聽state鈥檚 demands is the fact that those demands are at best counterproductive, at worst ignorant.听The聽writing itself will be far beneath them.听
When they鈥檙e done with those silly hoops, they can get聽back to their real work. And so can I.