There's a lot one could say about teaching English comp in college . . .
June 20, 2011
but I'm not going to say it now. Instead, I'll recommend reading "The True Confessions of a Graduate Teaching Assistant".
Just don't read it anywhere laughing out loud will cause a problem.
Did I mention we are totally unprepared? But then, so are our students—that is, if one considers basic writing skills or being up-to-date on current events to be a prerequisite for college. Last month I showed my students a documentary outlining 9/11 conspiracy theories, and one of the response papers began as follows: “The movie tries to say that 911 got fishy! Be-cuz we knew the Hispanic hijackers and then how their wasn’t no wingspan imprints when that plane hit the octagon” (my italics).
Professor John McWhorter argues that much more cost effective than college comp is getting little kids to read a lot. (UPDATE: this link fixed now.)
I'm inclined to agree. Buy some books for a K-2 class at DonorsChoose.