Being a Composer

I participate in a writing group, and it's one of the highlights of my week. The group has fluctuated in size and focus since it began a couple of years ago, but over the past year it has really gelled. In addition to reading and critiquing each others' work, we have also started a collaborative writing project that's a lot of fun.

Judging good exercises

I've read bits and pieces of Atwell's In the Middle before, but reading the first two chapters for my methods class this semester, I was struck by her observation that oftentimes teachers rely on "exercises" rather than giving students autonomy over their own writing process. I've been mulling this over for a while, now, because I'm one of those people who almost always hates participating in writing exercises. Or, rather, I hate participating in too many writing exercises.