Personal vs. Academic Writing

Today, I had a good time in class trying to get my students to understand the differences (and similarities) between personal vs. academic writing. I got excellent feedback from my MW class on what they learned, which made me feel good that they feel like they actually learned something. Some comments that I got included, "Today's class made me feel better about writing academically for the reason that personal writing and academic writing actually mix well together as long as you use certain boundaries;" "I think after today's discussion, some of my opinions on the two styles of writing have changed. It seems to me that personal and academic writing actually compliment each other;" and "I learned today that I am on the right track trying to apply my personal writing to a more structured environment." I got many more comments that let me know that my students were understanding what I was trying to communicate. Some comments, however, made me wonder if I was even in the same room as my students!

Communication, especially through writing, is very important to me, so I feel passionate about helping others to communicate well. I think that students don't always realize that many academics feel passionate about their discipline, and want to have students be passionate, as well. So many students, especially at the community college level, seem to resist learning, perhaps because they feel burnt out on school or because they go to college with motivations other than learning. This is not something I entirely understand because I was very excited when I went to college to learn new ideas and understand how the world works better. The ideal class would be full of passionate life-long learners, which might only be possible in teaching graduate school--something that I am not qualified to do, as of yet. However, sometimes I feel like if I can help my students to want to be passionate life-long learners, perhaps I have done something right!

The avocation of teaching is an emotional rollarcoaster--sometimes there are days where you feel like you are actually making a difference in people's lives. Other times, you wonder if anything you are saying or doing is working at all. I also feel torn because writing is such a passion of mine, and sometimes teaching writing leaves no time or energy for writing--the dilemma of all academics who actually desire to publish, experiement, contribute to knowledge or express themselves.