On Friday night I went to a Chinese restaurant and the waitress did the "Can I take your order?" spiel and we all ordered our different meals. When she came out with our orders, she ended up giving my friend my order of Snow White Chicken and I got her Almond Chicken. It was an easy fix--just switch the plates and eat what we ordered. Even though this particular waitress confused our orders, we expect our meals to be served to us correctly. And after reading Smith's article on myths I realized that so many of my past teachers expected us to write papers to order. Smith says, "Every experienced writer knows that writing is often most reluctant to come when it is most urgently required, yet quite likely to begin to flow on inconvenient or impossible occasions" (30). We were given explicit directions with rubrics--we were expected to be the waitress and serve our teachers' orders without changing them or giving them something different.
I realized that we can't expect our students to serve papers to us "to order." We have to expect, if not hope for, a different meal; we should leave room for interpretation and creativity from our students.
I really like where you went with the Smith article. Relating it to your own experience might just be your way of turning this post into your own creative dish. Thanks for sharing your thoughts.
ReplyDeleteI agree with mike - really creative connection. Teachers need to have high expectations but if we tell them exactly what we're looking for, then we've done all the thinking for them and it makes it easy for the students to manipulate the structure.
ReplyDeleteSometimes it is so easy to go out and order the same meal over and over again. Get the burger, no matter where you go. But trying something scary and new can sometimes help you find the best thing ever! I hope our students aren't afraid to be extraordinary.
ReplyDeleteI love your conclusion and connection to dinner! Very well spoken. Best line: We have to expect, if not hope for, a different meal; we should leave room for interpretation and creativity from our students
ReplyDeleteVery interesting analogy. As a server, I thought more and more about it. I can't say I'll try giving people the wrong food and telling them that they should appreciate what I gave them, but your idea is interesting for as a teacher.
ReplyDeleteThis blog presented an interesting chiasmus that I had to think about for a minute--it's like when you go to a restaurant and order something ordinary and the dish turns out to be really delicious and special. In this sense, students are like the chefs, surprising us with their work and creativity. i love analogies?
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