Take 20 DVD
Nick Carbone posted the following announcement on the WPA listserv last week:
Todd Taylor’s directed a college composition documentary film called _Take 20_. The film asked 22 composition scholars and teachers 20 questions about writing and the teaching of writing. I just got through a meeting where we looked at some of the footage. Below you’ll find the questions asked and the teachers/scholars who answered them. They’re the kinds of questions you will find yourself asking in the course you’re thinking of. What I liked about the DVD was hearing them answered by some of the best minds (and hearts) in our field.The DVD will be published by Bedford/St. Martin’s and there will be copies given out at the 4C’s.
It’s structured so you can play a portion then stop it and have a discussion around the question. The Q&A was done in one take, so you get a sense of who the scholars are as a people and thus a sense of the kind of thinking and feeling that goes into the scholarship and teaching which contribute to our field.
In case you can tell, I think this will be a really powerful representation of what the field is about and why writing and the teaching of writing matter. Here are the questions, and below that, the teachers who were interviewed:
The Questions
- What do you remember about your first time teaching?
- What are the aims of your writing courses?
- What is the biggest surprise about teaching writing?
- How do you organize your course syllabus?
- What is the one thing that every writing teacher should know?
- How do you design a lesson plan?
- If you had to pick only one book for a writing teacher to read, what would it be?
- How do you create a writing assignment?
- If you had to pick only one essay for a writing teacher to read, what would it be?
- How do you determine course content?
- Who influenced your work the most?
- How do you orchestrate peer groups?
- If you had to select only one scholar for a writing teacher to read, who would it be?
- How do you address process and product?
- What do you wish you had been taught in grad school (but weren’t)?
- How do you respond to student writing?
- What have you learned from your students?
- How has technology (re)shaped your teaching?
- What’s next for writing teachers?
- How do you approach difference?
The Scholars/Teachers
- Linda Adler-Kassner, Eastern Michigan University
- Cheryl E. Ball, Utah State University
- Dave Bartholomae, University of Pittsburgh
- Patricia Bizzell, College of the Holy Cross
- Bill Condon, Washington State University
- Ellen Cushman, Michigan State University
- Cheryl Glenn, Penn State University
- Brian Huot, Kent State University
- Erika Lindemann, University of North Carolina
- Andrea A. Lunsford, Stanford University
- Paul Kei Matsuda, University of New Hampshire
- Don McQuade, University of California, Berkeley
- Christine McQuade, Queens College, City University of New York
- Mike Palmquist, Colorado State University
- Malea Powell, Michigan State University
- Nedra Reynolds, University of Rhode Island
- Mike Rose, UCLA Graduate School of Education and Information
- Jacqueline Jones Royster, Ohio State University
- Raul Sanchez, University of Florida
- John Schilb, Indiana University
- Nancy Sommers, Harvard University
- Howard Tinberg, Bristol Community College
Caveat: I have not seen the DVD yet and am scared to death of seeing it! I had caught the CCCC cold that had been going around right before my interview and was so doped up on hot tea and cold meds that lord knows what came out of my mouth!
Update: The trailer is out and copies of Take 20 will be available at CCCCs. Now I understand why Todd said he used my interview to color-test everything. lol.
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