Do English teachers help or hurt authors?
Aug 17, 2023 4:08 am
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Dear reader,
If you're anything like me, you've been deep in the throes of "back-to-schooling" (that's a verb, right?) this past few weeks. For me, it's all been a sunburnt blur of bus schedules, supply lists, and meet the teacher nights.
But, hecticness aside, this time of year always gives me pause to reflect back on my own schooling. Like many writers I've talked to, I think I ended up becoming an author in spite of, rather than because of, many of the English teachers I had over the years.
At the middle school level, I felt very confined by the formulaic essays and poems we were assigned. By high school it seemed like the only writing anyone cared about had to have a Works Cited page (*barfs*). And in college all of my English professors were irreconcilably at odds with one another over what high-quality writing actually looked like. I was left confused and discouraged.
Sound familiar to anyone?
All this especially irks me because I am myself a high school English teacher. In fact, this year I'll not only be teaching English, but I'll have my very own Creative Writing class as well. These young authors need fostering, so I'm coming to you for advice.
What do you think English teachers can do better? During your years adrift in the doldrums of academia, what writing activities do you remember most fondly? And what were the soul-sucking assignments you hope no other young authors ever have to endure?
Shoot me an email. You might just make it into my curriculum this year!
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Happy new school year, friends. Hope your English teachers don't suck,
Ben Schwarting
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