When I was a graduate student nearly twenty-years ago at Brown University, my mentor teacher asked me what kind of teacher skin I wanted to step into as a writing instructor.
Almost as a half-joke, but primarily as an unshakeable truth, I told him that I wanted to be the Bob Ross of composition.
Almost immediately during my student teaching, I noticed that there is a stark and sizeable difference between the teaching of writing versus the assigning of it.
Bob Ross knew how to teach, and I knew that his paradigm would be perfect for delivering writing instruction.
Imagine him coming on to your screen and saying, “Hello happy little people. Today we are going to paint a beautiful New England autumnal landscape with beautiful fall foliage and in the middle of our canvas we are going to include a New England wood-covered bridge.”
Here’s the kicker with Bob Ross - he did two things that exemplify the art of good teaching:
1. He painted with his students providing plenty of exemplars and models
2. He used one template/heuristic … the wet-on-wet technique
And that’s what I knew was needed to get my student writers to grow and mature – me “painting” with them as the expert in the classroom – and me equipping them with workable templates.
Aristotle’s syllogistic method immediately popped into my mind – the heuristic he used to teach his students at the Lyceum the art of oration and polemics.
Why not bend that into a writing template/heuristic?
And that’s what I did … amend the syllogistic method as a template that can be used systematically across the expository modes.
Quite literally, the syllogistic method can be used to construct every body paragraph a student ever writes, whether it be for literary analysis, rhetorical analysis, argument, persuasion, synthesis, and/or research.
And for the introductory paragraphs … I adapted the declarative and inverted thesis method.
Word spread and I had teachers and professors coming to me to learn my compositional approaches. And in time, I was encouraged to write a textbook and do a bit of consulting.
And then … Covid.
Things changed in that I was no longer able to take my show on the road. In spite of this, I was still being asked to teach teachers how to teach writing.
And then I had it … an online Masterclass.
So here I am. Offering my templates to teachers in the midst of a pandemic.
Over the course of these crazy academic times, I’ve continued to offer my teachings to teachers across the nation.
With over 100 five-star reviews, the Masterclass has proven to be a vital PD opportunity for teachers looking to bolster and hone their instructional practices in the classroom.
If you are a rookie or seasoned veteran experiencing the pain points of not seeing your students grow and mature as writers, and if the demands of grading the endless heap of essays and lesson planning are ransacking your spirit and will to teach, the Masterclass is perfect for you.
The enrollment doors are currently open for the June 13th class with a deep discount being offered up until the 11th. We will meet for five consecutive Sunday evenings, either from 5-6 EST or 7-8 (no class July 4th). I only have a few seats still available.
Reach out if you would like a discovery call or more information.
Happy teaching and happy writing!
Kristian
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