Last October I met the author Lauren Groff at the Southern Festival of Books in Nashville. I wanted a chance to hear from the author of a favorite book, Arcadia, and I wanted an autograph for my copy ...

Early in our careers, when we were fresh-faced and idealistic (we still are!) the prepackaged curriculum and the advice of more experienced colleagues was the go-to resource. Largely, we were advised ...

In the New York Times obituary of Peter Elbow, the giant of composition studies, he is said to have “transformed freshman comp,” which he definitely did, but also, maybe not? Even as someone who has ...

I am in the midst of revising a book about writing, which has me simultaneously thinking about writing in the context of what I’m saying in the book and reflecting on the writing I am doing as the ...

M y students can’t write a clear sentence to save their lives. It’s my job to help them change that. I have taught writing for 10 years. Much like Joseph R. Teller, whose October essay criticizing how ...

“Ungrading” is one of those topics that inspires a lot of pushback when it comes up in faculty circles. Susan D. Blum, editor of a new book on the subject, says that’s because most administrators, ...

The Writing Enriched Curriculum is an innovative, faculty-driven approach to rethinking how writing is taught in the disciplines. First launched in 2007 at the University of Minnesota, WEC provides ...

Writing remains a shifting fuzzy cloud floating in a wide subjective sky. This week, teachers all over the country have been sharing tales of teaching that most difficult of subjects—writing. They are ...

I’ve always been a writer. At a young age, I told stories using yarn-bound books and notebook paper. In college, I could crank out essays with an ease that made me the envy of my classmates. So, in my ...

Like many creative-writing instructors, for most of my teaching career I’ve led classes based on the workshop model: a student brings in a draft, and we talk about how to make it better. When ...