The author begins by differentiating between high school writing and college level writing; the former is formulaic, due to while the latter "should focus more on student's ideas and exhibit his or her individuality". She makes various interesting points:
- "college theory and high school practice differ greatly"
- "Just like students, high school English teachers have to conform to and cover the curriculum
approved by our school boards because everything we do is closely monitored by standardized
testing."
- "Besides testing, we also have to deal with daily interruptions such as assemblies and pep rallies and
sometimes even discipline problems."
-"However, it is important for college educators to understand that our English classes are not
composition classes, but are surveys of literature classes..."
-"All of a sudden upon entering college, students become serious and responsible and try hard to keep
the scholarships they have obtained, justify the school expenses to parents with good grades, or hold
two jobs to pay for thier college classes personally."
In short she tells the truth of how things are.
I agree. The author highlights the many outside factors that come into play for a high school English teacher and what they can accomplish in their classroom. I especially appreciated her comments on the fact that theory does not always succeed in practice, especially in the high school classroom. Her comments on maturity are also very relevant.
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