I enjoyed Yancey’s overview of the history of how teachers became interested in reflective writing and students’ composing processes. I had read some of the other authors she quoted as well as some of her writings, but not this particular essay before now. When I taught composition, we had a reflective essay assignment attached to every major paper. Like Yancey observes, I also found it useful to have a student reflection / to know the student’s thoughts along with the paper. If someone turned in an assignment that appeared weak, they would often have a reflection detailing the roadblocks they hit or other life obstacles that got in the way. When it comes to library instruction, I can see how it would be useful for students to reflect on their research practices as well as on their writing and key word choices.
On another note, I co-taught for the first time this week. I usually get nervous when I teach a class for the first time, and this was no different. As an instructor of record, I was able to really get to know my students, especially when they took me for both parts of composition. While teaching for library instruction, I will only see the students a handful of times or less. This will definitely be a minor adjustment. One thing I am excited about is teaching the same general lessons to different classes. Since I am teaching the same sorts of lessons more than once, I do look forward to being able to fine tune lesson plans and try them out multiple times.