Setting the Classroom Tone

Students taking Business & Technical Writing courses have completed their required composition classes. Their motives vary, but by and large students take Business & Technical Writing classes because they perceive them as being directly related to the professional careers they hope to have. As a result, students bring a good level of motivation to the class. To maintain that motivation and develop a businesslike environment, you need to have a handout to state a few policies that must be followed. The list should include those elements that are a matter of department policy and others that individual instructors add to ensure that students know what is expected.

Use the "Things that Work" link to the left to return to the Table of Contents.

Class Policies

Technical Writing Essentials is not a lecture class. The class size is deliberately kept small to create a writing workshop. To develop and maintain this environment, the following policies are especially critical to follow.

• Attendance: The Department of English has a strict policy for all writing classes: After three (3) absences, a student is in danger of failing the course. It is a policy I endorse and which all must follow. Attendance will be taken at the start of each class. f you arrive late, sign in on the late form with the time of your arrival. Advise me in advance if you are not going to be in class if you are scheduled for an individual or group activity. Otherwise, advise me as a courtesy if you consider it necessary.
  
  
• Preparation: You will complete a variety of assignments during class time, but to do so you must have assigned chapters read before the start of class. Otherwise, you'll not have time to complete these tasks and will have to submit them late. There are other tasks that, once introduced, have to be done almost entirely outside of class. There is, of course, extra help available if you need it. The class schedule shows what will be done as well as when assignments are due. Refer to the schedule as often as necessary to keep yourself organized. Doing so will help you earn the highest possible grades for all of the work you do.
  
  
• Participation: Remember that the class is a workshop. There are individual and group tasks that must be done. There are no spectator roles. It is assumed you will be an active participant in all of the work. I will sometimes want to share examples of students' writings in class which effectively do what an assignment asked. Names will be deleted. If you object to my using your work, let me know (verbally or by note).
  
  
• Timely Completion: Part of being successful in a work environment involves being responsible for timely completion of assigned tasks. Knowing that students' class, study, work, and social schedules are quite busy, I have attempted to spread the work for this course evenly throughout the semester. This strategy, and the opportunity to complete many small assignments during class, and providing notice well in advance of due dates for all assignments virtually eliminates lateness. If, however, an unusual situation arises that might keep you from submitting something on time, you should speak with me.
  
  
• Office Hours: You should always feel free to stop by during my scheduled office hours. You can call me there as well, but if I'm with another student, I'll ask that you call back. If you need help with any work or want to talk with me about completed work, be sure to bring the writings with you.
  
  
• Nourishment: As a general rule, I don't mind if you have a snack or beverage with you in the classroom. There is, however, a strict "NO FOOD OR DRINKS" rule in the computer lab which everyone must follow.

Back to Top

The Role of the Instructor

Another strategy to use to create the desired businesslike environment in class involves thinking of the classroom generally and the computer classroom particularly as technical writing workplaces where you are the office manager and the students are under your supervision. Once work is assigned and the necessary explanations given, allow your workers to work. When problems are encountered in a busy workplace, employees often rely upon one another rather than rushing off to the manager with every issue. That type of environment works well in many of the Business & Technical Writing classes: It encourages students to think through problems in order to develop solutions, and it fosters collaboration where students with various skills can join together on an ad hoc basis to help each other. The independent working skills and decision making confidence that grow out of such a working environment will be real assets for the students when they take on jobs.

What is the instructor to do while the students are working? Do what successful managers do: See the "big picture" of the class. Then, delegate assignments that enable the "big picture" to be achieved. Use your time to circulate and see how work is progressing. When questions arise, throw those questions to the whole class for comment and suggestion when possible. If an individual student has difficulty with a technical aspect of an assignment, ask another student who seems to have the skill to offer help. Take time to confer with students about their work or themselves to help you get to know them better. In effect, the role that works for the instructor (and ultimately for the students) is that of the Manager/Facilitator.

As virtually anyone who has taught for a while has discovered, the teacher tends to learn the most in class. So, to the extent that the students can become peer teachers, their learning is likely to be enhanced. This is the same concept that Writing Program composition teachers know: "Overteaching" essay writing by excessively commenting on drafts creates dependent students.

Back to Top