Three professors who teach writing spoke at a September 5 Adelphi workshop aimed at suggesting ways in which faculty who teach other courses can help their students to write better.

Diane Della Croce, Barbara Fischkin, and Catherine Lipnick have each taught writing at different college levels and in various classroom environments.

Della Croce, an Honors College Associate Dean, has taught Art and Craft of Writing and various Freshman Seminars. She said that in writing classes she uses a "clear criteria," and believes every writing teacher should have their own. Developing critical thinking skills by using reading, writing, and thinking strategies is Della Croce's way of enabling students to reflect on the "process" of writing. She said she uses journals, web boards, and the portfolio system in her classes and that "gives students a variety of venues for success." Web boards, she said, can inspire those students who do not normally participate in class, to become more comfortable and vocal in writing. Journals, along with a portfolio, enable students to reflect on and record their growth as writers.

Barbara Fischkin, a journalism professor and adviser to the Delphian, shared her ideas and suggestions for getting students motivated to write and write well. Challenging students to start from any stage in their writing, and pushing their potential further is her goal. Fischkin distributed a beautiful piece of literature from the novel Empire Falls, by Richard Russo, which contains a metaphor that she uses with her students. In the story, a woman is giving driving lessons to one of the worst drivers in the town, and she brings this driver to an empty parking lot to practice. Fischkin explains that this is how we teach people to write. Most of us have gone to an empty parking lot to practice our skills, which Fischkin describes as the first draft of your process. The first draft is all your ideas and all your thoughts with no lines to guide you. When we finally drive out into the open highway, we are writing our final draft. This is where we can go after we have learned to stay between the lines and follow a pattern. This metaphor defines writing as a powerfully personal experience. This is precisely why this meeting emphasized the utmost importance of concentrating on the "process" of a student's writing, and not the product alone.

Catherine Lipnick, a professor in University College, said she requires many elements from her students when writing papers. Like Della Croce she is very specific about her criteria. She believes in grading first drafts to help students understand the quality of their writing at that stage. She emphasizes that students focus on a thesis statement, and use this as a structure to fill with their ideas. She also encourages free writing and explorations to help students formulate their thesis statements. About her students she says, "The quality of their writing is directly determined by the clarity of their thinking."