Teaching

I have been teaching writing for 20+ years. I keep doing it because every time I do it, I still get parts wrong and still learn new things. My current position – “Associate Teaching Professor” – is the perfect position for me because it prioritizes my teaching and also honors my research. It’s an unusual position at most universities – a position with all the benefits of tenure (job security, sabbaticals, etc.) with a primary emphasis on teaching.

My Courses

My courses are always changing, but some iterations of the classes I’m currently teaching are below. If you take a course with me, you can expect honesty and concrete opportunities to become a better writer. You can also expect too many memes and gifs that I find entertaining.

UCSC ~ sample syllabi

I change these courses each time I teach them!
This is a line drawing of hands on a laptop. It is all one single looping line.

Writing 1: Introduction to Composition (Fall 2024 – Writing 1)

This is a bookshelf full of books, but you can see that the books are fake and are propped up. The colors are bright.

Writing 2: Rhetoric & Inquiry (Fall 2023 – Writing 2)

This is six arrows of different colors all coming together and going toward the right.

Writing 203: Teaching Writing (syllabus available upon request)

Also, I’d like to never see another five-paragraph essay! Please don’t write me one!

This is a hand-drawn dragon (by Boynton) with "The Five Paragraph Theme" at the top. The dragon is labeled in four places: - Introductory Paragraph (lots of teeth, no bite) - points to the teeth - Thesis Statement (the main point of the theme) - points to a horn - Development (three paragraphs with topic sentences and some minor points, mostly bulk) - points at torso - Concluding Paragraph (somewhat limp and drawn out. Goes over same ground as four preceding paragraphs) - points at limp tail