Week 4, Response to Classmate's Journal: Jeff's Pedagogy Forum

I think that Jeff makes an excellent point regarding using the concept of a Triggering Town to involve students in the creative process. One of the most difficult concepts to teach when teaching writing is brainstorming. I have often wrongly left school, defeated, thinking "These students have no imagination!" Looking at his entry, I realize I haven't given them a framework within which to work. If we came in and Dr. Davidson said, "Just write a great poem full of great ideas--GO!", I would be so nervous I couldn't think. I might want to leave or just not do anything. Many of my students take this approach, and I can honestly say, I understand why. Using Jeff's method, I hope to employ this same method to help students determine a research topic and questions next week.