Adventures in Real World English/Language Arts: The Planning Stages

I adore literature. Ever since I was a little girl, I loved books (I blame Beauty and the Beast). And eighteen years later, I am teaching American Literature and British Literature, it is a dream career. Then this summer things changed. The state of Louisiana realized that not every student is going to college, and that means not every student needs to study American Literature or British Literature. While this breaks my heart, I completely understand the reasoning behind it. My principal needed someone to teach technical writing. My classes will be much smaller now that not every student is taking English III and IV so I said, “I’ll do it.”

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I have mixed emotions- a little excited and a little nervous. It is so different from my world of literature and poetry. I have spent the summer creating curriculum and lessons for this class. As we know, we will not know if it works until we try it out. My fall semester students will be my test group, poor things. As I searched the web for a curriculum guide and ideas for this new course, I came to a realization- our students really do need this course.
I adore my literature classes, and I will teach them until the end of time, but I do know that not all students are going to be English majors or authors (although I want them to be). They need to understand how to work Microsoft Powerpoint and Word. They need to know how to email and text properly, or how to use social media professionally and prompt a business meeting. Our students leave high school not understanding how to write a resume or how to apply for a job. They struggle with their, they’re, and there.

With this class, I hope to teach them how to simplify complex articles and rewrite them so the average man can understand them. Business ethics, how-to guides, resumes, cover letters, and business manuals are some of the things have planned for my kids this semester. I will document my journey and share with you things that worked and things that did not. My hopes for this class will prepare our students for the real world.

The majority of what our society reads is technical writing. And while I wish more people read novels, short stories, and poetry, I know that more than half of society will not read a piece of literature after high school, especially if they are not going to college.So have you ever taught technical writing? What other concepts do our students need to know from an English/Language Arts before they graduate?

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