April Sikorski
Assistant Professor of Writing, Institute for Core Studies
First-Year Writing Program, Institute for Writing Studies
A.B.D. in Composition and Rhetoric, Indiana
University-Pennsylvania
sikorska@stjohns.edu
As a teacher...
• I strive to open a space where students can investigate
questions they are itching to ask themselves and the world around
them. Students all have interests and passions, and I want my class
to afford them a space to explore those questions that are most
personal to them. As my students search out answers to their
questions, I use Ken Macrorie as a guide to help me scaffold my
lessons around writing strategies, ideas, and processes that will
support students in their investigations.
• I want my students to embrace and learn from their
difficulties. We can assume that great writers, musicians, and
athletes are successful because of natural raw talent; however,
this belief “fails to acknowledge the difficulties the artist, the
athlete, and the students had to face, engage, and work through for
them to reach the stage of being able to do things in ways that
seem effortless and natural” (p. 3). While writing might look easy,
“nobody, not even a genius, knows without having learned to know”
(Salvatori and Donahue, 2005, p. 3).
As a writer...
• Sometimes I feel like I would rather jump out of a window than
return to my own writing. My favorite professor at the University
of Pittsburgh opened our first class with an honest admission that
she often hates writing: “I love having written, but sometimes I
could do without the writing part.” Hearing a woman I respect refer
to writing so honestly made me feel more secure in my own
difficulties and problems.
Right now, I am working on...
My dissertation. In this piece, I evaluate students’ reactions
to different modes of teacher feedback. My goal of this research is
to surface data about which modes of response speak best to which
students. All of the writing and research I do is intimately linked
to my teaching. Thus, the purpose of my scholarship is to improve,
revise, and think critically about myself as a teacher of
writing.
Recent presentations include...
“A Study of How Readers' Context Affects Placement Decisions."
Re-Envisioning Writing Assessment. Amherst, MA. 31 Oct. 2008
"Audience, Assessment, and Public/Private Tension in a Visible
Writing Program." SUNY Council on Writing. Stony Brook, NY. 26 Apr.
2008.
"Using Assessment to Break Through Institutional Silence."
Conference on College Composition and Communication. New Orleans,
LA. 2 Apr. 2008.
"Featured Session: Policy Issues in Writing Assessment."
Conference on College Composition and Communication. New Orleans,
LA. 5 Apr. 2008.
"Patchwork Panels: Using Assessment to Sustain a Patchwork
Writing Department." Western States Rhetoric and Literacy
Conference. Tempe, AZ. 27 Oct. 2008.