Introduction

Hi there all!

My name is Shari Wolke, and I am a Master's student in the Writing and Rhetoric program here. My bachelor's degree is from Michigan State as well; I graduated with an English Education degree with a minor in Biology. I became interested in R & W after taking Julie Lindquist's ENG 302. Since then, I have discovered that my true passion is language. That is, yes, I do like English literature, no, I am not interested in teaching it as a career or as interested in it as I am issues of language and linguistic rights. Along with that, one of my research interests is Jamaican Patois, partly because it is the first language of my partner, Abijah, who is from Jamaica. I am interested in discovering how using a language like Patois in the first-year writing classroom and explicitly teaching for language justice can benefit all students.

In terms of my teaching experience, I have taught two semesters in R&W here at MSU- in the fall I taught WRA 150 and in the spring WRA 140. Teaching is most certainly my passion; I can't imagine myself doing anything else in my future. Thus I am applying for the PhD this fall- wish me luck! What I hope to learn from this course, then, is how other folks use technology in their writing classrooms, since I am fairly new to the game.

In terms of my interests outside this class, as you might see from my facebook if you friend me, my other passion is riding my horse Kenny and competing at shows in a sport called dressage (if you don't know what this is, see http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zKQgTiqhPbw). I will be competing my horse throughout the summer as well.

I am looking forward to learning new ways of integrating technology into my classroom and looking forward to learning with and from you all!