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The Persistent Writer:
How to Thrive in Your College Writing Class
By Shirley Kahlert, Ph. D.
The Persistent Writer: How to Thrive in your College Writing Class, differs from other writing texts by focusing on the student writer’s experience rather than on prescriptive rules for writing. Students meet learning outcomes as they explore their own responses to college and writing in reflections, and by creating academic papers based on templates.
Learners develop stronger metacognitive skills through completing and scoring multiple research logs. Case histories and ample photographs of diverse students also help readers connect to their academic writing experiences.
Praise for The Persistent Writer
“This humane approach to teaching and learning academic English is inviting and approachable. Students are given opportunities to explore how to write academic college English. This book makes no assumptions about what students should know, but instead demystifies writing and enhances metacognition. I am encouraged by how the book treats the whole student.”
—Trish Schade
Benefits of This Book
- Presented as a narrative arc of student experience with student case histories and student photos
- Addresses affective issues of academic outsiders
- Encourages metacognition
- Provides opportunities for reflection and growth
- Supportive, encouraging friendly tone
- Presents explicit instruction without assuming what students should already know
- Slide show presentations on key topics for use in class lecture or online
- Readings assignment scaffold the concepts presented
- Summative quizzes accompanied by formative reflections
About the Author
Shirley Kahlert has taught in the California Community College system for many years. She holds a strong interest in pedagogies that contribute to student success: Reading Apprenticeship, Guided Pathways, the California Acceleration Project, Learning Communities, and On Course.
She earned a master’s degree in literature and the teaching of writing from San Francisco State University and a doctorate from UCLA in medieval literature and rhetoric. She has taught at the University of Hawaii Manoa, several Bay Area colleges, including Evergreen Valley College, and the University of California Merced.
She currently teaches college writing, literature, and humanities at Merced College. Dr. Kahlert has been a college and university writing and literature professor since 1972. Her scholarly interests include Chaucer, Marie de France, and Celtic languages and literature.
