'Grit' in the Writing Classroom

By John Warner. My “grittiest” composition students are simultaneously among the easiest and most difficult students to work with. The “gritty” rarely, if ever, struggle with sporadic attendance or failure to meet deadlines, things that often derail others. If drafts are due, drafts are done. They come to office hours, they ask questions, they are generally respectful of authority (perhaps overly so). They can immediately articulate their goals and dreams and the path they intend to take along the way. Read more...