The Teacher
Teaching What Cannot Be Taught

Having taught now for thirty-six years, I must surely be close to, if not in, the last stage of my teaching life, one marked by an interest in "teaching what cannot be taught."

Parker Palmer says "Good teaching cannot be reduced to technique: good teaching comes from the identity and integrity of the teacher." Considering such a statement ultimately involves a shift from an outward movement in the classroom to an inward movement. If my identity and integrity affect what kind of educational experience my students have, then where do I turn my attentions as I try to get better at this business of teaching?

In this last stage of my teaching career, I've become much more interested in how to merge the knowledge of the world (content) with knowledge of the self.

"It seems to me that the desire to seek what is 'deepest within us' assumes there is something very valuable at our core."
A cursory glance at the list of courses I've taught reveals a lot: Art and Craft of Autobiography; The Personal Essay; The Search for Meaning in Contemporary America; Spiritual Autobiography; Autobiographical Fiction; Rhetoric and the Self. I have been hooked by the central liberal arts endeavor: the desire, according to Martin Buber, to confirm what is deepest within us. And it seems to me that the desire to seek what is "deepest within us" assumes that there is something very valuable at our core: something profound, something true, something authentic. What could the "something" possibly be, I often wonder. Peace? Joy? Wisdom? I know it's not data, or strategies, or techniques.

Thomas Merton affirms what Martin Buber says about teaching: the purpose of education is to learn who one is, and what one has to offer to the world, to find oneself on the deepest possible level.

Most likely, I cannot teach students what they most need to learn, but I can certainly help them begin to claim who they are.

-excerpt from Letters for a New Millennium




Other writings relating to teaching:


 "Wilber says 'in that simple awestruck moment, when great art enters you and changes you ... spirit shines in this world just a little more brightly than it did the moment before'. And so it is with the experience of art; it is the gaze that opens us to Spirit, and we move out into the world new beings"
read more


"Write and read and think and talk and write and read and think some more and then begin shaping the ideas and images emerging out of your own understanding of your experience."
read more
Vita
Lezlie Laws

Rollins College
Winter Park, FLorida
e-mail

Education
  • 1987 Ph.D. in English Education (major area: rhetoric and composition), University of Missouri-Columbia
  • 1983 Educational Specialist Degree, University of Missouri-Columbia
  • 1973 M.A. in English, North Texas State University, Denton, Texas
  • 1969 B.A. in English, University of Missouri-Columbia
  • 1967 A.A. Degree, Stephens College, Columbia, Missouri

Employment
  • 1999-2006 Professor
  • 1996-99 Associate Professor
  • 1989-96 Assistant Professor, Department of English, Rollins College, Winter Park, Florida
  • 1987-1989 Assistant Professor, College of Education, University of Missouri, Columbia, MO.
  • Director, Program for the Support of Writing in the Schools, jointly sponsored by the Colleges of Arts & Science and Education, University of Missouri, Columbia, MO
  • 1982-1987 Coordinator of Freshman Writing, English Department, University of Missouri, Columbia, MO
  • 1979-1982 Director, Title IV-C In-Service Writing Project (Writing Across the Curriculum), Columbia Public Schools, Columbia, MO
  • 1971-1979 Teacher (grades 9-12), Hickman High School, Columbia, MO
  • 1969-71 Teacher (grades 7-12), Cooper County R-IV Schools, Bunceton, MO

Publications
  • “This is Just to Say.” Bridging English, eds. Joseph O. Milner and Lucy F. Milner (New York: Prentice Hall Publishers, 2005): 163.
  • “Scott Russell Sanders: The Grounded Voice.” Writing Environments: Rhetoric, Texts, and the Construction of Nature. Eds. Sid Dobrin & Chris Keller. Syracuse: State University of New York Press, 2005: 237-242.
  • “Searching for Duncan: a glimpse into the process of finding a college president.” Rollins Alumni Record. Fall 2004: 14-15.
  • Editor, Shifting Gears: Small, Startling Moments In and Out of the Classroom. Orlando, FL: Red Pepper Press, March 2004.
  • “One Night, I Saw the Goddess on Park Avenue.” Shifting Gears: Small, Startling Moments In and Out of the Classroom. Orlando, FL: Red Pepper Press, March 2004.
  • “Bringing Down the Fire: Writing with Emotion.” Thought and Action Fall 2002: 1-11.
  • “Welcome to the Underworld." The Orlando Group and Friends: A Collection of Writings and Art. Eds. Christine Blackwell, Philip F. Deaver, & Stephen Caldwell Wright. Orlando: Arbiter Press, 2000.
  • “A Teacher's Lament." The Voice Vol. 2, No. 2 Fall 1997: 9.
  • "Lezlie and Brian's Excellent Academic Adventure." Sharing Pedagogies: Students and Teachers Write About Dialogic Practices. Eds. Gail Tayko and John Tassoni. Portsmouth, NH: Boynton Cook Publishers, 1996. 33-48.
  • "Imaging Experience." The Quarterly December 1994: 20-22+.
  • "Old Voices / New Conversations." English Journal December 1993: 30-34.
  • "Story ≠ Essay." Journal of Teaching Writing Summer/Fall 1992: 89-104.
  • "Questioning Our Way to 'Wonder, Wisdom, and Serendipitous Knowledge.'" English Education December 1989: 230-238.
  • "The Cumulative Comment Sheet: A Way Students Can See Their Writing Improve." Missouri English Bulletin April 1989: 19-20.
  • "'So Much Depends'. . .on how you begin--A Poetry Lesson." English Journal November 1987: 29-35.
  • "A Policy Statement on the Teaching of Grammar." Tutorial Vol. 2, No. 1. Spring, 1987.
  • "Anatomy of a Writing Assignment, or How Dieting Can Improve Your Students' Writing." English Journal September 1983: 29-31.

Essay Collections
  • When the Teacher is Ready, Students Will Appear. (A collection of autobiographical essays on teaching, writing, creativity, and spirituality.) unpublished
  • Bush League Essays. www.lezlielaws.com. December, 2002. (A collection of humorous essays.)
  • Letters for the New Millennium: Queries, Observations, and Meditations on a Teacher’s Life., Orlando, FL: Red Pepper Press, November, 2000. (A collection of epistolary essays.)
Representative Conference Presentations
  • March, 1999. Conference on College Composition and Communication. Atlanta, Georgia. "Thinking Partnerships in the Writing Workshop."
  • March, 1998. Conference on College Composition and Communication. Chicago, IL. "Students' Reflective Practices."
  • March 23, 1995. Conference on College Composition and Communication, Washington, D.C. "Developing Response Techniques through Protocol Analysis."
  • November 21, 1992. Conference of the National Council of Teachers of English, Louisville, KY: "Social Constructivism in the Teaching of Writing."
  • November 18, 1992. NCTE Assembly for Research Conference. Louisville, KY: "Improving Writers' Response Language."
  • October 3, 1992. Miami University Conference on the Teaching of Writing, Oxford, Ohio: "Using Portfolio Assessment to Increase Effectiveness in Peer Response Workshops."
  • March, 1992. Conference on English Education, Washington, DC: "Reflecting on Practice/Testing Theory: Teachers Learning from their Students."
  • October, 1991. Florida Council of Teachers of English Conference, Daytona Beach, FL: "Bio-Sketch: Yet Another Adaptation of the Character Sketch."
  • March, 1991. Conference on College Composition and Communication, Boston, MA: "A Story Does Not An Essay Make."
  • February, 1990. Write-to-Learn Conference, Missouri Department of Education, Lake Ozark, Missouri: "The Exploratory Essay and Its Place in College Composition."
  • November, 1989. National Convention of the National Council of Teachers of English, Baltimore, MD: "A Sequence of Summary Assignments."

College Teaching Experience

Rollins College:
  • Eng 101 Freshman Composition
  • Eng 103 Writing in the Liberal Arts*
  • INT 200 Introduction to Liberal Studies
  • Eng 206 Style & Stylistics *
  • INT 220 The Search for Meaning *
  • Eng 230 Literary Non-Fiction*
  • Eng 242 Contemporary Short Fiction
  • Eng 267 Techniques in Writing: Point of View*
  • Eng 268 Saturday Writing Intensives*
  • Eng 300 Expository Writing
  • Eng 301 The Art & Craft of Autobiography*
  • Eng 306 Autobiographical Fiction*
  • Eng 327 The Art of the Personal Essay*
  • Eng 329 Winter with the Writers*
  • Eng 350 Rollins Writing Workshop*
  • Eng 370 Spiritual Autobiography*
  • Eng 374 Editing Essentials*
  • Eng 391 Writing About Literature
  • Eng 384 Prose Style*
  • Eng 450 Writing Autobiography *
  • Eng 498 Independent Writing Projects*
  • Eng 590 Teaching of Writing*
  • MLS 522 Writer’s Studio*
*Indicates new course developed for Rollins.

University of Missouri:
  • Composition and Rhetoric
  • Theory and Practice of College Composition
  • Missouri Writing Project Language Instruction in Secondary English
  • Teaching Composition in Secondary English
  • Approaches to Composition/Theory and Practice
Grants
  • 2001, Writing Residency at the Vermont Studio Center, Johnson, VT (Oct, 2002).
  • 2001, Scholarship of Teaching Grant from Christian A. Johnson Institute for Effective Teaching, $2000.
  • 2001, Project Grant from Association for Continuing Higher Education, $1500.
  • 1997, Rollins Faculty Development Grant to attend Conference on Creative Nonfiction, August 13-16, 1997, Baltimore, Maryland.
  • 1996, Rollins Faculty Development Grant to attend Covey Leadership Workshop (Seven Habits of Highly Effective People), March, Orlando, FL.
  • 1995, Rollins Faculty Development Grant to attend the Iowa Writers' Workshop, University of Iowa, Iowa City, Iowa.
  • 1993, Jesse Ball duPont Summer Seminar Study Grant, National Humanities Center, Chapel Hill, North Carolina: "Constructing Selves."
  • 1992, Rollins Faculty Development Grant to attend workshop sponsored by the Assoc. of Writing Program Administrators, Breckenridge, CO.

Awards
  • 2003 Arthur Vining Davis Fellowship 2003-2004
  • 1999 28th Annual Women's Achievement Award: Outstanding Educator Women's Executive Council of Orlando, FL.
  • 1994 Walter E. Barden Award for Excellence in Teaching, Rollins College.

Committees
  • 2004-05, Dean’s Advisory Committee, Hamilton Holt School
  • 2003-2004, Search Committee for President, Rollins College
  • 1999-00, Search Committee for Dean of Arts and Science, Rollins College
  • 1996-05, Writing Committee, Chair
  • 1989-2005, Holt Core Faculty Committee
  • 1998-00, Writing Center Advisory Committee
  • 1997-99, Professional Standards Committee
  • 1995-96, Steering Committee for the Johnson Institute for Effective Teaching and Learning
  • 1993-94, Professional Standards Committee
  • 1992-93, SACS Evaluation Curriculum Committee
  • 1992, NEH / NSF grant proposal committee
  • 1991-93, Academic Affairs Committee, Secretary

Professional Boards and Organizations
  • Creative Consultant, MAD about Words
  • Advisory Council for Florida Writing Projects
  • Associated Writing Programs
  • Conference on College Composition and Communication
  • Council of Writing Program Administrators
  • Florida Association of Teachers of English
  • National Council of Teachers of English
"Leap and the net will appear." Zen proverb