A Visit From Susan Naomi Bernstein

Susan Naomi Bernstein visited our graduate class on April 16, 2013.
I became aware of her when I joined the Council of Basic Writing Facebook page. I find her passion in written response to issues in basic writing just as passionate as her reasons for creating Teaching Developmental Writing.
I would have liked to ask her to share her opinions on the similarities and/or differences between the basic writing and developmental writing. I’m sure we would have benefitted from her insights.
One of her guiding principles for the 4th edition of Teaching Developmental Writing was the “integration of multimedia with everyday life in the 21st century.” Including articles that explore the ideas and methods of incorporating literacy and technology may assist other professionals in using it in their classrooms. As technology continues to grow literacy will play an important part in that growth. The more resources and tools we have to help us in our careers the more we will be beneficial to our students.
Dr. Bernstein shared with us that this book was written for anyone at any stage in their career and anyone who enjoys reading and writing. In addition, this book is guided by the idea to teach students regardless of how institutions label, categorize and segregate students. I enjoyed her idea that we should take a strength base approach to students. Unfortunately, we did not have enough time to explore the topic in depth.
I look forward to reading the articles that Dr. Bernstein has shared that has touched her in some way. Her excitement of how these writers have raised her awareness about some issue was contagious and I was not the only one marking my book as she led us through the table of contents.