Performing Writing, Performing Literaricity

Part One


First, let me jump into using some of the idea of performing writing and performing literacy as happened just lately in my classroom.
Friday, we were discussing one of the assigned readings, having just rejoined as a class from small groups wherein students had been discussing the reading and their reading logs. One of the readings was familiar in form and context to one of the students, and she pretty much gave an impromptu lesson on what a lab report is. I said, oh so you're familiar with the lab report? I've read some in the Writing Center, but I can't remember the last time I would have written one. Yep, she says, I have to read them all the time. I said something like would you share with the class, since it looks like you might be the biggest expert on lab reports in the class. She began by saying yes this is obviously a lab report, and I know because I have to read them all the time. After she gave a brief definition, she went through the reading, making comments at each heading and explaining how this is how people write lab reports and this here is what is usually to be found, although this piece here was a bit different and maybe because of the subject matter, but basically I'm used to reading these and know what to expect, and that's why this is here and that's there, and that's why they gave background information like this, and here's where they will usually do something like Oh exactly that's what they did here. And basically that's why I found this so boring, because it's really so predictable, but I don't find the study boring, or what they're studying; that's interesting to me, but I can understand why so many people in here wouldn't like reading this. She gave this performance so fluidly, so off-the-cuff, that at the end of her spiel, the entire class applauded.
It was not just her display of knowledge, I think, that impressed everyone (myself included). It was also her performance, the way she was so confident in explaining such a specific mode of writing. The lab report is probably a foreign type of thing to half the class (save the nursing students), but she explained it in a way that students could easily understand. And I believe that even if some of the students couldn't keep up with every little thing she was saying, they applauded anyway just based on how forceful and striking her performance was.

This is one of my most outspoken and discussion-contributing students, so I wasn't so surprised that she knew her stuff, or that she would volunteer to explain something for the class. I was a bit surprised at how impromptu and professional her performance was. Maybe she was mad because I busted her text-messaging in class and called her out on it earlier that day. Maybe that fired her up.