Through hard work, patience, and a few strokes of dumb luck, I have landed a job with the following appellation:  Instructor of Composition.  This title suits me nicely.  I enjoy instructing, much more than I enjoy professing.   I professed once.  My innocence.  Didn’t turn out.  The courts found me guilty of jaywalking in the first degree (premeditated).  I am a reformed man.  Mostly.

My teaching philosophy is centered around the notion students are humans.  In any sphere, humans succeed only when inspired, encouraged, and given the freedom to explore.  To foster this feeling, it is a composition instructor’s job to create a relaxed atmosphere so that human-writers can find their voice and not simply parrot the ideas of others. 

To be certain, I must provide my human-writers with the implements necessary for generating fresh ideas.  We read essays and discuss an author’s rhetorical successes logical missteps.  Students compose their own works and I offer revision advice (written and verbal).  We stroll to the library and I encourage students to get lost (not in the aphoristic sense).  We ask questions.  We stomp our feet. We laugh.  Someone might dance.  Someone might cry (me?).  It’s all part of the fun of living.  And learning. 

Mitch Raney
mdraney@bgnet.bgsu.edu

Instructors A -- C

Instructors D -- L

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Dr. Cynthia Mahaffey

Robert Lowe McManus

Scott Obernesser

Mitch Raney

Matt Rome

Amy Rybak

Dan Rzicznek

Amanda McGuire Rzicznek

Christof Scheele

Michael Schulz

Kellie Sharp

Dr. Elizabeth Vogtsberger

Ann Westrick

Jason Zeh

Elizabeth Zemanski

Dr. Angela Zimmann

Jessica Zinz