In order to comment on this presentation or discuss it with the author, click on the "Presentation" file below.

English and composition classes are very different from other courses in higher education. Writing and sharing one's writing can be a humbling, frustrating experience that is often compared to delivering a baby. When a writer creates and submits en essay, it is akin to a mother giving birth to a child and sending him or her out into the world to be judged. The online classroom must be a safe place where one's creativity and writing skills will be developed, encouraged, and brought to light by the end of the course. There are a number of opportunities in the online classroom to create a safe, encouraging community for burgeoning writers from the very first day of class.

Presenter Information:

Stephanie Maher Palenque is from New Jersey and lives in Anthem, Arizona with her husband of twenty-one years, Jaime, who is Senior Executive Chef of Banner Thunderbird Hospital, and their three daughters, Sophia (12), Alexandra (11) and Charlotte (10). She was a book editor back East, and is currently a full time faculty member in the English department at Grand Canyon University. She is a regular contributor to many regional and national magazines, her poetry has been published in literary journals, and her first book, "Busted!" was published in 2005. She holds a B.A. in Political Science and Criminal Justice, and an M.A. in English Literature and Creative Writing, both from Seton Hall University in New Jersey, and she is currently working toward her PhD at Grand Canyon University.