Portland Community College - Writing
Classroom Teacher at Ashland High School
Shane
Abrams
Educator with post-secondary and secondary level teaching experience in literature and rhetoric/composition.
Author of EmpoWord: A Student-Centered Anthology & Handbook for College Writers (2018).
"The classroom, with all its limitations, remains a location of possibility. In that field of possibility, we have the opportunity to labor for freedom, to demand of ourselves and our comrades, an openness of mind and heart that allows us to face reality even as we collectively imagine ways to move beyond boundaries, to transgress. This is education as the practice of freedom." - bell hooks
Bachelor of Arts - BA
English/Language Arts Teacher Education
Master of Arts - MA
English Literature
Adjunct Faculty
2016-18: Adjunct Faculty
2015-16: Assistant to the Director of Rhetoric and Composition
2014-16: Graduate Teaching Assistant
Courses Instructed:
College Writing (WR-121)
Writing Research Papers (WR-222)
Writing as Critical Inquiry (WR-323)
Portland State University and University of Minnesota Open Acess Textbook Library
EmpoWord is a reader and rhetoric that champions the possibilities of student writing. The textbook uses actual student writing to exemplify effective writing strategies, celebrating dedicated college writing students to encourage and instruct their successors: the students in your class. Through both creative and traditional activities, readers are encouraged to explore a variety of rhetorical situations to become more critical agents of reading, writing, speaking, and listening in all facets of their lives. Straightforward and readable instruction sections introduce key vocabulary, concepts, and strategies. Three culminating assignments (Descriptive Personal Narrative; Text-Wrestling Analysis; Persuasive Research Essay) give students a chance to show their learning while also practicing rhetorical awareness techniques for future writing situations. This textbook is designed for students of first- and second-year college composition courses (in Oregon, WR-115, 121, 122, and 222), but it is also a great tool for college prep students, more advanced writers, or independent learners. Early teachers are encouraged to use the textbook to support them in curriculum design, and experienced teachers can use it to supplement their tried-and-true methods.