| the assignment |
Thus far this semester, we've done a lot of reading, writing, thinking and talking about the purpose of first-year writing classes and the issues that affect the choices we make as writing teachers. You've done a fantastic job with that, but you've also been itching to talk specifics. Me, too. But, before we could fruitfully do that, we needed to figure out the whys that will guide our choices of how.
For this project, I'm asking you to reflect on everything you've learned this semester in order to make some choices of your own about how to design a first-year writing course that reflects who you want to be as a writing teacher, what you believe about the purpose of first-year composition, and what you want students to experience in your course––all the while taking into account a particular institutional context (UTPA's writing program can be your default unless you have another context in mind). The materials you will create for this project should help you develop not only a cool course that will engage students in meaningful work, but a set of materials you can use to get a good job (whether that be entrance into a PhD program, a TA position here or elsewhere, a spot teaching dual credit at your high school, or a faculty job at a local college). Putting all of this together is an important step in the development of your teaching identity, an opportunity to showcase who you are as a teacher-scholar and show others the kind of work you and your students will be doing together. As time goes by, you can add more things to your portfolio than I'll be asking for this semester––things like student essays with your comments on them, a 5-minute YouTube video of you conferencing with a student, student evaluations, etc. These things will add depth to your presentation of yourself as a teacher, and you will become even more marketable☺.
| the nitty gritty |
This semester, I'm asking you to do the following things:
- Write a teaching philosophy statement. These documents are usually designed to be about 1 page long (adjust the spacing if you need more room). I’ve included some website addresses below that have information about how to write them, and I’ll bring mine in for us to talk through so you can get an idea of the kind of things you need to think about as you craft your own philosophy and write about it.
- Design a syllabus for a first-year writing class (1301, 1302, dual credit/AP/traditional). You'll need to familiarize yourself with the required parts of syllabi (course description, course goals, required texts, how grades will be determined, plagiarism statements, late work policies, disability statements, etc.); sometimes schools will have boilerplate language that you must use for these. In other places, you're free to craft your own policies. I would encourage you to include a more personal introduction to the course (in addition to the course description and goals), though, since this is an excellent place to talk about your teaching philosophy, what you expect from the students, and what they can expect from you.
- Develop a calendar to show what you'll be doing each week of the semester. At this point, I want you to at least address this on a weekly basis (Week 1: Discuss Writing Project 1, Group and whole class discussions of the excerpt from Stanley Aronowitz's The Knowledge Factory), but if you can, try to develop something for each class day (TR or MWF). This is a working calendar, and things always change, so be general enough so you can be flexible and come up with specific assignments during the week if you want, but provide enough detail so it'll be useable for you when you start teaching the course.
- Come up with the major project assignments for the semester. It's up to you to decide how many major project assignments you want to give. But you'll want to consider several things. Will you require students to take their projects through multiple drafts for each assignment? If so, have fewer major projects. How will your assignments link to and build off of one another? Will you have a reflective assignment for a portfolio?
- Write a reflective essay (5+ pages) in which you explain in detail how you've designed your course and assignments and why that makes sense given all you’ve learned about composition theory and pedagogy. I’d like you to think about writing this explanation for other teaching professionals (other teachers, hiring committees, and, of course, me). Explain what you and the students will be doing and how this fits into your larger goals for the class. Perhaps more importantly, I’d like you to be able to write about why your assignments and activities make sense pedagogically and theoretically. That means thinking back over what you’ve read this semester (and what you know from other classes and experiences), identifying what you think are important ideas about writing and the teaching of writing, and showing how your assignments help you put those ideas into practice (this will mean you need to have substantive discussions of the relevant readings in your essay). This may well be the most important part of your portfolio in terms of this class because it will show me what you’ve learned and allow you to show others that you are a savvy teacher, someone who knows his/her theory and how specific teaching practices fit in to a bigger theoretical picture. In other words, I hope it’ll help you get a fabulous job one day.
Please keep in mind that you have very real audiences for this work. I’m looking at it to see what you’ve learned in the class and how well you’re able to design assignments that fit what we know about writing and the teaching of writing. But there will be others—potential employers––who may one day look at your expanded portfolio to get a sense of who you are as a teacher and what you’re able to do. You will also need to think about what medium makes the most sense for you and your potential audience (your future employer/evaluator). If you have web-development experience, you might want to create an online portfolio. Or, based on your knowledge of the technology available to certain schools, you may want to create a notebook with dividers.
We will again take time in class to discuss your projects and workshop them. There will be a lot of work, but I suspect it will be exciting work for most of you. I see you struggling in this project with a work in progress, not worrying about having a complete and finished professional portfolio. This is a beginning, and I hope you can approach our work with a constructive and imaginative attitude. And I’m sure you’ll have lots of questions as we go along, so please ask any and all questions that you have. Teaching is a collaborative activity. We’re always helping one another and sharing ideas for good assignments and activities, so I will encourage you to talk about what you’re coming up with and ask good questions so we can all help each other come up with the best portfolios possible.
| some useful resources |
You can find some good information about how to create teaching philosophy statements at the following sites:
- Iowa State University’s Center for Excellence in Learning and Teaching at http://www.celt.iastate.edu/teaching/philosophy.html
- The Ohio State University’s Faculty and TA Development Site at http://ftad.osu.edu/portfolio/philosophy/Philosophy.html
- “How to Write a Statement of Teaching Philosophy” by Gabriela Montell, available at http://chronicle.com/jobs/2003/03/2003032702c.htm
