Week 5: Wednesday, February 16
Discuss Sommers-Revision, Murray, & Moffett
Murray Discussion Questions
• What is Murray's argument? What does the title, "Teach Writing as a Process Not Product" mean?
• If we believe Murray's argument, how would that affect how we teach writing? How would it affect how we assess and respond to our students' writing?
• Would you say the majority of your experiences with writing in school have been more product- or process-oriented? Which do you feel more comfortable with and why? If you've taught, how might your students respond to those questions?
Sommers-Revision Discussion Questions
• How do the inexperienced writers view revision? How do they view the purpose of revision? For them, when is revision necessary? What do they lack according to Sommers?
• What is the purpose of revision for experienced writers? What makes their ideas about revision different than the inexperienced writers' ideas?
• What have been your experiences with revision? How do you define it? What might be difficult about teaching students to do it?
Moffett questions
• What is Moffett's argument about how we learn to write? Who gives feedback and how?
• What does Moffett think about textbooks and exercises? What's the argument he makes about them? What's been your experience with them?
• What do you think of Moffett's ideas? How do they compare to what you've experienced as a student or teacher?
Homework for Wednesday, February 23
Read Shaughnessy & Perl and write weeklie.
Week 6: Wednesday, February 23
Discuss Shaughnessy & Perl
Shaughnessy
--What prompts Shaughnessy to come up with her developmental scheme for teachers?
--Describe the stages she sees teachers go through.
--What did you learn about teaching from reading this article?
Perl
--What was Perl trying to find out by doing her study?
--What did she learn about Tony's writing process (the miscues, his fluency with different types of writing, etc.)?
--What were Perl's findings (starting on p.31)?
--What, according to Perl, does Tony need (and not need) to become a more successful writer?
Homework for Wednesday, March 2
Read Brown; Charlton and Charlton (up soon; let me know if you check and don't see it); and Vandenburg and write weeklie.
Week 7: Wednesday, March 2
Discuss Brown, Charlton & Charlton, and Vandenburg
Vandenburg
1. What are the various meanings of audience discussed in Vandenberg? What are the significant differences between the conceptions of audience? (What gets emphasized with each, and how does that affect how we think about what matters in writing?)
2. To what extent do you think about audience as you write? Come up with a few examples from your own experiences in which you actually considered "audience" as you wrote. What prompted you to think about your audience? What kinds of things did you take into consideration about your audience? How did that knowledge affect your writing?
3. What do you find challenging about thinking about audience (theoretically and/or practically)?
4. How could you teach students to think about audience in ways that would honor its complexity as a concept? How might you build that thinking into your everyday activities and into the writing assignments themselves?
Brown and Charlton & Charlton:
I'd like you to think about how the following terms get addressed in these readings: Inquiry, Engagement, and Complexity. How do the authors discuss them? In what ways can we design our first-year writing curricula to foster them? Thinking about the following specific questions might help: What did you take from these readings that will shape your own sense of what and how to teach research and argument in the first-year writing classroom? How is research usually taught in writing classes, and how do you think we should teach students about research. What kinds of projects could we have students work on? What are the key ideas about research and argument you want them to learn?
I'd like you to think about how the following terms get addressed in these readings: Inquiry, Engagement, and Complexity. How do the authors discuss them? In what ways can we design our first-year writing curricula to foster them? Thinking about the following specific questions might help: What did you take from these readings that will shape your own sense of what and how to teach research and argument in the first-year writing classroom? How is research usually taught in writing classes, and how do you think we should teach students about research. What kinds of projects could we have students work on? What are the key ideas about research and argument you want them to learn?
Discuss Textbook Review Assignment
Homework for Wednesday, March 9
This next week, we're going to focus on the role of technology in writing, and I'm going to give you one reading (Baron) and ask you to find another one on your own. A good keyword to use for this might be "multimodal composition," but you should feel free to locate a good source any way you'd like--as long as it addresses technology and writing and/or expanding our notions of what "counts" as writing in a writing classroom, you're good. So, to prepare for next week, read Baron and the article you've found and write your weeklie. Be prepared to talk about your progress with your researched project as well. At this point, I will assume you've done most of your research and that you'll be ready to start talking about what you've learned, what you still need to find out, and what form and audience you'll be working with.
Week 8: Wednesday, March 9
Discussion:
- What point is Baron trying to make about technology? What significance does this point have for us as writing teachers?
- Drawing on your own ideas, as well as those you read about in your chosen article, address the following questions: What do you think should count as "writing" in a first-year composition class? How have various technologies changed the ways we write, think, and learn? How have those technologies changed, in turn, the purpose of the fyc classroom, both what we teach in it and how? How does this expansion of what counts as writing de-stabilize our notions of expertise?
Research Update:
- What is your research question? How has it evolved (or outright changed) as a result of your research so far?
- Where have you done your research (which databases have you looked in, etc.)? What keywords have you tried? Which ones work? Which don't?
- What have you learned in your research so far? Be as detailed as possible.
- What do you still need to do, and what's your plan for getting it done?
- What, if anything, can I do to help?
Homework for Wednesday, March 23 (after spring break):
Read “Grammar and Usage” and write weeklie. Complete Textbook review for presentation to class after spring break.
