*These items will populate daily throughout the Seminar.
Complete this incoming Qualtrics survey.
Secure your copy of John Bean’s Engaging Ideas (available from the UVA bookstore)
Post a response to Engaging Ideas, Chapter 1, in our Collab Discussion forum.
Due by 11:59 p.m. (on Tuesday., 1/19) to the appropriate Collab Forum [Discussion Forums—>Tuesday Deliverable(s)]
Collect examples of one of the genres from your field that you might want to assign.
Go through the full genre analysis process on your own; do a short writeup of that analysis (300 words tops)
Schedule a unit for that genre with W2L activities/assignments that will prepare students to successfully complete the project.
Read chapter 2 (“Designing Writing Assignments and Assignment Sequences”) of Gottschalk and Hjortshoj, The Elements of Teaching Writing. The chapter is available here and on Collab under Forums. (Wednesday Forums à Wednesday Files).
I highly recommend the entire book, by the way; it's a pretty easy read and really useful for planning a course and classroom activities.
Find and post a syllabus from an undergraduate course in your field to the Wednesday Forum. (Wednesday Files à syllabus from your discipline). When you post it, please also post a description of 100 words or so to situate those not in your field. Where would such a class fall in the course of one's movement through a major in your discipline? Are the writing assignments ones that you would expect for such a course? Does the course seem particularly well- or poorly-designed to you?
Due by 11:59 p.m. (on Wednesday, 1/20) to the appropriate Collab Forum [Discussion Forums—>Wednesday Deliverable(s)]
1) An assignment prompt for a W2C project (this could be the W2C project in #1 or could be a different project), along with
2) 2 activities/lesson plans/W2L activities that would scaffold towards that longer project.
N.B. If you are TAing and don’t have control over your assignments, you can EITHER make up your own W2C project for some imagined future course OR you can offer a “translation” of the prompt you’re stuck with. (So, in about 300 words: how would you describe this project to your students? How would you break it down for them? What vocabulary do they need? How will they be evaluated? etc. These 300 words can be in bullet points rather than a paragraph.)
Watch part I of “Across The Drafts: Students and Teachers Talk about Feedback” (from Harvard’s Expository Writing Program).
The total video is 33:34 minutes long but is broken up into two parts. The first part, "Across the Drafts," runs from 1:00-18:40 minutes and is about getting and giving feedback. This is the part you should watch.
Note: The next part of the video, “Shaped by Writing: The Undergraduate Experience,” is optional but might be fun for many of you.
Read through Bean Chs. 15-16 (290-336)
Note: By “read through,” I mean, read lightly—no need to memorize this, but the ideas can help you think through some of the questions and challenges involved in developing your own practices for responding to student writers (through comments, assessment, etc.).
Also totally optional, but some of you might find Ch. 14 (267-289) interesting/helpful, others might find it dull/overwhelming. Feel free to glance through it as works for you.
Post to the appropriate Collab Forum (Thursday Forums—>Student Writing Examples) before 9 a.m. on Thursday, 1/21:
an example of anonymized student writing, about 3-6 pages, in Word, Google docs, or PDF format.
Be sure to remove any names or anything that would identify the student author.
Include the assignment prompt if you have it; the name of the course; and any other context you think would be helpful.
Do NOT include the grade or teacher comments.
Please do not choose especially “good” or “bad” pieces of writing; if possible, we’d like to see examples that are representative of “most students.”
*Note: This writing sample may be one that you've graded as a TA/instructor, or in a pinch, the sample might be one that you yourself submitted, preferably as an undergraduate.
Due by 11:59 p.m. (on Thursday, 1/21) to the appropriate Collab Forum [Discussion Forums—>Thursday Deliverable(s)]
1) Sketch out a brief “philosophy of responding” for yourself--aim for a 2-3 sentence, plus some bullet points with more specific notes as needed. Consider:
What are you valuing in your grading approach? (more aimed at individual students, the student body, the faculty/institution, external bodies, etc.?)
What are your top 3-5 learning goals that deserve assessment?
What do you most want to give to your students in terms of feedback you believe will be value-added for them as writers in your course/discipline?
2) Write EITHER
A new longer (W2C) writing assignment or two new short (W2L) writing assignments with accompanying rubric/s or evaluative criteria, with paragraph rationale.
OR
A “grading rationale” statement (approx. 2 thoughtful paragraphs) explaining how you plan to grade and why.
Submit your portfolio to the appropriate Collab Forum.
Be prepared to give your presentation and facilitate a follow-up discussion.
Be prepared to listen attentively and participate in discussions of your peers’ presentations.