2-25-16

1. 2-25-16 Starter: Questions about Field Experience paper (due next week)? Agenda: • Field Experience Report prep • Ch 3 & 4, TAW • Composition Theory

2. Field Experience Report (due 3/3; worth up to 20 points): Description. This is the log for each day, as if you were a videocamera: date and time of each class; student demographics; grade level; description of the room (from physical layout to bulletin boards and wall decorations); lesson topic for the day; instructional strategies and assessments used; student behaviors during the lesson; classroom management techniques used by the teacher, along with the results; interruptions (such as bells, announcements, or visitors), and how the teacher responded; in short, everything that goes on in the classroom. (For your observations, you might want to use the ADEPT form for APS 4-9, both to help you "get" everything and to help you get used to the form that will be used to evaluate YOU during your student teaching.) You may divide the workload with your partner, so each of you focuses on certain aspects of the class, then combine notes later. When you teach your lesson, your partner's notes will provide feedback for you. Connection. Make connections between what we have discussed in class and what you see in "live" classrooms: How do practices in the classroom compare with textbook descriptions of how those practices should work? What do different theories (such as different theories of teaching composition, or different theories of teaching literature) look like in practice? What variables (such as time of day, classroom demographics, or apparent teacher attitude) influence the effectiveness of different classroom practices? (In other words, why did the lesson that worked so well at 10:00 not work well at 1:30?) For this section, you may include not only your own observations, but also information provided by other class members' observations. Interpretation. Make sense of what you saw and heard. How will your field experience influence the way you read textbooks and articles about teaching? What classroom practices appeal most (or least) to you, or seem to be the best (or worst) "fit" for your preferred teaching style? How does your field experience influence your Philosophy of Teaching statement?

3. Think about your field experience classes in terms of what we’ve been reading and discussing… Which “writing wrongs” (or other problems) did your field experience teachers address particularly well? Which problems do you think will be most challenging for you? Why? For which “Writing Reasons” (pp 15-23) did you observe specific evidence during your observations? How did your FE teachers establish “a time and a place to write”? What different writing activities did you observe? How did students respond? What questions do you have (right now) about teaching writing?

4. Reality test: Describe your own writing process for the last time you wrote a document of some consequence. For example… (Answer any appropriate questions; these are simply starters.) How much choice did you have with respect to the topic? How did you decide on the topic? the format? the length? What kind of research did you do? How much did you do? When did you start writing? How did you produce the first draft? How much did you talk about the draft? With whom? How (and how much) did you revise the initial draft? How did you decide you were finished? Why did you write? What happened to the writing when you “finished” it?

5. Compare your real-life process to “THE” process taught to students: • Pre-write • Draft • Revise • Edit • Publish What are some dangers of promoting a single, linear model?

6. Your comments on Gallagher’s suggestions? 1. Move beyond the “Grecian Urn Approach.”Show students how messy writing can be. Write with them. 2. Adopt a 4:1 grading philosophy.Grade only about ¼ of what they write, and give only “completion” grades for first drafts. 3. Talk the paper out.Try “writing” a paper orally while someone else takes notes (or use a voice recorder), then let the transcription be the initial draft. 4. Model how to create a map before writing.Use lots of different “graphic organizers” to help students visualize the various components of their draft. 5. Allow for choice within given topics or discourses.Maybe assign a genre, but let students choose the topic; maybe assign a general topic, but let students choose their specific focus.

7. Practice: sentence format for thesis [Author’s last name] uses [strategy or two] to [purpose]. Dockterman uses [strategy or two] to [purpose]. Dockterman uses [strategy or two] to challenge Frezza’s claims. Dockterman uses counter facts to challenge Frezza’s claims. Dockterman cites facts from a variety of sources to undermine Frezza’s credibility and challenge his claims. Dockterman cites facts from a variety of sources to undermine Frezza’s credibility and show how foolish his claims are. Dockterman destroys both Frezza’s credibility and his conclusions with a mountain of evidence.

8. Practice: writing an introduction Once you have a thesis, WRITE A DRAFT. (You’ll need to revise it, of course.) At some point, you’ll also need to write an INTRODUCTION. Put your thesis at the bottom of the page; it’s the line you want to lead up to. At the top of the page, write a general statement this is somehow related to some aspect of the thesis. Write another sentence or two – maybe even three – to get from the opening statement to the thesis. Use this paragraph as your “working” introduction.

9. Practice: writing an introduction When people say dumb things, other people get mad. When people write dumb things, other people write back. Such seems to be the case with Bill Frezza and Eliana Dockterman. When Frezza wrote a column claiming that drunk women were a threat to fraternities, Dockterman wrote back. In her response, Dockterman destroys both Frezza’s credibility and his conclusions with a mountain of evidence. Dockterman destroys both Frezza’s credibility and his conclusions with a mountain of evidence.

10. Practice: writing an introduction When people say dumb things, other people get mad. When people write dumb things, other people write back. Such seems to be the case with Bill Frezza and Eliana Dockterman. When Frezza wrote a column claiming that drunk women were a threat to fraternities, Dockterman wrote back. In her response, Dockterman destroys both Frezza’s credibility and his conclusions with a mountain of evidence.

11. Practice: writing an introduction When people say dumb things, other people get mad. When people write dumb things, other people write back. Such seems to be the case with Bill Frezza and Eliana Dockterman. When Frezza wrote a column claiming that drunk women were a threat to fraternities, Dockterman wrote back. In her response, Dockterman destroys both Frezza’s credibility and his conclusions with a mountain of evidence. When people say dumb things, other people get mad; when people write dumb things, other people write back. Such seems to be the case with Bill Frezza and Eliana Dockterman. Frezza’s column claims that drunk women are a threat to fraternities; in response, Dockterman basically shows that Frezza is an idiot. In her column, Dockterman uses a mountain of evidence to destroy both Frezza’s credibility and his conclusions.

12. Building practice into the syllabus Continue to use major skill from previous assignment “Completion” credit only Graded copy Practice paper Graded paper

13. Building practice into the syllabus

14. Building practice into the syllabus For Tuesday, March 1: H.P. Lovecraft’s short story, “The Book,” could be described as a “scary” story. In a paper no longer than two pages (using 12-point Times New Roman font and following MLA format), explain some aspect of the story that makes it “scary.” The assignment for the practice paper is exactly the same as the assignment for the graded paper, except for the story being written about.

15. For this assignment, you need to “explain some aspect of the story that makes it ‘scary.’” Hence, you need to know what kinds of things make any story “scary.” Think of some other scary stories, and make a list of features (or elements, or characteristics, or even specific scenes) that make those stories “scary.” Write your best answers on the board.

16. http://www.dagonbytes.com/thelibrary/lovecraft/thebook.htm

17. INVENTION: In pairs or small groups, make a list of features or elements that make the story “scary.” As you complete your list, write it on the board (but don’t repeat features already listed by someone else). ARRANGEMENT: Using the list on the board, look for pieces of evidence (in the story) to support different possible thesis statements, and generate a tentative thesis for your paper. Once you have a tentative thesis, read the story again, this time looking specifically for evidence to support your thesis. As time allows, beginning writing your paper. You might use an outline, you might start by putting your evidence into logical groups (for paragraphs), or you might simply write the thesis and keep going. Do what it takes to create a first draft.

18. Schedule: • Today: Turn in Paper 3. • 2/25 HW: Write & revise a draft of “Book” paper. • Tuesday: Bring copy of “Book” paper for evaluation. • 3/1 Read “The Terrible Old Man.” • HW: Begin work on “Old Man” paper (Paper #4). • Thursday: Bring “Old Man” work to class. • 3/3 HW: Write complete draft of “Old Man” paper. • Tuesday: Bring complete draft of “Old Man” paper. • 3/8 HW: Revise “Old Man” paper; submit to turnitin.com. • Thursday: Turn in “Old Man” paper. • 3/10

19. You probably won’t have a computer lab available, but the overhead projector (or a smart board) can let you draft, revise, and edit “live” in class. You can do part of the reading for them, then do some with them (i.e., by having them explain while you take notes), then have them finish on their own. You can provide whole paragraphs, or maybe sample sentences, or maybe just sentence starters for student to use as needed. You can provide lists of transition words for them to use, or list of phrases that might be useful, or maybe pictures of possible structures (i.e., graphic organizers) for essays, for paragraphs, or even for sentences types.

20. Revise like a S*T*A*R*!

21. MODEL each strategy for your students; when possible, use their writing Revise like a S*T*A*R*! earrange dd ake things out ubstitute

22. Deep revision: • Change some words • Change some sentences • Reorganize a paragraph • Add a graphic Surface-level revision: • Add/delete/reorganize paragraphs • Change the genre • Change the perspective • Change the purpose • Change the focus of the piece

23. Edit = Revise Fix an error tomake the piece correct (fix a spelling error,fix the punctuation,change “infer” to “imply”) Change something,even though it mightnot be “wrong,”in an effort tomake the piece better (reorder the paragraphs,combine some sentences,change “request” to “demand”)

24. Simple tips: *Circle “to be” verbs (am, is, are, was, were); try to replace 1/4 to 1/3 of them with action verbs *Make a “dead word” list and post it in the classroom; cut all “dead words” from papers (& replace with other words) *Use “branching” (front, middle, end) to add information *Use a “question flood” to facilitate elaboration *Circle all adjectives & adverbs; cut as many as possible, using more precise nouns & verbs *Count the total numbers of words; try to cut by 5-10% without losing content

25. Gallagher’s Guide to Building Better Writers Make reading and writing part of the culture of your classroom Lots of Reading + Lots of Hands-on Writing Instruction Better Writing (and better writers) Display samples of strong student writing Do SSR regularly; no interruptions allowed Teach “short answer” (on tests) as a genre After SSR (occasionally), let students read a “great” passage aloud Teach “essay test” as a genre Encourage students to bring in samples of good writing for analysis

26. Theory Break

27. What’s the purpose of writing in class? Outside of class? • To figure something out for yourself? • To explain something to someone else? • To prove that you understand something? • To demonstrate mastery of a form? • To construct new knowledge? • To reveal personal knowledge?

28. Formalist -focuses on (objective) characteristics of the document -writer & reader don’t really matter -typical assignment: five-paragraph theme Expressivist -focuses on the writer’s personal knowledge -self-discovery & self-revelation are goals -typical assignments: narrative, reflection, poetry Constructivist -focuses on “situated” or “constructed” knowledge -rhetorical choices matter -typical assignments: argument and persuasion Approaches to Composition

29. Subject Text CONTEXT Expressivist Formalist Writer Reader Constructivist

30. Formalist -has a place as you learn features of a style or genre -MLA and APA forms are static, regardless of content -useful for teaching “forms” of writing Expressivist -helps writer “think through” or “make sense of” a topic -good for generating “pre-audience” text -useful for personal writing Constructivist -brings the audience into the equation -focuses on choices and possible outcomes of those choices -useful for “social” writing (such as persuasion) - most “objective” and (therefore?) easiest to teach - valuable, but under-used in most classrooms - currently in vogue in many college classes

31. Here’s a sequence you might find in ENGL 101: #1 – Summarize a text (T reads & summarizes: T reads & Ss summarize; Ss read & summarize aloud; Ss work independently) #2 – Summarize and compare two texts (See steps for #1, but add “compare” to the mix) #3 – Analyze a text (“text” can be an image, a video, a website, or an article; see steps for #1 & #2 above, but add “analyze”) #4 – Write an argument (work on body paragraphs; intro/conc; transitions; thesis; topic sentences/claims & evidence; showing connections) #5 – Write a research-based paper (work on research skills; evaluating sources; MLA/APA format; review thesis, topic sentence/claims, evidence & connections) Each assignment includes multiple in-class, low-stakes practice runs before student writes out-of-class paper.

32. Topics/Issues to discuss from response journals?

33. In case we have a little time left, here’s a Crash Course episode… http://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PL8dPuuaLjXtOeEc9ME62zTfqc0h6Pe8vb

34. For next week, read and respond to TAW, Ch. 5-6.