I am a little conflicted about which unit to flesh out, but I think I've made a choice. For the units that bracket my course, units 1 and 5, I have a pretty good idea of my assignments and readings. Literacy narrative and research paper, respectively. Therefore, I initially considered thinking about Unit 3, for which I have very few ideas. But that doesn't make sense. I've never designed a unit, so I should start with one for which I already have ideas, since I'm not completely sure how my readings and writing assignments fit in. Therefore, I think either Unit 1 or Unit 5. That way, once I plan that specific unit, I'll have a better understanding of how to pick up on and build from the previous units.
Friday, November 1, 2013
Course Description Part II
Welcome to our class. You read that right: our class. We will use this classroom to learn together. Each of you has experiences and backgrounds that you bring with you, and in order to make this class an active learning environment, I encourage you to share what you know and how you think. But don't stop there. I want you to consider the perspectives your colleagues bring to class as well. Think about new ideas and perspectives, and even how these ideas come to us. I am not safe from this inquiry. I am your colleague just as you are mine. Let's participate with respect for our colleagues and attempt to participate in the context of an academic classroom, and see if we can translate that to participation in our larger world.
In this class, we will learn methods for purposeful reading and writing in an effort to imagine ourselves as academic readers and writers in the context of our world. Together, we will explore the world around us and incorporate multiple perspectives into our inquiry in order to understand the social contexts of reading, writing, and the knowledge we gain and create from these processes. The class will center around you, the student, and your colleagues as you reflect on what you learn and what is meaningful to you in the larger contexts of the classroom and the world, that you may participate and make meaningful choices about how you interact with the questions and problems you encounter here and beyond the classroom.
In this class, we will learn methods for purposeful reading and writing in an effort to imagine ourselves as academic readers and writers in the context of our world. Together, we will explore the world around us and incorporate multiple perspectives into our inquiry in order to understand the social contexts of reading, writing, and the knowledge we gain and create from these processes. The class will center around you, the student, and your colleagues as you reflect on what you learn and what is meaningful to you in the larger contexts of the classroom and the world, that you may participate and make meaningful choices about how you interact with the questions and problems you encounter here and beyond the classroom.
5 Unit Overview of my Course
Course Overview - Part II
(I have come up with an idea for a purpose-driven class: the early units can be framed with the question "What is reading and writing?" and our class project becomes defining them. And the final two units can be framed with the question "Now how can we use reading and writing to make our participation in the world meaningful?" In these units, we will use our definitions of literacy to contextualize our acts of reading and writing.)
(I have come up with an idea for a purpose-driven class: the early units can be framed with the question "What is reading and writing?" and our class project becomes defining them. And the final two units can be framed with the question "Now how can we use reading and writing to make our participation in the world meaningful?" In these units, we will use our definitions of literacy to contextualize our acts of reading and writing.)
Unit 1
Ask a big question that contextualizes the course to a purpose
Discuss active reading
Significant text
Community building
Read literacy narratives
Write a literacy narrative
Unit 2
Read They Say, I Say
Discuss annotation
Write a persuasive essay that responds to an essay/article we read and provides analysis
Readings that enter a conversation
Introduce revision - have them revise a journal into an essay
Unit 3
Peer review
Significant text
Return to active reading and annotation
Develop an inquiry: line of questioning
Introduce controversy
Write an essay that deals with a controversy
Unit 4
Discuss library research
Introduce research assignment
Read scholarly articles
Engage in an in-class debate
Reflection paper
Unit 5
Introduce multiple perspectives and socio-cultural context
Socio-cultural readings
Revise Research paper to include larger context
Revise earlier paper
Reflection paper
Imagining my Philosophy and SFSU's Objectives
Considering the importance I put on active reading, objective 1 is perfectly in line with my teaching perspective, as is Objective 3, which has students reflect on their work to understand what they do well and what needs work. There is an element of taking what they learn with them to future projects in that objective that aligns with what I want for my students, and we return to this principle in objective 8.
There are objectives that create tension with my perspective. Objective 2 implies that writing processes are important for the construction of a paper, but fails to mention how a larger context of participation is important in student work. The same is true for objective 6. The hard work they put in to finding academic sources on the library databases has much more at stake than just supporting their thesis. By the same foundational idea, objective 7 leaves out the social and cultural context that generate writing conventions.
1. Read actively and effectively and use information acquired from readings, research and other sources critically in their own writing.
2. Use writing processes and strategies for generating, revising, editing, and proofreading their work; collaborate with others during the writing process, developing ways to offer constructive criticism and accept the criticism of others.
3. Reflect on their reading and writing processes as an avenue to achieving greater control of these processes and increased effectiveness as readers and writers.
4. Demonstrate a basic familiarity with rhetorical conventions, composing effective expository prose with regard to purpose, audience and genre.
5. Create and apply a research plan to locate, use and evaluate information from a variety of sources, including library resources.
6. Use evidence and analysis to successfully support the central purpose of their writing; demonstrate ethical conduct in their writing and the appropriate use and citation of the works of others.
7. Develop knowledge of genre conventions ranging from structure and paragraphing to tone and mechanics; control such surface features as syntax, grammar, punctuation, and spelling.
8. Gain and use knowledge of the academic community to support their development as learners, readers and writers.
Teaching Philosophy Part II
My teaching philosophy has students imagine themselves as academics participating in the reading and writing done at universities. Imagining themselves in this way will build identities of reader/writer in them as they reflect on how literacy is a means of participating in their world and even affecting change.
My classroom will be built on trust and community in order to imagine ourselves as an academic community with the authority to write and speak to participate in conversations had at the university and in the contexts of their social and cultural world.
We will focus on active reading and writing strategies, ensuring purposeful inquiry. Students will explore their reading and writing with purpose, examining knowledge itself as an inquiry into their own identities.
My classroom will be built on trust and community in order to imagine ourselves as an academic community with the authority to write and speak to participate in conversations had at the university and in the contexts of their social and cultural world.
We will focus on active reading and writing strategies, ensuring purposeful inquiry. Students will explore their reading and writing with purpose, examining knowledge itself as an inquiry into their own identities.
Initial Writing Prompt
For the research assigment:
Based on your interests and on the discussions that have raised questions for you in class, choose a controversial question to research. Define the scope of your topic and what lies within and without of your question. Frame your question as a continuation of a conversation, as in They Say, I Say, and define that frame according to the scope of your question: what terms or problems do we need to know? what do "they" say? Summarize the argument with a spin that matches the territory you need to cover, then make a claim that informs us of your position. Make a persuasive argument using the rhetorical moves we have discussed and use evidence from research and your own analysis to construct a textured research essay. Develop your ideas with social and cultural context in mind.
Based on your interests and on the discussions that have raised questions for you in class, choose a controversial question to research. Define the scope of your topic and what lies within and without of your question. Frame your question as a continuation of a conversation, as in They Say, I Say, and define that frame according to the scope of your question: what terms or problems do we need to know? what do "they" say? Summarize the argument with a spin that matches the territory you need to cover, then make a claim that informs us of your position. Make a persuasive argument using the rhetorical moves we have discussed and use evidence from research and your own analysis to construct a textured research essay. Develop your ideas with social and cultural context in mind.
Initial Course Description
In this class, we will learn methods for purposeful reading and writing in an effort to imagine ourselves as academic readers and writers in the context of our world. Together, we will explore the world around us and incorporate multiple perspectives into our inquiry in order to understand the social contexts of reading, writing, and the knowledge we gain and create from these processes. The class will center around you, the student, and your colleagues as you reflect on what you learn and what is meaningful to you in the larger contexts of the classroom and the world, that you may participate and make meaningful choices about how you interact with the questions and problems you encounter here and beyond the classroom.
Objectives:
Objectives:
- active reading
- reflection
- meaning making
- research for argumentative purposes
- strategies for reading and writing processes
- imagine yourself as academic
- contextualize your reading and writing
- significant revision strategies
I will use a rubric for grading students on their writing, though I am a little conflicted here because I am more interested in student improvement and participation as an academic.
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