Pedagogical Materials
The syllabus, projects, and sample assignments used in my ENC2135 classroom
SPRING 2018 SYLLABUS:
Class website (spring 2018): https://estherhk13.wixsite.com/spring2018
PROJECT 1: PERSONAL NARRATIVE
Learning Conventions of One Genre
Assignment Sheet:
Sample Activity: Snapshot Narratives
Student Creations
Student #1 (name changed within narrative/letter, at his request)
Draft 1 Feedback for Draft 2 'Final' Draft/Rhetorical Rationale Letter to the Writer
Student #2
Draft 1 Feedback for Draft 2 'Final' Draft/Rhetorical Rationale Letter to the Writer
PROJECT 2: THE RESEARCHED PIECE
Using Informative, Persuasive, and Narrative Writing Contextually
Assignment Sheet:
Sample Activity: Hooks/First Lines
Student Creations
Student #3: An exploration of the relationship between creativity and mental illness
Student #4: An investigation of the effects of an 'electronic upbringing' on today's youth
"Freedom is an unquestionable right of mankind. Everyone deserves to have the authority to make his or her own choices."
-Written by me (a boring hook pulled from an old essay)
PROJECT 3: THREE GENRES AND ARTIST'S STATEMENT
Composing across Contexts
Assignment Sheet:
Sample Activity: Alice in Wonderland Remediation
Salvador Dalí, "Down the Rabbit Hole" (1969)
Activity Snapshot: Rubric-Making
One of the most successful activities I've done with my students this semester is create rubrics with them. This practice nicely represents the importance of community and student-centered and -directed learning in my classroom. The following process, suggested to me by Amy Cicchino, contains snapshots from our rubric-making endeavors for Project 1.
1. The students come up with everything they think we should value in the project. I encourage them to look at the course objectives and the assignment description, along with any Bedford sections corresponding to the project. I wait until the students fill the board. It can take a while for them to get warmed up, but eventually they brainstorm lots of ideas.
2. They group the listed items into five different categories (six for Project 2).
3. They decide on names for each of the categories.
4. The class splits into groups that are each assigned a category. They have 5-10 min. to write a description for a project that would deserve a B in that category. I have to specify that a B means a good project that fulfills all the requirements, not a mediocre project.
5. I put each description on the projector, and we revise the descriptions together. I remind them that it's their grades that are at stake--I'm grading them on exactly what we agree here to put into the rubric. The students have a hard time comprehending that they literally have complete control over what goes into the rubric, but, once they realize that they truly do, they get quite enthusiastic. I also participate and interject sometimes, proposing a change or asking for more clarification once in a while, saying, "As a member of this community, I feel uncomfortable with..." or, "As the one grading, I don't understand what _____ means..."
6. I compile the descriptions into a table and email the rubric to my class, giving students the rest of the day to alert me to any issues.