Journal entries chapter 8

8.3

The pair that caused the most tension for me was “We want to meet university expectations about the amount of “polished” final draft writing that students should produce. The reason why is because it would give me anxiety when grading since I want students to improve. Yet, may fear that how I respond would only reflect university expectations and not my own. The left side of the pair fits my teaching philosophy only in the sense of having “polished” writing being the goal. I want my students to push themselves in honing their writing and producing work that would fit into the academia field. However, my definition of “polished” writing differs from university expectations. The right side fits my teaching philosophy since final drafts do not have to be perfect but rather proof that the student has learned and greatly improved. The only way I can find a middle ground is to somehow balance both sides in my coursework. And to stress on polished writing but not penalize students if they’re not “perfect.”

Journal 8.12

Assessment A gave me tension because I am unsure on how I can really teach that without confusing students. I think it will become evident as students experience more with academic writing. I feel that I’d have to take baby steps when teaching every aspect so that students can get the big picture. All of what is mentioned are actually separate parts and I feel it would overwhelm me and my students if I tried explaining all of that in one session.

Journal 8.16

My “big picture” plan is to have students learn to collaborate their ideas. I feel that writing can be honed with help. Personally from the help I’ve received and shared with colleagues and instructors, it has helped me improve. So, I want my students to realize that importance. By doing so, a lot of major planning comes from feedback with each other. I want my class to be a team where we collaborate through group work and blog posts. Students will be required to read and respond to each other’s entries. And together, they can prepare and collaborate their ideas in order to construct efficient essays of their own. Also, it would help them to practice peer editing so that they can be efficiently of help when in peer review groups.

Teaching Journal: Chapter 6

6.2

The idea that didn’t resonate with me was the notion of a writer drafting one version of a text for one particular need of an audience and then revising the draft to meet the standards of a different audience. The reason why is because I think it will create confusion for my students since many undergraduates are still unsure of who their audience is or thinks they don’t have an audience because they’re not “famous.” Plus I feel that they might not develop strong enough drafts if they get too caught up on how they can change it up for a different audience. Plus, I fear it might cause them to become biased rhetorical thinkers they’re changing drafts solely for a particular audience. I honestly don’t think there is a way to bridge this idea with my teaching philosophy because I want my students to focus on their writing voice and how it can be developed through different genres. Additionally I don’t want to exhaust my students by making them do multiple drafts for different audiences.

6.5

A pair that I felt particularly torn about is “I like to include a context section or something about where we’ve been and where we’re going and how this connects to the rest <- -> I like to let each assignment stand along as its own task or challenge.” The reason why is because while it’s good to challenge students, students often do need some context for every assignment. More often than not, with my experiences as a tutor, students often don’t get the big picture as to why they’ve been working on these essays. They simply view it as a separate task they must complete which frustrates them, often making them feel too anxious to write. So, having a context section would help. However, at the same time, it might make students feel bored, especially if they honestly feel all assignments aren’t connected and would rather shift their writing styles without any context. The two “sides” do fit with my teaching philosophy since I want to challenge my students while also offering some context. But there has to be a middle ground. I guess maybe I’ll offer some context but overall will leave room for their creativity so they can learn to think independently. I won’t have a literal context section but what I’ll do for each prompt is to ask why this assignment is relevant and how all of these assignments deal with the ‘so what?’ I may require them to write a blog post after every essay, asking them to think on the point of developing these assignments and how it relates to them.

6.6

My general approach to assignments is to present examples of what writing styles they could abide by. From my experience, it helped me when seeing a writing sample in order to have an idea of what the teacher is expecting. Additionally I want students to work in groups and collaborate their ideas. That way, they can help each other when developing drafts. This approach fits with my philosophy because I want my classroom to be a collaborative environment. I want everyone to work as a team.

6.8

Writing prompts

Personal/narrative

Think of an issue/problem you’ve dealt with. For instance, perhaps you’ve encountered discrimination by someone because of race/class/gender. Or maybe you’ve witnessed something that you felt hurt by. Whatever it may be, you should brainstorm your ideas. Then elaborate it through a narrative essay. Write about how it made you feel. And why acknowledging that event is important to you as a student in academia.

Length: 4-5 pages. Double space 12 pt font. Times New Roman
Due date: Sep 14^th
Essay #2: Difficulty Paper

Referring to our class discussion and annotating writing, read and annotate “Do Androids Dream of Electric Sheep?” Pick out what you found difficult with from the text. Then elaborate by asking what exactly was difficult. Then, provide evidence from the text and see what its intentions may be. Be sure to include your own thoughts along with any questions you may still have. The purpose of this assignment is to allow yourself to ask questions.

Due date: Sept 29^th
Length: Double space 12 pt font. Times New Roman. 4-5 pages

Essay #3: Rhetorical Essay

Now that we’ve read and discussed “Do Androids Dream of Electric Sheep?” while also watching its film adaptation “Blade Runner,” it’s time to rhetorically analyze. You can argue on whether or not the film held true to the feel of the original novel. Or you could provide a rhetorical analysis on themes from both works.

Due Date: October 15^th
Length: Double space 12 pt. font. Times New Roman. 5-6 pages

Essay #4 : Argumentative Essay

Read your given articles. Then create an argument against the critic providing evidence from another critic. The purpose of this assignment is not only to rhetorically analyze but to also provide a clear organized argument.

Due date: November 5^th
Length: 5-6 pages. Double space 12 pt. font. Times New Roman

Essay #5: Research proposal

Create a mock-research proposal where you are requesting funds for your proposed research. Research a topic of your choice. Your paper should be organized as followed: Research statement. Introduction. Background Information. Body of Research. Data. Proposal. Conclusion.

Think of this as any essay with your thesis being the main focus for your research proposal (it is essentially the research statement). Your proposal can be an issue in your community. It can be a specific problem in your field of study. Or a topic in your field that you want to learn more on. Whatever it may be it must not only be relevant to your interest but must be essential enough for an actual grant committee to take interest in.

Due Date: December 12^th
Length: 7-10 pages. Double space 12 pt. font. Times New Roman.

Heuristic Drawing on Lindemann

A question I have regarding when I need to write or revise my assignments is would they all be relatable? Would their relation be clear to my students? And can all these assignments be compatible with my students’ daily schedule?

I would use the same categories as Lindemann did when organizing my questions for the prompt. It will help me organize my ideas and be sure on whether or not it’ll connect with my students.

6.9 Activity

Research grant proposal

A. Task Definition, Meaning, and Sequencing:
– For students to apply everything they’ve learned into final essay.
– To know the importance of research
– Prepare them for actual grant proposals, business proposals, grad school portfolio, etc.

B. Writing Processes:

– Collaborate in class.
– Require rough draft for peer review
– Provide research proposal examples

C. Audience
– The instructor
– Their peers
– Whoever is relevant within the field of their topic

D. Schedule
– Deadline for rough draft due two weeks before final
-Lots of in-class collaboration in addition to outside
– No excuse for delays since I’ve provided enough in-class help.

E. Assessment

-Students must research before developing a thesis
-Students must provide an annotative bibliography in addition to rough draft.
– A successful response would be an organized, research grant proposal that is displayed like an argumentative essay but through the mold of a research proposal structure.

F. Miscellaneous

• Making sure students are aware of the ‘so what?’ with this final project.
• Understand why a grant proposal is needed
• Understand the importance of research with argument/viewpoints

6.16 Teaching Journal

How my assignments embody my teaching philosophy is that they all relate to the notion of developing the writer voice within academia. Students will develop their critical thinking/writing/reading skills through these assignments. Since there will be lots of in-class discussion and group activities, it will prepare them when developing their essays since they had prior collaborative help from class. My teaching philosophy involves, from what I recall, the importance of collaboration. I personally feel that writing doesn’t come from just the writer but also from friends, colleagues, and instructors. Since our ideas are also influenced by their ideas and the help they are willing to provide.

A specific example is my personal/narrative essay. I’m debating on whether I’d have it relate to a problem within their community or have them really evaluate themselves as a writer and why that is important for them as an individual. Whatever it may be I feel that either option will help jumpstart their academic writing. I feel that in order to practice academic writing, they should start with something that they may feel less anxious about since they’re not expected to write a big argumentative essay immediately at the start of the semester. Students will share their narrative essay with each other, so that we all will get to know each other. That way, it would be an ice breaker of sorts in order to make things easier for us to feel comfortable in collaborating with each other as a team for the rest of the semester. Plus, it helps give me an idea of my students’ writing style so it would help me to adapt my lesson plans throughout the semester. For instance, if I feel that students are struggling with citing their sources, I may have to do a mini-lecture that specifically shows how to cite their evidence. In the end, I would hope that this assignment allows students to realize that they all are capable of academic writing. In order for that to happen, they would have to evaluate their own experiences and why their voices matter.

Jigsaw: WPA Statements and Reactions

With the readings I was assigned for the jigsaw, they consisted of the actual WPA Outcomes Statement along with the responses to it. The statement, I feel, was a set of guidelines that expected first year composition students to abide by, such as linguistic and rhetorical knowledge and how it should be taught by professors. Interestingly enough, there was a range of different responses to it. Criticism against it felt that was vague and didn’t really specify and acknowledge the problems in comprehension many first year composition students may encounter and that the Outcomes statement needs to permit plurality.

I found the readings to be quite insightful. Though in all honesty, I do feel a bit confused still. I am baffled by what exactly can instructors do when presenting goals for students. And just how can we encourage students to abide by the ways of academic writing and thinking without coming across as overtly limiting or pretentious.