675 Syllabus
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Course materials online at http://english675.wordpress.com/
Shannon Carter, Associate Professor of English [email protected] HL 219 * 903-886-5492 http://www.shannoncarter.info
Office Hours: W, 1-2 and R, 1:00-2:30 HL 219 * 903-886-5492 Appointments are especially welcome. Email is, by far, the best way to reach me.
Tabetha Adkins, Assistant Professor of English [email protected]
English 675: Fall 2009 Course Description We work from the premise that teaching is, above all, an intellectual activity. We believe that, to our very cores. And we take the teaching of writing very, very seriously. It is serious business. But it is also a tremendous amount of fun. In this course we attempt to work from that balance that is sure to make our experiences together as generative, productive, and useful to you as possible. This course is about the teaching of college writing--in the first-year composition classroom, in the writing center, in the basic writing program. It’s also about teaching writing in our particular writing program. For these reasons, the vast majority of our course readings and other activities work together to introduce the theoretical and practical foundations upon which this particular program is built. We believe that teaching teachers the “why” behind our approaches to writing here at Texas A&M-Commerce puts them in a better position to approach the teaching of writing in very different ways as well. There are many, many viable and research-based approaches to the teaching of writing. Best practices abound in writing programs across the nation, many of which look very little like ours here. But there are also some very good reasons for doing what we do here. As teachers in our writing programs and writing center, it’s important that you know what these reasons are. As they say in the old Schoolhouse Rock intros, “Knowledge is Power!” Required Materials Bean, John. Engaging Ideas: The Professor’s Guide to Integrating Writing, Critical Thinking, and Active Learning in the Classroom. Longman, 1996. Carter, Shannon. The Way Literacy Lives: Rhetorical Dexterity and the “Basic” Writer. State University of New York Press, 2009. ISBN: 978-0791473566 Lindquist, Julie and David Seitz. Elements of Literacy. Longman, 2009. ISBN: 9780807748664
Course materials online at http://english675.wordpress.com/ Heath, Shirley Brice and Brian V. Street. On Ethnography: Approaches to Language and Literacy. Teachers College Press, 2008. ISBN: 9780321328915
Assignments Observations--You will observe at least three TAs and/or faculty in our program, working with writers in the writing center, our basic writing program, or in English 101 or English 102. Additional guidelines will be provided within the first couple weeks of this course, but you should expect to observe these courses as early in the term as possible. Contact the instructor to see what might be a good time for this observation. Ask what you should expect to see in that course, and ask if you might see a syllabus beforehand. We’ll provide a list of questions to help guide these observations. You must complete these observations and submit your brief report by November 10. Interviews---You will interview at least 2 teachers in our program. We will work together to generate a list of good interview questions, but interview topics should range from responding to student writing, encouraging active reading, group activities, peer review, class discussions, and other subjects relevant to teaching and, especially, the teaching of writing--in the classroom or in the writing center. Respond to One Writing Assignment from the current English 101 Sequence (and Reflect Upon/Discuss the Experience)--At some point this term, you will be expected to respond to one of our English 101 WAs from the student’s perspective. In other words, you will be expected to compose one of the projects assigned to our English 101 students. You’ll reflect upon the experience and share your findings with the class. Blog--Create a blog or other interactive forum and post at least once a week. Your classmates will be required to respond to these blogs at least once a week, as well. Weekly posts are due at noon the Sunday before that week’s class meeting, unless you are the one assigned to generate the following “Week in Review” (“Week in Review” due before noon the Sunday after that same week’s class meeting and posted to the “Teaching Writing” blog generally available for all GANTs/GATs/GARs in our program [http://shannoncarter.wordpress.com/]). In your individual blogs, you should keep up with and respond to the required readings and reflect upon your experiences in the classroom, in the writing center, and elsewhere. Think of this as a combined “Teaching Journal” and “Reading Log.” You might also use it as a space to collect resources, urls, and other good stuff as you run across them. The more effectively, extensively, and regularly you use your blog the better your score here and, as luck would have it, the easier it will be to generate a strong Teaching Portfolio. It’s a win, win! Teaching Portfolio--The culminating project for this course. You will present this to us at the end of the term. See “Teaching Portfolio” at our course website for more. You will receive a handout describing this important project soon, but you can find it at the above url right now. Teaching Portfolio includes: (1) Statement of Teaching Philosophy, (2) Annotated List of 10 Specific and Relevant Resources for College Writing Teachers and Tutors, (3) Interviews with Teachers in Our Program, (4) Sample Teaching Activity, and (5) Student Paper with Teacher Feedback. Grading Procedure This is, of course, an S/U course. But that does not mean you shouldn’t take the course very, very seriously. We certainly will. Remember that, to a great extent, this course is about professionalism. You are introducing yourselves (work ethic, dedication, attention to teaching as an intellectual activity) to us, your bosses. Keep that in mind as you work through this course. It’s a pass/fail course so you’ll feel more comfortable experimenting in your teaching. So you’ll feel
Course materials online at http://english675.wordpress.com/
more comfortable talking to us about what doesn’t work just as much as what works. Teaching is hard. Teaching writing is really hard. We recognize that and expect that difficulty to yield a number of missteps. We want to talk about those missteps, as well as the successes. Ways to Fail English 675: • Fail to submit one or more of the required assignments on time and on target • Miss class or come in late. Miss once, okay. Miss more than that, we need to talk. • Fail to contribute thoughtfully and regularly to our face-to-face and online discussions (online via your blogs). To do this, you MUST read. •Fail to keep up with your readings. It is obvious to us when you haven’t read. It is absolutely crucial that you keep up with the assigned readings. We assigned them for a reason. Ways to do well in English 675: • It’s not hard to do, though it may be time consuming. Assume everything assigned is designed to make you a stronger writing teacher. Surprise! That’s exactly why we’ve assigned it! • Submit all of your required assignments on time and on target • Don’t miss class or come in late • Keep up with class discussions and maintain an active, interesting, and regular blog. • Keep up with your required readings! Writing Center The Writing Center (or the “Communication Skills Center”) offers writers free, one-on-one assistance. We welcome all writers, majors, and disciplines—undergraduate and graduate students alike. In fact, we work from the premise that all writers, no matter their ability level, benefit from the feedback of knowledgeable readers. The Writing Center staff is trained to provide writers with just this service. In short, we are here to help you help yourself. In order to ensure the most effective session possible, we offer visitors the following suggestions: (1) Get started on your writing project early, and visit the Writing Center at least one day before your final draft is due. You will need time to work with the ideas and suggestions generated in your tutorial sessions. (2) Bring a written copy of your assignment, any relevant readings, and one or two specific questions or concerns you would like to discuss with us. We are located in the Hall of Languages, Room 103 (903-886-5280) and online at. Academic Honesty The official departmental policy: “Instructors in the Department of Literature and Languages do not tolerate plagiarism and other forms of academic dishonestly. Instructors uphold and support the highest academic standards, and students are expected to do likewise. Penalties for students guilty of academic dishonesty include disciplinary probation, suspension, and expulsion. (Texas A&M University-Commerce Code of Student Conduct 5.b [1,2,3]) If you ever have any questions about a particular use of a source, always ask your instructor. They want you to avoid plagiarism, too, so they will help you do so whenever and wherever they can. Do what you can to take advantage of this support—to look innocent in addition to being innocent when it comes to charges of plagiarism. On University-Sanctioned Activities To accommodate students who participate in university-sanctioned activities, the First-Year Composition Program offers sections of this course at various times of the day and week. If you
Course materials online at http://english675.wordpress.com/
think that this course may conflict with a university-sanctioned activity in which you are involved--athletics, etc.--please see me after class today.
Additional Official Statements Student Conduct: All students enrolled at the University shall follow the tenets of common decency and acceptable behavior conducive to a positive learning environment. In addition, you are requested to turn off your cell phones before entering the classroom. Common courtesy says you do not receive or answer calls during class. If there is an emergency that requires you to leave your phone on, talk to me about it beforehand and switch the phone to vibrate so you don't surprise me when you leave class to take a call and you don't interrupt class when the call comes in. Also, Instant/Text Messaging is off limits. Americans with Disabilities Act Statement: Students requesting accommodations for disabilities must go through the Academic Support Committee. For more information, please contact the Director of Disability Resources and Services, Gee Library, Room 102, (903) 886-5835. Additional information available online at http://www.tamu-commerce.edu/deanstudents/sdrs/
Day-to-Day schedule is available online at http://english675.wordpress.com
Shannon Carter, Associate Professor of English [email protected] HL 219 * 903-886-5492 http://www.shannoncarter.info
Office Hours: W, 1-2 and R, 1:00-2:30 HL 219 * 903-886-5492 Appointments are especially welcome. Email is, by far, the best way to reach me.
Tabetha Adkins, Assistant Professor of English [email protected]
English 675: Fall 2009 Course Description We work from the premise that teaching is, above all, an intellectual activity. We believe that, to our very cores. And we take the teaching of writing very, very seriously. It is serious business. But it is also a tremendous amount of fun. In this course we attempt to work from that balance that is sure to make our experiences together as generative, productive, and useful to you as possible. This course is about the teaching of college writing--in the first-year composition classroom, in the writing center, in the basic writing program. It’s also about teaching writing in our particular writing program. For these reasons, the vast majority of our course readings and other activities work together to introduce the theoretical and practical foundations upon which this particular program is built. We believe that teaching teachers the “why” behind our approaches to writing here at Texas A&M-Commerce puts them in a better position to approach the teaching of writing in very different ways as well. There are many, many viable and research-based approaches to the teaching of writing. Best practices abound in writing programs across the nation, many of which look very little like ours here. But there are also some very good reasons for doing what we do here. As teachers in our writing programs and writing center, it’s important that you know what these reasons are. As they say in the old Schoolhouse Rock intros, “Knowledge is Power!” Required Materials Bean, John. Engaging Ideas: The Professor’s Guide to Integrating Writing, Critical Thinking, and Active Learning in the Classroom. Longman, 1996. Carter, Shannon. The Way Literacy Lives: Rhetorical Dexterity and the “Basic” Writer. State University of New York Press, 2009. ISBN: 978-0791473566 Lindquist, Julie and David Seitz. Elements of Literacy. Longman, 2009. ISBN: 9780807748664
Course materials online at http://english675.wordpress.com/ Heath, Shirley Brice and Brian V. Street. On Ethnography: Approaches to Language and Literacy. Teachers College Press, 2008. ISBN: 9780321328915
Assignments Observations--You will observe at least three TAs and/or faculty in our program, working with writers in the writing center, our basic writing program, or in English 101 or English 102. Additional guidelines will be provided within the first couple weeks of this course, but you should expect to observe these courses as early in the term as possible. Contact the instructor to see what might be a good time for this observation. Ask what you should expect to see in that course, and ask if you might see a syllabus beforehand. We’ll provide a list of questions to help guide these observations. You must complete these observations and submit your brief report by November 10. Interviews---You will interview at least 2 teachers in our program. We will work together to generate a list of good interview questions, but interview topics should range from responding to student writing, encouraging active reading, group activities, peer review, class discussions, and other subjects relevant to teaching and, especially, the teaching of writing--in the classroom or in the writing center. Respond to One Writing Assignment from the current English 101 Sequence (and Reflect Upon/Discuss the Experience)--At some point this term, you will be expected to respond to one of our English 101 WAs from the student’s perspective. In other words, you will be expected to compose one of the projects assigned to our English 101 students. You’ll reflect upon the experience and share your findings with the class. Blog--Create a blog or other interactive forum and post at least once a week. Your classmates will be required to respond to these blogs at least once a week, as well. Weekly posts are due at noon the Sunday before that week’s class meeting, unless you are the one assigned to generate the following “Week in Review” (“Week in Review” due before noon the Sunday after that same week’s class meeting and posted to the “Teaching Writing” blog generally available for all GANTs/GATs/GARs in our program [http://shannoncarter.wordpress.com/]). In your individual blogs, you should keep up with and respond to the required readings and reflect upon your experiences in the classroom, in the writing center, and elsewhere. Think of this as a combined “Teaching Journal” and “Reading Log.” You might also use it as a space to collect resources, urls, and other good stuff as you run across them. The more effectively, extensively, and regularly you use your blog the better your score here and, as luck would have it, the easier it will be to generate a strong Teaching Portfolio. It’s a win, win! Teaching Portfolio--The culminating project for this course. You will present this to us at the end of the term. See “Teaching Portfolio” at our course website for more. You will receive a handout describing this important project soon, but you can find it at the above url right now. Teaching Portfolio includes: (1) Statement of Teaching Philosophy, (2) Annotated List of 10 Specific and Relevant Resources for College Writing Teachers and Tutors, (3) Interviews with Teachers in Our Program, (4) Sample Teaching Activity, and (5) Student Paper with Teacher Feedback. Grading Procedure This is, of course, an S/U course. But that does not mean you shouldn’t take the course very, very seriously. We certainly will. Remember that, to a great extent, this course is about professionalism. You are introducing yourselves (work ethic, dedication, attention to teaching as an intellectual activity) to us, your bosses. Keep that in mind as you work through this course. It’s a pass/fail course so you’ll feel more comfortable experimenting in your teaching. So you’ll feel
Course materials online at http://english675.wordpress.com/
more comfortable talking to us about what doesn’t work just as much as what works. Teaching is hard. Teaching writing is really hard. We recognize that and expect that difficulty to yield a number of missteps. We want to talk about those missteps, as well as the successes. Ways to Fail English 675: • Fail to submit one or more of the required assignments on time and on target • Miss class or come in late. Miss once, okay. Miss more than that, we need to talk. • Fail to contribute thoughtfully and regularly to our face-to-face and online discussions (online via your blogs). To do this, you MUST read. •Fail to keep up with your readings. It is obvious to us when you haven’t read. It is absolutely crucial that you keep up with the assigned readings. We assigned them for a reason. Ways to do well in English 675: • It’s not hard to do, though it may be time consuming. Assume everything assigned is designed to make you a stronger writing teacher. Surprise! That’s exactly why we’ve assigned it! • Submit all of your required assignments on time and on target • Don’t miss class or come in late • Keep up with class discussions and maintain an active, interesting, and regular blog. • Keep up with your required readings! Writing Center The Writing Center (or the “Communication Skills Center”) offers writers free, one-on-one assistance. We welcome all writers, majors, and disciplines—undergraduate and graduate students alike. In fact, we work from the premise that all writers, no matter their ability level, benefit from the feedback of knowledgeable readers. The Writing Center staff is trained to provide writers with just this service. In short, we are here to help you help yourself. In order to ensure the most effective session possible, we offer visitors the following suggestions: (1) Get started on your writing project early, and visit the Writing Center at least one day before your final draft is due. You will need time to work with the ideas and suggestions generated in your tutorial sessions. (2) Bring a written copy of your assignment, any relevant readings, and one or two specific questions or concerns you would like to discuss with us. We are located in the Hall of Languages, Room 103 (903-886-5280) and online at
Course materials online at http://english675.wordpress.com/
think that this course may conflict with a university-sanctioned activity in which you are involved--athletics, etc.--please see me after class today.
Additional Official Statements Student Conduct: All students enrolled at the University shall follow the tenets of common decency and acceptable behavior conducive to a positive learning environment. In addition, you are requested to turn off your cell phones before entering the classroom. Common courtesy says you do not receive or answer calls during class. If there is an emergency that requires you to leave your phone on, talk to me about it beforehand and switch the phone to vibrate so you don't surprise me when you leave class to take a call and you don't interrupt class when the call comes in. Also, Instant/Text Messaging is off limits. Americans with Disabilities Act Statement: Students requesting accommodations for disabilities must go through the Academic Support Committee. For more information, please contact the Director of Disability Resources and Services, Gee Library, Room 102, (903) 886-5835. Additional information available online at http://www.tamu-commerce.edu/deanstudents/sdrs/
Day-to-Day schedule is available online at http://english675.wordpress.com
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