Over the past week, I have looked over my three units: genre, discourse communities, and literacy narratives. I read all of the articles that I plan to use for genre and made some very detailed revisions to my syllabus. I cut out some readings that I found too difficult or dry for FYW (and for myself personally) and I added my Writing to Explore activities.
I think that students will benefit from the Writing to Explore activities to help them understand how all of the ideas in class connect to the big project. I read a little bit about genre and pedagogy and found two strains of thought: writing to learn and learning to write. I believe that the first year writing program is more about writing to learn and metacognition. We are not trying to write any particular genres or learn any specific conventions, we are trying to learn how to learn about particular genres and conventions. Additionally, I am trying to find a balance between being open for creativity, and also being structured enough so that some students do not feel lost or without direction. Lastly, I planned two conference days to encourage the students to bring me their writing and ask for spoken feedback. I was concerned about students turning in late work, so I added a policy that I would not provide written feedback and commentary on WTEs and 2nd drafts that are submitted after the deadline. However, I will make myself available for spoken feedback about student work at any time, but they have to schedule a conference with me. This also is trying to find a balance between respecting my own time constraints and the time constraints of my students. I have to adapt my style a little bit to cater to college students instead of high school students.
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