Based
on your teaching philosophy (which may change over time), what are the types of
assignments you would include in your FYC syllabus?
I feel like I can only answer this
question as a creative writer, and for teaching First Year Composition, I want to
instill an environment of critical thinking with a blend of creativity (or
invention). What I’ve discovered in my grading is that students struggle with
critical thinking, on how to analytically interpret a piece, and some students
in their introductions admit that they lack creativity, that they don’t have
the imagination to be writers. Sure, we’re not writing stories here but we are
persuading audiences in favor of our positions.
An instructor once told me that a writer
should at least spend fifteen minutes a day writing. Obviously, this can be
easy for passionate creative writers, but when you’re dealing with a diversity
of students, devoting fifteen minutes of their time to such a craft can be difficult. What
I want to introduce instead is assigning a discussion forum where the student
posts once a week. As we learn different techniques in critical thinking during
the week, the students can still practice outside the classroom. With a
discussion forum they can present their observations with the rest of the
class, including a link to the original source so that everyone can be fully involved. It’s a way where people can work together, and ask the questions that
they were too shy to ask in the classroom. Sometimes we can bring those discussions to the
classroom to further discuss certain topics and any issues that popped up
during the discussion forum session.
Group
work and peer review will be incorporated in the class as well. Putting heads
together covers more ground when trying to identify purpose/audience,
rhetorical choices, or even mistakes and issues in given examples. Peer reviews
add needed perspective to drafts. Writing is a process, and we learn through peer reviews that there is always work that needs to be done, improvements needed to be made. Plus after peer reviews, I want to give the students enough time to really work on their paper before they turn them in so they can fully investigate those trouble spots.
For invention purposes, I want to give
the students the choice to pick their own topics they feel most passionate
about. Writing feels easier when they are know the topic, and this is great for practicing. I'll give them writing prompts that help explore those topics, like for
example, freelancing on what they know about the topic or address the topic
to a given audience. The more we write the more of a writer we'll become. Through writing prompts, students can figure out how they can arrange their essay, they can try to identify what voice fits perfectly for a certain topic, and they can better express themselves and try to create appropriate sentences for their essays. They can slowly become more comfortable as they go along with this practice.
These are just a few ideas that I have
for a future syllabus. From what I can see, some assignments need to be tuned,
but as I learn more about the art of rhetoric I’ll have a better idea of how to motivate my students. There’s a part of me that’s nervous and yet excited to
embark on this journey. Hopefully I can brainstorm further into these ideas and create other ideas before my journey in the teaching realm officially begins.
Enjoyed reading your blog post this evening, Rachel. Using expressionistic ideas to teach FYC works very well. Certainly there are many approaches that you have refined over the years that you can use to get students to thinking critically. Good thinking about using discussion forums, getting people using dialectical engagement (that's more social construction). Bringing collaboration into FYC is not very easy, but very important. Instilling that writing is a process through peer review, for instance, can be very helpful for both reading and writer in the peer review. Good thinking about invention purposes. I'd say that with composition invention (which is often a matter of selection) has its roots in understanding the thesis, the purpose, and the audience. Good assignments. I look forward to seeing you develop these ideas even more specifically. Might help next week during your blog as I ask you to come up with a teaching philosophy draft.
ReplyDeleteRachel,
ReplyDeleteAllowing the students to select a topic of their choosing is an excellent idea! I believe it instills confidence in them when they are allowed to choose where their journey in writing takes them. I can also appreciate your background in creative writing as I think it will be a great help when teaching first-year composition. Having the ability to "think outside the box" will open the students up to other schools of thought.
Having the students collaborate with one another is also a great idea and is another way to boost their confidence. Seeing their colleagues' writing and helping them improve will in turn improve their own writing.