R3: Adding to the Mix

R3: Adding to the Mix

This second set of articles from First Year Composition has certainly provided me with additional ideas for components of my own E110 course. However, I have to admit that I often feel like I am in a Chinese restaurant choosing some items from column A and some from column B. As the deadline for the initial outline for our course is rapidly approaching, I am apprehensive whether all of these components that I hope to integrate will come together in a logical and cohesive way. I am also beginning to wonder how the vast difference in the actual class meeting time and opportunities for individual and/or small group conferences between the typical collegiate setting and my own high school situation will affect the decisions that I will have to make in regard to course content, structure, and procedures.
Keeping all of these concerns in the back of my mind, I am intrigued by many of the course elements described by each of the four authors. I particularly liked Paula Mathieu’s name assignment, belief essay and extension, interview project, and letter assignments. I also feel that at this point her overall structure of revolving the assignments around the question, “To what extent is language powerful or not?” seems to be the most logical way to organize my own wide variety of course ideas. I agree with Mathieu’s contention that as James Zebroski points out there is “a need for teachers to model ideas of coherent thinking through the writing assignments we write.” I think that her name assignment would be an interesting one for the students to begin the course with even though many of them will have known each other for three years. It would also set the groundwork for understanding the nature of writing for a local audience. The “What Do You Believe?” assignment seems to be a natural extension of providing the students with an opportunity to write on a topic on which they should feel confident in expressing their thoughts and adds the additional requirement of supporting their opinions with specific examples from their lives and experiences. Adding visual description to either of these first two assignments, as Mathieu suggests, would be an excellent way to have the students see the value of and power in making substantive revisions to their writing. I also enjoyed Mathieu’s description of her storytelling unit. I like the idea of students gathering primary research through oral interviews and enhancing it with extensive background research. I don’t believe that the students will have had much experience with gathering primary material and I think that having them combine these details with their own background research will give them a greater sense of crafting the project instead of just regurgitating research material. Hopefully the assignment will also give the students a sense of pride because their writing will help to keep this oral history alive for future generations. I also hope to incorporate the last two elements of Mathieu’s course material: Writing a Letter You’ll Never Send and Portfolio Letter. I had a very profound personal experience with writing a letter to my husband’s best friend when he was accidentally crushed by two railroad cars while working for Amtrak. Being able to write the letter and slip it into his coffin (with the permission of his wife) helped me to deal with the intense grief that I felt at losing someone who had become like a brother to me. I like the idea that the students will write the letter and then will reflect on and report on just the process of writing the letter. This letter as well as the portfolio letter in which the students reflect on the work they have done throughout the course should certainly help to emphasize and make them more consciously aware of the power of writing.
Other possible activities that I have gleaned from this set of articles are the book review and research analysis assignments explained by Teresa Redd and the group presentations described by Jody Shipka. Since I assume that I will still be required to hold my students accountable for their required summer reading, the 500-word book review could fulfill that requirement. I also really like the idea of having the students submit the review to Amazon.com. This would provide the students with a real-world application of their writing skills. Redd’s interdisciplinary analysis assignment which requires the students to submit a 500-word analysis of one piece of their research data would also be a beneficial assignment to consider for my course. Finally, I am interested in considering a group presentation component that Shipka outlines in her article. I am a firm believer in allowing the students to lead the class in a productive and thought provoking way. I especially agree with Shipka that the presentation should require the students to extend or enrich the issues raised by the assigned readings through an in-class activity. The other elements of this project as outlined in the article: the conference with the instructor one week before the presentation and the follow-up individual reflection are also important to include. My only quandary is what assigned readings to require for this component. This will take some additional thought and exploration.
All of the articles from this text have certainly provided a wide variety of assignment suggestions and structural philosophies. Now I just have to solidify in my mind the direction and scope of my own future course. It won’t be the first time that I have taken a leap of faith as an educator and I am sure that it won’t be the last time either.