Closing Out A Chapter...

Well, the semester is nearing its end, and what I have thought of as a blog experiment has reached its end, too. Thank you all for contributing - perhaps we can collaborate again someday!

What Brings You Here?

A conversation starter, I hope...

Let's talk about what makes each of you good at what you do. I will start with this very corny question:

Can you describe a formative learning experience of your own that you believe led you to become an amazing English instructor?

Balancing Rhetorical and Modal Perspectives in Teaching Writing

Over the past several semesters, I have been trying to find the right mix between a modal approach and a rhetorical approach to teaching composition/writing classes. This pursuit has come about based on my attempts to meet the course outcomes of the various writing-intensive classes and, more importantly, the amount of student resistance (a.k.a. whining and complaining) to my use of "less-traditional, more-challenging" techniques I have used at Syracuse University, OCC, CCC, and Bryant and Stratton in the past (which are, frankly, more interesting in that they allow for more student freedom and creativity, but also force more student effort and responsibility for their completion). Sometimes self-preservation is the best catalyst for change.

As we all probably know, the modal approach to teaching writing stresses writing based on specific types of writing (narration, description, definition, compare/contrast, etc.). Although this approach is relatively easy to teach and provides students with an understanding of basic writing styles (something I have grown to favor and appreciate over the last few years because many students lack foundational writing skills), it also limits student creativity and ignores, in part at least, the fact that different communities use different systems of representation in constructing and negotiating knowledge.

One of my main beliefs that informs my teaching is that, when our students leave our school, they will not just enter a workplace, but a world where their ability to critically evaluate and respond to various knowledge constructions will be crucial to their personal, professional, political, and social success. Education isn't just job training; it's life training. Because of this, it is vital to our students' growth that we strike a balance between teaching writing modes and rhetorical perspective.

The rhetorical perspective moves beyond seeing writing as an entity unto itself. As cited in Laura Sells (2004), K.K. Campbell states that "a rhetorical perspective focuses on social truth, that is, on the kinds of truths that are created and tested by people in groups, truths that influence social and political decisions." Because language, including written language, is a series of representational symbols with socially-negotiated meanings, the "truths" which it discusses are always under construction and negotiation. How a given discourse community constructs its truth and knowledge is connected directly to how it uses language.

How do we incorporate a rhetorical perspective into the writing classroom? The first step is to teach students that there are different audiences based on different values and interests. These "discourse communities" discuss values, interests, beliefs, problems, and ideas, often using language and formats specific to their community.

The second step is to invite students to value critical thinking through analysis. I will provide a five-step method for analysis in a future post that makes analyzing texts systematic and, therefore, easier for students to learn and use. Teach students to think about how words (and, by extension, other representational symbols, such as pictures or movies) make meaning so that they understand that authors choose specific signs when creating ideas, but that these signs are constructing ideas, not merely regurgitating them. Analyzing a text together as a class (I usually start with a magazine cover) can help them see these ideas in a concrete way. I'll post a method for doing this when I post the analytical method.

Based on these steps, the next step is to stress how the representation of an idea might differ if developed by a different discourse community. For example, you might have the students analyze Better Homes and Gardens and then ask the students how it constructs the idea of "Woman" differently than Maxim or Oprah. Another way to go about this would be to find an article to read as a class and have the students consider how doctors might discuss the issues contained therein as compared to lawyers, politicians, and educators. Then have them consider how the National Enquirer may discuss the article's ideas. The students will quickly see that different authors or communities can look at the same facts and create vastly different constructions based on what they choose to focus on and how they write or talk about those things. Furthermore, point out that, at any given historical moment, there are several different versions of an idea ("Woman" according to different magazines, for example) which support, negate, conflict, reiterate, or modify each other. Within this negotiation, "knowledge" is constructed.

Finally, invite students to be a part of knowledge-construction process. Instruct students to carefully consider who their audience is when writing. In addition, stress the importance of choosing the proper language when writing. In order to contextualize their ideas, have them continually ask questions like, "Who am I writing this for? What will they know about my topic? What point(s) do I want my reader to take away with them? Why am I choosing these words to convey my message? What will critics ask me to show or prove about my ideas?" Although trite, these tried-but-true questions keep students focused on the fact that they are creating socially-determined knowledge through their writing.

How are these principles and methods incorporated into a modal approach? Introduce them to students early in the semester before you begin teaching the modes and remind students of them as they practice the modes. Encourage the students to practice the analytical method in order to evaluate supporting materials and provide insight into their topic. In addition, constantly reinforce purpose and audience. For example, if students are writing a compare/contrast paper, a definition paper, or a cause and effect paper, ask them where they got their supporting materials from and how that might affect how they're used. Ask them why they are choosing to discuss the issue in their paper and the implications of their thesis/main idea.

Combining these methods has allowed me to teach my students to be cognizant of "social truths" while teaching them basic writing styles. Blending valuable aspects of these approaches can really give your students an arsenal of techniques at their disposal. I hope you will try to implement some of these ideas into your teaching so that your students can better compose their own social truths.

Reference

Sells, Laura (2004). Campbell--Rhetorical Perspective. Retrieved January 16, 2008, from http://www.voxygen.net/cpa/articles/campbell.htm

Promising New APA Citation Tool

The Changing Face of Academic Research

Recently, Kim Reed challenged me to think about Microsoft Office 2007 - Word, in particular - and its automated bibliographic features. As an avid open-source software user, I had to close OpenOffice for a moment, bite the bullet, and find my way back to the world of Microsoft. I downloaded the free, 60-day trial version of Office 2007, installed it, and found that I am unable to access certain features of the application without purchasing the whole suite. So... arg!

It is exciting to imagine custom-tailoring a program like Word to suit our students' research needs; so, I haven't necessarily given up yet. But even OpenOffice 2.3 Writer, which is highly alterable for anyone so inclined, does not come out of the box with an integrated APA citation engine. Again: arg.

And yes, we could just do it the old-fashioned way, with books and paper... there's certainly no shame in that! However, some online searching led me to what may be the best thing since microfiche: Zotero.

Zotero!

Zotero is an add-on for the Firefox web browser which manages research and features APA integration (and so much more); I am considering ways to bring it into my classes as soon as possible. Check out the video tour and get psyched.

Get the Mozilla Firefox web browser here.

Get the Zotero extension for Firefox here.

Another thing I have done to make course management easier is to require student to turn in their assignments by saving them to my folder on the P: drive. You all have a folder there too! It's only accessible from the computers on campus. When students save things to the Hand In folder, they can't later open them and change them (nor can other students). Also, it records the date and time that the assignment was last saved, which helps eliminate "I handed this in on time and you lost it" arguments.

Then, depending on how I want to do my grading, I can either print them all out or just grade them electronically.

I also put all the assignments linked below up on the P: drive in the Hand Out folder. That way, when students inevitably lose the handout, they can go there and reprint.

I may eventually move this system over to Google Docs so that students can access the documents from off-campus (one of the biggest complaints I've had, especially from evening students). I'm still refining my systems, and my goal one day is to have a totally paperless class. I usually make it about halfway through the semester before I revert to my tree-killing ways!

E-mail Assignment: Goes with Ch 8 in the textbook

Memo Assignment: Goes with Ch 8 in the textbook

Routine Letter Assignment: Goes with Ch 9 in the textbook

Persuasive Letter Assignment: Goes with Ch 10 in the textbook

Bad News/Negative Letter: Goes with Ch 11 in the textbook

Final Portfolio Project: This is actually the previous iteration of this assignment. I, um, can't find the one I used more recently, but I don't know that the more recent one was better. This one always worked pretty well although I suspect it was a little too easy. I did have a few students turn in some amazing work though.

Okay, now you guys post some thoughts or best practices. What works for you? What areas do you need help with? And thanks Bert, for setting this up.

ENGL 230 Writing for Business Materials

As promised, here are some of the materials I have used in the past for ENGL 230. Please feel free to use or adapt as you see fit.

A brief explanation of the grade breakdown:

Participation Activities can be anything from a short WTL to a group activity where I don't really care what the answer is -- I just want students to write something down. This is a great way to check if they are getting it, and also a great way to have attendance affect their grades.

In-Class Exercises are typically taken from the exercises at the ends of the chapters.

The rest of pretty self-explanatory. The one change I am thinking of making this semester is to add in an assignment to do with technical writing -- this is not really covered in the textbook, but it is part of the outcomes, and I haven't covered it well in the past. I'm thinking something where students have to write up instructions on how to use some form of technology (Ipod, how to play a video game, how to use software) and take into consideration audience, medium, etc. To do that, I would probably combine some of the earlier letter assignments into one.

Supplemental Syllabus

Tracking Calendar

I'm going to do a separate post with all my assessments.

Our Blog Space

So... I'm still working some of the kinks out of this technological master-plan. But this is it: a place to share "best practices." It's up to each of us to work out what that means. Have fun!

P.S. I'm still trying to make it so that you can see a detailed online calendar of B&S 'stuff;' please stand by. :)