What assignments would I use to teach in a FYC course based on my
teaching philosophy? I want my students to gain skills they will use for the future. No matter what field you go into, good grammar, spelling, and punctuation are important. Spelling tests are not relevant, but what has helped me was catching grammatical errors in real publications.
- Editor's Eye - Each week bring in three newspapers, magazines, etc. with errors in the assignment.
I also want students to pursue careers they have an interested in. As a freshman (or someone taking a lower-level composition class), the student may be unsure of what they want to do with their career. There is no better way to explore what they are interested in than by researching it! I had several friends who took Animal Science English (that's not what it was called but it focused on animal science and counted as English 1 & 2). The student's loved the course because it was relevant to their major!
- Have all papers follow their own personal common theme, so related to their major or future career choice.
I was interested in everyone's comments about breaking down the assignment into much smaller chunks. That is something I am going to do for future courses.
- Assignment timelines - Each little piece of the project will have a deadline. Starting with the topic, resources, etc.
While there are still more that I would consider, these are the three that relate most closely to my teaching philosophy.
Well Corey Ann, they do say that great minds think alike - editorial review, theme/voice, and project schedules - we're on the same page!!
ReplyDeleteYou seem to be a cheerleader for a program of "Writing Across the Disciplines" with your mention of Animal Science English (being an English major, I'm not sure I'm biting hook, line, and sinker on that one, though). There is still a lot to learn from literature, but times they are a changing. Every year I realize how old I am and it seems that technology has a no holds bar to make sure I get swept to the wayside (you'll experience it one of these days too, just you wait and see). I did feel good the other day though when an older (oops, I mean more seasoned veteran) writer came into my office complaining about someone telling him that he needed to learn how to "tweeter"!
I'm also not sure that an FYC course should concentrate on the grammar, spelling, and punctuation. I would seem to lean toward a Remedial Writing course to address those issues and let Composition concentrate on style, audience, and rhetorical modes of communication.
Just sayin'
(see I can sound hip...I guess that didn't thought, huh? :)
Great advice on the GSP, though, I find it helps my students who have to take the GSP test at Texas Tech.
DeleteI completely forgot about mentioning the assignment timelines for major papers in my post for this week! That was the biggest thing that I took away from last week. "Small chunks" seems like such simple advice for a FYC instructor, but I think it is challenging to grade those chunks in a timely manner so a student can use them to complete the project. The fastest way I have figured out how to get these things graded is electronic submissions (of working bibliographies, rough drafts, etc.), but maybe it would be good to make a requirement to meet in person for any specific help needed? I don't know. Just my thoughts. Great ideas!
ReplyDeleteI think the editor's eye assignment is a good idea. Perhaps you could add some content and intended audience analysis to address composition issues in addition to grammatical concerns. While this assignment may seem remedial in nature, it could be a good assignment to kick off the course. Sort of a "back to basics" assignment to ensure that the students recognize the importance of grammar and punctuation as they move forward.
ReplyDeleteI also neglected to address the idea of breaking the writing process down with a piecemeal approach to writing. I think that this is a good idea, so long as it does not force the student to develope in a way that is uncomfortable to them. Perhaps you could have an excercise where the student identifies their own drafting process, and then have them turn in the peices as they go along.