Week 9: Syllabus and Keywords

A note on the syllabus writing process:

My colleague and I had an outline of what we would teach this year, but since we do a lot of planning of individual lessons as we go along, I struggled some with the types of compositions that I ask students to create. Unlike a traditional FYC teacher, teaching in a public high school (though I will be teaching a course through SAC for students to reach “dual” credit) limits the types of assessments we can have that count as major grades. Additionally, the curriculum must be approved by College Board and must be aligned with the senior curriculum across the state. I have begun with my original syllabus and I’m taking out what seems superfluous and adding the “substance” that 5060 has encouraged. I’m enjoying creating new “products” for students to present to us instead of traditional compositions. SAC seems to want their first year comp courses to not include a focus on rhetoric. The rhetoric English 3 AP course does not (and will probably never) offer a dual credit option because SAC’s intro course does not focus on rhetoric, hence the literary focus of my syllabus. Even though my syllabus does not state it, I will include an intro to rhetoric the first few weeks of class to review the course the previous year and to teach it to the students who did not take the AP course the year before.  Below are some of the key terms that I included in the syllabus. (And I am REALLY struggling with twitter guidelines!)

Sommers- Revision Strategies

Holistic and recursive; writing changes with changing vision. Writing used as discovery. To manipulate conventions of discourse is to communicate with the reader. Taking a step back from the typical linear structure allows for revision qualities of experienced writers.

Open Admissions-

Historically significant policy allowing students (regardless of high school performance) into universities. Professors had to take a step back and reassess current strategies to accommodate students who struggled with reading and writing tasks (520). Shaughnessy and Bruffee were proponents of collaborative learning to solve this difference in learning style.

Elbow-

Encourages teachers of composition to be cognizant of the differences between SWE and a student’s mother tongue. Respecting a student’s dialect will encourage a safe environment in the classroom. Encourages the human voice to be used, especially for revision. Peer copy-editing in teams will contribute to better writing.

Collaborative Learning-

Traditional role of teachers is now “leader” and students should be their own teachers. In teaching writing, students are peer tutors. Goal is to reach the academic discourse for the subject being learned. Changing the social context in which information is attained will help students to become part of their own learning by teaching.

Shaughnessy-

Discusses the inherent intimate relationship between writing teacher and writing student. Teachers should do the changing, thus creating a developmental scale: guarding the tower, converting the natives, sounding the depths, and diving in. Attainment of knowledge: learning is a steady flow of a truth into a void.