Class Agenda 4.23: Problem Posing, Perl and Rose

1. Problem Posing Exercise

2. Discuss Perl and Rose

Extra Credit

Dear class, I meant to post this opportunity yesterday morning. Sorry for the delay.

Extra Credit Goal: Leave feedback for ENG 099 students preparing for the CATW Exam.

Credit: 3 quiz points per solid paragraph left of feedback on student blogs. Good up to 12 points (4 paragraphs, 4 blogs: one paragraph per blog).

The paragraph should be comprehensive, polite, and professional. You should evaluate each aspect of the CATW directions (how did they do on each aspect? Say 1-2 things, depending). End the blog on positive encouragement.

Directions:

1. Go to last class agenda and familiarize yourself with CATW practice exam, the Exam handbook, and the prompt "Individuals in Groups." As you read the prompt, consider what you might say about it.

2. Go to Dr. Smith's ENG 099 blog (note: he has a ENZ 099 and a ENG 099. Confine your comments to students in ENG 099 list).

Click through to find responses that are on the shorter side. Select a student blog post to "Individuals in Groups" that could use your comments.

When you leave your comment, remember to identify yourself first, and what class you're from, and why you're there (to leave feedback). Thank them for posting. Give them at least two different kinds of praise. Then go into the issues you encounter with their post (higher-order, then focused/limited lower order). When you point out something that's an issue, offer than a specific suggestion for changing or revising their writing. When you've left a comment, email me to let me know.

Example [use your own language, borrow these templates, whatever works for you]

Hi, I'm __ from __ and I'm writing because ___ . Thank you for___

Great job on your idea about ____. I agree that's a significant idea, and a good way to focus your response...I also liked how you...

I think you could develop some of your response, however, by .... I notice that you only have two paragraphs. Perhaps you could bring in a personal story - have you ever ___? Could you write about ____?

Your third paragraph could be expanded. I like your idea of __ . Do you think you could say more about it by elaborating on __ ? I also wonder what you meant by ___. I think that phrase might work better if you defined the meaning of it in the next sentence...

etc etc

Thanks again for posting this. I learned a lot about ___. Good luck!

Topics to cover before next session

1. The student with no writing.

2. The student who feels neglected during double session.

3. The student with scattered ideas.

4. Running out of talk.

5. Higher and lower order concerns.

Class Agenda 4.11: CATW Intro

1. Blog: Tutoring

2. Reading: Perl, Rose

3. Group work: problem posing

4. Letter to Bert Assignment: begin thinking

5. CATW - ENG 099

What is the CATW?


Practice Exam

CATW Prompt for Blogs

CATW Blogs

6. Leaving feedback on student blogs

Letter to Bert

Assignment: Letter to Bert Eisenstadt Evaluating Tutoring at the Writing Center
Peer Review:
Due: 

For this assignment, you will turn the problem-posing assignment shared in your groups and present it as a letter to the Manager of the Writing Center. The Manager, Mr. Bert Eisenstadt, knows about this assignment and is looking forward to reading what you have to say.

The letter should be two full single-spaced pages, and should address the 3 steps from the problem-posing exercise you worked with to produce your group presentation. While what you presented in groups was excerpts from the observations of particular individuals in your group, the primary evidence in your letter should be based on your own personal observations. As you did in your problem-posing exercise, name strategies, cite sources for strategies named, and describe observations in detail. It is especially important that whenever you identify a strategy or diagnose a problem, you provide support for your ideas by quoting from the course reading materials, citing all sources, and providing a works cited page at the end of the letter. You will want to take certain moments and link them your overall teaching philosophy.

Mr. Eisenstadt will be much more likely to follow your advice if you seem like you’re basing your assessments on up-to-date tutoring theory. He may also want to read for himself certain sections of a text to which you refer.

In establishing the voice you will use in this letter, try to use the tutoring skills you have learned this semester. Remember that while it is often important and useful to be critical, it is also important that you be constructive. Remember that tutors can have bad days just like anyone else; don’t make your criticisms personal, but instead try phrasing things as problems that may need for the overall improvement of the center. Think of the Writing Center, like an essay draft, as a work in progress. Imagine your audience, Mr. Eisenstadt, as someone who will continue with his practice of managing the center long after you give him this feedback. There is a future for the Writing Center, and by writing this letter you can become a part of it.

A couple midweek notes

1. You guys got excellent feedback from Prof H's class. Congrats! More to discuss Friday.

2. The blogs overall read well. Some of your are relating more details than others. See Tiffany's last observation blog for an example of 'excellence.'

3. Overall I can feel the class really clicking on the issues. We will start to consolidate our knowledge moving forward. I want to keep our thoughts on "pedagogy" front and center.

Prof H's notes on his assignment

Just a quick explanation of the attachment: 

You'll see the expectations of a "structured outline," which is really meant to make my students understand the functionality of *where* things go in a paper, and why (specifically with paragraph structure).  The paper following the outline is, of course, an extension of it, so the topics you see at the top are what the students are writing about.  (The link to Gov. Jindal's article, if you are interested, is at the bottom).  

The second page contains a template I asked my students to use for their outlines.  (You'll notice that if they have written this correctly, they essentially have written the paper.)

Below is a list of what I am expecting from my students:

-Proper MLA format (minus a works cited)
-A thesis with a contestable claim and map)
-STRONG openings to paragraphs (which make a contestable claim that extends from the thesis)
-Evidence (not necessarily cited...yet)
-A "Reintegration" sentence to close the paragraph which also ties the thesis back into the argument.

This is what I will ultimately be looking for in the papers, if it is of any use to your students.  Anything else they can pick up on (like transition sentences, poor grammar) is a plus.

Some of my students may come in with an outline instead of a paper, depending on where they are at individually.