teaching+composition+sep+1+and+3

Agendas for September 1 and 3

September 1 Readings for today Kittle, p. 2-19 //How People Learn//, chapter 6, [|"The Design of Learning Environments"]

1. Writing our way in...
 * What do you hope to learn this semester in your learning to teach classes?
 * What do you hope to walk away with knowing or being able to do as a result of your time in these classes?
 * What are your goals and how can I support you in your pursuit of these goals?

2. How People Learn's framework for categorizing different types of learning environments
 * Learner-centered
 * "Overall, learner-centered environments include teachers who are aware that learners construct their own meanings, beginning with the beliefs, understandings, and cultural practices they bring to the classroom. If teaching is conceived as constructing a bridge between the subject matter and the student, learner-centered teachers keep a constant eye on both ends of the bridge. The teachers attempt to get a sense of what students know and can do as well as their interests and passions—what each student knows, cares about, is able to do, and wants to do" (p. 124)
 * Knowledge-centered
 * "knowledge-centered environments also include an emphasis on sense-making—on helping students become metacognitive by expecting new information to make sense and asking for clarification when it doesn't (e.g., Palincsar and Brown, 1984; Schoenfeld, 1983, 1985, 1991)" (p. 125)
 * "Attempts to create environments that are knowledge centered also raise important questions about how to foster an integrated understanding of a discipline" (p. 126)
 * Assessment-centered
 * "It is important to distinguish between two major uses of assessment. The first, formative assessment, involves the use of assessment (usually administered in the context of the classroom) as sources of feedback to improve teaching and learning. The second, summative assessment, measures what students have learned at the end of some set of learning activities" (p.128)
 * "A challenge of implementing good assessment practices involves the need to change many teachers', parents', and students' models of what effective learning looks like" (p. 129)
 * Community-centered (includes all of the above)
 * The classroom as a community
 * The connection between the classroom and the larger community

"... the four perspectives on learning environments (the degree to which they are learner, knowledge, assessment, and community centered) would be discussed separately but ultimately needed to be aligned in ways that mutually support one another. Alignment is as important for schools as for organizations in general (e.g., Covey, 1990)" (p. 139)

2. Watching Kittle DVD - beginning the workshop
 * What do you notice in her classroom?
 * What does she want her students to know about the writing process?
 * What does she want them to know about the craft of writing?
 * How do they learn it? What kind of learning environment does she try to create and cultivate in order to help facilitate their learning?
 * How does she know that they are learning what she hopes?

3. Reading Jim's Literacy Memoir What I was trying to do with it? Ways to refine it - snapshots, thoughtshots, exploding a particular moment M/G = Mode / Genre A = Target audience P = purpose of the piece S = situation ( of the writing; and, of the writer)

4. For Thursday, Reading the Bernabei (school essays) and Romano (multigenre writing) chapters in The Neglected "R" Questions to consider when reading these chapters...
 * What do these writers want you to notice about their beliefs about writing?
 * What is the way writing should be taught and learned according to these writers (might not be explicitly stated in the text)?
 * In order to agree with them, what would someone have to believe about teaching, about learning/learners, and about writing?
 * What is missing from their chapters that someone who might disagree with them would argue?

We only did #1 and #2 above on Tuesday. We'll look at my literacy memoir and M/GAPS in the Literature class today.
 * Thursday Sep 3**

1. Writing our way in ... What is the most difficult/unpleasant/mysterious kind of writing for you to try to write? Why do you think that's so? What was the worst writing experience you've had? Conversely, what was the best writing experience you've had? What do you enjoy writing? Why?

2. Parts of an argument Claim, Reasons, Evidence, Warrants, and Acknowledge and Respond to Opposition

3. What are the arguments that Bernabei and Romano make about the following:
 * Writing
 * Learning to write
 * The role of the teacher

In addition, what kind of learning environment do they seem to foster with the kinds of assignments that they offer in these chapters?

4. Introducing the Genre Challenge Assignment

For next Tuesday ... we are going to be talking about how writers collect ideas and thoughts, much like Kittle suggests about writer's notebooks with her students on her DVD... We'll read and talk about the following:
 * Kittle, pp. 22-61
 * Murray in “Neglected R” pp. 17-25

Guiding questions for when you read: • What is it writers do in Kittle’s class? That is, what role does writing play in her classroom community? • What argument the writers make about the connection between writing and learning?