Explanation versus Argument

My students like to say that an author suggests, explains, or informs. They are reluctant to state that the author claims, argues, or contends.

Suggestions, explanations, and information are safe and sure. Facts are facts. No evaluation is needed.

And so they buy into everything we read.

I am reading papers about de Waal. He informs. He explains. He suggests.

No. De Waal argues that he is right and the rest of the world, anyone who disagrees with him, is wrong.

In rhetoric, we identify his argument and his claims, we evaluate the way he says it, and we determine the effectiveness of his argument. We find what others have to say about it.

We don't just repeat it.

I must remember to communicate this to students next time around. Sigh.

Or even this time around.

Homework and Attendance

Students stay home for the flu--and pretend to have the flu so they can stay home.

What can I do?

I think I have been too lax, but it is difficult to change now.

One student still attends class, but hasn't turned in either of the major projects.

Several students failed to turn in the second project.

Do they think they are going to pass without these assignments?

And homework--do they think it's optional?

Austin is one of the best writers in the class, but rarely turns in homework. He's been out sick for a couple of weeks. He turned in the project 2 draft late, but hasn't done a revision yet. Of course no homework.

I want these students to succeed, but I can't do the work for them.

Next semester I will be more specific, tougher.

Visual Rhetoric

I have to say--this is a blast.

Analysis of this kind is easier than text because we have concrete examples in front of us. I know everyone has done the "reading" because we have done it together in class.

• They are doing lots of writing--about a page per class day. I want them to begin writing paragraphs that can be used for their upcoming assignment.

I wonder how use of visuals (power point, etc.) would affect discussion of print text. If students could see the print on a screen, would they be more engaged?

Would film clips or photos illustrating related ideas be helpful to understanding of print text?

Perhaps it's me--if I see what's on the screen, I spend less time looking at notes and more time looking at students. Not that I look at my notes a lot, but I'm thinking the notes on the screen help direct their attention.

I am hoping--okay praying--I get a smart classroom next semester. I am assuming I will teach again--but perhaps I should pray about that as well. Fewer students means fewer sections, and fewer sections means fewer TAs.

Secondary Sources or Research or Both

Laura chose her students' secondary sources rather than letting them find the sources on their own. There are advantages to this.

• I would be familiar with these sources and more able to help students integrate them into study of the primary source.
• In fact, integration would be the focus rather than research.
• I wouldn't have to spend time looking at their sources.

Research is valuable, but is there time to teach both skills? I don't know. I feel like we did good analysis of de Waal, but that I didn't teach synthesis of sources OR research very well. I would do better next time, I think.

An In-depth Exploration

I really don't understand.

My students, with their two short secondary sources, claim that they are doing in-depth research, that they will prove de Waal is correct, or wrong, or whatever.

Next time around, I really need to caution them about this.

It sounds arrogant, and I find it irritating.

Small Groups

I love small groups of students, the questions, the exchange of ideas.

It's hard to do with 30 students in a classroom, but dividing them into four or five groups and then visiting each group seems really productive.

I'm not sure what they do when I'm NOT there, but when I've asked them to share with the class, it does seem like they have something to say.

Revision Strategies

Here is what I have devised for my students:

Revisions – Writers revise everything. They revise more than once.

They want the text to mean something.

They want the text to speak to the reader.

They want the text to sound good.

How to revise a paper

Look at instructor and peer suggestions

Implement changes according to those suggestions if you agree

Look for passive construction –anything verbs that include “to be” or “to have” – “ing” verbs

Can you use an active verb? Whenever possible, substitute that active verb

Look at sentence structure. Just because I didn’t mark something, doesn’t mean that it is well-written.

Look for ways to combine sentences, eliminate redundant prepositional phrases

Look at punctuation – commas, quotation marks, end punctuation

Look at diction –

Does it meet academic standards?

Is it too conversational?

Do the words add meaning

Are you using vague words that say very little?

Look for ways to add style to your paper

Look for fulfillment of the prompt.

Look for revisions that have no teacher/peer marks.

Don’t assume that if a section has no little marks on it that it’s perfect.

Teachers cannot find everything.

On first drafts, I primarily look for fulfillment of the prompt. If you’ve got all the requirements of the assignment, I spend more time on sentence structure.

It is your job to read, review, revise—to develop the ability to create an effective, persuasive text.

LOOK AT FORMATTING! - MLA – Next time you will look half a grade for failure to follow formatting –

Look at your metadiscourse in the intro. Does it match the organization of your essay?

Look at your organization? Does it make logical sense? Do the ideas follow each other easily?

Strategies for revision:

Read and re-read for comprehension.

Read aloud and listen to your voice. Does your text make sense? Is there more eloquent way to say something? A more direct way?

As I write, I am always going back up to the top and reading through as I go.

I am looking for sentence structure, style, clarity, the way sentences connect to each other.

And then I return to the section I am currently writing—I want that section to fit what I have already written.

Keep your prompt near you so that you can check off all the things you are required to do.

Common Errors –

Format for longer quotes

Floating quotes – Always give context for quotes, before or after. Quotation sandwiches. (See TSIS)

Grading Final Drafts of First Papers

Now I'm actually assigning grades.

I worry I am too random and not entirely objective.

I want to be fair.

I want to value effort.

I want students to feel validated.

I also want them to improve their writing.

I'm working on final draft grading strategies.

It seems they mostly only revise things I have told them to revise. I'm working on a revision strategy handout.

Talking About Culture Blog

I started a blog about our Ape and the Sushi Master book. The first day was great. Apparently the students viewed it as a required assignment.

Nice start.

They commented on each other's blogs.

They gave their own opinions.

I think, "I'm a genius to do this."

The other days haven't been as effective.

Knowing they don't have to do this every day means they don't.

My prompts have been awkward.

I'm not sure how to make them more concrete.

Or how to get the students to improve their diction in a blog format.

Need to think about this.

http://talkingaboutculture.blogspot.com/

Student Conferences

In my examination of Rose's syllabus, I saw that she had blocked out a week for conferences. I think she eventually changed that, but I left it intact. I'm glad I did, but I have to say that they were exhausting. By the last three students, I felt like the things I was saying were meaningless and I wondered if I knew anything at all about teaching.

Reasons I would do conferences again:

Primarily it was an oppportunity to connect with students on an individual basis. Reassure them. Challenge them. Refocus them.

Whatever the difficulty was, whether summary versus analysis, organization, missing elements, or use of active versus passive verbs, I could focus on what that meant and allow them to ask questions.

One-on-one correction is generally more effective than anonymous notes on a piece of paper, whether typed or handwritten.

In 511, we read Ong's (or was it Havelock's) discussion of how writing creates distance. I wanted to break down the distance and connect with students.

I really care about having them get it. (Kirsten says that rather than having my first class be disadvantaged because I am still developing the HOWS of teaching, they are actually advantaged because my need to figure out what works and doesn't work means that I spend more time planning, reading their papers, commenting on their work.)

On the other hand, it got old repeating some things over and over again. I want to think about ways to discuss the common misunderstandings in class.

I probably won't require conferences again this semester. Too exhausting. Too much time. I am still available if they WANT conferences, I don't want to do them for everyone.

On Monday, I get final drafts. It will be interesting to learn whether or not the conferences made any difference. I sure hope so.

Grading First Drafts of First Papers

I was looking forward to seeing the first drafts.

I hadn't anticipated how hard it would be to evaluate them.

• Many students missed the objectives from the prompt. I am wondering if I didn't clarify what we wanted. Next time I want to touch each of those topics specifically.
• About a third of the students focused on summary. I'll need to differentiate between summary and analysis.
• Organization. At least half the students have no idea how to structure a paper of this nature. I'll need to touch on that as well.
• I also need to spend more time on the text.

Insane. Definitely not enough classroom hours to do everything that needs to be done.

Strategies for grading - Given my general frustration with student texts, it took me forever to develop a strategy for grading papers. Eventually I recalled that I should examine student texts the same way I look at any text.

I put aside my lovely gel pens and got out the mechanical pencil. The use of a pencil is familiar to me. It automatically helps me see myself as looking for specific things.

I began to identify the required elements -

• Hook
• Description of Project
• Description of Argument
• Identification of Claims - does this tie back to the argument
• Identification of Evidence supporting claims
• Discussion of strategic organization of the text
• Discussion of significance
• Organizational strategy of the student essay

In identifying what should be there and what shouldn't be there, I began to type out comments for students.

I gave no grades for the first draft because I don't want any student to think they have it nailed and they don't need to do anything else. There were probably three or four A papers, but those students still need to get in the habit of revision and refinement.

Intro Drafts

One of the most recent assignments was to write an intro draft for Pinker. The intro is one of the hardest things to write. It requires a hook, understanding project and argument, and a plan for the rest of the paper. If students have all of that, it should make writing their paper easier.

Reading the intro draft ahead of time allowed me to give advice on the papers before the first draft.

I do wish I had done this earlier, but of course I wish we had given more time to Pinker, to his project, claims, strategies.

Next time. Next time.

Claims Charts

I like the claims chart we used. I think it was helpful for students in identifying claims, evidence, and strategy, and I would like to use it for de Waal.

Project

Argument/Main Claim

Claims -

Evidence - what evidence is de Waal using to support these claims?

Strategies - what is de Waal DOING in the text to develop his argument? Why is he using these sub-claims/this evidence/these words?

I'll need to print these out and post them on BB for the students. Today.

I also need to figure out what I want to do for Peer Review. I'll figure it out and post later how it went. Sigh. So many things to figure out.

Schmoker and Close Readings

We read an article for 511 that talked about the importance of close reading/critical reading skills. I want to go back and study this article in more depth because I think it is significant in teaching students of all ages how to read/understand/interact with a text.

I think I can use this material in teaching at a college level, although it also has significance in teaching younger students. I would be interested in reading more from Schmoker.

There is also significance with teaching students argument at a very young age.

I know the students who study debate, even starting at age 13, begin to develop exactly the type of skills advocated by Schmoker.

More on this later. Just wanted to jot down a few ideas before I forget.

They Say/I Say

I like the idea of templates.

Basically, it goes back to the study of the Progymnasmata we read last fall. Personally, I hate using them, but that's because I have developed a series of intuitive templates in my head.

Most students have not.

The use of templates allows students to say what they need to say using solid academic phrases, modifying words, developing a useful academic vocabulary.

Next time around, or perhaps this time around after I look at their first drafts, I want to develop a plan for including TS/IS in the curriculum.

Understanding how to use quotations

A lot of students have difficulty using quotes, knowing how to insert them, how to analyze them, how to build "quotation sandwiches," so to speak.

Two things have occurred to me:

First, I would like to have spent more time in They Say/I Say and given them practice with templates.

Second, and this might have been more practical, I would like to have spent time looking at Pinker's text and studied how he used quotations and sources. That would give students a model for how they can use quotes in their own papers.

Friday's class

I am learning how to allow groups to do presentations:

• First I had them stand up front. That seemed unnecessary so I let them stand where they were.
• I had a hard time not correcting the students. Sometimes there is a lot to add.
• 20 minutes got us through three groups. I am going to have to do better than that on Monday.
• I need to be more specific in what they are looking for.
• How do I make this an effective means of teaching and allowing students to participate in the learning experience?
• I need to think about this

I felt like discussion about how to actually write an introduction was good. Finally I am talking about writing. Students asked questions, questions I could answer.

Monday plan -

• Discuss body paragraphs - refer to Chua essay and project 1 handout
• Discuss conclusions - refer to Chua essay and project 1 handout

• Go over some strategies commonly used in Pinker's piece. Prepare handout. Find those strategies in the piece.

1. What role does the use of section titles play?
2. Where does Pinker establish his ethos?
3. What role does pathos play in this piece? Why is it minimal? What is Pinker doing?
4. What role does logos play?
5. Anticipatory refutation? Where do we see this?
6. Where do we see distributions?
7. Where do we see analogies? What do these do?
8. How does he use authoritative quotations
9. He uses lots of scientific evidence. What is he DOING?

• 11:30 - groups

Whew!

rhetorical strategies

I want to develop some kind of way to teach students about different kinds of rhetorical strategies. Language helps us define and identify.

I thought perhaps I could use McClish's "Toolbox," but when I went back and looked at it, I realized that the language was pretty complex for freshmen.

I wish I had done this for them before--

How are they going to come up with a rhetorical analysis if they don't know what they're looking for?

I'm wondering how I can introduce some of these things for them in the next couple of days AND at the same time finish the group presentations, discuss how to write a body paragraph and a conclusion, and have a frequently asked questions day.

On Friday, I think I'm going to have them get into their groups and do workshops. If the peer review is done in class, I think that might be helpful.

What do I want them to know? What does Pinker use?

Use of titles to lead his audience

Examples

Distribution - dividing a subject into categories that enhance the argument

Argument by elimination - only one or no categories are acceptable or logical or possible (incest example

Antithesis - special kind of distribution which emphasizes binary opposites

prolepsis - anticipatory refutation of opposition, addressing your skeptical audience's doubts

Analogy - comparison of two terms

Precedent - arguing from a previous decision

Motive - why we should or shouldn't trust someone to do the right thing -difficult to prove

Definition - ad hoc definitions - choose definitions which develop your own argument

Repetition - saying something more than once for emphasis

Rhetorical question - a seemingly open question that has only one correct answer

Transitional question - moves the audience forward to your next point

Paradox - contradiction that is true

Ambiguity - deliberately suggesting more than one possible meaning

hyperbole - exaggeration

Authoritative quotation - direct quote

Common wisdom - a maxim

Demonstration - a vivid, powerful description that recreates something or someone before your very eyes

How does word choice play a role?

Oh, so much to do, so little time.

I wish I would have started a reflections blog a month ago . .

I really wish I would have started a reflections blog a month ago. I'm learning something new every day and since I really do plan on teaching, I want to remember what I'm learning.

I secretly hope someone will read my other blogs, but I'm fine with this one begin completely anonymous.

Planning -

• You don't know what you don't know. I couldn't plan adequately until I knew what I would actually be doing.
• Choose texts.
• Choose assignments. Read the assignments carefully--especially if I didn't create them.

First Date Reflection:

• I am passionate about the subject. I want them to see why this class matters. Energy is good.
• I really liked the in-class essay asking: 1) Why are you in college? Why SDSU; 2) What is your major and why? 3) What are two strengths and two weaknesses in your writing?
• I wish I had been able to keep those.
• The note card idea from Alicia would actually be helpful. I could keep them and remember which student is wanting to be a nurse, which one wants to be in business, which one is an engineering major.

Be absolutely clear.

• Absences - must contact me
• Late work - daily work - one day late
• Everything - just choose

Advertising Assignment

• The assignment was too interpretive. I wasn't totally clear on what
• Rewrite the whole thing.
• Create a template.
• Be specific.
• Maybe even post sample ads on Blackboard for students to choose from.

Email assignment

• Worked well--but I would take out talk your friend out of dating someone else.

Grading

• For papers worth ten points, if students do an extraordinary job, they get eleven points.

Start the primary first project text at the end of the second week.

• I waited way too long and now I'm playing catchup.

Group Work

• Yea! for group work. I didn't think I would like this. It uses up time, allows all students to participate.
• Be specific about what you want them to do.
• Have a plan for how to divide up.
• Random works well --or planned. Some TAs are allowing students to develop "small groups" so that they learn to work within a team. I think I like that as well.

Learn to take advantage of the Smart classroom.

• Writing on the board causes me to turn my back on the students, and I lose presence.
• Students are used to looking at something. There will be a focus point.
• I wish I had started with this earlier. It allows us all to look at the notes, at the text, at the images. Instead of eyes on their books or eyes on the board, we are all looking at the same thing.
• I think this would be advantageous.

Sigh. There are days when I feel like I was made for this, and there are days when there is absolutely no energy in the room. I hate those days.

Kirsten says that my students are lucky. I am a teacher who really does care about each student, and that matters. On the other hand, I want to teach well. Hopefully these reflections will help me focus and improve my teaching now--and in the future.

•