Reflections on Oreskes

It's been a while since we finished the unit on Oreskes.  I like to reflect on a project after I'm done, but lately there is no time to reflect on anything.

Still, right now I'm reading my students' reflections on writing this project, and I'm pleased.  At some point I'm going actually have to read what they wrote in their essays, but honestly, I'm procrastinating on that.

From ASAS, music to a teacher's ears:
"I never realized that most authors use ethos, pathos, and logos.  And I just realized that when I read Oreskes. I had never analyzed a chapter so profoundly.  I think it's the first time I feel like I did understand most of what I read.  This essay made me want to analyze everything I read so I have a better understanding of the reading."

From NP: "I saw the article as a learning experience for how to write any future pieces that I may write for science classes."

Also from NP: "[The article] was a breath of fresh air from the grammar and novel related English assignments that I have grown used to in my high school days.  I like how it transcended subjects and went into science and taught us about how consensuses are formed and why some sources are less reliable than others.  I would hope to get more assignments like this on in the future weather (sic) or not in this particular class."

Thanks, NP.  

Developmental Writing Exercise - Pronouns

I don't think I would do this with my 200 classes, although many of them need this, but it does seem like this would be a waste for most of them.

Many students have a hard time with pronouns.  They use them, but there is no clear antecedent.  Or there is a clear antecedent, but the noun and the pronoun replacing it don't quite match.

The exercise would be:

Have students circle every pronoun and then mark the noun it goes with.  That noun should be almost immediately preceding it.  And it needs to agree.  When it doesn't, students would rewrite their sentences.

I could have students mark each others' papers, but that not be very encouraging.  I think I would want to ask someone else's thoughts on that.  

Paraphrase

One of the things I notice with students is that they struggle to state what a quote actually means.  A good exercise for in-class would be to ask them to paraphrase claims.

What do individual words mean?
What the most important part of a sentence?
What does it mean in context?

In classes with lots of board space, I could have students work in groups and write their paraphrases on the board, but I only have that in two of my four classes at SDSU.

I could have them do that as an in-class individual exercise, but then I would have to read what they wrote.  Aaargh.

Hmmm.  Another idea.  If I had these printed out, I could ask students to do this in the first five minutes of class, when students aren't showing up.  Worth 2 points.  One point for getting it right.  One point for being there to do it.

I like that one.

I wouldn't even need it to be printed out.  I just need to put it on power point and show the quote on the screen.  I like it!

As I think about this, I could teach the whole idea of a quotation sandwich and parenthetical with this exercise.

I can put the quote up on the screen with the author's name and the page number.  Students can introduce the quote, include the quote, add parenthetical citation, and then provide a paraphrase afterward.

This exercise would work well for RWS 100, 200, and developmental or basic writing classes.  

No Time

I'm teaching five classes and taking a class.  I've got a B+, and I don't even think the class is that hard.
I quite SDICCCA and my internship.  I just couldn't keep up.
I have had 24 hours without papers to grade.  Only 24 hours.

I've learned a bajillion things this semester, and I can't even keep track of them.

This is hard.  

Research Training

I just tried to train students in how to research.  That did not work, and I'm trying to figure out why.

It's hard to do on a screen, of course, but my strategies were all wrong.

I have two more classes that will do that, and I really need to figure it out.  More later.

Content of an Argument versus the Construction of an Argument

Somalia - Day 1

The theme is social justice.  I wanted students to think about the needs of other people in the world.

If you can make a chance, should you?

I showed images of a current international crisis, the famine in Somalia, and then asked them to read four articles about Somalia and respond to them.

The responses were well written for the most part, as students described what they were thinking and feeling.  They adequately described the situation, and I was pleased.  Many were shocked that this was happening, but they didn't know anything about it.

Observations:
1.  I hoped to start off by appealing to their emotions.  I definitely did that.
2.  I hoped to get them to think about the controversial aspects of response.  We discussed that in class.  Not all students agreed about what we should do.
3.  I get some of the best free response papers I have seen.
4.  Images were essential.  In one of the classes, I didn't have time to show the images so they looked at them at home.  That really helped the students.  Many of them referred to what they saw.
5.  Appealing to a current event really helps students place rhetoric in context.  Even if they don't follow the news, they do want to know what's going on.

In every class, at least three students missed out on this very foundational aspect of the class because of the add/drop/shuffle.  I wonder if I should wait. I don't know.  

Add, Drop, Shuffle (The Worst Part of the First Week).

The hardest part of the first week of school was the add, drop, shuffle.

1.  Students want to add my class because it fits their schedule better.
2.  They want to add someone else's class and drop mine to create a better schedule.  However, they can't drop my class until they add the other one.  I cannot add the other students until they do that so the process is slow.
3.  Students want to shuffle their schedule and move to another section that I am teaching.  One student moved from the 9:00 to the 10:00 and then back to the 9:00.  To complicate things, she has only attended two classes.  Last Friday, three students in my 9:00 class asked to move to the 11:00 class.

Students show up at the beginning of class, the middle of class, the end of class.  It's exhausting.  I spent more time responding to emails about adding and shuffling than I did to creating lesson plans.

And responding in class to those requests took time away from the lesson plans.

Fortunately, I took good notes.  Unfortunately, I underestimated the enormity of the process and didn't create a plan of attack.

First Day:

1.  Write on board how many openings in the class.
2.  If students approach me before class and ask about crashing, let them know that I will address that after I take roll.
3.  After taking roll, ask if there are any crashers.  Explain that I can only keep 32 students in the class, that on the second day I can disenroll students if they do not attend, and that I will end class five minutes early so that they can sign the list.

The list would include name, red ID #, email, and are they enrolled in a section of RWS 200 already.
Chances are, some students will leave because they don't want to sit through the class.

1.  If they are not already enrolled in RWS 200, they get priority.
2.  After that, tell them I will give add codes on the second day if I have room on day 2.
3.  Priority given to students who do the homework.  (?)
4.  I think I shouldn't shuffle students on the first day until I absolutely have room in the class.  I need to think about this.  

I do need to be careful about homework.  Students can't do the homework if they don't have the book so I need to assign

One-and-a-half weeks into the semester, I think we're finally done.  I wonder if I should have done ANY work the first week of the semester!

And I think I need to ask Jamie or other lecturers what they do so that I can get a better plan.  More later.  

Social Justice Day Video - Day 2

We watched this the World Social Justice Day video from Rhodes College and read a piece by Ben O'Neil written in response to the video.

It became a great jumping place to conversation.  I posted a prompt on the blog and asked students to respond.

However, I wish, I had presented the material a little differently.  I showed the video at the end of class and sent them off with instructions to read O'Neil.

Here's what I would do differently:

1.  Show the video and discuss the notion of "claims."  Each student is making a claim about a right.  However, none of the students are offering any evidence.  This would reinforce the notion of claims and also the need for evidence.

2.  Who is the audience for this piece?  How do you know?

3.  What is the purpose of the author in putting this video together?

4.  I would ask them to make their own claims about rights.  What is a right?  I want them to offer evidence in the form of a logical reason.

5.  Next, I would ask them to define "rights."  The definition frames the discussion, and in fact, this is what O'Neil does to build his own argument.

6.  Finally, I would ask them to read O'Neil and respond to the blog prompt.

I also asked the students to write a rhetorical precis on O'Neil.  I would still do that.

All in all, the readings and video worked well, but I think it could have worked better.

Choosing a Theme for Readings

Except for looking at the Tucson shootings, my students had a hard time connecting to the readings I chose for last spring.  They didn't have adequate background information to understanding contextual nuances in the text, and the subject matter didn't compel them to even try.

A few semesters ago I showed Invisible Children to my students, and it really captured their attention.  Half of them were already familiar with the story of kidnapped Ugandan children forced to serve as soldiers.  About a quarter of them had participated or organized fundraising to assist the children.  The film moved them emotionally so that they really couldn't talk after they saw it.  I asked them to write whatever they were thinking, and I saw the best writing they had done all semester.  

The students connected with this film emotionally that semester, and I wanted to show it again.  

I immediately thought about a theme of social justice.  I thought about the famine in Somalia.  I thought about Give Clean Water.  I thought about education and fighting AIDS and apartheid in South Africa and so on and so on.  

And then I thought about Gerald Graff and his philosophy of teaching the controversy.  I wondered: What is controversial about helping people?  Why wouldn't we want to help the people of Somalia so that they don't starve due to drought and famine and war? 

Where's the controversy there?  (As it turns out, that's really only part of his philosophy, which has to do with exposing academic arguments.)

And then I started thinking about who was going to pay for food and who was going to deliver it and how much food is enough and do we also provide medical care and how much and to what extent.  And now it's not so simple.  Who do we feed?  How much do we feed them? And who pays for it?  

And are we obligated to rescue the starving?  We certainly don't feel obligated to do too much in this country right now.  

Now I have a controversy.  A pretty big one.  

I remembered articles from Peter Singer and Nicholas Kristof, who have both written about helping those who are less fortunate.  I looked up "social justice" on Wikipedia and found *

More controversy.  Graff says, "College paper assignments tend to ask for information or textual interpretations in a vacuum, not polemical engagement" (59).  This is the kind of stuff that makes writing incredibly boring for students.  Graff wants students to enter into the same kinds of conversations that academics engage in.  He wants them to examine claims and dispute them, to recognize that knowledge is continually growing and changing.  He contends that acknowledging and entering into the controversy clarifies understanding and perspective.

Now, I like Graff.  I like the way he teaches argument in They Say/I Say.  I like the way he demystifies academic discourse by introducing templates that students can use and adapt to suit writing.  He was the first comp theorist to describe "entering into a conversation" to me.  I like that idea.  As a result of all these things, I pay attention to Graff.

So I want to teach the controversy.  What is social justice?  Does it, in fact, lead to injustice?  Do we side with Rawls or Singer or Kuper or someone else entirely?  Let's examine the claims and take a position.

I admit I have shamelessly appealed to pathos in order to interest the students.  I am hoping emotional attachment to a topic will motivate them to tackle difficult texts addressing the controversy.  I plan to challenge the students by introducing academic journals.  I want to give them the skills to decipher those--Swales and Feak's CARS (Create a Research Space).  I want them to see that academics incorporate certain patterns in academic discourse.  Recognizing those patterns makes reading those journals less difficult.

This approach is a risk, to be sure.  I can modify my last project, however.

Graff, Gerald.  "Two Cheers for the Argument Culture."  

Starting Over - I'm a first-year teacher again.

Well, I finished my masters, taught four semesters as a grad student, worked as a mentor to new TAs, and tutored in developmental classes.  At the very last minute, right before the fall semester was scheduled to start, when I thought I would be unemployed, SDSU hired me and now I'm teaching four classes of second semester writing.

So now I'm starting over again. I have an office and a key and a faculty parking pass.  When I attend meetings, I am staff and not a grad student.

It feels weird, sort of like I don't quite belong.
I'm concerned about grading 128 papers.
I'm concerned about trying to meet with 128 students.

I'm trying to plan lessons, and I'm not sure what will work.

I want to try blogging again.  I want to articulate my goals and objectives, why I choose the plans I choose, at the same time reflecting on what I do and what I wish I had done.

Hopefully this will make me a better teacher next semester, and the one after that.  

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/