Final Grades, Work at the Writing Center, and off to the boundless sea

Final Grades

I will begin grading your portfolios beginning at the end of class today (Thursday, December 16 at 12:15 pm).

Although I do not grade the work for the College Composition portfolio, you receive 25 points for creating a complete portfolio - so be sure to post your work.

I hope to read all of your work by Saturday night - at which time I will send you an email with a grade sheet very similar to the grade sheets you received for your "grade so far" in October, and then again in November. Read through your grade sheet to make sure you agree with the numbers. If you find errors or feel your grade does not accurately reflect your work for the course - contact me before Tuesday, December 21. If I do not hear from you before 6:00 pm Tudesday, I will assume that you feel the grade accurately reflects work for the course, and I will post that grade to Keanwise on December 23.

Work at the Writing Center

For those of you who indicated you were interested in working in the writing center as writing coaches - I will be in touch. I know for a fact I will be able to make only a very few hires for Spring, 2011. The University is hiring very few new student workers, and the use of the writing center in Spring is generally less than it is in fall, so I may not be able to justify additional workers. If I do not ask you to apply - it does not mean I judged you as not capable of working as a writing coach at our Writing Center. For the record, I would feel confident hiring every single student who put his/her name on that list.

If a job doesn't work out for Spring, I will forward your names, and you may be contacted for work in Fall, 2011.

YOU ARE A GREAT CLASS!

As you well know this was the first time Honors College Composition has been taught as a course to train writing center tutors, and I appreciated your comments and observations on what worked and what didn't. I was impressed with your good work and your persistance as we took on new ideas about writing - and about working with writers. It is not easy to change old habits for reading and writing - especially when they seemed to work - but each and every one of you stepped up to this challenge in one way or another. AWESOME. Your time here at Kean is an opportunity to do exactly that => to explore and discover not just new "information" - but new strategies for thinking and writing about that information. You made a good start on that exploring and discovery - and it was my pleasure to watch you do it.

Thanks for your good work - and good luck in your studies at Kean!

Creating Final Portfolios for College Composition

In class today you created your final portfolio for the college composition program, and started work on the Final Reflection on your work for this course.

The Composition Portfolio is created with a structure similar to the portfolio you created for ENG 1620 at google.sites. The structure is as follows.

Title of site: email loginportfolio (all one word)

General instructions:

• post un-marked copies of work
• invite ENG1620honorsenglish@gmail.com and collcomp@kean.edu to view your site

Structure:

Home page title: Reflective Introduction ENG 1620 Section 1

Sub-page titles:

1. Analytic Planning

2. Analytic Draft

3. Analytic Final Essay

4. Persuasive Planning

5. Persuasive Draft

6. Persuasive Final Essay

7. Final Summary Response Essay

8. End Point Exam

The prompt for the reflective essay is posted to the right.

Final essay = in-class Decmeber 9

Thursday will be the last day I accept observation sheets from the Writing Center.

Project 2: I returned comments for the revised drafts for Project 2. If you would like additional feedback, please schedule a conference and I can meet with you in my office = CAS 324.

Final Exam: We spent today's class talking through strategies for writing your in-class essays - with a particular focus on how to write your final exam. I emphasized that planning is essential - both before an during the exam. Anticipate the questions you will be asked and do some writing so that you have the language you will need already in your head. Think about the form you will need to use, and review your notes so that you have a recall (as opposed to recognition) mastery of the materials you need to discuss.

The final essay for this course will be a persuasive essay - and it will be graded on the criteria for persuasive writing.

• a clearly stated, compelling focus (the point you will argue) that replies to the prompt and is set up in the introduction
  
  
• awareness of the audience (show that you understand how to connect to + build on the assumptions and values your readers bring to the essay)
  
  
• organization
  - a sequence paragraphs with each paragraph presenting a point related to the focus that builds on earlier points in a logical way (present background information BEFORE referring to it);
  - paragraphs that introduce their point, develop that point with detailed examples/support, and then interpret/discuss the point with respect to the overall focus of the essay
  
  
• development that includes detailed, authoritative support
  
  
• style appropriate to the audience and purpose for the essay - your essay is an academic essay so the style should be clear and relatively formal (but DO NOT use words you would not normally use - this leads to stilted writing that can be hard to understand)
  
  
• sentences free enough from errors so as not to interrupt the flow and content of the essay

See you in class Thursday and good luck on your final essays.

Post Revised Project 2 + Revision Plan

In class today you worked with a partner or in small groups to plan final work for Project 2. You posted the revised draft for Project 2 + your plan for making final revisions on your Portfolio.

Over the weekend I will read your drafts + your plans for revising and give you feedback.

In class Tuesday I will give some general feedback on what you need to work on to finish Project 2, and we will spend the rest of class on a workshop for writing in-class essay exams. HTWA Chapter 9 offers a general plan. We will go through these general recommendations with your endpoint essay in mind.

Read: HTWA, Chapter 9 (254-259).

Have a good weekend!

Workshop your drafts

Today in class we looked through the calendar to review what we will be doing for the rest of the term. The schedule is as follows.

Dec 2: workshop Project 2 => revised draft Project 2 due at the end of class

Dec 7: Revised Project 2 returned, in-class workshop on writing essay exams

Dec 9: in-class final exam (like the baseline)

Dec 14: Due at beginning of class- Final draft Project 2; final exams returned, in-class workshop on portfolio

Dec 16: Final portfolio + reflective writing due at the end of class

Procedure for final grades:

I will send you a grade sheet (like the portfolio check grade sheets) on or before midnight, December 20. At that point you will have two days to get back to me to with any corrections, comments, or grade appeals. If I do not hear from you by Dec 22, I will assume that you are in agreement with the evaluation of your work for the course, and I will post your grade to Keanwise. I expect to post all grades before 6 pm Dec. 23.

Appointments for conferences:

Kyle: 3:40 Tuesday

Alexandria: 3:30 Wednesday

Dina: 3:50 Wednesday

Kyenna: 4:10

For Thursday:

Today will be another workshop for Project 2. Your complete essay will be due at the end of class.

Before turning in your essay - you will work in groups on your essays. After discussing your essay, you will write a brief description of what you need to work on for your final revision and post it to your portfolio.

During the last 15 minutes of class, you will complete the SIR II course evaluations.

Making a plan for the Analytic Essay

In class today you looked through the comments on the practice analytic essay, and made a plan to move forward on Project 2.

In the discussion of the Practice analysis essays, I pointed out that the common difficulties were:

1) developing sufficiently detailed discussion of the cause effect relationships in the video - and

2) connecting an interpretation of what the cause effect relationship in the video show to the overall focus of the essay.

Making a plan for your essay.

1. Brainstorm a focus (check the assignment sheet to make sure you have a focus that satisfies the requirements)

2. Watch the video with your focus in mind, and make note of the particular cause effect relationships you want to use to support that focus.

3. Make a list of the cause effect relationships from 2, where you note the cause, the effect, and what the relationship between the cause & effect show with respect to your focus.

At this point you should check the assignment sheet one more time to make sure you have a strong focus. Then check through the notes from the video to confirm that you will have enough material to develop that focus. If you do => you have a PLAN!

You spent the rest of class watching the video + planning your essays.

Homework for Tuesday:

1. Post the plan you developed in class to your portfolio.

2. Write a draft for Project 2.

In class on Tuesday you will workshop+ revise your essays.

Happy Thanksgiving and see you next week.

List of ideas for a focus for Project 2 video

1. how to clarify focus

2. evaluating the resources that the writer has- experience, unerstanding of area, writer vocab.

3. use of questions between writer and tutor

4. responding to writers attitudes- defensive, confidence, confusion, unconnfidence

5. coaches changing "stance"- beginning, middle, end-coaches response towards writers;' attitude

6. coaches stragey for revisions and brainstorming.

7. how talking led to claryfing the focus

Brainstorming for Project 2

We spent today's class studying the video you will use as your focus for Project 2. We read the assignment sheet and the essay the student brought to the writing session, and we watched two of the three segments from the writing session you will analyze.

We then brainstormed a list of ideas you might use for a focus for an essay that uses an analysis of the "action" in these videos to make a point about writing center work. These general statements were meant to give you some ideas that would help you "watch" the video for the particular interactions, conversations, or images that will support the point you want to argue in your essay.

Homework for Tuesday, November 23. By referring to the list we put on the board or by thinking through an idea of your own => state a focus you might use for your essay.

Then => do some brainstorming (similar to what the student in the video does!) to expand and develop that focus. What cause and effect relationships support your "conclusion" about the videos? What "points" would you make with respect to that focus? Which "scenes" could you use to develop those points? This brainstorming can take the form of lists, freewriting, descriptions, or other notes.

After you have done some brainstorming => write a thesis describing what your essay will show. This thesis needs to be specific (remember the difference between the thesis the writer in the video started with - and where she was going by the time she started to write).

Send this writing as an email. It is the Brainstorming assignment for Project 2 listed on the portfolio.

In class on Tuesday we will look through your Practice Analytic essays with the comments, talk about your thesis statements, and work on planning your essays. The Draft for Project 2 will be due Tuesday, November 30.

Videos for Project 2

First 5 Minutes

Analytic Paper

Conclusion

Project 2

In class today we went over the assignment sheet for Project 2. You then used coaching sessions on the Practice analysis 2 to explore which parts of your analytic writing were going well, and which parts you need to work on.

Homework:
Send an email in which you give the Practice Analysis 2 writing a grade based on the Content criteria for Project 2. Your email should describe how/whether you met each of the criteria, how many (if any) points you gave/took off with respect to each criteria, and the overall grade the essay should receive. This email should also describe the revision strategies you would use to revise for an "A" essay.

In class on Thursday we will watch the video for Project 2, and do some rhetorical analysis + prewriting to get started on the project.

Coaching in the writing center: Those of you who would like to try coaching some sessions at the Writing Center should send me an email - and I will contact the GAs on your shift.

Practice Analysis 2

In class today we talked in some detail about different kinds of cause effect relationships, and about how to use discussions of those different relationships to develop a cause-effect essay. (see HTWA pp. 138-143).

For homework: Use the notes and writing you developed for the Practice Analysis 1 assignments to write a complete cause-effect essay. If you want - you can use an entirely new focus (maybe one of the focuses listed on the board in class today). Your essay can be as long/short as you choose => but remember that the purpose is for you to practice and get feedback on analytic writing - before you turn in your graded essay (Project 2). At the top of your essay - write your focus. Turn your essay in as an attachment. The essay should follow the criteria/form we set up at the end of class discussion:

Introduction where you set up your focus (based on the kind of cause-effect analysis you will write about)=> overview of what you will analyze + what your analysis "shows" and/or why it is significant to writing center work

Background (if necessary)a paragraph to give a more detailed overview of the context or set of relationships you will analyze

Body of the analysis: a series of paragraphs where you:
identify a particular cause effect relationship and describe IN DETAIL the causes & effect (be sure to include both descriptive + interpretive statements about the causes + effects)
discuss how this particular cause-effect relationship connects to/shows something about your focus

A conclusion that sums up connections between your analysis + your focus and connects everything back to the importance/significance


In class Tuesday, you will "grade" your essays in terms of the criteria for Project 2 (which are very much like the criteria we developed in class last Thursday and which are listed on the blog for Practice Analytic Assignment 1). You will then turn in your graded essays - and I will also give you a grade (though it will only count as feedback for you - so you know how well you are doing).

Continue to take notes in the writing center, and to bring your tutor observation sheets to class so I can enter them into my gradebook.

Practice Analysis 1 continued

In class today we talked about the "parts" of an analysis. We talked about the different kinds of evidence you need to provide to develop an analysis of events that you observe (like coaching sessions); specifically we explored the difference between observations/descriptions and interpretations/inferences. Observations are what you actually see - such as the student leaning out of the conversation, speaking softly, saying "Do you think it's boring?" and covering her mouth as she listened to her work. Interpretations are statements about what those observations might mean => that the student is shy, uncomfortable, or an inexperienced writer.

We watched the video part by part, observing the interactions between what the student did & what the tutor did. Our assumption was that what happens before => causes what happens after. Detailed descriptions of what happened, the sequence of what happened, and your interpretations of the meaning of what happened will be the basis of the cause-effect analysis you will write for Project 2.

Specific observations are the "proof" for your interpretations. In class you practiced writing a detailed description that would support a statement that the student was uncomfortable.

Organizing cause-effect analyses. Toward the end of class, you wrote a ordered list of the points you would need to make (and the material you might include to develop those points) to form a kind of "outline" for an analysis of the video that focuses on showing how the tutor's moves helped to put the student at ease.

The overall outline in the sample paper was:

- set up focus => general statement that student was uncomfortable (Cause) & tutor's moves made her less uncomfortable (effect)

- level of student discomfort + moves tutor made during warm-up talk (might want to add more detailed description to illustrate/prove student discomfort + more detailed descriptions of tutor moves. Also might want to add a description of any changes in the student's appearance, behavior, talk, etc that indicates she is more comfortable)

-level of student discomfort + moves tutor made in transition to working on essay (what should be added?)

- level of student discomfort + moves tutor made during session (anything to add?)

- conclusion

In discussion that followed - several different patterns for organization were suggested. At this point - it might be useful for you to return to CH 5 in HTWA and re-read 138-143.

In class on Thursday we will talk about different kinds of causes (138-140) and about deciding on a focus for your analysis and associated patterns for organization.

Homework:
Re-read: HTWA 138-143.

Write: 1. Turn in the "outline" you started in class for an analysis of the tutoring video. Make sure your outline includes a clear statement of what your analysis shows. 2. State one point you will make with respect to what your analysis shows, and using observations (and appropriate interpretations) from the video - write a detailed description to support one of your points (it should be different from the point we worked on in class).

sample video analysis

During the video I noticed the cause and effect issues with a student feeling uncomfortable in the writing center. Observed in the video, the student showed signs of uneasiness during the session; however, the tutor made an attempt and had some progress in trying to relax the student.

At first the student seemed very awkward and embarrassed to be in the writing center. She hardly said a word to the tutor and really had no idea about what was going on. The tutors’ first attempt to dispel the discomfort included her asking what major the student was going into. Although, the student was undeclared and very self-conscious about her answer, the tutor continued on and mentioned being undeclared is okay for beginning students.

When the tutor began to transition into working on the paper she asked the student to read the essay for her. Unfortunately, the student was to shy to read her own paper and requested the tutor to read the essay for her. As the tutor read the essay, she showed much interest and made the session a bit more personal by saying she is interested in watching the movies that were brought up in the essay. Clearly, this was another effort made to relax the student.

Additionally, the tutor gave the student a great deal of positive feedback to boost the students’ confidence. Due to the encouraging advice, the student was able to break out of her shell a tad and read part of her essay after the tutor asked her a question. Even though the student still had uncomfortable body language, the tutor was able to relieve the tension before the session ended.

Obviously, the issue the student had was being uncomfortable. Luckily, the tutor knew how to react to this situation and clearly made a strong point not to give up on trying to make the student feel at least a little comfortable. Thankfully, the tutor was able to alleviate some of the anxiety the student was feeling.

Practice analytic paper

Note: Bring the tutor observation sheets that you have collected so far to class on Tuesday, November 9. I will do a quick check of your notes and make sure you are on track for gathering notes you can use to write the analytic paper.

We reviewed the overview of analytic writing in your textbook. In this discussion we established that causal analysis generally answers a question about relationships between causes & effects. We talked about the "parts" a cause-effect paper would need to include to meet its purpose, and listed them ( these were listed for a second time in the assignment sheet we developed for the homework assignment).

We also talked (quickly) through two of the sample analytic papers in your text book. Discussion of the essay on i-pods/technology emphasized that the organization (form) of your essay should be guided by the audience and purpose of your essay. In this essay, the writer argues against the "old fogeys" - who are also probably his primary readers; therefore he meets counter-arguments first (addresses causes/effects that may seem important but can be explained another way). Discussion of the speed limit essay illustrated the importance of looking at your focus in a way that is sufficiently complex to really explain (as opposed to appearing to explain) the relationships you are analyzing.

We spent the rest of class viewing and analyzing the video of a mock session between A (tutor) and S (student). We wrote a list of observations detailing what "happened" in the session - noting what seemed to be cause/effect relationships - and then watched the video again. After the second viewing we wrote a list of cause/effect questions that you might use as a focus for the homework assignment.

We then developed the criteria for the homework assignment:

Homework assignment=> due Tuesday, Nov. 9, as an email attachment.

Purpose: write an analytic essay with a focus for analysis that answers a question about cause effect relationships within the mock-session in the video.

Criteria (what the essay should include):

1. detailed (focused) descriptions of the cause effect relationships you will analyze

2. discussion of and claims for how the cause/effect relationships in the session "worked" as well as how they relate to your focus

3. clear statement of what the analysis shows (with respect to tutoring)

4. support for discussion & claims in 2.

Length: This essay should about a page but no more than a page and a half. The purpose of the assignment is to give you practice developing a cause/effect analysis so you can get some feedback on how you are doing before you work on the final project.

To keep this paper short - your paper should include a clear statement of your focus, a description of the cause/effect relationships you will analyze, and a conclusion. State them clearly - but you do not need to elaborate. For the analysis itself = analyze only 1 of your examples /claims. The other examples/claims to develop your analysis can be listed - but you don't need to develop the support.

Portfolio: I will be grading your portfolios over the weekend and you will have a second "grade-so-far" on Tuesday.

Reminders and answers to questions asked in class:

1. When you have a graded draft with comments => post that draft (rather than the ungraded copy).

2. The persuasive essay will be graded not only on form and content, but also on the quality of your revisions => so it is essential that you post successive drafts.

3. If you want me to "re-grade" earlier assignments - (work turned in with the first "grade-so-far" portfolio ) - make a note of what you want me to grade on the home page. Without a note requesting a new grade - I will not know that I needed to re-read earlier work and I will use the numbers from the first time you turned in your work.

Enjoy the rain!

Video

Work Day for Reflective Essay + Portfolio

Today you worked on your reflective essays for the Persuasive essay (assignment sheet posted to the right), and on setting up your portfolio.

We also talked about your observations in the Writing Center. You should be collecting your observation sheets. On class Thursday, bring the observation sheets you have collected so for - completed & dated, I will mark your credit in the grade book.

In class Thursday we will get started on the analytic essay.

Read: HTWA, Ch 5, Causal Analysis

Post all assignments through the Persuasive essay to the portfolio. I will grade portfolios over the weekend and you will receive another "grade-so-far."

Practice Coaching

Important notice: If you have trouble registering for your next English course because the online system does not recognize ENG 1620 as equivalent = go to OneStop and they can help you register.

In class today we discussed Chapter 8, Coping with Different Tutoring Situations. You did some role playing and talking to get some experience using language that can help you re-direct or re-start coaching sessions that have gone wrong.

In any case where you feel you are not able or up to dealing with a student you should excuse yourself and speak to the GA who is supervising the Center. In the rare case where a student becomes angry or abusive, you should not even attempt to resolve the situation; simply excuse yourself and speak to the GA.

For Tuesday:

Continue to observe coaching sessions in the center. Don't forget to sign-in, and to complete a tutor observation sheet. Be sure to date your tutor observation sheets. You will need to turn them in with your analytic essay.

Write: continue to work on your persuasive essay

During class you will work on the reflective writing for the persuasive essay, and on setting up your portfolio for the second grade check.

Workshop on Persuasive Essay

We spent most of class working through a sample persuasive essay. We used a strategy to create a "reverse oultine" to identify the position and claims argued by the author. We looked at each paragraph and pulled out the main point. We noticed that this author argued the counterargument FIRST - and noted that that was an especially good move - since she was arguing AGAINST the textbook. By acknowledging that the textbook had the right idea (but needed more information) she actually built on the "other side" to strengthen her argument. This is a good strategy for arguing against texts or people that have more authority than you have. Also - this essay used other authorities (books on teaching writing coaches) to challenge the authority of our textbook. This was also a smart move.

We also reviewed the schedule for observing in the writing center and went through the directions for what you are supposed to do. As stated on the syllabus & calendar, you will need a minimum of 5 observations in the Center. You need to complete a tutor observation sheet for each session you observed. The routine should go like this:

1. Sign in for your observation at the front desk. You should go in a few minutes early so you can find out which session you will observe. The Graduate Assistant (GA) will be there to help you. If there are no sessions for you to observe - the GA will set up a mock session or provide other instruction. If you would like to re-schedule - you may, but you should not be required to come back at another time.

2. Go through any preliminary instruction, discussion presented by the Graduate Assistant (GA). Ask questions.

3. Seat yourself off the the side, but where you can see. You may jot down a few notes - but be sensitive to the fact that you do not want to make the student and coach self conscious.

4. When the session concludes (it should be at least 10 minutes before the end of the hour), participate in any follow-up organized by the GA. Fill out your observation sheet.

As we discussed in class, your observation sheets will provide the basis for your final project for this course => the analytic essay. Be sure to fill in the date for each observation.

If you have any questions - ask me next class.

For Thursday:

Write: start to work on revising your persuasive essay. Read through the comments and if you have questions or don't know how to follow through on the suggestions - let me know.

Read: Chapter 8: Coping with Different Tutoring Situations

Due date for revised persuasive essay: November 4. Note: Even though the final draft for the persuasive essay will be due November 4 - come to class on November 2 prepared to work on your reflective essay (and give yourself a grade) for the final draft.

Thursday, October 21 - Sign up for time in Center

Today you turned in your observations sheets from class Thurs Oct 14 & Tues Oct 19, and we talked about how you were doing on your persuasive essay drafts. I will be reading your revised drafts over the weekend. I will look at your first draft, your plan for revising + your revised draft to get a snapshot of how you work on your writing.

We also reviewed the requirements for coaching in the center as it is written up on the course syllabus, and you signed up for 1 hour per week when you will participate in the center. You will write up a tutor observation sheet for each time period - either to document your own session, or to document your observation of work by one of the WC sessions. You will write observation sheets after the session - as you were instructed during your introduction to the Center (on either 10/14 or 10/19).

Here is the list of times you signed up for, with the name of the GA who will be there to work with you and answer questions.

Monday - 11:00 - Sam
Chris O'Keeffe

Monday - 12:00 - Sam
Kate Venter

Kristi Froisland

Monday 3:00 Eric

Melissa Flores

Lindsay Ireland

Tuesday 1:00 Angela

Alexandria Addesso

Kyle McLaughlin

Yurani Perez
Caroline Vargas

Tuesday 2:00 Angela

Sabrina DeJesus
Dina Rodrigues

Tuesday 3:00 Angela
Alexa Guillen

Bryan Erickson

Friday 12:00 Sam

Kyanna Sampson

George Bogner

Rees Kalthoff

If you have not yet signed up - you be sure to sign up for a time in class on Tuesday.

I passed out tutor observation sheets in class. Make copies so you can document your sessions.

Finally, we talked about R&Z's chapter on "Helping Writers Across the Curriculum." We listed the common genres that writers bring to the writing center and then discussed the main features of some of the less familiar genres. We also discussed strategies for working with a writer who wants help with a genre you are not familiar with. Assignment sheets, handbooks, online sites such as the Purdue OWL - and the GAs are all important resources. Remember that most of the time your purpose as a writing coach will be to ask questions to help the writer clarify his/her thoughts - and focus on the features of the essay s/he needs to work on.

No homework- except to begin attending & documenting sessions in the Writing Center at your assigned times. Be sure to sign in.

See you on Tuesday.

For Tuesday:

Read:

Tuesday October 19

I will not be in class as I planned today. Dr. Sutton will stop by to set you up.

You will be working in groups again - only this time Group 1 will do writing conferences and Group 2 will go to the writing center. Check the post from Oct 12 if you do not remember the assigned activities.

Writers in Group 1 should partner up as follows:

Addesso - Froisland

DeJesus - Erickson

Guillen - Rodrigues - Kalthoff

O'Keeffe - Vargas

If there are absences - adjust groups so you are all working in groups of two.

See you on Thursday.

Group 1 (listed below) will go to the writing center.

Alexandria Addesso, Sabrina DeJesus, Bryan Erickson, Kristi Froisland, Alexa Guillen, Rees Kalthoff, Chris OKeeffe, Dina Rodrigues, Caroline Vargas.

Erin will set you up to observe writing sessions in progress. Watch carefully, and write up the sessions you observe on the Tutor Observation Sheet. In addition to the comments, use the back to write up any additional questions, observations, ideas that came to you as you watched.

Due at the end of your time in the center: turn your observation sheet into Erin

Group 2 will report to CAS 307 and conduct writing conferences on the persuasive essay. You will work with the same partner you worked with last Thursday. The class is 75 minutes long. Manage your time so that each of you gets a 25 minute session with 5 - 10 minutes to write up notes.

Coaching partners:

Bogner – Perez

Flores – Sampson

McLaughlin –Cascone - Ventre

Ireland - Rodriguez

Due at the end of class: a plan for revising your persuasive essay from when you were the coach + a completed tutor observation sheet (from when you were the tutor). Turn the plan for revising your essay in as an attachment to an email. I will collect the completed tutor observation sheets on Tuesday.

For the dates + assignments associated with Project 1, see Chandler_Portfolio.

October 12: What to do for Thursday, 10/14

In class today we began planning for your work in the writing center. We went over strategies for note taking so your observations will be useful for you both in your coaching work - and as a basis for writing your analytic essay. We also visited the center space.

We also spent some time going over a brainstorming process for your persuasive essay. My notes are posted with the course documents, if you want to get a feel for how I would develop a topic for this essay.

For Thursday:

Write: Turn in your draft for Project 1 (persuasive essay) as an attachment. I will not be providing feedback to this draft, rather, it is the "start" you will use for work in your conference (either Thursday, or Tuesday, depending what group you are in). The Revised Draft is Due Thursday, October 21).

Group 1 (listed below) will go to the writing center.

Alexandria Addesso, Sabrina DeJesus, Bryan Erickson, Kristi Froisland, Alexa Guillen, Rees Kalthoff, Chris OKeeffe, Dina Rodrigues, Caroline Vargas.

Erin will set you up to observe writing sessions in progress. Watch carefully, and write up the sessions you observe on the Tutor Observation Sheet. In addition to the comments, use the back to write up any additional questions, observations, ideas that came to you as you watched.

Due at the end of your time in the center: turn your observation sheet into Erin

Group 2 will report to CAS 307 and conduct writing conferences on the persuasive essay. You will work with the same partner you worked with last Thursday. The class is 75 minutes long. Manage your time so that each of you gets a 25 minute session with 5 - 10 minutes to write up notes.

Coaching partners:

Bogner – Perez

Flores – Sampson

McLaughlin –Cascone - Ventre

Ireland - Rodriguez

Due at the end of class: a plan for revising your persuasive essay from when you were the coach + a completed tutor observation sheet (from when you were the tutor). Turn the plan for revising your essay in as an attachment to an email. I will collect the completed tutor observation sheets on Tuesday.

For the dates + assignments associated with Project 1, see Chandler_Portfolio.

October 7: Persuasive essay

Today we took a closer look at the assignment sheet for your persuasive essay in light of your reading assignment on arguments (Ch. 3 in HTWA). We talked about the audience for your essay and how you would establish your authority. You have an academic audience for this essay (me - as I stand in for faculty members at Kean University)and you listed Ryan and Zimmerelli's book, other tutoring manuals, and references to your personal experience as ways to establish your authority. We then began listing some of the topics from Chapters 4 & 5 that you might take a position on.

We also talked about the models for persuasive essays that were presented in HTWA - and I suggested that the essay from personal experience was probably most relevant to the kind of essay you would be writing. I pointed out that a 5-paragraph essay with a three-part thesis would not be appropriate for this assignment. You may be expected to use that form for persuasive essays for other courses - but we are working on a more flexible approach to deciding how to build arguments.

In this class - you are learning to make case-by-case decisions about how to focus, organize, and develop essays so that they respond to a particular audience and serve a particular purpose.

The assignments for Tuesday are DIFFERENT from what is written on the calendar. Do what I have listed below.

For Tuesday:

Write: Send me your Thesis statement (the position you will take in your persuasive essay) and a list of your claims (the points you will argue to support your thesis). You should include points that respond to arguments from the "other side."

If you have chosen a different topic than the topic for your initial brainstorming - you might also want to include brainstorming for your new topic.

The object of this writing is so that you can receive some feedback before writing your whole paper.

Read: HTWA, Chapter 3. Bring your book to class.

Tuesday, October 5: Evaluating your writing

Today we took a look at the calendar and talked about setting yourselves up for spending some time in the writing center and we talked about your persuasive writing assignment, but we spent most of the class working on how to figure out what kind of grade you will get on your writing assignments. Different teachers take different approaches, but the rubric we developed covers the main features that influence grades. Our rubric included: genre considerations, focus, organization + development.

After talking through the grades you gave to a sample essay, you evaluated your own essay in terms of our rubric, and sent the numerical grade to me in an email. If your grade matches the teacher's grade (mine), you will earn an extra 5 points.

The assignment sheet for the Project 1: Persuasive essay is posted under "writing assignments." We looked at the purpose + description and talked (very briefly) about some ideas for this essay.

For Thursday:

Write: Brainstorming for Project 1=> send to me as an attachment. The name of the file & subject line should be LastNameBrainstormProject1

This writing may include one or more of the following: listing, detailed listing (where you associate to or add more ideas beside items on your list); freewriting, clustering, researching (looking up ideas and making some notes about them); talking (and jotting some notes on ideas that came up in conversation); taking a walk or run or doing some other activity that can put you in the zone - and jotting notes on ideas that come up.

Read: Chapter 3, HTWA => Arguments (yes this is a long chatper. Skim the examples but focus on learning the vocabulary for talking about arguments: claims, assumptions, ethos, counterarguments).

Thursday, September 30 = Creating your portfolio

You spent most of class today working on your electronic portfolio (see previous post).

We also talked through the assignment for the reflective writing on your response essay. The assignment sheet is posted to the right.

If you have questions or get stuck with either of these assignments - I will be in my office most of the day Monday, and if you send me an email and set up a time we can meet.

For Tuesday:

Read: Guide: The writers you tutor

Write: Finish putting your work on your portfolio, and write your Reflective essay. Send a copy of the reflective essay as an attachment AND post it on your portfolio.

In class Tuesday we will start to talk about persuasive writing - and you will begin thinking about a topic you want to write about.

Have a good weekend!

Electronic Portfolios

The College Composition program requires all students to create an electronic portfolio to document their work for the course. In class on Thursday you will be setting up the electronic portfolio I will use to give you feedback on your work. This is a "practice" portfolio. You will set up the portfolio for evaluation by the Kean University Composition program at the end of the term. In all cases, we will go through the step-by-step process for creating your portfolio in class. You will use google.sites - one of the applications available through your Kean email.

To participate in this class you need to be able to use your Kean email. Make sure you have your password and that you can easily access your account.

A sample portfolio is available at https://sites.google.com/site/chandlerportfolio10319/

September 28

Today's class was devoted to workshopping your best response essay. This gave you a chance to practice what you have been reading in Ryan and Zimmerelli, and to get some support for where ever you were in your writing process.

In our discussion to set up for the coaching sessions, we mapped out a general approach for sessions based on what R&Z wrote.

• Introduce yourself - get comfortable
  
  
• Find out where the writer is in the writing process + what the writer wants to work on
  
  
• Develop some discussion about what the writer wants to work. This talk can allow the writer to re-think his/her issues, if necessary. This discussion might include - talking about the assignment sheet, (checking out whether the writing meets the audience, purpose, & form expectations set up by the instructor, or getting the writer to explain the focus to you, to describe the organization, or to talk about how s/he developed the essay's main ideas.
  
  
• Keep what you have heard from the writer in mind as you move into your session . Draw from the strategies and techniques outlined in your text.

From what I overheard in class - it sounds like you are making good use of these sessions.

For Thursday:

1. Finish revising your best response essay and send it to the ENG1620 email as an attachment.

2. Make sure you can get into your kean email account. You will be using google.sites associated with your kean email account to create your electronic portfolio for this course.

If you have questions - be in touch.

Thursday, September 23

Today we talked through revisions - with a special focus on revising response essays.

Common issues were:

1. Clarifying the focus (making sure you made a point in response to one point by R&Z)
2. Writing a stronger introduction + conclusion
3. Strengthening your focus (making sure each paragraph developed your focus in a different way)
4. Development - making sure you included new material -examples/illustration/discussion to support/open up YOUR points => the response to R&Z
5. Organization - checking that you state the authors' point (what you are responding to) before developing your response; checking that you set up the overall point before developing the supporting points

After talking about strategies for working on each of these issues, you worked in pairs to conduct coaching sessions on your draft essays. I will look through the emails you wrote about your experiences as coach + writer - and if you don't hear back from me - that means you are on track.

For Tuesday:

1. Write an analysis that compares the strengths & weaknesses of your two drafts, and states how you chose which essay to revise. We listed points for analysis on the board. These included:

• strength + clarity of the focus
• lots of material for development
• stronger overall organization
• better intro + conclusion
• will learn more from revising (be sure to state what you will learn)
• like the topic better (still need to include analysis of the strengths + weaknesses)

2. Write a plan for revising your draft. This plan should identify what you need to work on - and include some of the prewriting/revising activities you will use to work on your revision.

This writing does not need to be a polished essay. I am looking for logical in-depth reasoning that will set you up to write a strong essay. This writing should be turned in as an attachment to the course email before class Tuesday.

In class on Tuesday you will conduct coaching sessions where you work on revising your essays. If you know you will not have much time to work on your writing between Tuesday and Thursday - you should probably come to class with a draft - but you are not required to turn in a revised draft until Thursday.

Have a good weekend!

Tuesday, September 21

Today's class was both about mastering the material described in Chapter 3: "Inside the Tutoring Session" - and about working on your next draft response essay - which is a response to this chapter.

Kate generously agreed to participate in a model session. I asked you to pay attention to the "moves" we made in the session - and to see which ones from our list on the board we actually talked through. We then talked about what you saw = and set you up to conduct your own sessions.

You started by doing some pre-writing - and then worked with a coach (or you were the coach). At the end of class you (briefly) reported back on how your sessions went. It sounded to me like you are making progress toward a focus (which part of the chapter you will write about= the summary part) - but that many of you are still struggling with what you have to say in response.

You might make moves similar to the moves you made in your response to the writing process - that is - you might respond by writing about how(from your perspective):

• your focus is new to you and how it will help you be a better coach (or not)
• your focus connects to other parts of the coaching process and why it helps to see the different parts as connected (or not)
• your focus is (from your perspective) really the most important part of the coaching process and why
• your focus is important to new coaches
• etc

For Thursday:

Write: a response to Chapter 3.

Read: HTWA, Ch. 33&34. These chapters are short - and contain suggestions that can help you with revising your work (33) and with peer workshopping (34).

Good work today - and see you in class Thursday.

Thursday, September 16

You should have received your revised summary in your email box - with comments. If you turned in your essay and did not receive comments - send me an email, I may have emailed the wrong address. We discussed the kinds of comments the class as a whole received on their work - and talked about some of the general patterns in academic writing that you were practicing in this assignment. In particular, we pointed out that the general rules are that most academic essays essays begin and close with a statement of overall focus (and that in general the into & conclusion should match) and that discussion of individual points set up a general statement of the point before listing/describing particulars.

We spent the rest of the class working on your response to the chapter on writing process. We first analyzed the assignment in terms of the anticipated audience, purpose & form. We then looked carefully at the assignment sheet & the sample essay.

This essay requires a focused summary + your response to the points within that focus. We talked about subject by subject (or block by block) versus point by point patterns for organizing discussions. The rest of the class was devoted to work on your draft. You worked in small groups and on your own.

Homework for Tuesday:

Read: "Inside the tutoring session," Ch 3 in Bedford Guide

Write: Draft response to Ch 2, "The Writing Process"

To receive credit for your draft response essay you need to email it to ENG1620honorsenglish@gmail.com as an attachment before class Tuesday.

Have a good week end and see you on Tuesday.

Tuesday, September 14

You received your revised baseline essay with comments in your email account - as an attachment. To view the comments either download and open the document - or you can see them in google.docs. I provide a couple of general overview comments + specific responses to particular points in your essay. This is the general form that for feedback to your work. I will be reading the summaries - and hope to get them back to you by Thursday with comments.

Writing Process. After discussing some general comments on the essays the class wrote in response to the baseline prompt we talked about (actually, mostly I talked about) the writing process. The chapter points out that writing does not go from brainstorming through drafting to revising and proofreading in a linear process. It is jumbled up and recursive. The examples in the chapter serve to point out the various places where writers get stuck; the chart points out the practices/processes associated with prewriting, writing, and revising.

I suggested that rhetorcial analysis is an important part of the prewriting process. Rhetorical analysis is the process you use to step back and strategize about what you will write. You consider who you are writing for, the purpose for your writing, what the audience's expecations are in terms of form and content => and you think about what content (ideas) would best meet these demands from audience, purpose & form. A little bit of thinking + some notes about what you need to do before you begin writing your paper can save you a lot of re-writing - and set you up to write stronger, smarter papers.

Response essay. As you suspected - you are going to have to write a paper about the assigned reading. The assignment sheet for this assignment is at the right - and it provided directions for the writing assignment . BUT - you are NOT supposed to write this paper for Thursday. Instead, you are supposed to do some brainstorming (and maybe some rhetorical analysis?) to set yourself up to write this paper.

Homework for Thursday.

Brainstorming for your response essay. As I left class you were doing some freewriting. I am hoping you add to this - and do some serious thinking about what you might write about for this response essay. What kind of a response do you think would make a good essay for this assigment? What do you need to for this assignment? What would be a good idea for the form for the essay? Put your thinking on the page.

Read: Chapter 10: Position paper, HTWA This is a short chapter with a sample for one kind of response paper.

Thursday, September 9

Writing Summaries: We talked about your experience summarizing Ryan and Zimmerelli's chapter on professionalism - and you said what most writers say: it is hard to make keep short(sum up the essay in terms of the principles/ideas/concepts) and to use specific, particular language at the same time. Yep. That is what is really hard about writing summaries. And there is no formula for when to go long and when to simmer it down to one sentence - you have to figure out which way you need to go in terms of the particular situation.

Your assignment was to write a summary in 250 words - which is short. So you needed to figure out ways to identify the underlying ideas + name them. We looked at the introduction & conclusion and saw the word "principles" used in both places => which suggests this essay is about. . . (you fill in this blank and you have the focus of your summary). We then went through the bullet points to see what they had in common - to see if we could find one sentence or one set of words that applies to all the bullets. You did a great job on this and identified a slightly different set of words for each of the sections. We also noticed that the teacher & student sections had some connections in terms of the ideas. This talk (thinking) set you up with ideas and language for "condensing" what Ryan and Zimmerelli wrote - without using their language or the particular examples they offered.

Using the assignment sheet. We used the assignment sheet to make sure the summary you wrote corresponded to the expectations of the audience. Assignment sheets almost never provide everything you need to know to write the "right" essay - but they are the best place to start.

Format for college English essays. We also talked about formatting. You made a "template" that you can use for any MLA document. That way, you don't have to worry about the default settings on the word processing program of what ever computer you are working with. You can just open your template and you are in MLA-land. For other formats - you can go back to HTWA or the Purdue OWL - and set yourself up.

We also talked briefly about the kind of style an academic audience would expect in a summary. Although there is no hard and fast rule about using personal pronouns, in a summary - it is not your perspective that matters => it is the author's. So you present all the information in terms of the authors' perspectives. Ryan and Zimmerelli. . . state that, suggest, present, indicate, point out that, show, discuss, explain, etc. You can also use other "signal" words to show that you are reporting what someone else has written: according to, in the essay by, etc.

Sample Writing Conference: After talking through the kinds of changes that my quick read through your essays indicated you would want to work on - Kristi (thank you) volunteered to participate in a sample writing center conference with me - to work on her essay. She did a great job - and it looked like she got some ideas for what to work on. In a real writing center conference she would have had more time to write - and she probably would have read some of her work back to me, and we would have worked on it some more - but what we did was fairly representative of the kinds of interactions that take place.

You pointed out the most important features of conferences: the coach makes the student feel comfortable, asks questions, points out and validates what the student does well, provides information about the writing task and strategies for working on writing, and listens to the writer's ideas. The writer owns her work, takes responsibility for making changes, tells the coach what s/he wants to work on, and WRITES!

Good class today. Thank you for your good work.

For Tuesday - I will return your baseline essays and we will spend some time talking about them. You will receive a grade - but it is a "feedback" grade (information about where your writing stands in terms of college expectations) => it won't count toward your grade for the course.

Write: revise your summary of Ryan and Zimmerelli's chapter. Turn in the revised summary as an attachment to an email sent to ENG1620HonorsEnglish@gmail.com. (NOTE: you do NOT have to write the summary of your writing process).

Read: In the Guide for Writing Tutors: Chapter 2, "The Writing Process," pp. 7-18. Also, check out the chapter titles/headings in HTWA. See if there is anything in the table of contents that you think will be particularly important for you. We can talk about this on Tuesday, and if you -as a class- have particular writing issues you want to cover - I will make sure we spend some class time on them.

See you on Tuesday!

Tuesday, September 7

We started today's class by reviewing unfinished business from the last class. There was confusion over the assignment to revise your diagnostic essay and turn it in as an attachment to the ENG1620HonorsEnglish@gmail.com address. So here is the second try at that assignment.

On the first day of class - you wrote an in-class essay and sent it to me as an email. That was your draft. To receive feedback and comments, you need to revise the in-class writing and send the revised essay to me as an attachment. You should name the revised essay: LastnameDiagnosticRevised. You also should put LastnameDiagnosticRevised as the subject for the email.

You should turn in your revised essay before class Thursday, September 9. The instructions on the Diagnostic prompt state that instructors should not grade or respond to the in-class writing. I will grade and provide comments only for the revised essay. As of today, I have revised essays for about half the students in the class. If I receive your essays soon enough for me to read them and provide comments - I will return the graded essays by Thursday. Otherwise, I will return the Revised Diagnostic essays with grades and comments on Tuesday, Sept 14.

I think everything else was OK - if you have further questions - drop me an email. So - ok for that!

Discussion of Chapter 1 in Lee Ryan and Lisa Zimmerelli's The Bedford Guide for Writing Tutors.

We used two important learning strategies for exploring the content of Ryan and Zimmerelli's chapter: writing and talking. After you wrote what you remembered from the reading - and talked to your classmates about what you remembered from the reading - we reflected on how these two learning strategies are different.

Writing is private, "slow" and it puts your ideas out there where you can see them. It helps you generate language you might use - and helps you keep track of and organized what you have thought "so far."

Talking is interactive, "fast" and generates new possibilities (both because you have more people with more ideas - and because other people's words draw out "associations" we might not have connected to on our own). It is good for generating ideas, for getting "unstuck", for seeing readings in new ways. Also - putting what you learned into words help you discover what you learned.

This is not the whole list; the purpose of the exercise was both to give you a chance to get to know one another - and to start you thinking about working with writers and when it might be time to write - and when it might be time to talk.

Summaries.

The first assignment in the College Composition Curriculum is a Summary/Response. In a summary/response essay students summarize a text - and then write their thoughts/feelings/ideas about that text. The problem is - instructors can mean one of several things when they request a summary:

1. state all the points and ideas developed in an essay

2. present all the main ideas

3. state the main concepts or ideas relevant to a particular focus

4. encapsulate or synthesize the main ideas

We then got a start on writing an assignment sheet for the summary you will write for homework.

We first had to decide what kind of summary you were writing. I think we decided it was a combination of 3 & 4.

****For any writer - deciding exactly what it is the audience wants of you (and for students the audience is usually the teacher) is perhaps the most important part of the writing task. Before you begin writing - start with some up-front, analytic thinking about:

• who you are writing for,
• what you should write
• the form you should write it in.

The assignment sheet for the homework summary should help you answer those questions.

For Thursday:

1. Read Tips for Summaries (under readings); and Chapter 40 in HTWA: Summarizing Sources.

2. Write a summary of Chapter 1 of Ryan and Zimmerelli; the assignment sheet is posted to the right under Writing Assignments. Email your summary to ENG1620HonorsEnglish@gmail.com, as an attachment. The subject and the name of the file should be LastNameSummaryProf.

3. Email your revised diagnostic essay to ENG1620HonorsEnglish@gmail.com. See above for how to name the file & what to write in the subject line.

Thanks for your good work in class today! I especially appreciate the corrections to the Calendar and the questions about course policies. And keep working on names - maybe ask a classmate out for coffee? See you on Thursday.

First Day

What we did in class today: I presented a lightning-fast introduction to the course and the course materials and you wrote the diagnostic essay that provides the College Composition program with information about your knowledge and practices for writing BEFORE you took any college courses.

Some of you were unable to complete the Attitude Survey because of issues with your Kean Email. If you had trouble logging on - you should call the Office of Computers and Information Services (OCIS) at 908 737 6000, or visit them in person. For the location of the office go to: http://www.kean.edu/~ocisweb/index.htm . Please complete the attitude survey as soon as you can log in.

You also sent me an email about your process for writing in-class essay exams. These emails indicated a wide range of approaches - which is great. We are clearly going to do some learning from each other!

I apologize for not giving you a chance to introduce yourselves - to each other and to me. We will catch up with that on Tuesday.

Homework for Tuesday:

1. Read the course syllabus & calendar + send me an email stating that you have read it. If you have questions or concerns, include them in this email and we can talk them over in class. The Subject for this email should be: LastNameSyllabus.

2. Revise your in-class essay. I will be evaluating this version of the essay and will give you feedback on how well it matches up with the standards for college writing. You will turn in the revised essay as an attachment to an email sent to ENG1620HonorsEnglish@gmail.com. The subject should be: LastNameDignosticRevised.

3. Read Chapter 1 in The Bedford Guide for Writing Tutors: "The Writing Center as a Workplace." Come to class prepared to state, in your own words, the main ideas in this chapter.

What we will do in class Tuesday:

We will introduce ourselves properly, address questions & problems about the syllabus, calendar & using this web site + talk about the assigned reading. We will also talk about academic summaries - and talk about strategies for writing different kinds of summaries.

Have a great weekend and see you on Tuesday!

Welcome to ENG 1620

This is the course blog for ENG 1620. As stated on your syllabus (see link to the right, under course documents) the calendar, syllabus, assignment sheets, some of the assigned readings, and important links will be available here. We will use a range of sites and software for this course - but this blog will be "home."

My email for this course (listed on the syllabus) is ENG1620HonorsEnglish@gmail.com. You will turn in assignments and I will send you feedback on your work through that email address. If an emergency comes up - or if you have a question about an assignment or work at the center that needs answered right away - use my Kean email: schandle@kean.edu. I check the ENG Honors English email when assignments are turned in - but I check my Kean email several times a day.

I am still compiling the course documents and readings that will fill out the link lists to the right. As they are created - and as we get to them in the course - I will post them. I will try to remember to post documents as .rtf files so that everyone - no matter what word processing program you have - can read them. If you do not have Word as your word processor, you should turn in your work as an .rtf.

Also - some of the readings may be posted as .pdf files. You will need adobe reader to open these files. If you do not have Adobe reader, you can download it (for free) at: http://www.adobe.com/products/reader/

So far so good - and I'm looking forward to meeting you in class.