Syllabus

Please note that this syllabus might change as the semester progresses and we get to know each other.

I will not add major assignments or change anything that would impact your grade in the class without extensively talking with you about it first. I mostly want to let you know that sometimes I switch out readings (or other texts) to better accommodate the students who are in this section as I get to know you and your interests.

🤝Unit 0: Introduction To the Class 

This introductory unit will introduce us to each other and you to the course. In it, we’ll discuss what Writing about Writing means, get to know each other, and learn about the procedures and policies in this class. 

We’ll also discuss the grading agreement and the upcoming assignments in the first unit. You’ll end this unit by completing the first phase of the Goal Setting Assignment: an assignment that you’ll return to twice throughout this semester to reflect on your progress in this class. 

Monday, January 31: Course Introduction 

Questions: What is Writing About Writing? Who is in this class? What questions do we have about the policies after taking the survey? 

Before class: 

During class: 

  • Introduce course + each other
  • Watch “Introducing Students to Writing About Writing” (Downs and Wardle), and reflect on the first-year composition class that you took as a first-year student.
  • Freewriting exercise: What was the topic of your first-year composition class (English 110 if you took it at QC)? Did you learn about writing studies research? Have you ever studied writing pedagogy / writing about writing in the past? How can learning more about this research help you in your future goals? 

Wednesday, February 2: Assessment and Grades in English 200W

Questions: How will my work be assessed in this class? Do grades help students learn?  

Before class: 

  • Watch Kaitlynn Lee’s video series on grading contracts: Part 1, Part 2, Part 3, and Part 4. Note: Kaitlynn is my former student. She completed this four-part series as her final assignment for this class last semester where her goal was to teach fellow students more about grading contracts, and I’m using these videos with her permission. What you’re seeing is both the “draft” version of her work (Part 1 and Part 3) and also the “final” version of the work (Part 2 and Part 4) that she added after her conferences and peer reviews. 
  • Read the grading agreement for this class.  
  • Read Goal Setting Assignment and skim the Feedback Menu. If you have questions or comments about the Goal Setting Assignment, you can note them using the Google Docs comment feature. Hang on to your feedback menu questions to ask them in class. 
  • If you have any remaining Slack orientation tasks to finish or if you haven’t yet filling out the Interactive Syllabus Survey, please do this ASAP. 

During class: 

  • Discuss the grading agreement
  • Discuss the Goal Setting Assignment and the feedback menu  
  • Freewriting exercise: (1) How are you understanding the grading agreement so far? How is this the same or different from other ways that you’ve been assessed? Do you have any questions or concerns?; or (2) What are some of your greatest goals for yourself and your writing this semester? Do you have any big questions about writing research? 

Monday, February 7: Unit 1 Assignments  

Question: What is Weekly Work? How will my weekly work for Unit 1 relate to the end-of-unit assignment? 

Before class: 

  • Read Assignment 1: Literacy Interview. Leave any questions that you have via the Google Docs comment feature on the prompt. 
  • Look at the options that are available to you for Unit 1 Weekly work. Each week, you’ll choose any task from this list and turn in one task per week starting on Wednesday, February 16th. There are more tasks than weeks, and everyone has to do one class recap assignment, so you’ll have three other choices to make about the other tasks you want to attempt in this unit. Think about the relationship between this work and the Literacy Interview assignment, your goals for yourself this semester, what looks interesting, and what you think you might want to attempt.
  • If you have any remaining Slack orientation tasks to finish or if you haven’t yet filling out the Interactive Syllabus Survey, please do this ASAP. 

During class: 

    • Discuss Assignment 1: Literacy Interview
    • Discuss the weekly work assignment options for Unit 1 and which ones you want to try. 
    • Freewriting exercise: Which weekly work assignments will you pursue (other than the recapping assignment?) 

Wednesday, February 9: Goal Setting Assignment Due Today 

Before class: 

During class: 

In-class writing time to work on your Goal Setting Assignment and to discuss the assignment with peers (please bring your computers!) If you prefer to handwrite and type it up later, that’s OK too, but please bring what you’ve written so far to class. 

💬 Unit 1: Investigating Our Literacy Beliefs 

In this unit, we’ll take a look at some key debates within the field of Writing Studies that have attempted to disrupt common assumptions about writing, reading, literacy, language, and education. At the end of this unit, you’ll investigate one of these debates deeply by interviewing someone in your life about a belief that they have about literacy or writing, reading Writing Studies research about the topic, and then writing a research-supported response to the interview.    

Monday, February 14th: Defining Writing in a Digital Age 

Question: What are “texts”? What is multimodality? What is “literacy” in the digital age?

Before class: 

During class: 

  • Freewriting exercise: Reflect on your experiences with college writing. How often are you asked to compose in modes other than alphabetic text? In your life inside and outside of school, how often do you engage with texts that are multimodal? How much of your education has reflected the NCTE’s definition of literacy in the digital age? 
  • Discuss: “An Introduction to and Strategies for Multimodal Composing” 
  • Discuss the National Council of Teachers of English’s position statement “Definition of Literacy in the Digital Age.”

Wednesday, February 16th: The Literacy Crisis  

Question: Is student literacy In decline? 

Before class: 

During class: 

  • Freewriting exercise: What did you make of Williams’s point that the literacy crisis is exaggerated? Can you think of any examples of the literacy crisis narrative that you see in the world around you (i.e. “Kids these days can’t [XYZ] as well as they used to”)? 
  • Discuss “Why Johnny Can Never, Ever Read” 
  • In-class work time on your first weekly work assignment (please bring your computer to class!) 

Monday, February 21

School holiday: no classes today. 

Wednesday, February 23: Sample Interview #1

Before class: 

During class: 

  • Freewriting exercise: Think about Labiba’s structure, the questions she asks, and the reflective component at the end. What about this interview would be helpful for you to “borrow” as you think about your own Assignment 1? 
  • Discuss “The Influence of Schools on the Perceptions of ‘Standard’ English”
  • In-class work time on your second weekly work assignment (please bring your computer to class!) 

Monday, February 28: Giving Good Feedback 

Question: How can I give good feedback on writing? 

Before class: 

During class: 

  • Freewriting exercise: Can you think of a time that you got really good (or really bad!) feedback from a teacher or a professor? In what ways did this feedback reflect (or not) the practices that Sommers describes in her article or podcast episode?
    Submitted by Ashley: “How did you apply the feedback to the work? Did you find that you had similar problems that students faced in the article when they received feedback?”
  • Discuss “Responding to Student Writing” and the accompanying podcast. 

Wednesday, March 2: Revision 

Question: What are some revision strategies that I can use whenever I get feedback? 

Before class: 

During class: 

  • Freewriting exercise: This piece is written for an audience of students who are not as far along in their college career as you are (first-years), but hopefully, the advice is still useful. What is one takeaway from this article that you have about using feedback that you hadn’t considered before, or what is one strategy that Grauman mentions that you’ve tried successfully? When you get feedback on your work, what do you do with it? 
  • Discuss “What’s That Supposed To Mean? Using Feedback In Your Writing” 
  • In-class work time on your third weekly work assignment (please bring your computer to class!) 

Monday, March 7: Writing and Technology Use

Does texting / technology use ruin students’ writing?

Before class:   

  • Read “Texting Ruins Students’ Grammar Skills” (Warnock)
  • In the #literacyinterview channel on Slack, write a short post updating us on the progress that you’ve made on the Literacy Interview (Have you contacted your interviewee? Have you written out your interview script? Have you practiced using the recording device that you’re going to use? Have you scheduled your interview?), and write at least three questions that you’re planning to ask your interviewee.   

During class: 

  • Freewriting exercise: In “Texting Ruins Students’ Grammar Skills,” Scott Warnock argues that, actually, the opposite is true. Not only does texting not negatively impact writing, it might sometimes positively impact it. Still, every time I assign this piece, students argue with this conclusion! Tell me what you think: are you convinced by Warnock’s argument, or do you disagree? Why?
  • Submitted by Tasnim: Did Warnock challenge any of the beliefs you originally had with his argument? Or did they remain the same? Was there any part of Warnock’s opinions/beliefs that were interesting, surprising, shocking, or “new” to you? What are your thoughts on texting, in general? (i.e.: Do you think it is helpful? How often do you engage in it? Do you think that the age at which you started texting had an effect on you, whether it be academically, mentally, etc.?)
  • Submitted by Alessio: Are you convinced that any of the grammar rules listed on page three of Warnock’s passage are the only rules in the world of writing? If not, what other rules can you think of?
  • Discuss “Texting Ruins Students’ Grammar Skills”  

Wednesday, March 9: Final Weekly Work Deadline for Unit 1

Before class: 

  • Read “Let’s Get Motivated!” (Dandridge, Google Doc). This interview that former student ilana Dandridge conducted with her cousin, Stephanie, has a different organizational style than the other one that you read. As you read, consider the differences and similarities to the other interview in the way that Dandridge asks questions, inserts her personal reflections throughout the text, and analyzes the interview at the end. 
  • Work on your fourth Weekly Work assignment, which will be due tonight at 11:59pm. Catch up on submitting any other weekly work that you have not already submitted. Tonight is the final deadline for weekly work in Unit 1. 

During class: 

  • Discuss “Let’s Get Motivated!” 
  • In-class work time on your final weekly work assignment(s) for this unit (please bring your computer to class!)

Monday, March 14: Catch Up Day 

  • By tonight’s 11:59pm deadline, turn in the raw footage of your audio interview for the Literacy Interview using the assignment submission form. If your file is too big to submit via the form, you can send it to me on Slack, but please still fill the form out. This does not need to be the edited piece: just the actual interview footage, the recording, or (if you e-mailed with the person, or conducted the interview over a messaging platform) the text transcript. 

During class: 

  • Today is a catch-up day. I will give you some class time to conduct your interview (if you’re interviewing someone from this class), to catch up or check in with me about any outstanding weekly work assignments, to revise things that need to be revised, or to work on the first draft of your Literacy Interview. If you don’t need to do any of these things because you’re fully caught up, you are welcome to take today to do other work. 

Wednesday, March 16: First Draft of the Literacy Interview 

Before class: 

During class: 

  • Sign up for optional draft conferences
  • Set up peer review. Meet with your partner, and determine a plan for exchanging drafts. 
  • In-class work time (if time) on the first draft 

Monday, March 21st: Peer Review Due 

During class

Meet once again with your partner to discuss any additional questions that you have about your peer review, and then work on your peer review in class. In-class conferences for those who signed up for them. There are still spots in the #conferences channel! 

Wednesday, March 23: Final Literacy Interview 

During class: 

  • Freewriting exercise: Revisit the Goal Setting Assignment (particularly requirement #9) and think about the progress that you’ve made so far on your writing in this semester both in this class and in any other writing that you’re doing inside and outside of school. What did you accomplish in Unit 1? What’s going well in this class? What’s not going well? What do you still want to try to develop in Unit 2? 
  • End-of-unit check-in: I want you to have time to work on your Literacy Interview. Today in class, let’s check in about how class recaps are going, what weekly work options were helpful or not as helpful this unit, and any ideas or suggestions that you have for the second half of this class.  

💬 Unit 2: Liberation Literacies, Linguistic Justice and Linguistic Negotiation  

Monday, March 28: Unit 2 Set-Up

Before class: 

During class: 

  • Discuss Teach What You’ve Learned 
  • Discuss the update to the Goal Setting Assignment.
  • Discuss Weekly Work options for Unit 2: what’s new, what’s the same, what looks interesting?  

Wednesday, March 30: Unit 2 Goal Setting and Group Agreement for Unit 2

Before class: 

During class: 

  • Discuss Group Agreement and Language For Talking About Linguistic Justice and Liberation Literacies 
  • In-class work time on the Goal Setting Assignment. If you have already submitted this, you can use this time to work on other things or to leave a bit early today. 

Monday, April 4: “Standard” English 

What is “standard” English? Who determines the standard?

Before class:    

During class:  

  • Revisit our Group Agreement
  • Freewriting exercise: In “What Should Colleges Teach? Part 3,” cultural critic Stanley Fish says that writing teachers should “clear [their] mind of the orthodoxies that have taken hold in the composition world” which claim that we should teach and value a variety of student language practices in expansive ways. How does Vershawn Ashanti Young critique this point in “Should Writers Use They Own English?” What are your thoughts on Young’s point that it is oppressive audiences (rather than students with “nonstandard” language resources) that need to change? What would need to change about schools in order for this to happen? 
  • Discuss the Conference on College Composition and Communication’s “Students’ Right To Their Own Language.” 
  • Discuss “What Should Colleges Teach?” and “Should Writers Use They Own English?” 

Wednesday, April 6: Liberation Literacies

Question: What are “liberation literacies”?

Before class: 

During class:  

  • Freewriting exercise: Jamilah Lyiscott talks about the necessity for a paradigm shift to make liberation literacies more possible in schools. She asks us to consider five parts of this paradigm: awareness (of our identity within a school, classroom, or other professional space); access (the groups of people with whom we have some credibility or who we understand well);  actualization (what we can do in our own capacity to diminish linguistic injustice); achievement (how our classrooms or other professional spaces can meet rigorous standards for equity); and alteration and action (how we prepare ourselves to support and understand different ways of knowing). During class today, we will spend some time reflecting on how this paradigm could be applied to our current or future educational or professional spaces. 
  • In-class work time on your first Weekly Work assignment of Unit 2, which will be due tonight at 11:59pm (bring your computer!) 

Monday, April 11: Linguistic Justice 

Question: What could an antiracist English or writing class look like?

Before class: 

  • Watch April Baker-Bell’s video describing her research and her book, Linguistic Justice.  
  • Read “We Been Knowin: Toward an Antiracist Language and Literacy Education” (Baker-Bell). Please note that this article contains descriptions of racialized violence and also a racial slur. These are both important parts of the article that the author needed to include in order to tell the story that she is trying to tell. 
  • In the #teachwhatyouvelearned channel on Slack, give us an idea of what you think this project will be about. Will it be an extension of what you started to learn in the Literacy Interview, or are you going to choose something else? Who will your audience be, and why do they want to know about this research? What modality do you think that you’ll use to communicate with your audience? You can always change your mind, but give us an idea. 

During class:  

  • Freewrite: In addition to the use of Black language resources in academic and other professional spaces that Baker-Bell, Lyiscott, and Young’s work all discuss, Baker-Bell and Lyiscott (the Ted Talk from last week) both use storytelling in their literacy scholarship. What is the effect of this for you as a reader? How can grounding our work in personal stories about our lives, communities, and language resources help us to communicate with audiences? Have you noticed other uses of storytelling in the scholarship we’ve seen this semester or in scholarship that you have encountered outside of this class? 
  • Discuss: “We Been Knowin: Toward an Antiracist Language and Literacy Education” and Baker-Bell’s concept of linguistic justice  

Wednesday, April 13: Teach What You’ve Learned student example texts 

Before class: 

  • Listen to Tyra McGlashen’s podcast episode. This was a Teach What You’ve Learned final project that Tyra created for this class last semester. As you listen, consider what the aural format of this podcast allows Tyra to do differently than a written text. Also consider how she integrates secondary research that she conducted on her topic. 
  • By the 11:59pm deadline tonight, complete the second Unit 2 weekly work task of your choice. If you would like to do a Whole Class Conference, please tell me by tonight! 

Monday, April 18: Spring Break

No class—spring break! 😎

Wednesday, April 20: Spring Break 

No class—spring break! 😎

Monday, April 25: Translingualism and Translanguaging

Question: What is translingualism and translanguaging? 

Before class: 

During class: 

  • Discuss: “Translanguaging” and “Teaching Bilinguals (Even When You’re Not One)” 
  • Freewrite: What (if any) kinds of connections do you see between liberation literacies /  antiracist pedagogy / linguistic justice and how you are currently understanding translingualism and translanguaging?

Wednesday, April 27: Catch Up Day and Final Weekly Work Deadline for Most Weekly Work 

Before class: 

  • By the 11:59pm deadline tonight, complete the third Unit 2 weekly work task of your choice. Please note that this is the final weekly work deadline for most weekly work tasks (but there are still a few that are possible to complete.) You are still able to go to the Writing Center and Give Feedback and Share a Draft.

During class: 

Today is a catch-up day. I will give you some class time to finish revisions to weekly work that you need to catch up on, to submit weekly work, to work on your Assignment 2 first draft, to check in with me, or to check in with your peers. If you don’t need to do any of these things because you’re fully caught up, you are welcome to take today to do other work. 

Monday, May 2: Set Up for Peer Review + Final Conferences

Before class: 

During class: 

  • Sign up for optional draft conferences
  • Set up peer review. Meet with your partner, and determine a plan for exchanging drafts. 
  • In-class work time (if time) on the first draft 

Eid Mubarak! If you are celebrating Eid tomorrow, please sign up for a later conference slot. The first draft of your Teach What You’ve Learned composition will be due no later than 7am on the morning of your conference to give me a chance to read and respond to the drafts from that day. 

Wednesday, May 4: First Draft Due + In-Class Work Time

Monday, May 9: Whole Class Conferences 

Before class: 

  • Read Huzagary’s draft and feedback requests. 

During class: 

  • Whole class conferences: Today will be held open for students who have signed up for a whole class conference. In a whole class conference, students who are participating will share their draft with the whole class, request feedback from us, and moderate the discussion that we have about their work.  

Wednesday, May 11: Peer Review Due Today + Whole Class Conferences

Before class: 

  • Read Georgia’s draft and feedback requests.

During class: 

  • Today is held open for whole class conferences 

Monday, May 16: All remaining weekly work or weekly work revisions due 

Before class: 

  • Read Alex W’s draft and feedback request. 
  • All remaining weekly work or revisions on weekly work, exit tickets, and if you have it, your TWYL draft are due tonight by 11:59pm. If you need to turn in a Writing Center conference report later than today, please let me know.
  • Revisit the Goal Setting Assignment final revisions 

During class: 

  • Today is held open for whole class conferences 

Final project deadline: Monday, May 23rd

Final Teach What You’ve Learned and final statement / labor log draft and Final Revision of Goal Setting Assignment due tonight by 11:59pm. 

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