One of the topics I have presented to faculty who will teach first year seminars is how to incorporate writing goals into college-writing courses, and since I frequently talk about making my pedagogy transparent, I was not surprised to receive a question earlier this year asking me how much of these goals I share with my students. It was a great question that sent me back to thinking about my goals in my classroom. In fact, while I had been great at making part of my pedagogy transparent, I had never laid out for my students the way I structured a whole semester to achieve those goals. This semester I did just that. I gave my students the same talk I give to faculty, and showed them the way I built their assignments over the semester.
Here are the goals I share with my students and some of their reactions at the end of the semester:
Make-up Journals > Makeup #1–Goals” href=”https://segue.middlebury.edu/index.php?&action=site&site=fyse1144a-f06§ion=15533&page=66674&story=113099&detail=113099#33413″>FYSE1144a-f06 > Make-up Journals > Makeup #1–Goals
Makeup #1–Goals > in depth
Way, way back in time, I introduced you to the FYSE and my goals for you for the semester:
1) Identify, summarize, and analyze the arguments of others; and summarize, paraphrase, and quote the ideas of others in support of their own arguments
2) Formulate topics appropriate to writing assignments
3) Find and cite appropriate sources for an assignment
4) Shape unified paragraphs and connect them to achieve flow
5) Control a five-page critical/analytical essay using more than one source
6) Use informal writing techniques (freewrites, responses, field notes, postings): writing to learn.
7) Use editing/revising techniques, including responding to advice from peer review and conferences with the instructor
8) Follow and contribute to in-class and online discussions
9) Lead a discussion or present work orally
Meb’s additional goals for FYSE 1144
* Demonstrate understanding of film and novel genres
* Able to handle complex topics
* Able to compare & contrast
And I hope you learned a little about. . .
* Creating a digital media project
* Regency dancing
So—given these goals, what did you learn (if anything) from the list above? How did you learn that?
Here is what they responded.
She has pushed me into blogging and developing new courses and pulled me across the country to places and experiences I’d never encountered before. While she sails off to new adventures, countries, continents, I’ll hold down the fort right here, unable to pop around the corner for the face-to-face time that crowns her on-line presence, but grateful that wherever she lands, she’s only a click away.