Week One (Aug 25-Sept 3, classes Aug 28, 30): Introduction to the class

READING & WATCHING:

HW for Week One:

  • Introduce yourself in the Introduction section of our Discussion Area. Respond to other students’ intros. Let’s make friends online, as we can’t be in person.
  • Post your personal comments about being online again this term (this could be part of your introduction)
  •      Write  posts to our Unit one Discussion area responding to each of the three readings. I’ll start threads for each. What do you think the writer’s main points are? What’s your response to that, and how could you be affected? Feel free to respectfully respond to other students’ posts. Online dialog is great!

Unit 1 — Education Narrative

Week Two (Sept 4- 10, class Sept 6): Introduction to Genre and Unit One

READING:

RESOURCES:

WRITING: Frederick Douglass, Malcolm X, and Anita Jang

  • Write  posts to our Unit one Discussion area responding to each of the three readings. I’ll start threads with questions for each. What do you think the writer’s main points are? What’s your personal response to that, and how are you/could you be affected? Please respectfully respond to other students’ posts. Disagreeing is fine. Challenging each other’s ideas and sharing perspectives is essential dialog for better understanding and stronger ideas. Disrespect to individuals, however, has no place in our class whatsoever. Be respectful and challenge ideas and opinions as well as support them. That’s fine.
  • Read the assignment guidelines for “Unit 1: Education Narrative” (email/ask me if you have any questions about these guidelines).
  • Watch “Understanding Genre Awareness”
  • Look over the texts from last class and think about them in relation to your own educational journey.

Week Three (Sept 11- 17, classes Sept 11, 13) : The Cave and Topics and Drafts of Education narratives

READING:

WRITING: Plato’s Allegory of the Cave Day 1

  • Respond to the questions I post in the Plato thread in our Unit One discussion area.
  • Choose a topic for your Personal Education Narrative and email it to me at sbear@citytech.cuny.edu
  • Post two paragraphs describing an incident you witnessed or experienced using concrete detail in the thread I start for it in Unit One Discussion area.

READING & WATCHING:

  • Read Plato’s “Allegory of the Cave” again. Be on the lookout for moments where Plato emphasizes the physical and concrete details that the prisoners experience; for example, pay attention to anything they see, hear, and physically feel (along with what causes it). Find three of these details, and think about what they might symbolize.
  • Watch the two short videos for Plato’s “Allegory of the Cave”: here and here

WRITING: Plato’s Allegory of the Cave, Day 2

  • There will be another thread to respond to in the discussion area.

 

Week Four (Sept 18- 24, classes Sept 18, 20): Peer review and finish Unit One

READING:

WRITING: Drafting

  • Pair up at the start of the week for Peer Review, and your Unit One Personal Education Narrative Rough Draft is due to exchange with your peer Monday, Sept 18
  • Respond to discussion post about “Shitty First Drafts.”

Peer Review

  • Read your peer review partner’s draft and return it with your responses to the questions I will provide.

RESOURCES:

Week Five (Sept 25- Oct 1, class Sept 27): Finish Unit One, and Introducing Unit 2: 

  • SUBMIT Unit 1 Graded Assignment (Education Narrative) Due on  Sept 27. 

Reading: Baldwin, James. “A Talk to Teachers” by James Baldwin,1963.https://www.spps.org/cms/lib010/MN01910242/Centricity/Domain/125/baldwin_atalktoteachers_1_2.pdf

  •       Read and Annotate “A Talk to Teachers” Post on discussion thread in Unit One
  •       Read through the feedback on your draft.

RESOURCES:

Writing:

  • Work on revising Unit 1: Education Narrative
  • Write post responding to “A Talk to Teachers” on thread in our discussion section.

Week Six (Oct 2- 8, classes Oct 2, 4) : Beginning Unit 2: Writing an Op-Ed Article

  • Write a Post reflecting on the process of writing Unit 1 essay in last post on Unit one discussion.

READING:

WRITING: Introducing the Argument & Persuasion Project: Writing an Op-Ed

  • We will read and respond to current Op-Eds I will post (Hedges and Ravitch).
  • Think about topics you care about to use for your Unit 2 Op-Ed graded research and writing project due at the end of the Unit.

RESOURCES:

WRITING: Responding to discussion threads on the readings & Brainstorming Research Topics

Week Seven (Oct 9- 15, classes Oct 10, 11) : Op-Eds and Picking Your Topic

READING:

RESOURCES:

WRITING: Thinking about Argument

  • Respond to discussion threads on Sullivan and Alexander in Unit 2 Discussion Area

WRITING: Preliminary Research and Picking a Topic for your Op-Ed : By the end of the week, tell me in class, or email me your topic for the Op-Ed Article Unit 2 project, and your first research source.

Week Eight (Oct 16- 22, classes Oct 16. 18): Op-Eds and Research

READING:

WRITING: Thinking about Thesis and Structure

  • Specific instructions will be announced in class and/or our class site.

RESOURCES:

 WRITING: Research Prep (this is for you, no posting necessary)

  • Specific instructions will be announced in class and/or our class site.

Week Nine (Oct 23- 29, classes Oct 23, 25): Thesis, Persuasion, and the Op-Ed.

RESOURCES:

WRITING: Continue Reading, Note-taking and Drafting

  • Specific instructions will be announced in class and/or our class site.

READING:

 WRITING: Drafting & Conferencing

  • Specific instructions will be announced in class and/or our class site.

Note: Rough Draft of Op-Ed with reflection is due Oct 23

 

 Week Ten (Oct 30- Nov 5, classes Oct 30, Nov 1): Beginning Unit 3

WRITING: Drafting — Finalizing the Op-Ed

  • Final Draft of Op-Ed is due Nov 1

Unit 3 — Writing in a New Genre

  • Write a Post reflecting on the process of writing Unit 2.

READING:

WRITING: Introducing the Writing in a New Genre Project

  • Specific instructions will be announced in class and/or our class site.

Week Eleven (Nov 6- 12, classes Nov 6, 8): Interview as a genre, and analyzing examples of your chosen genre

READING, LISTENING & WATCHING:

WRITING: Interviews as a Genre & Thinking about Audience

  • Specific instructions will be announced in class and/or our class site.

READING:

  • Find an example of the genre you will be using for Unit 3: Writing in a New Genre.

WRITING: Analyzing Samples

  • Specific instructions will be announced in class and/or our class site.

Week Twelve (Nov 13- 19, classes Nov 13, 15): Working on Unit Three

WRITING: Drafting Your Genre Piece

  • Specific instructions will be announced in class and/or our class site.

WRITING: Drafting — Finalizing the Writing in a New Genre Project

  • Specific instructions will be announced in class and/or our class site.
  • There will be discussion threads to comment on throughout the week

Week Thirteen (Nov 20-Dec 3 including Thanksgiving break, classes Nov 20, 27, and 29): Finishing Unit 3 and Work on Final Portfolio.

Reading and writing TBA

  • Work on revisions for Units 1 and 2
  • Comment on week’s discussion posts

Weeks Fourteen and Fifteen: (Dec 4-18, classes Dec 4, 6, 11, 18 ) Finishing up. 

WRITING: Drafting

  • Specific instructions will be announced in class and/or our class site.
  • Unit 3 Final Project Due by posting to OpenLab By Dec 11 
    • Post on our OpenLab site in Unit 3 Discussion thread
    • Presentations of Unit 3 projects in class

    Conclusions

    • SUBMIT Final Reflection and Portfolio Assignment Due on or by Dec 15   (NO LATER!)
    • Final thoughts, comments, and dialog in our class discussion area