Week 1 (August 29-31)

Mon Aug 29

Intro to class. Walk around the site. Troubleshooting. Slack. How to use and annotate with Perusall. Writing! “It’s in the Syllabus”

HW for Aug 31:

Review: Look at “It’s in the Syllabus”

Perusall: Be sure to annotate the Syllabus and the Lynda Barry “Tardy” comic. Ask questions, make comments, respond to each other… Here’s the code to join when you give your email, get a confirmation, and then are asked what you want to do [“I’m a student”]: BLAIN-X8FZE

Google Drive: Once you’ve annotated the Syllabus, go to the Google Drive, copy the template, then close the Template doc — that will take you back to the folder. Now use the big +New button, scroll down to Google Docs and click on it. Click on “Create and Share.” Then paste what you copied into the new doc, put your name in the title bar on the top left, and fill out the Syllabus Worksheet.

Padlet: Finish up your post on how you feel about writing and about starting this class. Be sure to include a fun image! And comment on a couple of other people’s posts while you’re at it.

Wed Aug 31

Introductions. How to be successful in college (link to Skill site slide show and info). How to create a post in OpenLab. Beginning of Term Reflection writing activity.

HW for Wednesday Sept 7

Catch up on the homework that was due on August 31.

OpenLab: Write an introductory post… but do it in the form of a message to your end-of-the-semester self. Talk a bit about who you are and what your goals are, your hopes for the year, maybe some pitfalls you feel you might be up against. You have to include some image or sounds in your post, something that you think will let us get to know you better. It can be something you have on hand, or that you draw, or find, or even link out to something else. Remember: This is the 21st century, so feel free to do whatever you think would be interesting for us to see/hear/learn about. Here’s the link to the Class Resources page which has a how-to video (and a downloadable handout to go with it) for how to create a Post.

  • Category: Introductions
  • CHECK BACK IN and see what other people are saying, and reply to a couple of people. It’s nice to know we’re not alone!

Perusall: Read and annotate Mike Bunn’s “How to Read Like a Writer.” Remember: you can write pretty much anything in your annotation – question why he wrote something a certain way, comment on whether you think it’s effective or not, respond to his questions. If someone has already highlighted a sentence, click on the highlight and add your own reply/comments. Start a conversation!

OpenLab: Since we don’t meet on Monday Sept 5, here’s a little extra assignment so you can practice creating posts on OpenLab. We’ll also use what you write in class on Sept 7:

  • In his article, Mike Bunn writes, “You are already an author.” He’s talking to you. What do you think he means by this? What are some of the things you write already? (Hint: “nothing” is not an acceptable answer.) Think of all the ways you already use words in your everyday life. That’s authorship! How will that existing expertise help you in your college reading and writing career?
  • Was there anything you noticed in Bunn’s article that you would like to try to do in your own writing? What, in particular? Please be specific!
  • Category: Bunn

Week 2 (Sept 5-7)

Mon Sept 5

No class. CUNY is closed!

Wed Sept 7

Introduction to Unit 1: Language Narrative. You get to write about language and your experience with language or languages. The rhetorical situation.

HW for Monday Sept 12

Perusall: There are two pieces about language that are great examples of a language narrative. Read and annotate:

  • Amy Tan, “Mother Tongue”
  • Jose Olivarez, “Maybe I Could Save Myself By Writing”

OpenLab: Create a blog post (at least 300 words) in which you write about your experience with various “Englishes.” In other words, how has your experience been similar to Lyiscott’s and/ or Hasan’s and/or Tan’s and/or Olivarez’ (Lysicott and Hasan are in the Perusall Library in the folder marked Unit 1 materials)?  Please be specific and use at least one quote or paraphrase from one of the pieces in your response. 

  • Category: Englishes

Week 4 ( Sept 12 – 14)

Mon Sept 12

A language narrative is a genre, and genres have conventions. Talk about what those are. Link to Genre SlideShow.

HW for Wednesday Sept 14:

Perusall: Read and annotate “Storytelling is not just entertainment.”

OpenLab: (250 Words) So far in this unit, we have read (and heard) several examples from the genre of the “language narrative.”  Your first essay assignment in this class will be to write in this genre yourself.  So in this discussion forum, I’d like us to have a conversation about what the features of this genre are. Please discuss some of the following:

  • Thinking about the “Storytelling” article you just read, why do you think it’s important to share these stories?
  • What, from what you’ve seen so far, are the “ingredients” (also known as “conventions”) of the language narrative genre? Use some examples from the videos and readings we’ve done.
  • What do you think might be a place to get started with your own language narrative?
  • What are your questions or concerns about writing a language narrative of your own?
  • If you like, you can also feel free to share a language experience you had and ask for feedback from your colleagues (and me) to see if we think that might be a solid place to begin writing.
  • CATEGORY: Conventions

Wed Sept 14

Brainstorming ideas. Writing descriptive paragraphs. Talking about paragraphs.

HW for Monday Sept 19:

OpenLab: Write at least two distinct paragraphs (remember PIE!) describing one specific incident that influenced how you think about language using Concrete, Significant detail. It can be what you came up with in class or even something else that occurs to you. Category: Paragraphs

Week 5 ( Sept 19-21)

Mon Sept 19

Paragraphing workshop (link to slide show). Sh*t^y First Drafts (YouTube from The Book Doctors). How to write a Reviewer’s Memo to add to your draft. This is simply a message (100-200 words) you write to whoever reads your work where you address these three things:

  • This is what I intended to do: Here’s why I wrote it. What I hoped it would do. What I want people to take away from the piece.
  • This is what I think is going well.
  • This is what I think I need help with.

HW for Wednesday Sept 21:

Google Drive: Upload your SFD of the Language Narrative into the Google Drive folder labelled “Unit 1 – Language Narrative.” Be sure to have at least 800 words (out of the final required 1000) so we’ll have something to work on. And don’t forget your Reviewer’s Memo!

Wed Sept 21

How to give really useful and positive feedback. Workshop. 

Workshop in class: Choose at least two Language Narratives and based on what we did last week in the Perusall reading (as well as the Reviewer’s Memo the author left for you), use the Comment feature to leave feedback. Here are some prompts for the kinds of comments you can leave:

  • I liked ( ) because…
  • I got this from reading your work.
  • I found this part interesting because…
  • I got confused here because…
  • I wanted to know more about because…

HW for Wednesday Sept 28:

Google Drive: Upload a Less Sh*t^y First Draft of your Language Narrative into the folder labelled Unit 1 – Language Narrative.

Week 6 ( Sept 26 – 29 [yes, we meet Wed & Thu])

Mon Sept 26

No class. CUNY is closed!

Wed Sept 28

Revision strategies (here’s a link to the slide show and other things). And here is the information about how to do a Reverse Outline (including “The Trapper” that we looked at in class.

HW for Monday Oct 3 (none for tomorrow Sept 29):

Open Lab: Write 150-200 words where you talk about writing this Language Narrative. What went well, what didn’t go so well. What you think you’re going to do to revise your work. Category: Unit 1 Reflection

Thu Sept 29 (DON’T FORGET!!!)

Taking a deep breath now that we’ve finished the first unit.

HW for Monday Oct 3:

Open Lab: Write 150-200 words where you talk about writing this Language Narrative. What went well, what didn’t go so well. What you think you’re going to do to revise your work. Category: Unit 1 Reflection

Week 7 (Oct 3-5)

Mon Oct 3

Start Unit 2 – The Reflective Annotated Bibliography. Rhetorical Situations and how to analyze them. What are you curious about? What bothers you? What do you want to learn more about? And are you still curious at all?! Here’s the link to my RAB slide show.

HW for WEDNESDAY OCT 12

Perusall: There are two things to read and annotate:

  • Baldwin, “A Talk to Teachers”
  • excerpt from Carillo

OpenLab: Write a post of at least 300 words that responds to the Baldwin and Carillo pieces you read and annotated on Perusall. In “A Talk to Teachers,” James Baldwin writes: 

I would try to make [the student] know that just as American history is longer, larger, more various, more beautiful and more terrible than anything anyone has ever said about it, so is the world larger, more daring, more beautiful and more terrible, but principally larger – and that it belongs to him. I would teach him that he doesn’t have to be bound by the expediencies of any given administration, any given policy, any given morality; that he has the right and the necessity to examine everything.

Ellen Carillo makes the point that not everything is between the four corners of a text, and that we should go beyond Googlepedia to find information about our world. Your post should address these things:

  • First of all, what do you think of what James Baldwin was saying? What do you think he means when he says “the world is larger?”
  • Secondly, what do you think of Ellen Carillo’s argument that schools haven’t taught us correctly? What does she means by Google-knowing versus understanding?
  • Third, are they saying the same thing? And what do you think you have the “necessity” to examine, or the obligation to “understand” rather than having only “Google knowledge”?
  • To put it another way, what do you wish had been taught to you in school that wasn’t? Why do you want to know these topics?
  • Category: Baldwin & Carillo

Wed Oct 5

No class. CUNY is closed.

Week 8 (Oct 10-12)

Mon Oct 10

No class. CUNY is closed.

Wed Oct 12

Discuss the readings. What should education look like? What’s missing? Research is all about being curious.

HW for Monday Oct 17

Perusall: There are two pieces to read and annotate:

  • Wierszewski, “Research Starts with a Thesis Statement” from Bad Ideas about Writing
  • The Guardian, “Schools are Killing Curiosity”

OpenLab: In at least 300 words, address the following:

  • What is something you were interested in when you were a kid? Are you still interested in that topic? How did asking questions help you learn more about that topic?  
  • If so, how has your curiosity changed and grown over the years? And what role did the educational system play in your curiosity (good or bad)? 
  • If you are not interested in this topic anymore, what do you think happened to that interest? Do you remember the specific time you LOST interest?  What did you become interested in instead (and why?) 
  • CATEGORY: Curiosity

Week 8 (Oct 17-19)

Mon Oct 17

Research and what it means to us (link to slide show). Hint: it’s about finding answers to questions, not proving a point we’ve already decided is “the truth.” Finding a research question. How to do good research efficiently. KWL+ tool.

Padlet: Post some ideas you have that you’d like to know more about. It can be something lighthearted or serious. Doesn’t matter. If you have trouble, try answering these prompts:

  • Something that makes me mad about the world is….
  • Something that I can’t stop Googling about is…
  • Something I know a lot about but would like to learn more is…
  • Something that people do that gives me great joy is…

HW for Wednesday October 19

Google Drive: Open the folder labeled Unit 2 – Reflective Annotated Bibliography. Then create a new folder with your name on it. The first thing you’ll put in it is your research question — in fact, it will turn into the Introduction to your Reflective Annotated Bibliography!

You can do this on a Word doc and upload it, or you can create a new Google Doc and write it/paste it there.

Here’s what to write: Introduce your research question. You may find your topic anywhere– from Unit One to the Padlet ideas we wrote, to your peers’ Padlet posts! (It’s really okay if two people write about the same topic– I promise you). 

What is important here– and I can’t stress this enough– is that you research something you want to know more about, not something you think you already know the answer to.  You may be curious to know why there are so few African American ballerinas in major companies, or you may want to know how much “housing projects” have changed in New York since James Baldwin wrote “A Talk to Teachers” in 1963, or you may want to know what we really learn from playing computer games.  Just be curious.

Write it in question form (it can’t be a yes-or-no question, though). You must cover all of the questions in bold:

  • Why are you interested in this question?  (Feel free to talk about your own personal experience with the topic, or to tell an anecdote about your experience with this subject matter) 
  • What do you expect to find in your research? (Why do you expect to find this?)
  • What will you do if you find information that goes completely against what you had expected to find? (Will you throw it out? Will you write about it anyway? Will you challenge your own assumptions?) 

Spend some time on this– because again this will serve as the first draft of the introduction for your annotated bibliography! That’s why you’re uploading it into the Google Drive folder.

Wed. Oct 19

Doing the Source Analysis. Rhetorical situations revisited, and how to analyze them.

HW for Monday October 24

Perusall: Read and annotate Dirk, “Navigating Genres”

OpenLab: Write a blog post of at least 300 words answering the following questions: 

  • What are some genres that you feel you know well?
  • How did you learn them?
  • What are their common rhetorical features?
  • What genres do you think might give you good information for Unit 2?
  • What is it in particular about those genres that make them good potential sources for your topic?
  • Category: Genres

Google Drive: Do a quick KWL+ for your idea/topic. Copy the template that’s in the drive, create your OWN Google Doc â€” don’t use the one that’s labeled TEMPLATE!

Week 9 (Oct 24-26)

Mon Oct 24

More on genres. Review how to do Source Analysis.

HW for Wednesday October 26

Google Drive: Add your first Source Analysis to your personal folder in the Unit 2 – Reflective Annotated Bibliography folder. You should attach it to the bottom of the research question/introduction you’ve already done, either by copy/pasting it from somewhere else or simply by doing it in the Drive.

Wed Oct 26

HW for Monday October 31:

Librarian visit.

Perusall: Read and annotate “Using Quotes (Graf & Birkenstein).” You’ll see there’s a second assignment which you’ll be doing for your Source Analysis.

Google Drive: Add to your personal folder/doc inside the Unit 2 – Reflective Annotated Bibliography folder.

  • Do your introduction paragraph.
  • Make sure you have at least one source analysis done.
  • One of your sources must be something you found in the CityTech Library. Please note that somewhere on your Google Doc. It does not have to be a peer-reviewed journal article.

Week 10 (Oct 31 – Nov 2)

Mon Oct 31

Quote sandwiches. A video about credibility of various sources. Mid-semester Reflection. Workshop on the Introduction and Source Analyses.

HW for Wednesday November 2

Google Drive: Add your second Source Analysis to your Unit 2 Reflective Annotated Bibliography document.

You must use one quote sandwich in your summary! Use Graff & Birkenstein to help you set it up: remember to introduce, explain and analyze your quote (OR QUOTES)!

Wed Nov 2

Clean up Your Mess! Tackling formatting issues and how the way things look actually matter. Doing the conclusion.

HW for Monday November 7

Google Drive: Complete your RAB — make it look good!

Week 11 (Nov 7 – 9)

Mon Nov 7

Workshop your RABs.

HW for Wednesday November 9

Open Lab: Write a 250-word reflection about the RAB. Talk about what went well, what went badly, what you need to do to revise it. You’ll be using this when we get to the Final Portfolio.

  • You will summarize what you found in your research (summarize!).
  • You will tell readers what surprised you, or how your understanding of your question deepened or changed. (Spoiler: if the answer is “not at all”, you did not do enough research.) 
  • You will explain why what you learned is important.
  • You will explain who you think needs to know about it and why (Another spoiler: be specific! The answer can not be “everyone.” That is too big of an audience. Narrow it down to who needs to hear about it first!)
  • Category: Unit 2 Reflection

Wed Nov 9

Start Unit 3 – Writing in a New Genre. Multimodality. Shifting audiences.

HW for Mon November 14:

Perusall: Read and annotate Stedman, “Annoying Ways People Use Research”

Open Lab: Just as a little spoiler, you should know that the things that annoy Kyle Stedman are not really particular to him. In general, these are things worth avoiding in your writing, though some conventions may vary, as Stedman himself points out, from genre to genre.  Please write a two-part response after reading Stedman’s article:

  • (approx 150 words) What did you learn from reading this? Anything new? What questions or comments do you have on how to use sources?
  • (150-200 words) Write a paragraph for your intended audience for Unit 3 using one of your “key quotes” from Unit 2 in that paragraph. Keep Stedman’s guidelines in mind while writing this paragraph. Be kind to your audience! Try not to lose them by the side of the road (and don’t forget quote sandwiches!).
  • Category: Stedman

Week 12 (Nov 14 – 16)

Mon Nov 14

Brainstorm workshop on ideas. Padlet: who you want to reach and why.

HW for Wednesday November 16:

Google Drive: In the folder labeled Unit 3 – Writing in a New Genre, create a personal folder just like you did for Unit 2. Then write a200-word proposal for your Unit 3 project (upload it here or simply write it here). It must include:

  • A 1-2 sentence statement of what you want to teach your audience (the most important thing you learned in Unit 2)
  • The audience you’re trying to reach
  • The genre you’re planning to write it in and why you chose it
  • A plan on how you intend to get started.
  • Anything you might be worried about. What are your concerns about finishing this project?

Wed Nov 16

Workshop ideas. “Publication” workshop.

HW for Monday November 21

Google Drive: Read at least two proposals and leave comments for the author. Comments should be at least 150 words. Please do not simply say “sounds great!” because that is not helpful! Think about the kind of things that might be helpful to you as you embark on this project. Here are some ideas: 

  • A specific publication or website you think the author could write for.
  • A question or comment to help narrow down the audience: “You say you want young people to watch this video essay, but there’s no publication that all young people watch. Are you actually trying to reach New Yorkers?”
  • A question or comment to help narrow down the genre: “There are a lot of different kinds of articles in the world. You could be writing for a newspaper like The New York Times or a website like Buzzfeed, and the writing is totally different for both. Can you be more specific?”
  • You can also just talk about things in the proposal that you find especially cool or exciting.

Week 13 (Nov 21-23)

Mon Nov 23

Support groups. Helpful tools/links. We’re looking to create support groups of people who are working in the same genre: video, podcast, graphics, article for website, etc.

HW for Wednesday November 23:

Google Drive: I’ll be setting up a subfolder for the support group inside the Unit 3 – Writing in a New Genre main folder. Your job as a group will be to create a Google Doc for your group to use as a working report document. On it you’ll post (and I’ll remind you each day) things like who’s in the group, what they’re working on, status report over time, helpful things you find for each other, etc. The idea is to provide a place where you can all go whether we’re in class or not to get and give help. Remember: you’re not writing their project — you’re giving them encouragement and ideas to help make it happen.  

Wed Nov 23

Mentor text analysis. Workshop. These are the kinds of questions to ask about mentor texts in a specific genre:

  • What tone/ type of language does this example use?  
  • How does this source use research?  Do they quote from outside sources, use a lot of statistics, etc…
  • What can you tell us about this source visually (and auditorily, if applicable)?  Does it use a lot of imagery and color? Is the layout very clean? Is there a soundtrack?
  • How long is it?  (Words, pages, minutes)
  • Who do you think is the audience of this source?  What makes you think that?
  • What aspects of this source would you like to emulate in your own writing? How might you do that?
  • What aspects of this source would you like to avoid in your own writing?  How will you do that?

HW for Monday November 28

Keep working! Post and check on the group’s Google Doc.

Week 14 (Nov 28-30)

Mon Nov 28

Writing the Artist’s Statement. Workshop with groups.

HW for Wednesday November 30

Keep working! Post and check on the group’s Google Doc.

Wed Nov 30

Workshop with groups.

HW for Monday December 5:

Finished project! We’ll be doing a showcase on Monday — nothing formal, just a way to show what you’ve been working on.

Week 15 (Dec 5 – 7)

Mon Dec 5

Showcase projects. Introduce the Final Portfolio (revisions and final reflection).

HW for Wednesday December 7:

Google Drive: Upload/add your Artist’s Statement to your personal Unit 3 folder.

Wed Dec 7

Using the Artist’s Statement to practice Revision Strategies.

HW for Monday December 12:

Perusall: Read and annotate Student Essay #1. There will be a prompt at the end where you’ll discuss this: What do you think this student is doing especially well that you’d like to do in your own writing? Where would you like to hear more? Where are you confused? Any further suggestions for revision? 

Week 15 (Dec 12 – 14)

Mon Dec 12

Discuss the Student Essay. The Final Reflection

HW for Monday December 19

Final Portfolio is due End of Day December 21. No late work accepted! So work on Final Revisions and Final Reflection.

Wed Dec 14

No class. CUNY Reading Day – no classes

Week 16 (Dec 19-21)

Mon Dec 19

Questions about Final Portfolio.

Wed Dec 21

Last class meeting!

HW for today

Google Drive: Upload your Final Portfolio materials in the Final Portfolio folder. You can create an individual folder to put the materials in or simply put them into a single doc. THEY CANNOT BE LATE!!!

HW — Enjoy the holidays!

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