neon sign of a rainbow and a talk bubble that reads "hello" in script

Agenda: Week 1

Week 1: Course Overview & Discourse Communities

Class Info

  • Dates: Monday, 1/27, Wednesday, 1/29, Monday, 2/3
  • Meeting Info: 11:30am-12:45pm in room N521

Objectives

  • To read, write, talk, and explore to get acquainted with the course, each other, the practice of noticing, and the concept of discourse communities

Monday, 1/27/25

Action

Texts:

  • Read the course’s Syllabus, which includes the description of the course, policies, what I expect from you, and what you can expect from me; the course’s schedule for an overview of the semester, as well as the “Welcome, Students” post and other materials on our site to get familiar with what’s available and to be ready to ask any questions you might have.
  • Read your classmates’ contributions to the discussions you’re all participating in on our site.
  • Video: “The Changing Room Illusion” by Michael A. Cohen
  • Blog post/Newsletter: “Small Change” from The Art of Noticing by Rob Walker

Writing

  • After class, join in our Introductions discussion by following the instructions included in the post. Please add your introduction early enough in the week to give everyone time to read the introductions–Friday by noon to add your introduction, and before Monday’s class for replies to one another. Remember that even if you can’t create an OpenLab account or join our course, you can still add a comment with your introduction!
  • Annotate as you read our course’s texts. Start with annotating this shared doc of our syllabus.
  • Add your thoughts to our Noticing discussion.

In Class, Monday, 1/27:

  • Welcome
  • Introductions to ENG 1121
Michael A. Cohen – “The Changing Room Illusion”
  • The Art of Noticing
    • what did we notice today either this morning, on our way to City Tech, in our classroom or the building, etc?
    • our classroom is removed from the hallway
    • City Tech is really crowded, elevators
    • Statue/sculpture in Cadman Plaza, gave retro/futuristic vibes about technology taking over
    • express elevators go to 6–so you have to walk down one flight to get to our classroom
    • snow kind of cleared up, not as icy
    • it’s been cold since the snow
    • desks are kind of organized in a circle, need to be better organized
    • Monday traffic
    • Blog post/Newsletter: “Small Change” from the book The Art of Noticing by Rob Walker

For anyone trying to discern what to do w/their life:

PAY ATTENTION

TO WHAT

YOU PAY ATTENTION TO.

That’s pretty much all the info u need.

–Amy Krouse Rosenthal

  • Course Site overview
    • sign up for the OpenLab and join our course
    • you can still do all of this week’s work even if you can’t yet sign up for the OpenLab to join our course.
  • Introductions to each other: What do you want to know about your classmates? What do you want us to know about you?
    • list of interview questions
    • name and what their family or friends call them?
    • what do you like to do in your free time?
    • hobbies?
    • what’s your favorite movie?
    • what’s your favorite show?
    • what type of music do you listen to?
    • when’s your birthday? how do you celebrate it?
    • what’s your ethnicity?
    • what’s your favorite sport?
    • what are things that you cherish in your life, that you find valuable
    • would you rather get a burger and fries or two burgers?
    • what’s your favorite meal?
    • favorite video games
    • favorite color
    • what’s your major?
    • what are some of your goals?
    • what’s your dream job?
    • where have you traveled?
    • favorite season?
    • what’s your favorite song?
    • what borough are you from?
    • if you could change one thing about this classroom, what would it be?
  • interviews and interviews recap
  • Annotating the Syllabus: what do we notice?
    • what stands out from the syllabus?
      • I
    • what questions do you have?
    • what do you want to emphasize for your classmates?
  • reflections
  • Q&A

Tasks Due Before Next Class, M 2/3

Monday, 2/3/25

Action

  • Finish any of the actions for Monday, 1/27 that you haven’t completed.

Texts:

Writing

  • Join in our first Noticing discussion by following the instructions included in the post. Remember that even if you can’t create an OpenLab account or join our course, you can still add a comment with your introduction!
  • Annotate as you read our course’s texts.

In Class, Monday, 2/3:

  • Reading: Personal Essay/Newspaper Article: “HERS/ She’s Your Basic LOL in NAD” by Perri Klass (Google Doc version if you want to share your annotations)
  • How do we annotate a text?
    • add definitions of words you don’t know, from a dictionary or a guess from context
    • quick summary of a page or paragraph
    • important passages–write in your notebook, or underline or highlight
    • ask questions
    • react
  • Slideshow: “Discourse Communities” by Carrie Hall
  • Discussion: what is a discourse community, what are our discourse communities, and why should we care?
    • definition:
    • one example:
  • Reflections (to be collected): What was your experience interviewing your classmates? What did you get out of the experience? What do you think the value of it is?

Tasks Due Before Next Class, W 2/5

  • Read “HERS” by Perri Klass and annotate it–and bring it to class to discuss
  • Contribute to our Noticing Words discussion
  • Complete the Student Survey about your access to technology
  • Find the Q&A section of our site and ask a question. Bonus points for answering someone’s question!

Photo Credit:

“Hello” by Bruce Fingerhood via Flickr under the open license CC BY-NC 2.0 Deed.

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