Friday, January 28, 2011

Homework Reminder

Ahh! I know: homework on the weekend!? Blasphemy! But it is what it is and we gotta do it! so here it is in a nutshell:

  • Write your SQR and post it on your Personal Journal by Sunday Midnight.

  • Download and Print the Haas and Flower article. (Start reading it! ;D )

  • Hass and Flower discussion group, you guys present on Wednesday so start prepping! :3

See you guys Monday! And of course if ya'll have any questions shoot em my way! :D

I'll end my reminder with  an amusing pic for you guys:

Wednesday, January 26, 2011

Writing

How can writing really help you in life if u plan to choose a career that is not related to writing?

Question

Why is the way of writhing not universal?
What does raison d'etre mean?

Question D&W

What is disciplinary praxis?
What is rhetorical reading?
Is grammar an important part of writing?

Question

Why does first year composition is so important?

Question

Does teachers have to actually think in students when they assign a lecture so that they can be interested in reading for learning?
Does D and W techniques really make students impove their writing?

Question.

Why these readings?

Downs&Wardle Question

What exactly is First Year Composition (FYC)?

D&w?

Why do we need new writing strategies?

Monday, January 24, 2011

Homework Reminder

Okay guys, big homework day. We all have to read the Downs and Wardle article(Twice!) and begin writing our first SQR. I know it's a lot but we'll get through it.

While reading make notes(annotate) on your copy. LOL and WTF are totally cool with me, just start marking those moments that make you take notice. Sure it may seem boring but start asking yourself questions as you read through it and heck even answer your questions on the side. (think of it as drafting your SQR on your article!). As far as SQRs go, although we discussed them in class here's a breakdown of what an SQR is:

Summary: a concise, mini version, of the article. A summary provides us with just the info in the article. We save our comments and opinions for our response.

Question: Questions are harder because it's all to easy to ask a question that simply leads us back to pick information out of the article. the best way around this is to start thinking about questions that concern you. think about the ideas in the article and how they are or aren't important to you, how they affect you and your understanding of writing. If your questions prompts you to explore your own experiences it's a really really good question. ;)

Response: If you question asks you to start exploreing yrou expeirences here's teh time and place to do it. Have a comment or a WTF moment you wanted to explore, you can do it here too.

There are no perfect SQRs, just SQRs in development. Bring them to class on Wednesday and we'll work on them together! :D
 
Now coming up with questions is not easy, especially when you are trying to come up with questions that probe an article rather than pick out information so here are some questions to get you started (you can totally gank one of these questions and use it for your SQR, modify it to better suit your needs, and if you have one of your own totally use it! ):

 
  • What did you expect 1301 to be about, to be like? What do you think about it so far having only survived one meeting? What do D&W want 1301 to be and do for students (and even teachers)?
  •  What are the reasons D&W discuss to support a "writing studies" approach, and what are the misconceptions they are fighting against? What other approaches to this class can you imagine? What do you think a college writing class should be?   
  • According to D&W, what does scholarly inquiry involve? And what does writing involve/look like?   
  • Do you recognize Jack and/or Stephanie (in yourself, in others)? How would you characterize yourself as a student just starting 1301, as a writer, as a reader, as a person trying to make sense of this class right now? How would your story of 1301 begin from your perspective?

 
And don't forget! Juan Gonzalez, Arturo Rodriguez, Alan Guajardo and Nora Cruz, you four will be leading our discussion od Downs and Wardle on Wednesday. I know it's short notice but I know you guys will rock it! And remember you don't have to nail it, but I would like to see you guys talk about some of the article's main ideas and maybe ask us some questions about it. :) You can totally use your own SQRs as starting grounds for this. Feel free to bring a power point or handouts or write like a crazy axe murderer on the board. Whatever you need to talk about the article, feel free to use! :)

 
If you guys want to talk about the article with me and discuss your Disucssion shoot me an email or leave a comment on this blog post about what day and time you'd like to do that. :)

 
Also, just so no one acts like I sprug it up out of no where, there will be a small quiz on the article. Nothing to hard, just make sure you read it. :)

  
Homework Recap:

  • Read Downs & Wardle
  • Start writing your SQR on Down's and Wardle.
  • Juan Gonzalez, Arturo Rodriguez, Alan Guajardo and Nora Cruz, you four will be leading our discussion od Downs and Wardle on Wednesday.
See you guys on Wednesday!