Signing Off: Reflective journal

Signing Off:
What is/are the most significant thing/s that you learned which you plan to use in some way in the future?

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I think the most important things I got from the class can be divided in two ways:

Theory
As someone whose background knowledge on the history of composition as a field is rusty, it was useful to have a survey of the past paradigms in teaching, writing, and a general landscape of the discipline. I've taken a composition theory course before, but it was more related to contemporary content on where the field is now, and elements of critical thinking. In this course, I was able to study how composition (and rhetoric as an extension) emerged from English studies, and the incarnations it's taken since then. Having a good handle on different frameworks for instruction is good not only for teaching in the classroom, but also for engaging with other members of rhetoric/techcomm/comp when it will come to job hunting, presenting and attending conferences, and one day hopefully publishing.

Practice
I think I got the most use-value out of making my own composition syllabus and the philosophy of writing/teaching. While we have a common syllabus provided to us at Texas Tech, having a map of a curriculum that I want to use in the future is going to be very helpful. I liked deciding which textbooks to use, and coming up with student assignments and point distributions. When/if I teach composition again in the future, and have to come up with a syllabus or teaching philosophy for interviews or applications, these documents have given me a running start for building a teaching portfolio.

Investigating how University of Wisconsin @ Eau Claire models their FYC program was a great and enjoyable experience as well. I liked looking at how they organized their program, connected their program to WPA goals/outcomes, and integrated a digital literacy component as well as firmly grounding their work in rhetoric.

Finally, I'm going to get started on developing my web presence a little more. While it's very much under construction (project for the break!), I'm going to be moving all my materials/blogging over to leahheilig.com  Gradually. I know it's bad form to have a barely-started page out there under my name, but first step is just to finish this semester :P

You're a Free Range Scholar!

Week Thirteen: Free range blogging!

Since this week was given as a freebie, I think I'm going to use it to sort of layout a map for the work that I'm going to be doing for the rest of the semester. As fall draws to a close, my first semester in PhD coursework is, suitably, ending in hella papers.

Week Twelve: What is your thesis for the article for this course? What sources will you cite to build this argument?

Week 11: Learning Objectives

Week 11 Prompt: What's one thing you've learned that connects to a learning objective and to your future job?

Over the course of the semester, the one learning objective that I always return to is thinking about audience:

• Audience awareness. Students will analyze audience and purpose in rhetorical situations and make appropriate choices. Measurement: observation and analysis of artifacts produced, including active participation in classroom discussion and blogs

Week Ten: Syllabus Weaknesses

Prompt: Identify where you think students may fail in an assignment in your syllabus, and how you will use that as a teachable moment by design

Week Nine: Keywords

Prompt: List five terms you don't quite know yet how to define from our final keywords list. Next identity three in other students' blogs you do know how to define, and comment on them in those blogs.

Part One: Terms I'm Not 100% On

Donald Murray

Maxine Hairston

Robert Connors

Scottish Tradition

Writing Assessment (having trouble narrowing this down)

Part Two: 
Utterances 
Intertextuality

Lester Faigley

Week Eight: Technology & Assignments

First, I want to apologize for being late on this one! Difficult week.

Prompt: What is one assignment you will include in your syllabus that uses collaboration and/or technology and/or other things Yancey, Selfe, Breuch, Bruffee, or Shaughnessey have discussed?