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Three Courses in One – Continued

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I’ve moved my teaching post up from Wednesday this week as I may not get to it tomorrow. I’m continuing my discussion of three different courses I taught that connect to each other.

One thing I’ll note right off is that when I taught ENG 113 and 131 in person it was for a Spring semester that started late due to weather. This was probably a good thing as, at the time, I had a hard time planning the first week of classes. Part of this was due to drop/add so you never knew who was really staying in your class, but also because I didn’t want to just do busy work for a week. Drop/add time was shortened later on which help, and I also found better ways to spend the first week.

The plan was to intro the class for one week, and to then spend four weeks on fiction. Since we had the delay I went over the syllabus, and then dove straight into the course work. The first week was to discuss why we write fiction. I asked them to look for where they encounter stories around them. This included sharing author interviews in print and on video before moving in to the specifics about plot. The book we were using contained fables, parables, and fairy tales along with other types of stories. These types of fiction pieces were well received.

This is the same basic plan I had for both classes. My night class would cover it in two class periods, and my day class would have three days to cover the material. My night class knew they had a short paper due on fiction by week four. My day class knew they to present before the end of week 4 if they were presenting on fiction and they had to turn in their creative fiction by then if that was their creative project. What I would be grading for these students was slightly different, but the overall discussions and all should have been the same.

They, as you might have guessed, were not.

My night class didn’t come prepared. They had not read the material. My day class, if they were unprepared, faked it better. My night class was in a computer classroom so I set up discussion boards and we tried discussing the works that way instead of face to face. This actually worked! It allowed me to transition them to talking face to face later in the course. They were more willing to type and discuss a story than to do so verbally. I decided that the night class would have discussions on Monday, and then Wednesdays would be for writing. I would give them plenty of time in class to work on their essays for each unit. My day class fared better, and were much more talkative. I found this interactive video later, and used it in a composition class, but I’d like to use it again to discuss story and narrative.

How did this experience effect how I presented ENG-113 once I taught it online? Their first week involved a getting to know you discussion board (like in class introductions, and also helps students get used to the online format), and they also had to select a literary term to write about. I used a wiki for this. The first week they just had to pick the term. The second week they had to update the wiki with their definition and examples on the term. This could be pretty short, as low as about 250 words, but needed to be properly formatting in MLA. This let them practice with the online class, practice the MLA formatting they should have learned in ENG-111 (comp 1), and introduced them to the idea of literary terms which I discovered when teaching 113 and 131 wasn’t a given.

This is just the start of what  took away from teaching these supposedly similar courses. Next time I’ll dig into the rest of the fiction course work, and see if we can switch over to another genre.

Thursday Poem Share

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This week’s poem is another whopper in length. Maybe giving myself the freedom to write as much as I want has really opened up some new channels? It isn’t quite as long as last weeks for word count so I’m pasting directly here. You can comment on my work and/or post your own for discussion below. Any poems posted (including mine) will be taken down one week from today).

–And the poem is in revision :)

I’d love to hear what everyone did for National Poetry Month! I’m working on sending out the books for the poetry book giveaway, and I enjoyed talking to some creative writing classes as well as sharing NC writers with educators for Poem in Your Pocket Day.

For some extra poetry this week how about a poetry video?

I hope once I revise this poem and/or last week’s I might have something to submit soon.

On the non poetry side I watched two movies that felt kind of poetic recently Adrift in Tokyo and Happy Accidents.

Many of you know I also had a job interview this week. The recent interviews have made me think about why I use poetry when I teach composition. There are lots of reasons, but at the forefront I’m starting to realize how much I want non-poets to appreciate poetry not because it has a “theme,” but because it can speak to you if you find the poet that is just right for you :)

Three Courses in One

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I’ve decided to tell you a tale of three different, but related, courses for today’s teaching post: ENG 113 (Literature Based Research) F2F (Face to Face), ENG 113 Online, and ENG 131 (Introduction to Literature) which was also taught F2F.

The course description for ENG 113 says: This course, the second in a series of two, expands the concepts developed in ENG 111 by focusing on writing that involves literature-based research and documentation.  Emphasis is placed on critical reading and thinking and the analysis and interpretation of prose, poetry, and drama: plot, characterization, theme, cultural context, etc.  Upon completion, student should be able to construct mechanically-sound, documented essays and research papers that analyze and respond to literary works.

The description for ENG 131 indicates: This course introduces the principal genres of literature. Emphasis is placed on literary terminology, devices, structure, and interpretation. Upon completion, students should be able to analyze and respond to literature.

What similarities and differences do you note between the two classes? For me, when I taught both of them F2F in the same semester I noted that ENG 113 was a composition two class which meant more writing intensive/structured, and that ENG 131 was a literature course which might allow for more verbal communication etc. A side note is that you were supposed to take a comp 2 while you were taking ENG 131 (versus 200 level literature courses that require comp 2 to be complete) so I knew they would be writing a lot already in their comp 2, just perhaps not on the same topics. Because I was teaching them in the same semester I decided to assign the same textbook so that I could have similar readings for each class, but I knew I would be presenting the courses slightly differently.

For the ENG 113 I planned 4 formal essays that would each count for 15% of the final grade. I had a research paper that was worth 20%, 10% for class collaboration, and 10% for a final exam. The ENG 131, however, would be graded on 30% in class writing assignments and quizzes, 30% for a creative project, 30% for an academic project/presentation, and 10% Final Exam.

I knew these courses would be very different, but I had no idea just how different they would turn out to be. The 113 was at night on the North campus where I taught. The 131 was at 9 in the morning on the South campus. One met two nights a week; the other met three days a week. Doe this make your brain hurt? It made mine! Besides these differences, and the others I have noted above, I quickly discovered that the students in the classes were also VERY different from each other.

The night class contained mostly students who did not actually want to be in the class. They had signed up for a different comp 2 that did not fill. The day class was filled with a lot of go-getters for the most part. The only similarity the two classes ended up sharing, really, was that they all struggled a bit with in class discussion. That’s one of those things, after that semester, that I worked on. I started to “teach” students how to participate in a discussion.

I don’t want today’s post to go on for too long, so I’ll get into more specific assignments next week, but I will also hint that the ENG 113 that I later taught online was shaped largely from issues that arose while I taught these two courses: good and bad. Next week I’ll be working a lot from memory to compare the lessons in the course. I’ll start with the different ways I introduced the classes, how I learned where the students were at, and what I had to do to continue each class. See you then.

Poetry on E-readers

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I wanted to do an updated post in regards to reviews I posted yesterday. I heard back from the publisher of Ellaraine Lockie’s chapbook regarding her e-book, and I had an opportunity to look at the original PDF. It made me want to explore my use of e-readers again in regards to poetry.

I went back to my kindle app and looked at it again on the PC, versus phone, versus 7 inch tablet, and the poems did look different on each one based on the defaults that the files showed up in. As I played with the settings more I was able to eventually get the files to look more like that would in a print book (often making the font size small). What was weird about this is that I usually read in a pretty regular sized font, but it appears that the defaults had changed with the last kindle update so that is part of it.

So, viewing poetry on an electronic device raises an interesting question: intent. Playing with the look of the line, and white space is (for I’d say many, if not all poets) an important part of the poetry making process. How do you feel about the fact that your poem could be changed on the screen (via font sized, color tone of the screen etc) to look not at all like the poem you created? Do you think that changes how the reader might interpret/appreciate what you have written?

This isn’t an issue that particularly bothers me although I did buy each of my books that are available in e-formats for my kindle app so I could see what they look like. I’ve been pleased with them, and I think the convenience factor far out-weighs any minor concerns I have about making sure the poem looks the way I wanted it to look.

Looking forward to starting a discussion from both sides of the poetry reading desk. Do you read poems electronically? How? Do you think about how they look? As a writer are you concerned about this for your own work? Etc.

Let’s chat!

Review Wrap-Up

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I finished quite a few items over the weekend so I thought it was time that I did a mini-review wrap-up again:

  • I’ve had this first book on my list for quite a wile. I heard about it in a video I used in class regarding bias. I downloaded the e-book of The Believing Brain, and it took me quite a while to read it. Not that the book isn’t good, but because it is quite dense. There are sections that are quite technical, yet the book is fascinating. It is also separated into a lot of small sections which helps. 
  • I finished two print poetry books. The first of which is This Country of Mothers by Julianna Baggott which I picked up at AWP. I haven’t read Baggott’s fiction yet, but I’m also looking forward to it. I had one of her other poetry books, and I found her voice unique. I marked a lot of poems in this collection as ones I wanted to re-read. One of my favorites is “After Giving Birth, I recall the Madonna and Child” where Baggott writes about the birth of Jesus being so clean: He’s never purple, blood-stained, / yellowed – like my babies – / from swimming in his own shit. Baggott has quite a few poems that walk this line between being of this world, and the reality of what might come next. A really strong collection.
  • Another e-book I completed was a poetry book. I don’t download a lot of poetry books electronically because they sometimes have coding issues where the linebreaks don’t show the way the poet intended (update on this! Start a discussion about e-readers. I explain what happened with my own kindle file). I have to say that this is the case with Ellaraine Lockie’s Coffee House Confessions. Because I’ve read a lot of Ellaraine’s work this did not bother me, but I would suggest going for the print version if you are in the market for this one. I virtually marked quite a few poems from this collection with one of my favorites being “Single at the Second Cup Coffee Shop” where Ellaraine writes: He asks if I’m Carol / A serious man squeezing a paper coffee cup / and smelling like an ad for Calvin Klein cologne / / My denial so devastatingly disappointing / that he dashes straight to his Porsche convertible … etc. I made the linebreaks where I think they would be, but this isn’t how they show up in the book. This was a really great read.
  • Back on the print side I finished an issue of the literary magazine Colorado Review.  The fiction and non-fiction in this issue were fantastic even when the pieces were long. I was less drawn in by the poetry section which means I’m not sure if I’ll submit to the magazine. I’m not sure I’d be a good fit.
  • The last ebook I finished was the second book in Maureen Johnson’s young adult series set in London. The Madness Underneath is a good continuation of the story although it felt a little rushed. I wonder if that happens when you know you are writing a trilogy? Makes me wonder if she wrote books two and three at the same time? I’m still looking forward to the book three release.
  • I’m going a little long here, but I only have one more book in my recently read stack so let me squeeze it in. I picked up  A Van Jordan’s collection The Homesteader (I think this one is considered a chapbook?) at AWP as well. I love Jordan’s work, and this is a beautifully crafted book inside and out. I’m going to research the speakers that Jordan uses in this collection. How about that for a review: It made me want to study! There are a lot of terrific moments in this collection with one of my favorites appears on page 30 where Jordan writes: To compose the movement of a woman / Taking stairs, presents a problem: Women / In motion, show graceful intent.

I’d love to hear what you guys have been reading as we finish up National Poetry Month here in the us :)

Presenting

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This should be my final post about ENG-112 (comp 2, Argument Based Research). The final project is a presentation. I usually ask the class to consider their presentation argument as one that strongly tries to persuade someone. It should involve some kind of visual, but that does not automatically mean a power point.

Leading up to the presentation we talk about good skills for presenting like not reading straight from the presentation. We also review what makes a good visual and/or hand-out to supplement what you are talking about. It is good to discuss the differences between writing an argument, and speaking one. I usually grade and/or review the presentation twice: once in the pre-work to make sure everyone is on the right track, and then the actual presentation itself.

I love watching the presentations at the end of the semester. I hand out sticky notes, and ask those watching to write comments for the presenters. We leave it open that the class or me can ask questions. Each presentation should last about 10-15 minutes and any use of video should be below 5.

Just today I learned of two new resources I’d like to try out for presenting and/or preparing to present. The first allows you to turn your phone into a presentation remote. The second is a way to collaborate as some times students will want to group up for presentations which is also fine as long as everyone gets a chance to speak, and show their part of the work.

Since these presentations are completed during the last two weeks of classes the only other thing to think about with the class is what we will do during the exam period. I often show a movie that somehow relates to the class, and provide a written exam that they will answer while they are viewing. Here is one example where we used the Faces of America documentary (one hour of it).

Since this is the end of my posts on ENG-112 (I’ll start a different comp 2 – ENG-113 Literature Based Research next week) I want to also link to a few items I didn’t mention in earlier posts that I find useful in ENG-112.

  • When discussing things like bias I think it’d be fun for people to take quizzes on this website, and then write/discuss things they found out about their own beliefs. 
  • I love this essay about Colors. It raises some interesting discussion points about how we view, and name things.
  • Here is a George Carlin (clean!) video comparing the language of baseball and football which I like to use as a way to introduce students to metaphor and analogy in writing.

When I first found out I would have to teach Argument Based Research I was a little concerned because I wasn’t familiar with some of the theories in the textbooks I looked over, but it didn’t take me long to realize I understood the core issues around argument based writing. See you next week to talk about literature based writing/research.