Writing with my students
As I explained in some earlier posts, students in UWP 18 this quarter are writing blog posts about their professional fields/majors, and also writing a process log in which they explain their goals and how they craft their blog entries to meet those goals.
The pattern for each assignment goes like this:
Step 1 = Alpha draft. Upload and come to class with a 250-300 word draft of a blog entry. In class, we will first work on an expansion strategy (a way to make something longer) and then on a style strategy. Students will share their drafts with each other and get peer feedback.
Step 2 = Beta draft. Revise the entry, upload it, and bring it to class. We do another expansion strategy and style exercise in class. Students will share their drafts with each other and get peer feedback.
Step 3 = Gamma draft. Revise the entry and upload it for me to read.
Step 4 = Delta draft. Revise the entry based on my feedback.
The steps overlap, meaning that while I am commenting on the Gamma draft of entry 1, they will be writing and working in class on the Alpha and Beta drafts of entry 2. (This is not as complicated as it sounds; it means they have work in progress at all times, with either one or two entries active at any given time.)
The first cycle begins today with the Alpha draft of entry 1. To prepare for this, we spent time in class on Wednesday last week doing some invention exercises, first "clustering" and then doing focused freewrites on a word or phrase from the cluster.
One of the major tenets of teaching writing is that whenever possible, the teacher should do whatever the students are doing, and so I did. Since clusters and freewrites are done for the writer, not for the reader, I don't feel any obligation to share mine in a readable form here, but here's what they look like:
Messy, right? That's part of the idea. One is supposed to move fast, not pausing to weigh ideas or censor thoughts. This allows one to make creative connections and intuitive leaps. (It is also why these exercises are usually not shared with others. Sometimes the connections go places one would rather not admit.)
The pattern for each assignment goes like this:
Step 1 = Alpha draft. Upload and come to class with a 250-300 word draft of a blog entry. In class, we will first work on an expansion strategy (a way to make something longer) and then on a style strategy. Students will share their drafts with each other and get peer feedback.
Step 2 = Beta draft. Revise the entry, upload it, and bring it to class. We do another expansion strategy and style exercise in class. Students will share their drafts with each other and get peer feedback.
Step 4 = Delta draft. Revise the entry based on my feedback.
The steps overlap, meaning that while I am commenting on the Gamma draft of entry 1, they will be writing and working in class on the Alpha and Beta drafts of entry 2. (This is not as complicated as it sounds; it means they have work in progress at all times, with either one or two entries active at any given time.)
The first cycle begins today with the Alpha draft of entry 1. To prepare for this, we spent time in class on Wednesday last week doing some invention exercises, first "clustering" and then doing focused freewrites on a word or phrase from the cluster.
One of the major tenets of teaching writing is that whenever possible, the teacher should do whatever the students are doing, and so I did. Since clusters and freewrites are done for the writer, not for the reader, I don't feel any obligation to share mine in a readable form here, but here's what they look like:
Messy, right? That's part of the idea. One is supposed to move fast, not pausing to weigh ideas or censor thoughts. This allows one to make creative connections and intuitive leaps. (It is also why these exercises are usually not shared with others. Sometimes the connections go places one would rather not admit.)
If I am going to do the exercises in class with my students today, I need to come up with 250-300 words in which I build on my cluster and/or freewrite to say something about my field. For the sake of keeping my entry parallel with theirs, I think I'll write it as a separate post.
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