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Week 1
8/26-8/30
Good morning! Now that you have attended the introductory class, you may still feel confused about what you’re supposed to do. Here is a list of next steps.
- Complete the mini essay assignment and turn it in right away using the prompt in the notes linked here. *Set up your GDrive account. * If you have not already done so.
2. Watch these videos:
Lesson 1.2: Annotating digital texts [text] and video
Lesson 1.3: Create your coursework (archive) and (workflow) *JUST UPDATED TO INCLUDE BOTH VIDEOS)
3. Read the entire syllabus and post one question by Thursday (11:59 pm). Follow these guidelines for your question.
4. Complete the reading, Ted Ed Lesson–plus discussion posts assigned in lesson–and Video watching assignment by Friday at 11:59pm. These are listed below:
Read: “Backpacks and Briefcases: Steps Toward Rhetorical Analysis”. The link may lead you to the whole textbook, but you only need to read the chapter titled “Backpacks vs. Briefcases.” You don’t need to answer the questions listed in the text at the end of the chapter. Rather, follow the process in the TedEd lesson and answer questions (about both the reading and the video) within the TedEd platform. You will need to register for TedEd to post with your name.
Lesson 1.1: Rhetorical analysis TedEd lesson
Watch: “The Human Insights Missing from Big Data.”
5. After Friday, write your workshop 1 assignment. Homework: Workshop 1 assignment
Phew! It seems like a lot of steps, but it will go by very quickly, and it will give us sturdy footing to write together.
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Ms. Larsson wrote “Each student is placed in a group, and that group has an hour for workshopping the week’s draft”. I understand that in these workshops we will be working with our fellow classmates to become better writers and peer review each other’s work. However, given this, I was wondering if these workshops would be done during our class time or if we have to set aside time with our groups outside of class?
Hi! Workshops are done during class time. Only the workshops and group meetings are synchronous. You should get an email with your group and time slot by Sunday evening. Please see the syllabus for the time slots.
Ms. Larsson wrote that we will be split into workshop groups that will meet on specific days. I understand that we will be split up based on our writing abilities, but what will the criterion be for the groups? What will we be judged on, essentially.
Hi Bianca,
I realize it can feel like being read is being judged, but it’s not a ranking system. Student “mini essays” will demonstrate what resources students bring with them to college writing genres, and demonstrate also what resources they may need and what forms of support will be helpful. I try to place writers in groups who will mutually benefit from the writing lessons and recommendations that will likely be made in their particular group. For the most part, these lessons will be totally the same, actually. However, sometimes the needs will differ. For example, I get students who are working from a multilingual background where English is not the language in which they feel most confident as writers, and these writers will benefit from a more in-depth discussion of the way the language differences play out in their writing.
Ms.Larsson wrote that we will ”learn to share, discuss, and develop your writing in conversation with other writers as mutually-supportive adults without ego-trips and or avoidance” page 3. I understand that we are now adults and must discuss our differing opinions with each other in a fashionable manner, but we don’t know each other personally. How will we know if certain people in our groups won’t be judgemental towards us based on their personality?
Hi Tara,
That’s an important concern. We all have to practice not being judgmental by following the Golden Rule. Unfortunately, a lot of people learn to write in and through an attitude of judgement and criticism, so some writers will have a hard time taking a different approach to the writing they do and their peers’ writing. However, we know from experience–and research–that a critical, fearful, or anxious attitude actually makes it hard to perform creative intellectual tasks. Some people kind of like that pressure, but a lot of people do not. I’ve found that students generally have enough empathy and personal experience to be able to calm down their critic when invited to do so.
Ms. Larsson wrote “Your process writing informs the way I shape video lessons and other teaching. I want the lessons to be useful to you” (6). I understand that you will be posting video lessons to help us, but will each student get a different video based on what they need or is it a video to cover what the class is struggling with overall.
Hi Selena,
All of the video lessons will be lessons useful for all students. Individualized lessons will come in the form of workshop discussions and recommendations.
Ms. Larsson wrote, “Online meetings: show your faces, be prepared to talk.” ( page:4). I understand that we have to actively participate during the meeting and we have to show our faces to be able to more personally communicate with each other, but what about the students that are unable to use zoom on their phones and do not have a webcam on their computer. Will that factor affect the meeting in any way?
Hi Rashel,
So far, I’ve never encountered a smart phone or a contemporary computer without a camera, so I really don’t know. If this is the case for you, we can set aside time to talk about it in a meeting after class.
Anna Alexis Larson wrote that “workshops that meet on Mondays are group A at 8:00am and group B at 9:10am and Wednesdays are for group C at 8:00am and group D at 9:10am” (page 5). I understand that this is when the workshops between these certain groups will take place. However, I wonder if we are to meet in different groups, will we be creating different zoom meeting information depending on the group? Or would we be in the same zoom call as our professor as we discuss with our groups during these workshops?
Hi Brigitte,
The workshops are in the same Zoom room and are led by me.
Professor Larsson wrote “I evaluate process writing with a check mark in the generic rubric below” (page 6). I understand the grades that we will receive on our work and , along with grading process of each individual assignment. However, I am concerned with what the policies are in terms of late work and extensions?
Hi Asia,
I take two points off process writing for late work,I do not give comments for late workshop assignments, and I take major assignments down one grade if they are turned in late after the one-day grace period. It is ultimately more important to turn in the writing–especially the major assignments, without which one cannot pass the class–than it is to turn it in on time. I grant extensions on a case-by-case basis. Please be in touch with me as soon as possible if you are struggling to finish or turn in an assignment on time.
Professor Larsson wrote “The assignments in the Google Classroom site each have a rubric, and most of these rubrics have additional information about the assignment goals and expectations.”(page 5). I understand that we will be receiving assignments on google classroom. However, I am concerned with when we’ll be using google classroom.
Hi Oniber,
We’re actually NOT using Google Classroom. We’re using Google Apps for Education. That means that you will need to log into your Queens College GDrive account using your Queens College email only, but you will only use Google Docs and other apps through the links I provide in the course site (here) and the assignment schedule. I hope this addresses your question. If you have other concerns about using Google Apps for Education, please email me. Thank you.
Professor Larsson wrote “Free writing are 5 points each and are assigned at the end of class meetings and the end of the week”(page 8). I understand that we started class this week. However, I am concerned when will we be starting it.
Hi Valentina,
We will not start using BlabRyte to write freewrites sooner than the end of Week 2 or the beginning of Week 3, and only then will students be expected to use the app. When these assignments begin to appear, I will post a very short video explaining how to use the app, and students will have a chance to ask questions in class. I hope I have answered your question.
Professor Larsson wrote “Each student is placed in a group, and that group has an hour for workshopping the week’s draft” (pg9). I understand that you have said on our live meeting that you will be putting us into groups with people we would be the most comfortable with. However, what exactly does that mean? How will we be more comfortable with our group than the students assigned to a different group?
Hi Kenia,
Ultimately, no one has an answer for how another person will be comfortable. I try to place students in groups with similar areas of mastery in their writing so that their lessons will be relevant and engaging. Also, it looks like I will need to edit something in the syllabus, because workshops actually only meet for 40 minutes.
Professor Larsson wrote that when learning to develop research skills that we will work on creating an “annotated bibliography and 3-4 page hypothesis” (page 3). I understand that citing sources and learning MLA format are important cornerstones of academic writing, as well as professional writing. However, I am curious whether or not Professor Larsson have any issue with students using easybib and similar websites to formulate said bibliography.
Hi David,
I am a huge fan of EasyBib! Here’s the thing: EasyBib gets it wrong a lot of the time. Therefore, you need to know enough about the formatting rules to do quality-control. I switched from EasyBib to Zotero to create my citations, but I still need to check them over for quality control.
Professor Larsson wrote “The assignments in the Google Classroom site each have a rubric, and most of these rubrics have additional information about the assignment goals and expectations. Please consult these and ask questions specific to these items when sending questions about the assignment so that I can help you with a specific answer when needed.” (Pg 4)
I understand that “Process Writing” will be the primary percentage of what we’re graded on.
However, given this, I wonder if extra credit is a possible factor of final grading.
Hi Kayla,
I don’t know how to create extra credit assignments, but I am not in principle against the idea.
Professor Larsson wrote, “Online meetings: show your faces, be prepared to talk.
Zoom meetings are short. Create privacy in whatever way you can so that you can be onscreen, and use a headset or mic-enabled headphones to keep out background noise and feedback.” I understand that we have to show our faces and use a headset . However, I am curious if we lose points if we do not talk, freely asking questions?
Hi Samantha,
Of course, I really love it when students volunteer to speak–so long as they DO NOT take up the space required for other students to participate–but I will not take points off for students who do not volunteer to speak.
However, if I ask a student a question and the student does not respond, I mark the student as absent. This is one of the reason “show your faces” is so important. It is not acceptable for anyone to merely open a Zoom window on the computer and leave the room mentally or physically.
Professor Larsson wrote ” Mondays Group A: 8 am Group B: 9:10 am Wednesdays Group C: 8 am Group D: 9:10 am”. I understand that we will be broken up into four separate groups. However, I wonder if this means we only show up to online class once a week based on which group you are assigned to?
Hi Gifty,
Students show up to synchronous class TWICE (caps for emphasis, not emotion): Once for the all-class meeting at 8:40 am on Mondays and once for their group’s workshop meetings.
Hi Temima,
You’re graded on your word count. There is an algorithm in place to ensure that you are, by and large, writing in English, and the average amount of time it takes to write will be factored into the likelihood that you responded to the assignment prompt. However, the grade will ultimately be based on word count. So, if you feel like writing “I think Alexis is just the best (OR) worst teacher of all time” over and over, it can be just that (in)formal and still earn credit.