Teaching Level: 7
Experience: 6.5 Semesters
Spells: 5
Charisma: 16
Wisdom: 11
Intelligence: 12
EXP Bonus: Co-teaching – Kassorla +4, Olive +1
Spring 2018
Jenn Olive and I spent all of Winter Break of ’17 working out how to create a themed course. This would be my fourth semester of ENGL 1101, and her nth of 1102. Originally, we’d both planned to teach 1102, but thanks to some last-minute need changes, I’d been switched to the former. We didn’t mind too much, as it meant more development then for less work later on. My future self has definitely thanked our thoughtfulness – more times than I care to count.
This first time around, I was feeling my way into the genre. Whereas Jenn wanted to focus specifically on video games, I wanted to broaden the spectrum. I don’t know nearly as many games (or as much theory of games) as she does, but I do know my fair share of board, card, and phone games. About halfway through the semester, I broadened the topic to include sports – they’re games, too, and some of my students were “hardcore jocks” but weren’t much into anything else. For a deeper reflection, check out my post on our mentoring session.
We’d designed the course a little beyond the LDS scripts, as well. I set up a journal assignment with twelve or so entries, each requiring 300 words (I’d run 200 word journals twice a week in my Fall 17 class, and that was too much for everyone). Some were reflections on previous assignments or class discussions, others discussions about the various games or readings I assigned. I also shifted the narrative assignment from a high-stakes 20% into a single journal entry. My past students had a hard time separating the grades on their writing from their actual experiences, and it gave us more time to have a deeper focus on the other assignments. They did well, and seemed to understand narrative better because of the lack of graded investment.
The micro-ethnography project spread a few weeks longer than the original 1101 schedule intended (mostly due to the lack of narrative paper), which meant we had more time to discuss ethnography in general, understand the project, and do our observations. I asked each student to grab a group of friends – be they online or in person – and watch them run a few rounds of games. They considered the space (whether online, in a dorm, etc) and the players’ knowledge of observation in their discussions, and argued a particular point.
That, too, was a change from previous 1101 courses. I focused more on argument, and built their skills from day 2. We used the Toulmin model, practiced how to build arguments in class, and developed our own skills for learning and dissecting arguments. We watched videos of people arguing (including many videos from MatPat’s Game/Film Theory channels), and dissected their arguments. By the time the students turned in their ME assignments, they’d developed rudimentary theses and could write five pages no problem.
The second project, the supported argument assignment, I broke into parts: annotated bibliography (5%), first draft (15%), and final draft (20%). They spent time with each part both in and out of class, and I issued full feedback on their first drafts. Their second drafts were tailored and well-written, and I’m thrilled with how much they learned.
Their final project was to create a portfolio online (the website they’d previously used for their journal entries {I posted no feedback online, and kept the grades in my gradebook only}). They took their finalized papers, changed them up a bit to work on an online format, and designed the sites around their themes. I think these could’ve gone better, and, even after my Fall 18 class doing the same, I think I’d like to spend more time here. Understanding audience vs time crunches doesn’t work out nearly as well in practice, and most of their pages were copy-pasted blocks of text. Some of my students ended up bulleting and altering their papers for the online format, but not enough to make me feel they’d all understood the prompt.
Summer 2018
I don’t have a lot to say about my summer class. I taught 1101 as a Success Academy course. These SA students are ones accepted into the university provisionally, and I have a lot of problems – pedagogically and ethically – with how the program is run, so I won’t go into detail as to that.
I did focus the course more on argumentation, and stretched some of the projects around to accommodate that. I didn’t run the games theme, since the SA requirements are so strict and I didn’t have much time for prep work during my short May break. I feel like this round of students (as opposed to Summer 17’s) were ready and willing to be there, and they seemed to make for a better learning environment. Overall, I’m proud of them and the things they were able to accomplish.
We focused mostly on rhetoric and argumentation. I think I used a few of the gaming-focused videos and reading content, but all to try and add a bit of relatability to the course.
Fall 2018
Here again, I ran a games-themed 1101. I worked out a lot of the kinks from the spring course, much of which included emphasizing the broadness of the topic at the top of the course. I ran a short assignment on Evicted, the First Year book, and set the narrative assignment as a journal entry again. The micro-ethnography worked out better, I think, as I had some experience answering logistical questions this time around. I realized, too, grading a first draft so intensely isn’t the best option, as I get too rushed. I think I’ll rework that part for my next class. The portfolio assignment, too, needs some work. I’d like to figure out how better to teach changing up an argument for audience-focused formats. Their sites all looked great, but there were a few tough decisions on grading.
Looking Ahead
I’d like to rework the argumentation assignment to take some of the stress off me, whether that be removing the graded first-draft, or pushing it earlier into the semester, or something else, I’m not sure which.
I’d like to rework the portfolio assignment – or at least the teaching part. I need to learn more about teaching audience-focused argument, and implement that into lectures and activities. Maybe a few in-class group projects, reworking pre-written articles or something.
I’d like to rework the micro-ethnography, too, but I’m not sure where to start. Much of my work on it has been on the handout and teaching the process and writing. I’m not sure how to put my finger on it, but I’m not quite happy with it yet.
At any rate, I’m headlong into teaching 1102 for the first time, and it’s frankly terrifying. I’ve never taken anywhere near a normal 1102, and any observations I’ve done were long ago, last spring. I’m using an updated design of our first 1102 course, so I’m not totally lost, but I pester the poor dear weekly for help, and I’m sure she’s exhausted with me already. The assignments are confusing, even after our reworks, and I’m not sure what to ask for or how to explain it — much less what to talk about. I’m so familiar with teaching argumentation and that’s it that I’m not sure where to go beyond that. Hopefully, I’ll figure it out soon.
The Crafty Medievalist 