Library of James Moffett Publications (and other things) … rebuilding links 1.11.20

“Dartmouth Conference” James Moffett is sitting behind Douglas Barnes in the second row is nearest the window (left side). Source: from http://www.ifte.net/HistoryIFTE.html [International Federation for the Teaching of English]

I. Introductions to:

1. For a brief introduction to James Moffett’s most important writings check out John Warnock on the NWP website Brief Reviews of Major Works of James Moffett; also, for an annotated bibliography of his works, see: CompPile’s “Founders” page for James Moffett.

2. Chronological Snippets on Moffett’s Life: James Porter Moffett born May 23, 1929 in Cleveland’s Shaker Heights. Mother Reaber Mai Tull Moffett and father Harold (Hal) Moffett are there on tour with Harold’s jazz band, but the family is based in Jackson, MI. Jim’s older brother Harold Jr. (“Sonny”), born in 1925, is also a touring jazz band baby. The Depression effectively ends Hal Sr.’s drumming career … For more see: James Moffett Chronological Snippets_(provided by Judy Moffett).pdf.


3. The Person and Family Man (by his daughter): Moffett, Judy. (1997). It Takes a Vision. California Journal English.

4. Guide to the James Porter Moffett Papers. This document represents the full listing of materials archived for research in University of California Santa Barbara’s Special Collections Department.

II. Interviews With:

1. Schroeder, E. & Boe, J. (1995). Moffett Interview “Individualize”. Writing on the Edge. [Provided for JMC by author/editor].

2. Sohn, D. (1975). A Talk With James Moffett. Media and Methods: Explorations in Education. [Provided for JMC by Tom Gage].

III. The Library of Publications:

Moffett in the 1960’s

1. Moffet, J. (1965). I You and It. College Composition and Communication. 16 (5), p. 243-248. *used with permission; copyright NCTE (all rights reserved).

2. Moffett, J. & McElheny, Eds. (1966). Points of View: An Anthology of Short Stories.

3. Moffett, J. (1966). Drama in English Teaching Study Group No. 2. This was the earliest public version of Moffett’s “Drama: What is Happening” which was republished by NCTE in 1967 (3a.). This is a manuscript that Moffett brought to the study of drama in the English classroom -one of six specific Dartmouth Conference study groups. This would later be published as a chapter in Moffett’s book (1968) “Teaching the Universe of Discourse”.


3a. Moffett, J. (1967). Drama What is Happening. Report: National Council of Teachers of English. *used with permission; copyright NCTE (all rights reserved).

4. Moffett, J. (1968; 1983). Teaching the Universe of Discourse. Boston, MA; Houghton Mifflin.

5. Moffett J. & Wagner, Betty J. (1968; 1991). A Student-Centered Language Arts, K-12.

Moffett in the 1970’s

1. Moffett, J. (1970). Coming on Center. English Journal. 59 (4), p. 528-533. *used with permission; copyright NCTE (all rights reserved).

2. Moffett, J. (1972). Who Counts. English Journal. 61 (4), p. 571-574. *used with permission; copyright NCTE (all rights reserved).

3. Published by Houghton Mifflin, Moffett’s (1973) Interaction series was made up of hundreds of materials, including paperback books, films, recordings, games, and activity cards. Although a complete, published collection of these materials have become notoriously difficult to find, it did lead to a direct and modern off-shoot on which Moffett worked in the 1990’s with Robert Romano. This led to a software program which made a wide selection of materials available to teachers (known and sold as EdVantage software) which became the “Writing Trek”. Writing_Trek_2001.pdf.

4. Moffett, J. (1973). CURRENTLY MISSING: When is Discovery Real -and Right? [Do not currently have in electronic format: Elementary English; 50, (1) 11-13, 40]

5. Moffett, J. (1973). CURRENTLY MISSING: Managing a Child-Centered Curriculum [Do not currently have in electronic format: Teacher; 91(1), 21-24]

6. Moffett, J. (1973). CURRENTLY MISSING: Phony Problems: Accountability and Learning to Read [Do not currently have in electronic format: New School of Education Journal; 2, 4, 98-111]

7. Moffett, J. (1974). Bajan Bestiary Hummingbird. English Journal. 63 (5), p. 55. *used with permission; copyright NCTE (all rights reserved).

8. Moffett, J. (1979). Language Learning in the Eighties: The Current State of Education in America. McGill Journal of Education. 14 (1), p. 102-114. [Provided to the JMC thanks to Dr. Pare; editor, MJE]

9. Moffett, J. (1979). Integrity in the Teaching of Writing. The Phi Delta Kappan. 61 (4), p. 276-279.

10. Moffett, J. (1979). CURRENTLY MISSING: Commentary, The Word and the World [Do not currently have in electronic format: Language Arts. 56 (2), p. 115-16]

Moffet in the 1980’s

1. Moffett, J. (1981). Active Voice: A Writing Program Across the Curriculum.

2. Moffett, J. (1982). Manual for Teachers and Parents on Combating Classroom Indoctrination. The Phi Delta Kappan. 63 (7), p. 497-498.

3. Moffett, J. (1982). Writing, Inner Speech, and Meditation. College English. 44 (3), p. 231-246. *used with permission; copyright NCTE (all rights reserved).

4. Moffett, J. (1985). Hidden Impediments to Improving English Teaching. The Phi Delta Kappan. 67 (1), p. 50-56.

5. Moffett, J. (1985). Liberating Inner Speech. College Composition and Communication. 36 (3), p. 304-308. *used with permission; copyright NCTE (all rights reserved).

6. Moffett, J., Cooper, C., and Baker, M. Eds. (1985). Active Voices IV: A Writer’s Reader. 

7. Moffet, J., Bolchazy, M., and Friedberg, B. Eds. (1987). Active Voices II: Rationale and Teaching Guide. (Grades 7-9).

8. Moffett, J., Wixon, P., Blau, S., and Phreaner, J. Eds. Active Voices III: A Writer’s Reader. (Grades 10-12).

9. Moffett, J. (1988). Storm in the Mountains: A Case Study of Censorship, Conflict, and Consciousness.

10. Moffett, J. (1989). Censorship and Spiritual Education. English Education. 21 (2), p. 70-87. *used with permission; copyright NCTE (all rights reserved).

11. Moffett, J. (1989). Bridges_From Personal Writing to the Formal Essay. Presentation: Center for the Study of Writing Seminar Series.

Moffett in the 1990’s

1. JM_Varieties of Censorship_1990 [Do not currently have in electronic format: Journal of Educational Thought/Revue de la Pensee Educative, v24 n3a p5-16 Dec 1990]

2. Moffett, J. (1991). Student-Centered Reading Activities. English Journal. 80 (6), p. 70-73. *used with permission; copyright NCTE (all rights reserved).

3. Moffett, J. (1992). Detecting Growth in Language.

• Chapter One: “Alternatives to Standardized Testing.” In Detecting Growth in Language, p. 1-5. Portsmouth, NH: Boynton/Cook Pub. 
 

4. Moffett, J. (1992). Harmonic Learning: Keynoting School Reform.

5. JM_What Works Is Play_1993 Copyright [1993] by the National Council of Teachers of English. All rights reserved. [Do not currently have in electronic format: Language Arts, v70 n1 p32-36 Jan 1993]

6. Moffett, J. (1994). On to the Past_Wrong-Headed School Reform. The Phi Delta Kappan. 75 (8), p. 584-590.

7. Moffett, J. (1994). Women’s Ways of Writing, or, Images, Self-Images. College Composition and Communication. 45 (2), p. 258-263. *used with permission; copyright NCTE (all rights reserved).

8. Moffett, J. (1994). Universal Schoolhouse: Spiritual Awakening Through Education.

9. Moffett, J. (1995). Confessions of an Ex-College Freshman. The Quarterly. 2 (3).

IV. Articles about Moffett:

1/Reviews:

1. Emig, J. (1970). Rvw/Teaching the Universe of Discourse. 

2. Hundley. (1970). JSTOR PDF link: Rvw/Teaching the Universe of Discourse. (if you have access).

3. Pope. (1987). JSTOR PDF link: Rvw/Active Voices. (if you have access).

4. Hillocks, G. (1991). JSTOR PDF link: Rvw/Moffett’s_Storm in the Mountains. (if you have access).

2/Retrospectives:

1. Blau, Sheridan. (2011). Excerpt: Theory for Practice: James Moffett’s Seminal Influence on Composition. [Provided for JMC thanks to Sheridan Blau. Forthcoming: Stock, Patricia. (Ed.) Composition’s Roots in English Education. Heinemann Boynton/Cook.]

2. Gray, James. (1997). Jim Moffett, An Appreciation (1929-1996).

3. Wagner, Betty J. & James Gray (1997). Reflective Tribute to James Moffett’s Influence on English Education. (if you have access)

4. Gray, James. (2000). Memoir: On the National Writing Project and Moffett.

5. English Journal. (1997). Moffett In Memoriam. (if you have access)

6. California Journal English. (1997). For some of the most insightful, earnest, and well-written reflections on James Moffett as a person, theorist and practitioner -visit California English online.

7. Gage, T. (2010). Moffett and Dartmouth. (produced for us here at the JMC).

3/Theses & Dissertations Regarding:

1. Rebecca Leigh Henning. (2011). MA Thesis: Peter Elbow and Pat Belanoff Being A Writer.pdf.

With special thanks to NCTE, to Judy Moffett for providing the biographical snippets on Moffett, and with special thanks to Tom Gage and Sheridan Blau for providing guidance and materials. Please do send me recommendations for revisions, additions, etc. [koshnickd@wou.edu].

Graduate Student Experiences with Employer-provided Educational Assistance

I recently published an overview of Employer-provided Educational Assistance in Tech Whirl -see: https://techwhirl.com/employer-provided-educational-assistance/. This included interviews with two graduate students in professional and technical writing at Northern Arizona University. The article demonstrates the values that such benefits have for students and businesses and it reports on reflections from two students regarding the impacts that employer tuition benefits have had on their lives and careers. Check it out!

INTERACTIVE MAP: Universities and Colleges as Economic Engines

A popular misconception is that universities cost states money. This leads to the belief that cutting investment dollars to state universities automatically saves the state and the taxpayer money. But, more detailed views reveal something else entirely. This geographic representation [see: https://www.google.com/maps/d/viewer?mid=zJDEtBv8dnZY.kB2wAkjG6LEE] allows you to pick a university from the interactive map to link to economic reports that define how universities act as critical economic engines. This map helps demonstrate how universities don’t “cost” states nearly as much as they offer. As you will see, for example, for every $1 invested, states often get estimated returns on the $1 that are well over 10x that amount.

INTERACTIVE MAP: Universities and Colleges as Economic Engines: https://www.google.com/maps/d/viewer?mid=zJDEtBv8dnZY.kB2wAkjG6LEE

So, find your local, or regional university. Study the numbers. And then tell everyone you know just how your local university is actually a regional economic engine that supports employment, offers significant returns on state investment, generates tax dollars for the state, and produces graduates that start regional businesses, etc. Because most “States Are Still Funding Higher Education Below Pre-Recession Levels”: http://www.cbpp.org/cms/?fa=view&id=4135.

These impact reports represent estimates based on the complex roles that universities play across city, state, and regional levels. The levels of detail in these reports vary as does what each report measures. And there are some interesting current debates about how such impact measures should be made more uniform (*1, *2, *3). But, what is clear is that these reports and estimates show how universities play many more integrated, critical, and revenue generating roles than most of the public (and even academics) realize. For example:

Did you know that universities actually generate tax revenue?

Did you know that average returns on state investments typically yield 10x plus returns on that investment?

Did you know that universities often represent states and cities top nonfederal employers?

Did you know that universities regularly attract out-of-state dollars that wouldn’t exist without them?

Did you ever study how much revenue that universities generate based on their research activities and their collaborative ventures with private industries?

Did you ever consider how many businesses that university graduates start after they graduate?

These reports estimate numbers like this and more. Like a curated wiki, my hope is that I can build and update this interactive map with your help. If you have a suggestion, an updated link, etc. please send me that information at my non-work related email account: zolaloza@gmail.com.

Now, get out there and talk with friends and family about our universities in richer and more complex ways! Talk about not just the inputs and costs, but the outputs and revenues. Talk about all of this, in addition to the many other social contributions, such as helping students discover their passion and potential, etc.

Thank you! And enjoy!

*For more on the current debates surrounding economic impact studies of universities -see:

1. Duy, T. (2015). The Economic Impact of the University of Oregon A Comprehensive Revision. The University of Oregon Files, January 2015. Retrieved from: http://around.uoregon.edu/sites/around1.uoregon.edu/files/field/image/impactstudy.pdf.

2. Ambargis, Z., Mead, C., and Rzeznik. S (2014). University Contribution Studies Using Input-Output Analysis, U.S. Department of Commerce, Bureau of Economic Analysis, 2014. Retrieved from: https://www.bea.gov/papers/pdf/BEAWP_UniversityContributionStudiesIO_022014.pdf.

3. Swenson, D. (2012). Measuring University Contributions to Regional Economies: A Discussion of Guidelines for Enhancing Credibility, June 2012. Retrieved from: http://www.econ.iastate.edu/sites/default/files/publications/papers/p13992-2011-08-08.pdf.

EXPECTATIONS FOR AN “EXPERT READING” RESPONSE AT THE GRADUATE LEVEL

EXPECTATIONS FOR AN “EXPERT READING” RESPONSE AT THE GRADUATE LEVEL

Over time I have defined and refined an “expert reading” response criteria that I hand out to my graduate students at the beginning of the term. Perhaps aspects of this 8-step criteria will be of use to you? Check it out:

I. Introduction: There are 6 “Expert Readings” (ER’s) across this 10-week summer term. Of these 6 ER’s you can opt out of one without penalty. By the end of the term, you must have completed 5 out of 6 of the assigned ER’s. At 32 points each, these 5 required ER’s account for 160 points across the term.

I have a list of 8 specific criteria for completing a graduate level “Expert Reading”. Spend time familiarizing yourself with these criteria. The way I prompt you to successfully complete an ER is precisely how I will grade what you produce and turn in. And, by assigning/using the same criteria for many weeks, this should reduce surprises.

You should, steadily, become more efficient in producing these (2 page, 12 point font, double-spaced) reports as the term progresses. But, the broader purpose of an ER is to make you read the materials assigned closely and analytically. The goal is not to have you write about all aspects of each week’s readings, but to figure out what you want to focus on, why, and then conduct a focused analysis (that incorporates your experience/perspective and follow up research) on one, or two key ideas. Sometimes these are “open” ER’s. Other times, I offer prompts with some specific directions to take.

II. Grading Key:

• “√” indicates that the expectation was met (with possible notes about under specific section).
• “ø” indicates a point deduction, that there was room for improvement, and to see individualized feedback notes under the specific section.

III. Expert Reading Criteria:

1. Formally Incorporate Multiple Sources (4 points): Demonstrate your reading of the relevant materials by formally incorporating aspects of them (through summary, or quotation) into your analytical narrative. When doing so, make sure to follow up with the ideas that you include from others and explain, in your own words, what they mean. Use APA format –see Diana Hacker and Barbara Fister’s online style guide: http://bcs.bedfordstmartins.com/resdoc5e/RES5e_ch06_o.html.

2. In Your Analysis, Signal and Coordinate Between Multiple Perspectives (4 points):Analysis requires that you are able to pull in and work from and against multiple points of view. At key moments in your analysis, particularly when explaining your key points, make sure to coordinate your analysis between multiple sources and perspectives (including your own opinion). With this in mind, be sure to construct sentences that signal your emphasis and the hierarchy between ideas through the use of coordinating (and, but, for, yet, or, nor, so), subordinating (if only, unless, whenever, rather than, as though, as long as, etc.), or correlating conjunctions (both … and, not only … but, either … or, etc.). Or that particularly employ conjunctive adverbs like –however, moreover, nevertheless, consequently, as a result, etc. Consider the difference between:

A. I think “y”.
B. If Bazerman (1998) is correct when he indicated that “x,” then it is difficult to believe Myers (2003) when he noted, “y”. Overall, it is likely the case that “z” because …

 

It is not that you cannot and should not include simple and direct statements like, “I think that …,” but make sure you strengthen your key points by recognizing multiple points of view and multiple arguments when possible.

 

3. Include Supplemental Research (4 points):Show the initiative to supplement what you have been assigned to read with some kind of additional research. Do additional research and incorporate it into your analysis and overall reflections.

4. Include Your Voice (4 points): Make connections between the readings and arguments to your own professional and personal experiences.
5. Work to Be Interesting, Even Surprising (4 points): Try to write about that which is not immediately obvious (to anyone that has already read the article). A key first step is to avoid excess summary. Include summary as background information, but make sure that information leads to a bigger point and serves to set up your own perspectives, interpretations, and arguments. Take control of the material and tell us something that we might not expect, or know (stated as the opposite, a poor analytical post only restates what an article clearly establishes). Explain why and how the points you want to make are worth our time and attention.
6. Revise Your Final Posts So They Are Focused (4 points): Follow through with the most important ideas you raise (do more with less). In other words, make sure to follow through and up on key concepts addressed. Focus on one, or two topics in your short, analytical narratives (or stated in the negative form, do not change topics abruptly and repeatedly between each paragraph). This often requires that you write your analysis in time so that you can revisit it and revise your work for overall coherence (often eliminating ideas that were not as important, or unrelated to your primary emphasis).
7. Focus on Presentation and Overall Document Design (4 points):Pay attention to document design and use headers/sub-headers, or some other method to signal the order and progression of content in your post. Make sure to include a descriptive title.
8. Edit (4 points):Edit your post to avoid excess spelling errors, or poor syntax.

Interact with Classmates’ and Their Work Each Week: Make sure you read and respond at least 3 classmates’ work across each unit. Include more than a simple comment. As indicated in the syllabus, this is required each week. And it is -2 off of the overall point total for each missing feedback post.

Total 32 points:          29 =’s approximately 90%;
26 =’s approximately 80%;
23 =’s approximately 70%;
20 =’s approximately 60%.

Make Way

Author holds rights to all content on this website. Author must give explicit written permission for reproduction/use of any content, whole or part, found on this site. Author can be contacted at: zolaloza@gmail.com.

__________________________________________

By Damian Koshnick

 

We are surprised when the coyote

swiftly limps down a city street,

only to settle into the open cooler of a coffee shop

beside cans of soda and bottled water to

cool off and ice an injured leg.

 

Cities are an odd nature the coyote must feel,

a dangerous nature which grumbles in unlikely ways,

and swarms and honks, with staring, upright animals

that yell between very tall, oddly placed hills.

 

Or, we are amazed by the leggy-moose that lifts itself up

out of the river’s original thoroughfare that winds through town.

This kind of event makes us think we should call someone,

that surely there is a department for other animals that

places moose back where they ought to be.

 

Or there is that moment when we might see a mother duck,

who leads her procession of small ducklings through a crosswalk.

That awakens a deep instinct in us; it may even change the course of our day.

We might follow them for blocks, between houses, and we might even stop traffic,

to see that others make way for these creatures,

like visiting dignitaries that we live near, but know so little about.

Teaching Writing: The Renewing Varieties Experience

Many years ago in a junior high civics course, I remember being introduced to the idea of a democrat and a republican. In the requisite textbook there was a short, bulleted list of the respective platforms. Not long after, I was frustrated. The textbook offered no connective tissue, no explanation from one statement of belief to the next; neither did my teacher who clearly valued his role as a hockey coach more than that of our civics teacher. At that time, of course, I was not familiar with the divisions, the belief systems, or the issues that defined one party from another, but I had to memorize those short lists of what was a democrat and what was a republican for a test at the end of the week. My mind raced, “But why this and not that? Why that, and not this?”

The same thing happened to me fourteen years ago during my first weeks of graduate school. I was introduced to the history of composition studies in a class on theory. In those first weeks and certainly through that first year, I remember feeling what Bartholomae (1985) described. When introduced to the university, we mimic, we take on roles to gain entry. I was a ventriloquist, taking on the voices and beliefs of nearly every assigned reading. Everything, in bits and pieces made perfect sense. Everything was an equally viable contribution toward a greater understanding of an imposing discipline. Our professor, an excellent teacher, was not prone to handing out slogans, or given to simplifying matters. Looking back, I assume that he did not want to impose his perspective, or to short-circuit our messy journey of discovery between theories and their surreal authors whose names became, themselves, something to hold on to. Although I have gained critical distance in the more than decade since, my sense of the formidable nature of composition studies as a field has lessened, but not dissipated.

In those earliest, inchoate days I was only interested in the relatively carefree association of attending classes, enjoying the company of my small cohort, and occasionally demonstrating my knowledge in end of the quarter in essays written to my professors. At that time, I was primarily interested in the aesthetic gain of reading and talking about ideas-as-ideas. I wanted to make composition studies as a field “hang together” because it seemed to me a challenging, complex intellectual puzzle.

But, our relationship to knowledge and our perspectives on that knowledge within a field noticeably shift when we act in different circumstances and take on different roles. I recognize this in my own history, and it is emphasized by the fact that over the last twelve years I have played significantly different roles in five very different academic institutions. When I think about my time in and between these settings, a mash-up of William James’ title comes to mind –on “the varieties of English experience”. The degree of variety, the utter plurality of experience is inspiring. There are many ways to measure this difference –in focus, in purpose, in action, or between individuals, colleagues, departments, the universities themselves etc. For example, many good teachers care about knowledge only in as much as it can be applied to some advantage in their classrooms. Others relish the role of debating theory and pedagogy with departmental colleagues. Some, want to contribute to theory and knowledge in the field itself, publishing in national journals and attending conferences, etc. My own interests have changed at every stop, generally enlarging in ambition and scope. But a great deal has been learned through observation, and the willing adoption of local interests, which without much haste I typically came to share; I value, it seems common action. Perfectly defensible teaching-of-writing happens in many contexts; takes on many forms; and calls many guiding principles by different names. This is how, in the end I have come to this present task. My understanding of composition studies has advanced as much through my own personal growth across contexts as it has through the discovery and application of our formal literature along the way. It is the unusual nature of mixing the two that presents new difficulties even when some discovery seemed to convey resolution.

As Phelps (1988) noted, theorizing is autobiographical. And what I have come to understand about the field of composition studies neatly parallels what I have come to understand about myself as a professional within it. Upon entering the profession, I assumed that there was a center, that there was a conceptual place that I would eventually discover by which the broadest structures of the field would reveal themselves. After a bewildering introduction, I came as many peers did to take comfort in the phrase “process-approach”. But more so, I came to value it for its yin-yang relationship to “current-traditionalism,” or more abstractly stated –product versus process. In our age, even now, this easy dichotomy should not be dismissed; it played a useful part in my own development. During my first quarters teaching writing, I emphasized time for revision, multiple drafts, peer review, etc. These were things that I absorbed from somewhere. But whatever the details of my use of “process” in the classroom, my adherence to it along with colleagues afforded us a collective “in-ness,” a cache. Or at least we believed it did; we knew the “secret language” of good writing instruction; we knew what writing teachers did. That confidence, albeit temporary, was vital. The certainty of “process” however shallowly defined and imperfectly applied, was buttressed by our belief that there were teachers who did not know what we knew –they only graded final products. It was our shorthand. It offered us a reprieve from an otherwise imposing task –teaching– in an otherwise imposing field. But fashionable belief can, and does, eventually stunt discovery and curiosity. Every night doorman grows tired of the password.

And it does not take long to realize that under that thin surface, the forms that instruction takes and the institutional structures in place to support those forms regularly lead to vastly differing pedagogies. At the five institutions in which I have taught –comparing only the first year writing classes between them– I adopted the general conditions at each: Humboldt State University, critical cultural studies; Minnesota State University, literary-oriented pedagogies with a sequence of first year courses in composition taught with titles like “literature and poetry 102,”; Concordia College, a program-wide service-learning pedagogy; University of California, Santa Barbara, a writing-across-the curriculum pedagogy with an associated writing-in-the-disciplines curricular tributary; Allan Hancock Community College, a developmenal English curriculum on an Air Force base. Given this background and my sensitivity to it, it is perhaps not surprising that I am fascinated by studies of the history of English which focus on the nature of its trajectory and development within smaller, local domains. After reading Donahue and Moons’ (2007) Local Histories I have come, recently, to believe that most of us are imbued with at least two disciplinary histories –the local one in which we acteffectively if colloquially, and the “meta” one in which we theorize regionally and nationally. If there is cognitive dissonance, we regularly ignore it. If we are perceptive, we recognize potential in the symmetry and in the certain discontinuities; if we are diligent as individuals, we are not constrained by either.

For those that pay attention, this local-meta dynamic could be viewed as problematic (in some instances it is), but on the whole it is a vital source of friction that can replenish our desire to consume, and even produce new theory and research. For it is that –expanding move– the theories and theorizing as thinking heuristics, that often clarifies these sources of friction; or more formally, it is the research, as it accumulates, that acts as a potential corrective. However this mix of local and “meta,” of theory and research, of experience and intuition, of context shifting and role-taking plays out, we rely on both stability and uncertainty. The trick, of course, is to get the balance right.

The nature of “English” and how we attend to it depends upon a wide-range of shifting roles and interests in the individual who moves between contexts with different purposes and responsibilities. What we want for our discipline alternates between our ever-expanding and contracting allegiances to these different realms –our students, ourclassrooms, our specialized knowledge domains, our department, the university, national conferences, theoretical constructs of the discipline itself. Very often we work toward common gain in many areas at once; very often a quirk, or agitation in recognition of one will cause a ripple effect through the remainder.

A SAMPLE “TEXTUAL INTERVENTION” -FOR FELLOW TEACHERS

David Stacey first introduced me to the teaching and learning concept of “textual interventions” in 2002. While taking a course titled, “Rhetorical Approaches to Writing” Dr. Stacey described Rob Pope’s work. Years later, I discovered Stacey’s (1995) review of the primary book through which Pope described the approach. See Stacey’s book review of Textual Intervention: Critical and Creative Strategies for Literacy Studies at JAC Online (archives): http://www.jaconlinejournal.com/archives/vol17.1/stacy-textual.pdf.

Put as simply as possible, a textual intervention requires that a reader change some portion of the original text and then determine the implications of that change.

For years, while teaching first year composition courses (that emphasized writing instruction through the study of literature and poetry), the “poetic intervention” assignment was always one of the most exciting units to teach. In most ways, I think it represented a chance for students to feel a bit rebellious. As most of us probably have experienced ourselves, the reverence and priorities that many teachers demand when assigning literature and poetry often obscures students’ own access to the texts. Interventions, however, offer a small, but meaningful opportunity for students to change that. When assigned, an intervention allows a student to invent a unique relationship to a text. At first they find it confusing, then liberating, and before you know it, they are explaining not just the changes they made to a given text, but how those changes differ from the author’s original work.

There is often a real excitement in the room when you tell students to weigh in to the margins of a revered text, or poem. But, this post is not about the method, or specific teaching strategies, etc. It isn’t a reinterpretation based on Rob Pope’s work, or a conceptual analysis of the practice; instead, I am sharing here one of the more successful examples that I created to introduce the practice and prepare students to conduct their own. Enjoy.

1. INTRODUCE THE POEM

General Script:

Let’s read a poem together. At the end of it, I will introduce you to an exercise that you will eventually do on your own. But before we get there, let’s read a poem that combines mystery and love with reading and writing.

This is a poem, titled “Marginalia” by the contemporary poet Billy Collins.

Marginalia

Sometimes the notes are ferocious,
skirmishes against the author
raging along the borders of every page
in tiny black script.
If I could just get my hands on you,
Kierkegaard, or Conor Cruise O’Brien,
they seem to say,
I would bolt the door and beat some logic into your head.

Other comments are more offhand, dismissive –
“Nonsense.” “Please!” “HA!!” –
that kind of thing.
I remember once looking up from my reading,
my thumb as a bookmark,
trying to imagine what the person must look like
why wrote “Don’t be a ninny”
alongside a paragraph in The Life of Emily Dickinson.

Students are more modest
needing to leave only their splayed footprints
along the shore of the page.
One scrawls “Metaphor” next to a stanza of Eliot’s.
Another notes the presence of “Irony”
fifty times outside the paragraphs of A Modest Proposal.

Or they are fans who cheer from the empty bleachers,
Hands cupped around their mouths.
“Absolutely,” they shout
to Duns Scotus and James Baldwin.
“Yes.” “Bull’s-eye.” My man!”
Check marks, asterisks, and exclamation points
rain down along the sidelines.

And if you have manage to graduate from college
without ever having written “Man vs. Nature”
in a margin, perhaps now
is the time to take one step forward.

We have all seized the white perimeter as our own
and reached for a pen if only to show
we did not just laze in an armchair turning pages;
we pressed a thought into the wayside,
planted an impression along the verge.

Even Irish monks in their cold scriptoria
jotted along the borders of the Gospels
brief asides about the pains of copying,
a bird signing near their window,
or the sunlight that illuminated their page-
anonymous men catching a ride into the future
on a vessel more lasting than themselves.

And you have not read Joshua Reynolds,
they say, until you have read him
enwreathed with Blake’s furious scribbling.

Yet the one I think of most often,
the one that dangles from me like a locket,
was written in the copy of Catcher in the Rye
I borrowed from the local library
one slow, hot summer.
I was just beginning high school then,
reading books on a davenport in my parents’ living room,
and I cannot tell you
how vastly my loneliness was deepened,
how poignant and amplified the world before me seemed,
when I found on one page

A few greasy looking smears
and next to them, written in soft pencil-
by a beautiful girl, I could tell,
whom I would never meet-
“Pardon the egg salad stains, but I’m in love.”

~Poet Laureate, Billy Collins

---

2. GIVE STUDENTS SOME TIME TO DIGEST THE POEM

General Script: Before we talk about this poem, take a moment (5 minutes) to look at the poem again and write down some of your reactions to it.

3. HAVE AN OPEN CLASSROOM DISCUSSION

General Script:

Ok, now: What are your reactions to this poem?

[Discussion]

Did you expect that ending?

[Discussion]

4. PROMPT A TEXTUAL INTERVENTION (IN SIMPLE TERMS)

General Script: Now, instead of just admiring the poem, what if you jumped into the text and changed it somehow? What would you change?

[Discussion]

But what if they did meet? (the one “whom I would never meet . . .”).

[Discussion]

What if the book wasn’t ‘Catcher in the Rye’ but ‘_____’ instead?

[Discussion]

What if the end-note hadn’t been “Pardon the egg salad stains” but a different sandwich?

[Discussion]

 

5. AND FINALLY, INTRODUCE THIS PREPARED SAMPLE INTERVENTION:

General Script: Let’s look at an example. What if the final line of the poem:

Original:           “Pardon the egg salad stains, but I’m in love.”

Was actually this instead?

Intervention:     “Watch out for the chocolate smear, but I dig this cat.”

A. GIVE A MOMENT FOR THEM TO THINK ABOUT THIS CHANGE

General Script: Take a moment (the next 5 to 10 minutes) and write down your immediate reactions to this change.

What kind of things did you jot down just now?

[Discussion]

B. SHARE SOME OF THESE PREPARED REFLECTIONS

• Immediately it is obvious, this change isn’t nearly as good as the original; however, this simple change to the text made me, for a brief moment, consider more just what I liked about the author’s original, “Pardon the egg salad . . .”. From this brief ‘re-considering’ I realized that we are not entirely sure what the girl is asking us to pardon her for, the egg salad stain, or the fact that she has fallen in love with Holden Caulfield, or perhaps both. In fact, by making it less than certain, she is incidentally suggesting that, “Hey, it is just an egg salad stain. And it is just a little bit of love. You can forgive me for this right?”

• Love, in this manner, is partially equated with an egg salad stain. She is inadvertently saying that they are similar – pardon the egg salad, pardon the love. Implicitly then, love takes on aspects of an egg salad stain. Love, like an egg salad stain, is a bit messy. It is yummy.

• And further, I would argue that it is legitimate to go a bit further, that egg salad is usually something that people eat during the summer time. And so, according to this assumption, we can assume the time of year. We can assume it is hot out. And because of this assumption, we can virtually imagine this young ‘beautiful’ woman bounding out of the library, back into the hot-summer world . . . full of this new found ‘Catcher in the Rye’ love-inspiration, ready to do something daring, brave, bold, adventuresome.

• And speaking of Holden Caulfield, what if she had said, “Pardon the egg salad stain, but I am in love with Holden Caulfield.” No, no this is not nearly as romantic. It is her state of being-in-love that is important. It is the simple fact that she feels love that appeals, I believe, to the narrator’s sensibilities and hence eventually my own (the reader). For if she is just-in-love, the possibility exists that she could eventually love others, like “you”. But if she is specific, if she says Holden Caulfield – is it possible to feel jealous?, considering it is someone that the author has never met?

• What if it was chocolate smear instead of egg salad stain? Well, chocolate doesn’t have the summer feel to it. It isn’t as fresh, or healthy. It is more something someone would eat because they are gluttonous. They are indulging. Chocolate leads, in this manner, to a whole different feeling about this person. And we do not get the same sense of a specific time of year that the egg salad implies.

“She was a sad girl, I could tell.” Again, different poem, right? Now, practice this with a poem of your choice.

Workplace Literacy: A Short Questionnaire (Under Revision)

Workplace Literacy: A Short Questionnaire (Under Revision)

My question is, is it possible to create a “fun” and short set of questions that can also offer useful glimpses into a professional’s workplace literacy experiences? The goal is to create a short, approachable list of questions that professionals, across many different fields, wouldn’t mind answering.

That is my goal here with the following list of questions that I am currently working to improve and revise. Suggestions and revisions are welcomed in the comments section. See the current draft of the questionnaire below.

The “Turkel” questionnaire: Tell us a bit about you and your workplace

Studs Turkel is well known for offering glimpses into the lives, thoughts, and beliefs of working people. In even more playful formats, Vanity Fair has the “Proust questionnaire”. And “Inside Actor’s Studio” host James Lipton is well known for asking famous actors Bernard Pivot’s list of questions. This is a list of questions asked in a similar spirit –for fun, but also to give us some insight about you and your craft.

We are, of course, not as famous as actors on the “Actor’s Studio,” nor do we have a crowd of adoring fans as fascinated with our answers; still, we want to know: Who are you? What do you do? And what, briefly, is involved in the work that you do?

With this in mind, please take a few minutes and address the following prompts in as much detail as you want.

 

I. Tell us a bit about you:

Briefly, who are you?

What do you do for a living and where do you work?

Of your daily responsibilities, which are the most interesting, or most regularly annoying?

What are the prominent, or interesting features of your workspace(s)?

II. Tell us a bit about your workplace:

1. What is your favorite word in your workplace (or profession)?

2. What is your least favorite word in your workplace (or profession)?

3. Are there an unusual phrases, or terms that you are likely to hear only at your workplace?

4. What are some common mistakes that others make?

5. What technology is most important for your work?

6. What does this technology help you do?

7. What are the most important sources of information at your job?

8. Do you have any “tricks” for finding, or managing information at your job?

9. What from your past prepared you most for the job you have?

10. If you had a minute to advise someone just entering your workplace, what do they need to know about writing, or the process of writing to succeed?

Thank you!

Prompting Students to Introduce Themselves by Documenting Their Writing Workspaces

As teachers, we are always looking for new ways for students to introduce themselves. Most of my professional and technical writing courses incorporate social constructionist perspectives. Now, when I begin my courses, I ask students to introduce themselves by documenting and describing their workspaces (and places). This allows them to start the course by describing something with which they are familiar, but also prepares them to think about writing in terms of a situated activity.

In what follows:

 

I. First I have archived some examples (from students that have cleared me to post them).

 

II. And second, I have shared a basic version of this assignment.

 

I. ARCHIVE OF WORKPLACE “SNAPSHOTS”

 

1. Alex Adrian, Online English Teacher for Scottsdale Unified School District

 

My name is Alex Adrian.  I am the Lead Online English Teacher for Scottsdale Unified School District’s eLearning and SOL programs. 

 

My workspace is very special to me because I spend more time at this desk than I do in my bed. I am seated at this desk for hours upon hours every day, so I needed to make the area not feel like a work desk. The pictures and other small pieces allow me to lean back in my chair and forget about work for a few minutes a day and just reminisce about great memories. It may look to some like a clustered mess, but this is what I like to call my organizational mess. It takes others minutes to find something on my desk that takes me seconds to find.

 

2. Dennis Mitchell, Institutional Research Analyst and Adjunct Faculty at Mesa Community College

 

My name is Dennis Mitchell, and I write in a few distinct work and academic roles: in my full-time employment as “Institutional Research Analyst” at Mesa Community College (MCC); as a part-time English composition adjunct faculty at the same college; and as a graduate English Rhetoric and Composition Student, currently at Northern Arizona University.

 

The top left and bottom pictures of my mashup capture my office at MCC. I spend the vast majority of my workdays starring at the two monolithic monitors hanging above my desk; a picture of a favorite place (Chase Field) and other trinkets help the office feel more comfortable. The two monitors help display many data sets and reports at once to assist in the creation of my own work-related texts. Interruptions emanate from my email inbox, coworkers, boss and uncomfortable office temperature, and I occupy this workspace during a typical weekday schedule. While this office is primarily used to construct work-related texts, I do use this workspace to compose faculty-related or student-related texts during breaks or after business hours.

 

My home desk occupies the top right of my mashup image: one monitor with stacks and shelves of papers, books and baseball memorabilia. Creating texts in this environment faces distractions from my dogs (a chubby Chihuahua and a black lab mix), my significant other, household tasks, the TV in the nearby living room or noises outside.

 

3. Ramon Lira, Academic Advisor and ESL Adjunct Instructor at Phoenix College

 

My name is Ramon Lira. I work as an academic advisor and ESL adjunct instructor at Phoenix College. I’m currently taking additional English courses through NAU to be eligible to teach other areas such as composition and creative writing.

 

My workspace is a desk in a spare bedroom, which I share with my wife. The desk is simple, with only “useful” clutter such as paper, pens, a small lamp and computer equipment. To the right is my collection of some interesting things I’ve collected over the years, such as a paper mache replica of a mummy and a Michael Jackson skeleton figurine, both of which I picked up while visiting my wife’s hometown in Mexico. 



 

One thing about this space that makes it special to me is that this is where I wrote “English Speech Production in Insects,” which won the grand prize in this year’s NAU humorous writing contest. The winning entries should be posted soon at: http://nau.edu/SBS/Communication/Student-Work/

 

4. Anthony Garcia, Higher Education at Tidewater Community College and Old Dominion University

 

My name is Anthony Garcia and this is my first semester at NAU in the graduate professional writing certificate. I currently work in both the public school and higher education settings teaching English. This fall I will be transitioning exclusively to teaching in the higher education setting at Tidewater Community College and Old Dominion University, in the Norfolk/ Virginia Beach area.

 

The picture of my work area is necessarily basic, but arguably complex. This is my work environment in the public school that I teach in. The work area is extremely basic where only the humming of the HVAC system keeps me amused. I do not favor a generic work environment for getting most of my writing done. Instead, I prefer the white noise of coffee shops, kids playing in a pool, or the waves rolling onto the shore. For this reason, I’m returning to higher education in the fall where writing, grading, and conferencing with students offers more flexibility. 

 

5. Kevin Boyd, Graduate Student at Northern Arizona University

 

My name is Kevin Boyd and I am a student at Northern Arizona University in the MA in English program. My workspace for my studies consists of a desk in my bedroom with a computer hooked up to a forty inch television as a monitor. When I am alone, it is a perfect setup to write and complete schoolwork.  The large monitor allows me to write on one side of the screen and have another document or website on the other side for quick reference.

 

Unfortunately, I also have to share my workspace with a four-legged friend. My cat’s food is also on top of the desk. The desk is the only safe place we have been able to find where our dog is unable to get into his food. Sometimes when I am working the cat comes up to eat, paws at the monitor, or tries to rest his head on my hand that should be typing.

 

6. Selina Reid, University Staff Position at Arizona State University

 

My name is Selina Reid, and I am in the Rhetoric and Teaching Writing (RTW) program with NAU. This is my first semester as a graduate student, although graduate school is my area of expertise. I currently hold a staff position at Arizona State University in the Graduate College, where I’m a jack-of-all-trades, helping students, applicants and academic units go from application to graduation. I specialize in dealing with international students, international transcripts review, and I issue I-20 documents which allow international students to apply to get their student visas and study in the United States.




My workspace differs according to what tasks I need to accomplish. Much of my reading is done while walking on my treadmill. You can see my makeshift foam and duct tape “desk” that I rest my books on. I studied and read throughout my undergraduate career this way and I am convinced that walking and reading makes me learn more efficiently.

 

The big, brown chair is the latest addition to my reading and studying workspace. This chair is only for lazy, non-serious reading and writing. This is not a schoolwork chair.

 

The kitchen table is the best workspace for writing and doing school assignments. I like being next to the kitchen and family room while I work, but sitting at the table forces me to get down to business, unlike the comfy chair.

 

7. Steven Seamons, Associate at W.L. Gore & Associates

 

Since I am not permitted to take a picture of my workspace at Gore, you get to see my workspace at home. My name is Steven Seamons. I am an associate at W.L. Gore & Associates, and I attend NAU.

 

At this workspace I am a father of 4 (2 girls and 2 boys) all under the age of 8, and it is very hard to find a free minute, or at least quite free minute.

 

For this assignment you get a glimpse of this workspace in all of its glory. On closer inspection you can see we have a lot of coats. We live in the mountains and we are always in need of an extra layer, my workspace is also the coldest spot in the house. I have to wear socks so my feet don’t turn into ice. This workspace is most commonly used for storage of bottles, crayons, children’s art, and supplies for runny noses.

 

8. Kathryn Johnson, Graduate Student Northern Arizona University, Mother, Business Owner

 

My undergraduate self of 8 years ago would be shaking her head in disbelief if she saw this. Gone is the idealistic dream of what I thought my home office would one day be like when I became a mother and a teacher. Instead, on what doubles as my dining room table (my favorite piece of furniture, witness to countless family occasions with all the people I hold dear) there sits what appears to be a mess. On the contrary, I promise, it is actually an organized chaos of bills, business paperwork, and now, as evidence of my jump back into the academic world, endless amounts of English classwork. It is a place that is uncharacteristically peaceful for me in the early morning hours and afternoon naptime, knowing the most precious things in the world to me, my twins 3 ½ and new baby boy, 8 weeks, are sleeping soundly in the rooms within earshot. It’s true that this is probably not the most convenient home office for a student, business owner, mother, and former English teacher, however, the views are great and the kitchen (copiously stocked  with cereal, coffee and beer- essentials for every busy mom) is close by, so I can’t complain.

 

9. Steven Maierson – Undergraduate Admissions and Orientation at Northern Arizona University

 

I work in two separate environments in distinct capacities. The larger and more vibrant image is the space in which I free write and work as a student. It is my game station and link to the world and all its ills. Books and images surround me, things representative of who I am—tiny Batman figurines, a replica of Sting from The Lord of the Rings, and the desktop image of a Black Mage from Final Fantasy. The other half is my workspace at Undergraduate Admissions and Orientation at Northern Arizona University. At this place I maintain an orderly environment with minimal personal conveniences. I keep it neat so that if I need to move it isn’t a hassle. The small flashes of personality are random holiday gifts we receive in the office and, of course, a fantastic image of Tremors as my desktop background. It is here where I write procedural documentation and the occasional essay for school.

 

10. Dennis White, Saint Louis Community College; District Coordinator (4 campuses, 2 satellite locations), Assistant Professor, Reading (Florissant Valley Campus)

 

I share an office in the communications building with another faculty member, which is the typical setup; offices are located at each end of the building with classrooms in between. I spend many hours writing in this space, most recently developing student and instructor materials for the college’s new student success course, which just completed its first year of implementation. Sometimes I work through periods of concentrated writing activity, and other times I engage in conversations with colleagues, students, and administrators. I usually place work on the desk to the left of the computer, which I removed in order to give this picture a cleaner look, but I am fairly neat in the way I typically maintain my writing space. I enjoy writing here and the relatively quiet location at the end of a hallway. I also enjoy the close proximity of a window, glancing out of which provides an occasional quick break when needed to reenergize my writing.

 

11. Ashley Salazar, Assistant Director of TRIO Educational Talent Search, Garden City Community College

 

Our office and my desk are hidden away in the basement of the administrative building on campus, but I like it that way. It allows for our small staff to work together without distraction and shields the outside world from the chaos that we often create.  Our writing takes many forms and those texts create action. That action is often noisy, causing the rest of the college campus to appreciate the existence of a “lower level”.  I have a distinct area for my own creative processes, but I share the larger communal space with two other staff members.  I find it both comical and telling that we regularly communicate through text via internet signals and computer screens when we sit within inches of one another.

 

12. Jesse Maloney, substitute High School Teacher at Greyhills Academy High School and Graduate Student at Northern Arizona University

 

My name is Jesse Maloney, I’m a substitute High School teacher at Greyhills Academy High School and graduate student at Northern Arizona University.  The place where I like to conduct my school work now that it’s summer is at the bar in our outdoor parlor. 

 

When I put on some surf shorts and a basketball jersey it’s a serene warm setting even at night and I don’t feel cooped up and stressed.  It helps to lose track of time and get quality reading and writing done with my heavy semester.

 

 

II. [ASSIGNMENT]: INTRODUCE YOURSELF; DESCRIBE YOUR WORKPLACE

 

Hello and welcome to _____,

 

We all, likely, have multiple places in which we work and in which we read, think, and write. This assignment asks you to document and describe the key features of your environment at one of those “places”. I put “places” in quotations because it may be a fluid and dynamic location. You can, and should here, think of work places and spaces as both a physical location, but also as a time-based location. What else is potentially at play? For example, do you share the space with others? Is there anyone else competing for that space? Are there interruptions? Etc.

 

To think about reading and writing as things that happen in spaces, in locations, in specific time periods, is a unique way to introduce yourself to others in the course. Follow these instructions. This firs assignment will also prompt you think about the production of texts as a literal and situated act that happens in real locations. And it will help you get to know your classmates a bit in order to jumpstart the formation of our classroom community.

 

With this in mind, I was recently inspired by the discovery and playfulness of a blog: http://nathanmeunier.com/2012/06/22/shop-talk-freelance-workspaces-volume-1/ that invites writers to send photographs and brief descriptions of the settings and spaces in which they work. As teachers, researchers, and students of writing, we all spend endless hours in these spaces writing and working. See my example at: https://acomposing.wordpress.com/2012/06/22/the-work-spaces-and-places-of-writing-teachers-researchers-and-administrators/. Consider how my example is primarily playful. Feel free to be playful yourself, but also focus on including some serious forms of analysis about some aspect of your workspace that is worth comment.

 

So, tell us a bit about your workspace.

 

INSTRUCTIONS

 

1. Include only one (JPG) photograph (which can be a mash-up, multi-panel photograph) of the setting/space in which you work and write.

 

2. Include the following information: your name, title/job, and the university/school with which you are affiliated.

 

3. And include a short description focusing on what you find most interesting to describe/share about your workspace.

 

4. Post your narrative for the class to see. Remember: Write it in a fashion where you feel comfortable sharing publicly. Do not include details that you don’t want others to know. Do not include details that you might consider too personal for some reason.

How to Acknowledge the Online in an Online Course Syllabus

When I teach online courses, I have come to value the benefits of including a relatively short, but direct statement in my course syllabi about the nature of online learning for my graduate and undergraduate students. Before enrolling, some (most?) students have considered the differences between face-to-face learning and online courses, but it is also the case that many have not. In many cases, students may be taking an online course for the first time. In other cases, even students that have taken online courses before may never have been directly prompted to consider the differences between online and face-to-face courses (let alone hybrid ones) before. In all cases, it is beneficial to remind everyone involved that the nature of a given learning environment (whether synchronous, or asynchronous) plays a primarily role in the processes of learning.

Over the last several years, I have been working on developing a statement that is simultaneously useful, but also general enough to include (without much revision necessary) in all of the online writing courses that I teach. Over time, I have moved this statement steadily up in the hierarchy of my syllabi so that now it generally sits in the first few sections. I now consider it as a key part of the introduction to the online courses that I teach and thus tend to place it immediately after my course description and course goals.

Of course there are many variables involved in drafting such statements such as the student population that you are teaching, the type of course management system involved (in my case BBlearn with some supplemental outlets), teaching styles, and the nature of distinct courses, etc. But, as of this particular blog post, here is what I have constructed and refined over time. Maybe it will be of us to you, or just as likely, you will have something similar in your own syllabi.

The relative success that I have had with versions of this particular statement stem from several characteristics:

• It is written, ultimately, as an invitation to students prompting them not just to consider the nature of an online learning environment, but also how they must be active participants for success across the course.
• It addresses aspects about not just being a student in an online learning environment, but also introduces the nature of my role as a professor across it.
• The statement is short enough to include in a syllabus.
• And the statement is general enough to include, without much revision, in any given online course that I teach.

_________________________________________________________________

HERE IS THE RELEVANT EXCERPT FROM MY CURRENT ONLINE SYLLABUS

III. About Online Learning in This Course: 

This is an online course. I have come to appreciate the value of opening online courses with a simple and direct reminder: this is an online course. The differences between face-to-face and online courses are significant. Put simply, face-to-face courses and online courses ARE NOT THE SAME and they cannot be. It is not a matter of one learning environment being better than another (opinion is often divided depending on individual student’s circumstances, learning styles, and preferences), but it is a matter of being aware and intentionally adjusting, as a student, to the learning environment (in this case online) that you have chosen. As you will have experienced, or might expect, the convenience of working through technology and from a distant location has significant benefits and real trade-offs. Interestingly, what is a trade-off and what is a benefit in an online learning environment varies sometimes significantly between students’ preferences and learning styles.

The most important thing to realize, if you haven’t already, is that “meaningful” online learning environments often require MORE time and effort for both students/teachers than face-to-face classes. It is a common misconception that online courses somehow save time and are more efficient. But consider how the online “environment” only exists in as much as you interact with it. Or, put another way, in a face-to-face class, the classroom “happens” when you attend a given class; however, in an online course, it is your responsibility (as with your classmates) to “make things happen” one person at a time, one login at a time, one response at a time. This is the primary distinction whereby a face-to-face course is synchronous (occurring at the same time) and an online course is asynchronous (not occurring at the same time). Let me say it in another way. In a face-to-face class, discussion, lectures, etc. happen collectively and naturally because, in such a learning environment, everyone is present together for all such interactions. In an online course, however, everything is experienced with a delay. This is a constant battle for everyone in all online courses –teachers and students alike. There is a “shared space” online, but no matter how an online course is structured, it requires everyone as individuals from different locations (in both place and time) to create and leave something meaningful for others to find later. It can feel like lonely work sometimes, but with some patience it won’t feel like work done alone.

This corresponds directly to the second most important thing to realize (if you haven’t already) about working on a course from a distinct location –it requires you to be a more independent and self-motivated learner than when attending a face-to-face class. For some of you, this may fit with your natural proclivity. For most of you, however, you will have to work at it. In this course, you cannot be a passive learner and I will not simply be feeding you information (as you might have experienced in the past). In order for this course to work you will need to interact and to be a “knowledge-generator”. You will need to be responsible for constructing and managing your own learning. You will be both teacher and student. The success of this course (and ultimately your valuation of it) depends upon the work you are willing to put in –not just for yourself, but with and for your classmates too. This is why reading and responding to (at least 3) classmates’ work is required each week. Given this requirement others, of course, will likewise be responding to your work. In this manner it is important to understand that interacting and discussing, etc. is as much part of completing every assignment as a specific assignment itself.

My job, as your professor, is to provide a structured series of assignments/prompts with supporting mini-lectures, content, and materials that facilitate the realization of the course goals. In this capacity, my primary role is as an expert facilitator. But keep in mind that any given assignment and content won’t take on meaning, or “come to life” until you interact with it. More so, the electronic environment does not expand, nor become more interesting and rich until you add your reflections, comments, thinking, responses, ideas, beliefs, arguments, etc. The success of this course relies upon your steady, consistent, and active involvement. The success of your own learning across it does, of course, too.