Draft Midterm2 Question

This is the focus for your Midterm.   Going back to our summary of the main ideas for each theorist will help you identify the different groups.  We will talk over the question in class and I will answer questions.  We will also talk about expectations about how to write the essay.

Theories we have read so far could be classified (more or less) as presenting literacies from 3 slightly different perspectives.  These perspectives include

1. a focus on literacy as primarily connected to writing itself; 
2. a focus on how literacies are used (and the consequences of that use); 
3. and a focus on the unequal power relationships resulting from the fact that literacies are associated identities and ideologies - and that not all identities and ideologies are equal. 

Write an essay where you discuss how one theorist from each perspective represents:  

• learning to write,
• interpreting texts, 
• and communicating with others.  

Your discussion of communicating with others should take into account how literacies both do and do not allow us to communicate across different discourses.  Use specific references to specific theorists to back up your claims about what each perspective suggests about how literacy works. 

Due by Friday, Nov 11 by midnight.

October 25: Selfe & Selfe, and Selfe

We began class by discussing the midterm.  The outcome was a decision to have another midterm - and you could pick your "best" grade to count.  Those of you who are satisfied with the grade for the practice exam, can keep that grade (you don't have to write the second midterm unless you choose to do so).

I will post the question by Friday.  Look it over and come to class with questions.  During the next class, Nov 2, I will review/explain anything you request.  Also - I would like to have some discussion about any study/writing practices you plan to change in light of what you learned from the practice midterm.

The second midterm will be due, before class, as an attachment to an email sent to the course email, on November 9.


Calendar:  As we were planning dates we noticed (and it is so sad that I noticed for the first time) that the dates on the calendar are screwy.  I have revised the calendar and re-posted.  It should make sense now, and I think we still have time for everything.


Final:  Since you are writing a midterm exam to cover readings from the first half of the course, the final exam will only cover readings on digital literacies (from the last part of the course).  In class we will review how you want to re-adjust points. 


Research project: We also talked over the research project.  You will write about some aspect of literacies that interests you - and discuss it in light of the theories we have studied in this course.  You will choose the focus and we will spend some time in class forming strong research questions - and discussing how to connect your topic to literacy theory in a productive ways.  .  The assignment sheet will be posted by next class.

Class list of possible topics: Children’s literature, Learning to read, Autistic learners, e-books = advantage disadvantage, email/chat, age + literacy, social networks, trolling, internet discourses, grading, folklore + literacy, how literacies are taught here at Kean or at some other school you attended, a particular experience you had with literacy that you now see in another light (or can explain in another way).


Selfe & Selfe:  We spent some time on this one.  To make sure you got what you will need for the final - I strongly suggest reviewing the study guide questions + making sure you can "analyze" an interface in terms of the different cultural axes Selfe and Selfe identified: economics; discourse; and rationalism + logocentrism.  Also make sure that you can write into the strategies they identify for "fighting" the ideological  bullying of the interface (look at the headings).   


Selfe:  The importance of paying attention.   
We did not have enough time to spend on this as we could have used.  To make sure you've got the main concepts, I suggest that you review the definitions of the following terms from the essay - and then see if you can use each term in a sentence about PRINT literacies (apply the idea in a new context).  If you can't = raise questions in our next class.

cultural formations

larger cultural narratives of social-progress-through-technology

technological literacy

literacy myth

overdetermined systems

rhetoric associated with national literacy projects

patronizing assumptions about what it means to have difficulties with reading and writing in contemporary society

Also, take a look at the following quotes. Put them into your own words.  Spend some time thinking about what they mean.  Give some particular examples of these ideas in action.  =>For example, what "large-scale literacy projects have you observed (such as getting all Kean freshman to write in academic English and giving them one semester to learn how)?  how did they turn out?

official literacies usually function in a conservative, and reproductive fashion (103)

. . . we have little evidence that any large-scale project focusing on a narrowly defined set of officially sanctioned literacy skills will result in fundamental changes in the ration of people labeled literate or illiterate. (104)

What does Selfe point out as the connection between the educational agenda & the political + economic agenda for promoting computer communication technologies?  (106-7)

For Nov 2.

Look over the question for Mid-term2, come to class prepared to discuss.

Look over the list of ideas for research projects and the assignment sheet - it will be posted by the end of the weekend.   We will spend some time working on creating a research question that will support a strong essay.

Read:  McGee & Ericsson, 308

Final questions in advance, ½ period to write

OVERVIEW OF READINGS SO FAR:
Ong = writing as technology= creates distance

Heath = writing is social – interpreting writing is often in groups – need to think about how writing is used to understand its form

Olson writing is a theoretical model for language
script on the page does NOT provide enough information to create a single, undisputed interpretation

One or many theoretical models for language?

Scribner & Cole  particular features of literacy change particular cognitive abilities= what you practice you get good at

Literacy in and of itself does not change the way we think= but literacies do change particular literate skills

Gee = writing is social practice; learners [can’t] change Discourse late in life; learn new Discourse through apprenticeship;  Discourse is an “identity toolkit”=> involves a lot of unconscious assumptions; there are Dominant and Nondominant discourses

Delpit  learners can learn secondary Discourses & teachers can teach secondary discourses; new Discourses are learned through mentoring, modeling, talk, supportive feedback = apprenticeship

It is important to teach Academic discourse

Bartholomae = students invent the university= create a theoretical model for what Academic discourse expects of them

Pratt = classrooms are contact zones (look at how she defines this term)= arts of the contact zone include= autoethnography, transculturation, parody,. . . .how we make each other aware of our differenct cultural assumptions

Language and internet users statistics

Percentage of the web in English

Research project

From ENG 3035 syllabus:

Research project.  We will work as a group to develop an assignment sheet designating criteria for this assignment.  There may be some variation in grading from project to project - since projects will have different emphases.  The purpose of the project is for you to explore a "real-world" application of some feature of literacy theory.  As we go through the assigned readings - we will note the authors' main ideas and their analytic approaches.  You may pattern your project on a (scaled-down) work from one of the readings, or you may pursue your own interests

10.19 Evaluating practices for study and writing

Assignments for the next class are at the end of the post.  Groups creating study guides should read this section carefully - since you will now receive penalties to your grade for late work. 


1.  Study practices. You started class by doing some reflective writing.  Below is a summary of your observations on how you studied for + how you planned and wrote your essay exam.


How did you study for this exam:

Hear it in class and then read

Read before class – but with questions

Attention to vocabulary

Took notes on essays

Annotate text

Use study guides=> may include higher level learning

*No study groups

*No practice writing

Referred to blog

Kept up with the readings – some not so much

*Follow through on points you don’t understand

One general observation about these study practices is that, in general, you did not give yourself practice talking through connections between the essays or putting ideas together in writing.  


How to learn a new Discourse. As you have repeatedly pointed out to me - learning to read + talk about these essays IS learning a new discourse.  And the essays tell us that the best way to learn a new discourse is through PRACTICING IT (using models and "talking" in terms of those models).  This suggests that to really "get" what you need in terms of being able to write about these essays for a text => you will probably need to do some practice talking/writing.  This observations has practical applications for how you should study for your final exam.

2.  Writing process + writing "good" exams.  Next you did some writing about how you wrote your exam.  Notes are below.

Write about your process for writing the exam

Go back to the question= write a list of what it says to do

Read + re-read Bartholomae with attention to the two essays => clay model + music

Picked three essays = Gee, Delpit, Pratt

=> Had same theories = focus on social, pick what you understand the best; taked about academic discourse

Picked essays during class review + identify main points of all essays

Read directions of blog for how to write essay = point out organization + what you had to cover

Highlighted points from essays, referred to notes, study guide

Wrote about B. first

Picked essays in process of writing

Just wrote = consider listing points to make for each essay

Revising process

Just got done

After each section = went back & read for sense

Move among sections

Go back to prompt

Made sure to use evidence for back up of claims

Check teacher expectations?


Important observations:  Key practices for writing a successful exam involve repeated checks to make sure you are writing to the expectations or the prompt in terms focus, organization + development. 

Developing a rubric to grade the exam.  Whether or not teachers distribute their standards to students - they generally grade to a particular set of expectations for what makes a good essay. We did our best to identify standards for this particular essay question. And we created a rubric (previous post).  You tne graded 3 of your classmates essays - and we reflected on what you noticed.

Observations about grading:

Hard not to hold other essays to the standard set by the first one

Essays have different issues
Hard to be objective (keep your interpretations of the texts out of it)

Have a kind of bias from writing the essay

Rubric reflected what made a good essay

Hard to state what needs work

Don’t feel entitled to grade


4. Using your experience grading to better evaluate your own work.
We had a short discussion about how reading classmates' work helped you get ideas for how you could write a better exam.  That was one purpose for this exercise.  


A second purpose was to set you up to be able to analyze your work (and study habits) in a way that allows you to anticipate what grade you will receive and why. Your homework assignment should help you reach this objective.


Homework:  Grade your own essay in terms of the rubric.  For each score that wasn't "perfect"- explain what you need work on.  Email your completed rubric to the course email no later than Saturday..
.  




For next Class:
For the rest of the course we will be reading from Computers in the Composition Classroon: A Critical Sourcebook or from linked articles (see Course Calendar). .  


Read:  Selfe, 93; Selfe & Selfe, 64


Groups creating study guides:  

Selfe, 93  Technology and Literacy: A Story about the Perils of Not Paying Attention

Vince, Cathryn, Lana, Valerie, Dave

Selfe & Selfe, 64  The Politics of the Interface

Valerie, Nic, Dana, Amanda, Subrina

Study guides should be in the course email by 6 Sunday.  Each member of the group should turn in a completed Study Guide Evaluation Form at the end of class (hopefully I will give you time to complete it). You will lose 1/2 a grade for each day the Study Guide& Evaluations are late.  


We will begin class with some talk about the grades for the practice essay exam.  Then we will discuss the two groups will give their presentations on the two essays from Computers in the Composition Classroom - and we will continue with some more discussion.

Good class today!  Hopefully you have some ideas to take with you both for how to study for your next exam - and for how to do the writing part.

Rubric

1.   Audience expectations:  40

Written to the criteria of the question?

ð Explain difference between 2 essays from B

ð Give B’s explanation of differences

ð Account for differences in terms of 3 additional theorists

2.   Focus: 25

Relevance of chosen essays

Make connections among different theorists

3.   Organization: 15

Logical sequence in the discussion

Focused paragraphs –

Each paragraph contributes a point to the focus

Introduction + conclusion

4.   Development: 15

Provides evidence from selected essays

Depth of explanation

5.  Grammar + syntax = sentence level issues : 5

10.12: Bartholomae, Pratt, and Practice essay exam

At the beginning of class we re-negotiated assignments for study guides so we could spend some time consolidating what you learned about "print" literacies before we move on to digital literacies.  (See earlier post).  This means next week will be devoted to checking up on what you have learned so far - and how well you have applied it.


We also walked through the Study Guide Evaluations form.  Using that as "practice" = the Pratt and Bartolomae participants should each complete individual study guide evaluations and email them to me as attachments at the course email.   I will return my grades to you as individuals shortly after receiving evaluations from each member of the group.


We then had quick, overall discussions of Pratt and Bartholomae that focused on key terms, and main ideas.  The Study Guide leaders than led us through some interactive exercises that used writing to help us understand and apply the concepts in the essays.


Practice Essay Exam.  We spent the remaining time talking about how to write an answer for the practice essay question assigned for next week.  A summary of our discussion is below.


To write an answer to the essay question = begin by giving Bartholomae’s explanation for why/how the clay model and the composing music essays on creativity are different

Then give B’s explanation for WHY they are different

Back up your”claims” about wht B says with quote or specific references to his points.

be sure to use "idea-centered" language.

To choose authors suitable for answerin gthe second part of the question= Ask:

What is the author’s main point (summarized below)?

Does dome aspect of this point relate to Bartholomae?

Can any of the author’s points “explain” differences in the two essays?

OVERVIEW OF READINGS SO FAR:
Ong = writing as technology= creates distance

Heath = writing is social – interpreting writing is often in groups – need to think about how writing is used to understand its form

Olson writing is a theoretical model for language
script on the page does NOT provide enough information to create a single, undisputed interpretation

One or many theoretical models for language?

Scribner & Cole  particular features of literacy change particular cognitive abilities= what you practice you get good at

Literacy in and of itself does not change the way we think= but literacies do change particular literate skills

Gee = writing is social practice; learners [can’t] change Discourse late in life; learn new Discourse through apprenticeship;  Discourse is an “identity toolkit”=> involves a lot of unconscious assumptions; there are Dominant and Nondominant discourses

Delpit  learners can learn secondary Discourses & teachers can teach secondary discourses; new Discourses are learned through mentoring, modeling, talk, supportive feedback = apprenticeship

It is important to teach Academic discourse

Bartholomae = students invent the university= create a theoretical model for what Academic discourse expects of them

Pratt = classrooms are contact zones (look at how she defines this term)= arts of the contact zone include= autoethnography, transculturation, parody,. . . .how we make each other aware of our differenct cultural assumptions


For October 19.
EMAIL your practice essay exam to the course email, as an attachment, before class.

We will begin class by working on a self-evaluation for the practice esssay.

We will use remaining time as "meet-up" time for study groups, and for review of any issues you discovered as causing you trouble when you wrote your essays.  Bring your questions and confusions and we will go from there.

Good class today - it is beginning to feel like all these ideas (and the academic language) are starting to take root.    

Proposed Revision to Study Guide LIst

5. Dias, Freedman, Medway and Pare, 199   DROPPED

6. Selfe, 93  Technology and Literacy: A Story about the Perils of Not Paying Attention

Vince, Cathryn, Lana, Valerie, Dave

7. Selfe & Selfe, 64  The Politics of the Interface

Valerie, Nic, Dana, Amanda, Subrina

8. McGee & Ericsson 308 The Politics of the Program

Amanda, Tshandi, Jill, Krystina, Nicole

9. Eldred, 239  Pedagogy in the Computer-networked Classroom

Dave, Lana, Kayln, Vince, Cathryn, Jaslyn

10. Hayles, posted  Deep and Hyper Attention

Rebecca,  Autumn, Vince, Shealyn, Cathryn,

11. Williams, 469  Toward an Integrated Composition Pedagogy in Hypertext

Dorthea, Kalyn, Valerie, Subrina, Autumn

12. Herring, posted  Politeness in computer culture, 

Dave, Svitlana, Shealyn, Jaslyn, Subrina

13. Boyd,  Why youth © social networking sites

Dana, Jill, Kristyna, Nicole, Rebecca

Practice essay question

October 12 Quiz

Each of the theorists we have read so far has explained what literacies are and how they contribute to how humans read and write from a different perspective.    Write an essay in which you "explain" differences between the "basic writing" essay on the clay model  and the "college writing" essay on composing music.  Present a brief overview of how Bartholomae discusses differences between these two pieces of writhing;  then use specific references to ideas of at least 3 of the theorists we have read so far as evidence (authority) in a discussion of more in-depth - or alternative explanations. 

Essays we have read so far:

Ong

Heath

Olson

Scribner & Cole

Gee

Delpit

Bartholomae

Pratt

Class on 10/5: Delpit and Gee

NOTE:  At the beginning of class you will write a practice essay in response to a question focused on the readings so far. It will be the same kind of question that you will have on your exam.  It will be open book, open notes - and I will give you about 20 minutes.  It will be like the questions on the study guides that ask you to apply, compare, extend the ideas covered in the readings.  It will ask you to use information from several readings to discuss one of the ideas about literacies that we have been developing.

I will collect this essay and give it a grade so you will have an idea of what to expect on your exam.

First presentations: You did a great job talking about Gee and Delpit - and thanks to the valiant groups who bravely developed the first study guides & gave the first presentations.  In their discussion of what would have made developing their study guide + presentation easier => clear communication + planning were at the top of the list.  Make a F2F plan - and use chat.  Divide up the tasks.

Future presentations:  Future Study Guides will be evaluated through the points on the Study Guide Gradesheet.  They will be due Sunday by 6:00 PM.  The will lose 1 grade for each day they are late. Grades will be assigned both by me and through reflective, group assessment.  I will give you a written rubric for developing group grades.

If you have questions - about ANYTHING - send me an email (and ask for help).

Be sure to read the criteria on the grade sheet.  Presentations need to be interactive - and they need to use writing (make a request or give a prompt that requires the class tow write). => According to Gee - your classmates will learn better if the USE the discourse we are learning ( so that means writing it and speaking it).

Discussion of Gee & Delpit.
We covered the main points made by Gee and Delpit in the review of the quiz, and in discussion of the study guides.  If your notes have the main points of this discussion - you are in great shape.  In fact = WRITING those notes (translating "teacher words" into your own language = practicing the academic discourse associated with literacy studies) was an important part of your apprenticeship for being a writer and teacher of writing.  Talking in class is the other half of what you need to do to really "get" what we are doing in this class.  According to Gee - you are learning a new Discourse - and to really "learn" it = you have to "speak" it and "write" it.  Just like you can learn a sport - or a language - out of a book => you can learn the "identity kit" associated with being a "writing studies major" without talking the talk.  So just remember = you paid for this class, and to get your money's worth you will need to participate!  You definitely got your money's worth today!

Delpit challenged Gee - and you challenged Gee, too.  Good questions and points about what counts as racism, about what counts as "teaching" and which kinds of "teaching" were what helped individuals learn new discourses - and about whether any Discourse is ever just one discourse (or many).  Keep thinking about these ideas.

For next class we will be reading Bartholomae + Pratt.  Groups responsible for presentations are listed on the Study Guide Post.

Ideas for interactive presentations: Hit the main ideas from the study guide by asking students to write - but do not go through the guide point by point => the expectation is that your classmates will have spent some time with your study guide to master the material .  If they have questions => they should ask you.

The idea of the presentation is to get students to:

• identify the assumptions and methods that produced the essay; 
• explore connections to ideas by other theorists we have read; and 
• to apply the ideas from the reading to other issues associated with literacy, learning or the world at large.  

For example - both of Bartholomae & Pratt focus on what students how students reacted - what learning strategies & "moves" they resorted to - when "school" required them to step into unfamiliar Discourses.
You might: ask students to write about, share + reflect on their own experiences confronting unfamiliar (maybe even unwelcoming) Discourses at school => you could then see if students in our class used "moves" similar to the moves described in the essays.  Or - you might ask students to write about - or talk about - how or whether learning to read the essays in our textbook is like learning a new Discourse (or inventing the University, or entering a contact zone).  Or you can ask groups of students to create a list of "contact zone" behaviors they have witnessed (or enacted) - then - as a whole group - you can classify and "theorize" those experiences in terms of Pratt's essay.  Etc.  The idea is that your "exercise" should engage students in talking and writing the ideas from your essay.  Good luck!

For Wednesday, October 12:
Read: Pratt (posted on left sidebar) and Bartholomae (Literacies book)

10/5 Quiz

What were the most important points in Gee's discussion of literacy?

How are these points similar or different from the way Heath studied/represented literacy?  Ong?  Scribner and Cole?

What does Gee assume about how to "teach" literacies?

What does Delpit assume about how to "teach" literacies?

Where do Gee and Delpit differ in their assumptions about literacy learning?  Where do they agree?

BONUS:  What are the consequences of thinking about literacy in terms of social practices for teaching writing?   Does Delpit's reply to Gee's essay address those consequences?