A1 Lesson Plans (TR) 1

Week 1, Day 1—Tuesday, August 23

Lesson Objectives

Familiarize students with the course and one another;
Introduce students to the idea of Writing as Conversation;
Begin building a community of writers;
Introduce students to the theme: Internet and Social Media;
Introduce academic summary;
Introduce Summary Outlines.

Connection to Course Goals

Students will be working together a great deal throughout the semester, so they need to get to know their peers in order to feel comfortable with the community of writers in CO150. The concept of Writing as Conversation helps students begin to see writing as a recursive process, rather than focusing solely on an end product. Also, students should begin to understand writing as a rhetorical practice with purpose tailored to audience. In addition, today’s class introduces students to the theme of the class and works toward establishing a sense of how the writing-as-conversation metaphor operates. It also introduces students to close reading and summary skills necessary for Assignment 1: Academic Summary and Analytic Response.

Prep

After orientation last week, you're well-prepared to teach your first class (even if you feel like you're not!). To get ready for Day 1, reread the syllabus introduction, revisit the first few readings you'll assign, prepare your materials (see Materials below), ask for any help you need (the comp faculty are here for you!), review notes on academic summary, and write out your own lesson plan how it best makes sense to you.

Tip: It is a good idea to take a tour of where your classrooms are located prior to arriving on the first day of class. This will make you more comfortable because you will at least be familiar with the territory and the technology available to you.

Tip: Always rewrite the daily lesson plan. Not only does this help “translate” the common syllabus into a format that you’re comfortable with, it helps you to amend lessons slightly to fit the needs of your particular class, helps solidify daily class goals in your own mind, and gives you the opportunity to build connections from one class to the next. Look ahead to the next lesson plan and the homework that will be due to remind yourself of those concepts and skills that need to be emphasized in each class.

Materials

Class roster (as up to date as possible) for each class [available via AriesWeb]
Attendance log
20 copies of your syllabus for each class (though you may consider making a few extra to have handy. Students tend to rearrange their schedules in the first few days of classes, so having extra on hand in case that happens keeps you from running to the copier later in the week to make more.)
Prepare an extra handout with directions for creating a Writing Studio account (There are handouts for this in the appendix)
Gold handouts about the CO150 drop policy (Sue Russell will provide these)
Copies of the PHG and the reader (to show students the required texts for the class.)
Summary Notes
Overhead transparencies:

Instructions for student introductions
Writing as Conversation visual
“What Do We Mean by “Social Media?”?” (in case you want an overhead of this instead of putting it on the board.)
Summary Outline
Homework for next time

Tip: Remember to prepare handouts and transparencies well in advance so that you’re not stuck in a line at the copier two minutes before class! Remember, too, that the font on overheads should be at least 16-point so that students are able to read them.

Lead-in

Some students may have prepared for class today by purchasing the Prentice Hall Guide (PHG) textbook and The Internet and Social Media Reader (ISM), and some may even have set up Writing Studio accounts already. Today is unique because it's a fresh start. Your students will come in with some ideas about what the class will be about, what the atmosphere will feel like, etc., but this course will probably be unlike any other English or writing class they’ve taken before—it will likely be more rigorous both in the intensity of its reading and writing as well as in the depth of its scholarly inquiry. One of your primary tasks for today is to establish a classroom culture that will work for you and your students, and to give students a fair idea of what they can expect for the rest of the semester.

Tip: Remember that whatever you might be feeling, your students will be experiencing their own anxiety and uncertainty. In fact, your class may be the most familiar thing about their first week on campus – it may be the only small class they have, so they’re likely to find that comforting. Focus on making them feel comfortable with the course and each other and your well-planned lesson will take care of itself.

ACTIVITIES

Before class (5-10 minutes)

Arrive five or ten minutes early so that you can write your name, the course number, section, and title on the board. You may also want to write an agenda, a brief list of the day’s activities, on the board. With a few minutes to spare before class begins, you might make small talk with some of the students near the front of the room—where they’re from, whether this class is the very first of their college career, what they think of CSU or Fort Collins if they’re from out of town, etc. Informal chatter before class begins is a great way to build rapport and make the classroom environment a comfortable one.

Introduce yourself and the course (2 minutes)

Once class officially begins, take a moment to introduce yourself—tell students what you would like them to call you, and consider what else you'd like them to know about you. Make sure everyone is in the right place—have students check their schedules to be sure that they're really in your section.

Tip: The formality of your introduction will help set the tone for the semester, and remember that it's much easier to become less formal as time goes on than it is to become more formal.

Attendance (3 minutes)

Use your roster to call names and make note of anyone who is absent—you may want to preface this by asking students to let you know if they prefer a name other than the one on your roster (they may go by a middle name or a “Robert” may prefer to be called “Bobby” or “Rob,” etc.). After you have called all the names on your list, make a general statement that students present who aren’t on the roster should see you after class. Possible reasons why the student isn't on your roster include:

The student added the class sometime since you printed the roster (no problem, just print off a new roster to verify this).
The student wants an override (which isn’t allowed —send the student to Sue Russell in Eddy 353 and she will try her best to help).
The student is on the waitlist for the class and is hoping a seat will open (they will need to wait until someone drops before their name moves up on the waitlist).

Transitions: Articulate a connection between each activity so that students understand the purposes of the things you ask them to do. One way to ensure that you use transitions is to write them out in your lesson plan. Here, you might say something like: “Now that we have attendance taken care of, it’s important to take care of another administrative task regarding the fact that CO150 is a Limited Add/Drop class.” More transitions will be suggested throughout these lesson plans, but feel free to say whatever feels natural as you move from activity to activity.

Distribute the Limited Add/Drop Sheets for CO150 (2 minutes)

CO150 is on a Limited Add/Drop schedule, making it unique from other University courses. This means that students only have until August 25th prior to midnight to drop the class without any penalty. Please be sure students understand that the dates for dropping CO150 are different than most of their other classes, so they need to make the decision soon if they’re going to drop. The last day for any student to add CO150 to their schedule is Sunday, August 28th prior to midnight. Sue Russell will give you a handout for you to share with your students regarding this information.

Transition: Now that we have some of the paperwork taken care of, let’s get to know each other. As the semester progresses we’re going to be building a community of writers and that community starts now.

Student introductions (15 minutes)

Choose one of the introduction activities below, or use another that allows students to make connections with each other while encouraging participation and community.

Option 1: In this activity, students pair up and interview each other; then they introduce each other to the rest of the class. Here are instructions which you might put on an overhead:

Introductions

Pair up with someone near you who you do not know. Take a few minutes to find out interesting things about your partner—you can ask the typical questions (name, major, hometown, etc.) but also try to find out something unusual, unique, funny, and/or amazing.
In a few minutes, I’ll ask you to introduce your partner to the class, so be sure to jot down notes.

Option 2: This activity is a version of option 1, but it helps add a bit of fun and humor and ensures that students have something unique or interesting to share with the class.

Introductions

For this activity you will interview one of your classmates then introduce him/her to the class.
Find out the following about your partner:
Your partner’s name
Your partner’s year in school (freshman, sophomore, etc.)
Your partner’s hometown
Your partner’s major

And then, choose ONE of the following questions for your partner to answer:
If you could have an endless supply of any food, what would you get and why?
What is one goal you’d like to accomplish during your lifetime?
When you were little, who was your favorite cartoon character and why?
What is the most embarrassing CD you own?
If you could visit any place in the world, where would you choose to go and why?
What’s the weirdest thing you’ve ever eaten?
Tell us about a unique or quirky habit of yours.
If you had to describe yourself using three words, they would be…

Option 3: In this activity, students introduce themselves with the usual name, hometown, and academic interest information, but they also offer the class one true statement and one untrue, and the class has to try to identify which is which. Was this girl really born in a submarine, or did she just date Lance Armstrong’s nephew? Let the fun begin!

Distribute and review your syllabus (10 minutes)

Spend time looking at the document with your students. Discuss the course description, your contact information, your grading system, and key course policies. You might not discuss every single thing in detail; if you don't (and even if you do), remind students to reread the document before the next class and to email you with any questions or concerns.

Tip: Get to know your students’ names and help them feel engaged by calling on specific students to read particular paragraphs or sections of your syllabus. You can elaborate or answer questions as you go. This teaches students right away that this class will ask them to participate actively every day.

Tip: You may feel more comfortable introducing the course syllabus first and then moving on to student introductions. You may change the sequence of these activities…just make sure your transitions also change.

Discuss Academic Honesty and the Honor Pledge (5 minutes)

Draw your students’ attention to the portion of the syllabus that deals with academic honesty. Point out that CO150 adheres to the Academic Integrity Policy of the General Catalog and the Student Code of Conduct. The following are examples of plagiarism (though this list is not exhaustive):

submitting someone else's paper as your own;
submitting a paper that was purchased or downloaded from the internet;
submitting an assignment you completed in a previous class;
using someone else’s ideas, language, or structure and not acknowledging them for it;
using a phrase (whether in quotation or paraphrase) without acknowledging its source;
using a source without citing it correctly;
“padding” a bibliography by making up sources or citing a source you didn't use in your research.

Point out that the Academic Integrity Policy allows the instructor to potentially assign a reduced grade for the work, assign a failing grade in the course, and/or remove the Repeat/Delete option for the course, so the stakes are high. Plagiarism is a serious issue in the University and in higher education in general. We will learn techniques for correctly quoting and paraphrasing, citing sources, and attributing our work, so be sure that you pay close attention as we learn these strategies.

Transition: Now that we’ve had the opportunity learn about some basic information about the course, we’re going to be introduced to another concept that will guide us through the semester: The idea of writing as conversation.

Introduce the Writing as a Conversation Model (5 minutes)

Explain the ways in which writing is similar to conversation. Here’s a sample explanation:

Like a conversation, writing involves exchanges of ideas that help us shape our own ideas and opinions. It would be foolish to open your mouth the moment you join a group of people engaged in conversation—instead, you listen for a few moments to understand what’s being discussed. Then, when you find that you have something to offer, you wait until an appropriate moment to contribute. We all know what happens to people who make off-topic, insensitive, or otherwise ill-considered remarks in a conversation.

The following is a visual representation of the way in which this course is designed around the writing as conversation metaphor. Before explaining, present it to students on an overhead or draw it on the board:

Tip: This conversation model will be revisited many times throughout the semester, so a brief introduction to the concept is all that is needed at this time. Refer to the introductory material in the ISM reader for more detailed explanation of each of these stages.

Introduce class forums (3 minutes)

If you are in a smart classroom, navigate to the Writing Studio and show them the forum function. If not, you can print out a representative screen shot on an overhead from the forum so that students have a sense of what they’ll be doing throughout the semester. Explain that the forums will give students an opportunity to create their own ongoing conversation with their classmates while also keeping a record of their ideas as they proceed with the semester’s academic inquiry and writing process. Point out that there will be one forum prompt per week, and indicate a day and time by which they have to post (for example, you might indicate that you will post the week’s forum prompt on Monday, and that student must post their responses by Friday at noon.) Whatever days of the week you choose for this, just be sure to be consistent throughout the semester.

Tip: Put the information about when forums are posted and when they’re due in your policy statement and reiterate it several times during the first week of classes so it’s clear when students need to respond by.

Introduce the course theme: “What Do We mean by “Social Media”?” Brainstorm and Discussion (10 minutes)

For our class theme of the Internet and Social Media, it’s useful to be sure students are on the same page about what social media are, the many types of social media that exist, and what the potential benefits, downfalls, and consequences of those media are.

Below is a definition of social media and a list of many popular types of social media with a brief definition. You could show this as an overhead (though keep in mind it’s not an exhaustive list!) or, alternatively, you could ask students to help you brainstorm all the different types of social media they know about. Then ask students to do some critical thinking about what they think some of the benefits, downfalls, or consequences are of these social media.

Tip: If you are worried that you won’t get student participation during a group brainstorming session, give them the definition of social media, then give them a minute or two to list the types/examples that they can think of in their notebook. Then call time, and give them another minute or two to think about benefits, downfalls, and consequences. Quieter classes are much more likely to share if they’ve had time to think about it on their own for a few minutes.

Social Media: “Works of user-created video, audio, text, or multimedia that are published and shared in a social environment.” (Linda Young, Marketing and Communications, July 2008.)