10/6/08

I started class today by handing pack Project 1. The students didn't seem too thrilled to get it back nor did they have any questions except about what the letters meant. I hope that the feedback I gave them was sufficient and will be considered.

I then had them write. I asked them to tell me what I could help them with as they write this article. While none of them wrote a lot, many of them shared at least one or two things that they wanted help on. I had one student who said she didn't think she needed help on anything and I told her that I expected her paper to therefore be exceptionally good. : ) After they wrote, I had them share with me what they wrote. Many of them didn't want to answer, but I was able to get a few responses.

Next I gave them a quick reminder about being on time. I explained to them that it is frustrating to me to have to give directions two to four times because they are late. I think they understood...now I just hope they actually make a change.

I then passed out a sheet about punctuation that someone else who teaches English 1000 had come up with. It gave an example letter that had no punctuation and then two options after that for where the punctuation could go. As a class, I asked them to help me revise one of the examples so that it was not only more understandable, but also flowed better. This seemed like a challenging but helpful activity to them.

I then put up on the overhead words and phrases (editorial language) that should be used during peer review. I explained to them that they were too nice to each other during their peer review for project 1 and that we needed to step it up a notch and be more honest with each other. One student suggested that I keep the list on the overhead; I told her that is what I planned to do.

I then had those who had actually done their first draft pair up and fill out a peer review sheet for their partner. I gave them permission to write on each other's drafts, too, which they were really thrilled about. For those who didn't have a first draft, I had them look at the examples I had handed out last time and had them come up with the characteristics of a good introduction.

I concluded the class by having the one group share what they had learned about introductions and the other group share what they had learned from looking at each others papers. Finally, I gave them their homework, telling them that those who didn't do their first draft were still expected to have a second draft on Wednesday, with changes made from another person.