LMWP Institute July 5, 2017
Week 2: What is good writing?
This week, we are exploring definitions of good writing. Monday, we talked about conciseness. Writing without a lot of clutter requires one to create messy first drafts and then distill and clarify one's message.
Wednesday, we are exploring the "show not tell" orthodoxy. In what ways is this good advice? In what situations is it not helpful? What balance of specific details and metacommentary is appropriate in the genres that you are composing?
LMWP Institute July 13, 2017
How do we help our students not be intimidated by rhetorical analysis?
We can explain it like trying to figure out what's going on in someone's argumentative phone conversation when we are only hearing one side of it. We're trying to figure out what conflict the person on the phone is trying to resolve with the party on the other end.
It's something we've all done, but we didn't use fancy academic language.
In a "rhetorical situation," party A is trying to resolve a difference of opinion with or win the approval of party B.
Our first questions are about who the parties are and what their difference(s) of opinion are. What is it that Party A is trying to convince Party B to agree with?
Party A: Who is the writer/speaker? What role is he/she in? What aspects of his/her identity are important in this exchange? How are his/her tone and self-presentation important to building credibility and winning the approval of Party B?
Party B: Who is the audience? What role is the audience in? What do they already know or believe? What does party A want them to know or believe? What are they skeptical of?
What is the topic? What vocabulary is used to describe it?
Standpoint: What is/are party A’s standpoints? What statements, stated and unstated, does Party A want Party B to agree with by the end?
Where do the parties agree? Facts, definitions, values, policies/recommended actions?
Where do the parties not yet agree? Facts, definitions, values, policies/recommended actions?
How does Party A go about convincing Party B to agree or approve with something they were skeptical of or opposed to?
Day 1: Why do humans write?
Today we will explore the purposes that motivate us to write. Our students sometimes ask us, "Why do we have to do this?" How will we answer them? How do we create writing assignments/tasks that will motivate our students to invest their time and attention in writing?
Socrates was not an advocate of writing. We only have record of his teaching practice and wisdom through the texts drafted by one of his students, Plato. How would you respond to the concerns about writing that Socrates articulates to Phaedrus?
William Zinsser, Anne Lamott, and hundreds of other writers advocate the daily practice of writing and the act of written communication for its own sake, not related to publication.
Which writing purposes motivate you? What writing tasks are on your list for this month?
Once you figure out WHY you want to write, the next question is HOW?
Natalie Goldberg and Peter Elbow advocate freewriting, setting the timer and writing straight for a chunk of time. Anne Lamott and William Zinsser remind us to focus on small scenes, small moments, small frames, for these open up to universal truths and profound insights.
So let's try it.
9:00 Welcome & Writing Invitations
9:30 Sacred Writing Time
10:00 Sharing Drafts
10:30 Teaching Demonstration Lesson (Kari Reynolds)
12-1:00 Teaching Demonstration Group Planning
Teaching Demonstration groups have been posted on the Participants page.
April 20, 2017
Dear 2017 National Writing Project Fellows,
Welcome! We are so glad that you are here. This note is intended to answer many of your questions about the Institute and what it means to participate during the next couple of months. We are a community working together to learn as teachers and writers. We hope that the logistics of our activities run as smoothly as possible so as to not distract us from our good work and fun times.
Electing 3 graduate credits for ENG 632: LMWP Summer Institute
If you are electing the 3 graduate credits, the first thing the University needs is your “G Number.” To get this, a Graduate Non-Degree Application needs to be completed and turned in to Sue, who will forward to the registrar’s office. Once you and your G Number are in the system, the LMWP office tells the registrar to allow you to register. Then, Sue will email you the go-ahead to register with the necessary instructions. If all has been done correctly thus far, the system should recognize you and allow you to register online with your name, G number and PIN. The first time that you log on, your PIN is your 6-digit birthday (Month, Day, Year). Once all fellows have successfully registered, Sue will let the financial aid office know to apply the scholarship monies to your accounts.
§ Step One – Fill out the Graduate Non-Degree Application
§ Step Two – When Sue emails you, register online
§ Step Three – Let Sue know when you’ve successfully registered
Electing the $400 Stipend
If you are electing to receive a stipend of $400 for completing the Institute, your payment will be issued after the Institute is completed.
Letting Folks Know about your Participation
We invite you to spread the word about your participation in a National Writing Project Summer Institute. It is wonderful news to a school and a community that committed teachers are willing to “give up” part of their summer to become even more skilled at the teaching of writing. If you are willing to share this message with your school and community, email Sue (spearss@gvsu.edu) with:
· names/addresses of newspapers you would like notified about your participation in the LMWP
· names/addresses of professional colleagues (principals, superintendents, etc.) you would like to have notified of your participation in the LMWP
GoogleDocs & GoogleSites blogs
During the Institute, we will create GoogleSites in order to share our work with one another. For those who are unfamiliar with these technologies, we will walk through the process carefully. The NWP is committed to innovating strategies for teaching writing in a digital age, and so we will explore a few techniques together. During our Saturday Workday and first Institute day, we will introduce you to the LMWP course site: https://sites.google.com/view/2017lmwp and set up our individual sites like Lindsay’s: https://sites.google.com/view/lmwp2017ellis .
At several times during the Institute, we will use GoogleDrive to create collaborative documents.
Institute Workday: Saturday, May 6, 9am-1pm
Working with your “Reading and Teaching Demonstration Workshop Group” to develop integrated, 90-minute presentations is a cornerstone of the Institute. These presentations are difficult and don’t write themselves overnight. If you’re feeling anxious about your presentation, don’t worry, we’re here to help you. Each of you will meet with your workshop group almost daily, hear others’ responses to your presentation, as well as debrief the experience.
Here are the teaching demonstration topics and groups:
Between now and the Workday, you may collect a box of your most interesting student work that seems to have emerged from some good practices in the teaching of writing. Also consider what questions nag you or excite you as you teach writing. Therefore, bring to the Workday:
1. At least 3 students’ work on one assignment. Find student work from highly skilled, proficient and emergent writers to provide a range of examples.
2. The writing of at least one student on a variety of assignments
During the Saturday Workday, your workshop group will start to look at this writing and start to ask questions about what happened with particular examples of student work. As you think about what aspect of your teaching and what student work to focus on, consider:
1. What theories or beliefs guide your teaching? We want to consider "approaches" to the teaching of composition rather than discrete lessons.
2. What writing might you invite from Institute participants?
3. What discussions (small or whole group) might you invite participants to engage in?
4. Will you ask participants to do some reading?
5. What materials will you need to have available?
6. What is your projected timeline for how the demonstration will progress?
7. What works might appear on a short bibliography of works that are related to this approach to composition pedagogy?
Working with your reading and demo workshop group, you will find areas of common interest and inquiry. Listening and responding to others’ preparation will help you to prepare your own demonstration.
Meeting Dates, Times & Places
Monday-Thursday June 26 - 29 9-5 pm (423 Eberhard Center)
Monday-Thursday July 3, 5, 6, 7 9-5 pm (423 Eberhard Center)
Monday-Thursday July 10 - 13 9-5 pm (423 Eberhard Center)
1st Day of the Institute: June 26
On the first day of the Invitational Institute, please arrive at Room 423 in the Eberhard Center by 8:45 A.M. Parking information will be forthcoming.
Please bring with you:
· The pieces of writing that you started at the Welcome Dinner & Workday, and any other drafts that you want to develop,
· your draft of work contributing to a teaching demonstration,
· either a thumb drive to save the writing that you do while using a University laptop or a laptop of your own,
· the desire to have a great time together!
Breaking bread together is an important part of writing projects. During the first week, the LMWP leaders will provide snacks; after that, we will have a sign-up sheet on which we ask each person to take a turn providing snacks for one day of the Institute.
We will eat our first lunch together at a local restaurant ($8). After that, for those who wish to brown bag their lunches rather than buy food at local shops, we will have a refrigerator and a microwave available, and the scenic Grand River is outside our back door.
The last evening of the project, July 13, you will be our guests at a Celebratory Dinner out—tab picked up by us.
If you are registering as a graduate student, please make sure to bring the login ID and procedures that GVSU will send you in the mail to insure your full use of the computers. Most participants have and bring their own laptops. If you do not have a laptop to use, please contact us, and we will provide a GVSU laptop from the library.
Congratulations and off we go!
Respectfully,
Lindsay and Kari