english composition I

 ENGL 101 - Delgado Community College - Mason Joiner

Course overview

This course is focused on discovering and developing your composition process and composing for the various audiences and purposes that you want to compose for. We'll practice thinking critically about reading and writing, thinking for ourselves, and thinking about our own thinking. By successfully completing this course, you should be able to (1) develop and organize your ideas, (2) effectively compose texts for various academic and real-world purposes, and (3) synthesize your own ideas and compositions with those of other writers. My hope is that this course engages you in perspective-building conversations and gives you all the space to take agency in your compositions and make choices as a creator and communicator. Our goal is to understand the craft of writing, not how to do assignments: We're creating writers, not just writings!


 

About me

My name is Mason Joiner (he/him). You can call me Mason, Mr. Mason, or Mr. Joiner--whatever makes you comfortable. I'm originally from Alexandria, Louisiana. I went to high school at the Louisiana School for Math, Science, and the Arts in Natchitoches, Louisiana and later earned a B.A. in Film & Theatre from the University of New Orleans and an M.A. in English from Northwestern State University online. I like plays and poetry, movies and TV, and tabletop RPG games. I'm a big D&D nerd. I really love the 1990s ABC sitcom, Boy Meets World as it taught me at a young age about the complexities of friendship and how to live with decency and grace; the TV teacher, Mr. Feeny, probably played no small part in why I am a teacher today (that, and both of my parents were teachers). Also, I've been vegan since 2017.

 Getting Your Questions Answered

My number-one tip for success is communication! Ask questions, multiple times a day if needed, and please never think that I don't want to hear from you--I always do! Also communicate with me if you anticipate any issues, delays, or absences. The more we're on the same page about class and life, the more I can help you stay on track and succeed.

Email is my main line of communication: mjoine@dcc.edu. 

You can also come directly to my office at City Park Building 1, Room 115e, Office 7, during these Student Hours (or by appointment):

Or you can call my office telephone number at (504) 671-6015.

If you want to meet "in person" but you can't make it to campus, we can have a Zoom conference here.

 My Teaching Philosophy

I believe the essence of my job is to make my presence unnecessary. My goal is to teach you how to think and learn so that you become an independent learner and a self-teacher. As often as I can, I will try to model what that looks like--how to interrogate what we read, what we believe, and what we think we know. Rather than a "teacher", I consider myself an advanced learner, and you are all apprenticing with me to become advanced learners yourselves. 

I also believe that these things do not promote learning: fear, shame, unhappiness. I want us to focus more on what really drives us forward: when we can admire where we are and what we've done and feel good about them, that fuels a motivation to achieve more. We're all here to achieve, so to that end, I hope my classroom nurtures the good feelings that stimulate achievement.

 Mutual Expectations

What I expect of you

What you expect of me

  Links & Resources