Assignments
Besides our daily readings we will be completing the following course work, we will do writing through an Electronic Journal and a Midterm Essay; there will pop quizzes; and a group and individual projects. Please see the next pages for information regarding these assignments and due dates.
01
Blog/Vlog Postings
Due: Fridays by midnight
In order to be participating in the course, actively thinking about ideas, and preparing for the Microtheme Essays you will be creating a response and posting it to Blackboard. You can choose to write your response or create a video. Written responses should be a minimum of 150 words and video responses should be a minimum of 3 minutes. Occasionally, I will showcase exceptional posts to the class via announcements the following day. Please use correct spelling, and grammar and/or speaking presentation skills.
There are thirteen (13) responses for a total of 130 points or 13% of your grade.
Microtheme Essays
Due: On Sunday, February 14th; Sunday, March 28th; Sunday, April 25th by midnight
There will be a Microtheme Essay due on Sunday by midnight. Microtheme Essays will be your opportunity to consider some of the themes that we are reading about in our course. You will write a Microtheme Essay on your choice of three (3) of the readings. They will explore one work and will be ways for us to think of bigger ideas that we may want to explore in our teaching practices. The Microtheme Essays are my way of knowing that you are not only doing the reading and watching required but, that you are thinking about how these works relate to the classrooms that we will be teaching in.
My expectation is that these papers will be done in the correct MLA or APA format (this means that you should be citing your sources, properly). Please remember that all work that is quoted, paraphrased, or summarized has to be cited properly. I'm an English teacher so I grade tough on this. You might want to purchase a style guide such as Diana Hacker's A Pocket Style Manuel or get really used to The Owl Purdue website. Microtheme Essays will be a minimum of 4 pages in length. You should be quoting and citing in these papers and they should include a separate (not counted towards the 4-page minimum) Works Cited or Reference page.
There are three (3) Microtheme Essays due during the four-week course and are worth 170points each for a total of 510 points or 51% of your grade.
02
Mid-Term Video Response
Due: Sunday, March 14th by midnight
At mid-term each of you will create a 6-minute video that highlights one of our course materials and how you conceptualize using the ideas in that source in your own classroom. This video should analyze and synthesize how the pedagogy we have read informs us about the classroom. You should be able to think of possible directions for this video through the Microtheme Essays and the daily blog/vlog postings.
The Mid-term Video Response will be worth 150 points and 15% of your grade.
03
04
Final Project
Due: Friday, May 21st by 5 pm!
The final in our class will be a project where you create a course design for either an elementary, middle-school, high-school, or college writing classroom. This project will also include a pedagogical response that explains why you have utilized the materials you have chosen in your course design. Both the course design and the pedagogical response are due for the final.
The same rules apply: correct MLA or APA format, in-depth in scope, clean and clear grammar and spelling, and turned in to turnitin.com for compliance with rules of plagiarism. Your course design can be completed through many mediums (website, Word doc, Google Slides, Prezi, Excel Spreadsheet…).
​
The Final Course design and pedagogical response are worth 210 points and 21% of your grade.
I will expect each of you to meet with me for one 15 minute meeting during the last three weeks of the semester to discuss your design.