Week Two: February 1 - 7
Reading: "Reading Classrooms as Text: Exploring Student Writers' Interpretive Practices" by Jennie Nelson.
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This week we are working with one of my all-time favorite articles by Jennie Nelson: "Reading Classrooms as Text." There are so many great parts of this article that I was introduced to in grad school and have really formed my teaching pedagogy. I hope you see its importance, too.
You can access the article by clicking on the picture in the course calendar.
Everyone will complete a Blog/Vlog for this reading. For this blog/vlog, I would begin to think about some of the preconceived notions that you have when you walk into the classroom or even in our case when you jump into a virtual class. How do your habits, thinking processes, and "professionalization" as a student affect you? This blog should be reflective in nature and is a way that you can begin to think about an idea you would like to address in your microtheme essay if you choose to complete one on this article. Please use proper English grammar and syntax. The blog/vlog should be at least 150 words or 3 minutes long if you are working on a vlog.
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You can choose to complete a microtheme paper for this article. You will need to complete 3 microtheme papers during this course. You might want to consider the organizational aspects of the paper. In the microtheme paper, you should be discussing Nelson's ideas and some of the ways she thinks about how students have learned to "do school." You can address how you might work with some of these issues in your own classroom. You might want to think about strategies you might employ to engage your students and break them out of the "doing class" and going through the motions. It can launch off of the blog/vlog.
These papers are 4 pages long in correct MLA or APA format and should cite all of your material properly. Spelling and grammar count, too. 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. Make sure that you use the correct MLA format and that you cite all of your material properly. You should be using quotes from the article to support your arguments. Spelling and grammar count, too.
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Good luck!
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