Brainstorming, or What Am I Going To Do Now?

Part I: Oral Delivery of Textbooks Examined

• Overviews
• High points
• Readings of interest
• Instructions of interest
• Context with class readings

Part II: Intertextual Weaving. An Exercise in Making the Book Go to Work

• Isolate three readings from textbook
• Turn these readings into the basis of a thematic, focused course (how do they set goals, problem, ideas for writing)
• Turn these readings into heuristics for three assignments (ideally, three interlocking assignments)
• What would you want to achieve through these three readings and the assignments they produce?

Part III: Design

• Rather than write up separate assignments, what does the overall course look like?
• Were have you designed feedback/revision spaces?
• Where have you designed work that encourages “process?”
• How do all the parts fit together to produce a whole?
• What do our class readings show us for our own teaching?

Part IV: Meta

• But! Are you working within programmatic goals? Always keep an eye on the program as well. Ask questions as you design and plan. Keeping in mind:
• We are not teaching literature
• We are not teaching our dissertations, favorite stories, book of poems, novel in progress
• We are not teaching introduction to reading (i.e., reading should not cover up writing)
• We are teaching towards those “critical thinking” goals you all outlined the first week of class
• We are teaching towards many of the things you’ve read about. One is not bound to these course readings, but their general philosophies - at some level - will hopefully lead you towards invention, idea development, revision, grammar based pedagogy. New media is the next set of readings.
• You can feel fairly confident in adhering to “What Must an English 1000 Class Cover?” in the Instructor’s Guide on the Composition page. As you design, ask yourself: am I covering these things?