Class:ENG112 - Section 36 - Fall 2007/homework/First Homepage
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This class and course wiki is designed to support your academic career.
This course presents the opportunity for you
to be a writer
Contents |
Don't be Stupid
This is the first and most important class rule. If you do do something which could be considered "stupid", fix it - fast. To avoid doing too many dumb things, read the information provided here and follow the directions. If you're smart, we can actually have fun. steph (COM) 14:44, 5 August 2007 (EDT)
Homework
Some additional directions for those of you struggling with the stupid categories. Steph 23:44, 6 September 2007 (EDT)
There will be homework every class. Do it!
- Note: I received an email from one of the students; I guess there is more than one person struggling with this question: "I am having a hard time with the homework. I was wondering if it is expected from us to write this essay just on the 15 minute of the movie.It seemed a bit confusing not having the chance to watch the whole thing and then write the essay on it. Do i just focus on the 15 minutes?"
- My response: "Yes, just focus on what we saw. I know this feels strange, since you know there is "more" to the movie, but if that fifteen minute bit was all you ever saw, what would you take from it? What does it leave you thinking about or feeling? If you are struggling, still, you might want to think if there is any connection at all you can draw between the things we did and talked about in class today and what the movie showed.
- I hope this helps!" Steph 18:13, 4 September 2007 (EDT)
Current In-Class Activities and Homework assigned for the next class.
The Writing Center
The http://www.umass.edu/writingcenter/ Writing Center] in the Learning Commons of DuBois Library can be one of your best friends. Make their acquaintance!
Internship
Not busy enough? If you think you may be interested in studying Communication, or care about community and participatory democracy, you might want to check out The Media Giraffe Project. Steph 09:56, 7 September 2007 (EDT)
Your writing is yours
Intellectual Property: Although students are writing for our courses, the ownership of their writing remains theirs. Thus, how their writing circulates beyond the specific requirements of the class as in peer responding or publication) is ultimately their choice. Writing shared on the Web without password protection or specific directions about use implicitly gives permission for others to comment, link, and otherwise appropriate the text in ways the writer cannot control. Such circulation to multiple audiences is one of the chief benefits of the Web, but it also means assignments involving such circulation should directly take on questions of intellectual property with students.
If you [addressing the teacher] choose to employ a pedagogy that requires students to share writing widely or publicly, we recommend that you ask students for free and informed consent in writing and/or provide choices over the venues and medium of publication. Consent should lay out how their work might circulate and what potential risks that may involve for them. Such written permission must also inform students that they have a choice in the matter and that choosing to keep their work within the closed circuit of the classroom will not affect their grade in any way. Included at the end of this document is a sample permission form that you can revise to suit your needs or use as a guide in composing one of your own. Remember to keep the implicit (and explicit) power relations between teacher and student in mind as you create these documents.
Statement on Technology and Teaching, University of Massachusetts Writing Program Handbook 2007, p. 26. See TO Handbook (PDF).
Previous incarnations and Wiki precedents
Last spring's College Writing class redesigned much of their course wiki: it is definitely the best overall job so far:
The incoming class of freshpersons last fall gave me the hardest time AND we entertained ourselves and each other quite a bit:
The conceptualization for the Communication Department's required junior year writing course wiki is mostly the teacher's, but the students' comraderie led to an incredible integration:
This fall there are two wiki classes underway! The teacher will create some "inter-wiki" assignments between Class:ENG112 - Section 36 - Fall 2007 (you are on this coursewiki's home page now) and Class:COM375 - Section 9 - Fall 2007; students may also take initiative to develop their own cross-pollination projects.
Disclaimers and Logistical Information
College Writing will be taught
at a publicly undisclosed location on unannounced days of the week
for a certain (unproclaimed) amount of time.
This is in keeping with
the Writing Program's interpretation of FERPA: in which
student "attendance in a particular class is considered private information so that
others cannot locate them in a particular time and place."
Statement on Technology and Teaching,
University of Massachusetts Writing Program Handbook 2007, p. 25.
See TO Handbook (PDF))
with Stephanie Jo Kent
Office: Bartlett 307B
Office Hours: 3:00-4:00 pm
Course Wiki: http://www.umasswiki.com
Email: steph at comm dot umass dot edu
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