10/17/2012

WEEK 7

This is a reflection week: What are the most important issues for you that remain to be discussed from the readings we’ve already done -- or, as you think back over the discussions we've had between then and now, what new questions about or in response to a reading arise for you? Where is your thinking now on the implications and articulations of teaching writing, given current shifting technological terrains?

How to prepare for class:

• On your blog: Please write a longish, coherent-enough-for-others-to-read reflection guided by the questions below. (Note that there is no particular order to the questions below… and so you do not need to—and should not—respond to these questions one-by-one in a bulleted list. Instead, respond to the questions that most resonate for you now. Aim for writing that—at this moment—constructs a unified sense of your position on what you see as mattering in the questions below. Also aim for writing that explicitly draws on our readings and discussions.)

What do I understand by “writing”? What is at stake for me as I teach writing? How do I understand how writing, writing technologies, politics, economics, and culture articulate? How do our current writing technologies articulate to my understanding of what it is to write -- and what consequences does that have for me both as someone who writes but also as someone who teaches writing? What responsibilities do I have for others as I teach writing, especially in regard to the technologies we use? What is at stake for me and students, and what are the consequences of my choices? What futures can I shape with how I approach writing, the teaching of writing, and writing technologies? What writing technologies do I now use, personally and in teaching, and how might those contribute to how I write and think (and to how I *understand* what it is to write and to think)?

• Also on your blog, list or describe any questions that arise for you as you look back over the readings we have done so far. What might we have discussed that we didn’t—and why would it matter to you and our class to discuss this further? What new questions arise for you as you think back over any of the readings? (We will use these questions to guide [or at least start!] our discussion on Wednesday.) Please be as concrete as you can in this writing, referencing specific readings and even specific passages in the readings if necessary.

• On the wiki, after you have done the work under the second bullet above (going back through the readings), please choose one of the wiki reading response posts and continue editing it to give it a sense of stronger written coherence. As you work, self-consciously attend to how you are understanding “coherence” and how seeking such a value affects what was in the post before you started working on it. As you edit, and afterwards, please add comments about what you did and why you did it.
• Finally and also on your blog: Jot down a sentence or two on your initial thoughts for the multimodal project. What questions do you want to consider with the project, and using what multi modality? What do you need to learn to carry oft the project. (These ARE just initial thoughts for feedback and assistance.)

All the blog and wiki posts are due no later than 5pm on October 16.

Thanks!