Metacognition
Inner Critic
In the first half of this reflective activity, students give voice to negative self-beliefs in the form of an uncensored personal letter from their imagined “Inner Critic” to themselves, listing their shortcomings, expressing anxieties, and identifying the perceived consequences of failure. Some instructors assign the first letter at the start of the semester, while others […]
Planning Peer-to-Peer Work: Groups, Peer Review, & Workshops
Writing classes are interactive, with students talking, writing, and collaborating with each other, in various permutations of pairs, small groups, and larger groups, nearly constantly. But how do you decide what kind of peer-to-peer work to integrate into a given class? This page offers some tips for instructors. You may also be interested in the […]
Class Participation Rubric
This activity is especially useful for those who grade their students’ class participation. Asking students to collaborate on participation criteria gives them a sense of agency and makes tangible a facet of their final grade which might otherwise seem subjective. Guide to Oral/Signed Communication in Writing Classrooms Objective To reflect on your participation in class […]
Decoding a Public Genre
This exercise on public genre awareness has two parts. In the first part, “Decoding a public genre,” students begin to familiarize themselves with a new genre by comparing it to one with which they’re familiar: the academic essay. This can be done as homework. In the second part, “Preparing to write a public genre,” after […]
Metacognition
Each Flipped Learning Module (FLM) is a set of short videos and online activities that can be used (in whole or in part) to free up class time from content delivery for greater student interaction. At the end of the module, students are asked to fill out a brief survey, in which we adopt the […]
The Writing Process
Each Flipped Learning Module (FLM) is a set of short videos and online activities that can be used (in whole or in part) to free up class time from content delivery for greater student interaction. At the end of the module, students are asked to fill out a brief survey, in which we adopt the […]
Expectations for Academic Writing in the American Classroom
Each Flipped Learning Module (FLM) is a set of short videos and online activities that can be used (in whole or in part) to free up class time from content delivery for greater student interaction. At the end of the module, students are asked to fill out a brief survey, in which we adopt the […]
Leveling the Playing Field for Class Participation
In general, our writing classes are discussion classes, and students are expected to participate in active class exchanges. Sometimes, faculty may feel frustrated if discussions are slow to get started, or if students don’t speak up. This page compiles selected strategies for effectively facilitating class participation from all students. Scaffolding up front in order to build […]
Visual Representation of Texts
Many students find working in the visual mode a productive change. Thes two related exercises help students better understand challenging texts and prepare to write a paper on them. You may find that one or another works better in your class, or you may choose to use both, at different points in the semester. This […]