Orientation Recap for Monday, August 30, 2010

In the first of our orientation meetings, English 1000 director Erinn Bentley started with Perspective 1, a freewrite that asked us to think about traits that we felt would serve us well as teachers. We were then asked to share some of our findings, and then we moved on to think about some challenges we expected to find in teaching English 1000.

At 9:30 am, we joined with English 1050's Orientation group for an introduction to First Year Writing policies for new instructors. There, we met instructors of English 1050, as well as First-Year Writing Director, Dr. Staci Perryman-Clark, Assistant Director Jax Lee Gardner and Technology Director Amy Newday. Any further questions or concerns you may have regarding policy or procedure can be directed to Dr. Perryman-Clark or Erinn.

We returned to our room to discuss the challenges we might face in the classroom. Madeline Baker, one of the English 1000 instructors and Writing Center liaison, handed out an introductory sheet to explain the Writing Studio portion of English 1000. This outlined basic objectives of Writing Studio, responsibilities of Writing Center consultants, and what should be expected for this studio time, both of students and instructors.

After a break for lunch, we began thinking about the English 1000 student (values, beliefs, and skills), with a little drawing for variety. This led into a discussion of the Mark Richardson article and the truths about writing he documented (sadly, I missed most of this lively-sounding discourse!). Then, as a final activity, Erinn asked us to think introspectively: we had to think about our values, beliefs, and skills as instructors of English 1000. We shared values and beliefs, but deliberately left the skills portion blank...for now.

Tomorrow, we will meet earlier, at 8:30 am, to receive breakfast and a handbook tutorial from the McGraw-Hill representatives, discuss Project 1, and meet with our teaching groups to discuss our summer reading.

Homework: Bring flyers to share for Project 1 modeling; read the Mike Rose and Donald Murray articles sent by Erinn; be ready to discuss the texts from the summer.

Welcome to the English 1000 Blog!

Good afternoon! By now, we have met for our first-ever English 1000 meeting. Everything you will ever need to know about English 1000 can be found on this blog. I will be responsible for posting helpful tips, materials, and discussion topics for you. I might even convince Cheryl to make a guest appearance or two (or more!). Blogger is a free blogging network, so feel free to create a blog of your own. Otherwise, you should be able to post comments anonymously.

Something we'll discuss over the course of the fall is readiness for teaching. One of my professors encouraged me to create a blog that chronicled my teaching experience. I will, in fact, be doing just that this coming fall. And, while not required, I am going to encourage each of you to consider the possibility. What better way for potential employers to become acquainted with your professional activities than reading a teaching blog?

This is a new site, so I'll spend the summer working out any flaws or problems. If you check, I'll even be able to post new ideas, materials, etc for your perusal. I look forward to our work this next year!