Think back to our mapping assignment. Code one of the assignments (& grading criteria, if applicable) that you have drafted this semester. What values come up as you do so? Are these the values you want to portray to your students? In what ways do your values reflect the values of the writing program as a whole? What do you learn about yourself as a teacher from doing this?
It's been quite a long time, I'm into teaching, not exactly the teacher but growing up as a teacher. These days, I learned a lot of things. I observed my students from so close and tried to understand what exactly they need and how. I got some ideas from my observation and that helped to create my own assignment sheet. I created an assignment sheet for ENG 103 students. I coded my assignment sheet and tried to be not biased.Here's what I found -
That's a rhetorical analysis of a public speech. I encompassed my ideas in my assignment sheet. However, I tried to keep it clear and made it in a way so that it can navigate my students in the right direction. First I gave a general overview of rhetorical analysis. Like- what is rhetorical analysis, how does it work, etc. Then I gave the prompt. I tried to be clear and concise about my prompt so that my students don't get confused. I clearly articulate the audience. I put a To-Do list there so that students can collect the information, analyze them and organize them accordingly. Because they have their checklist in front. I tried to be explicit about formatting and grading too. I also explain to them how the paper should look like, especially the structure and gave them some idea over rhetorical appeals too. Throughout the paper, I wanted to make sure my students understand the instructions clearly. As it's a second project and the students are just familiarizing with new things, I didn't want to put burden on them. I tried to make things easier for them by breaking down everything in smaller chunks.
Now come to my values-
I found myself focusing on rhetorical analysis mostly. Throughout the paper I used this word most of the time, that's what made me feel I'm very concerned about their knowledge of rhetoric. Therefore, I wanted to develop their ideas about rhetoric. I also articulated the word 'audience' quite a few times. That makes sense that I want them to be concerned about their audience. The next thing that surprised me is -"Your thought" I mentioned this word often in the paper. Which I felt like I wanted to hear their voice, their thought. However, I would like to connect this word with critical thinking. I want my students to employ critical thinking in their writing and build their (shadow) presence in their papers. I used to talk about ethos, pathos, and logos in my paper as I wanted my students to be aware of those. I also talked about argument and thesis statement.
During coding my paper, I felt like I wanted my students having a better understanding of the assignment sheet that they are going to follow to write the paper. I concern about their knowledge about rhetorical appeals and critical thinking along with their credibility and knowledge of readers. I think my values are somehow similar to the values of BSU to some extent and very close to my mentor's.
My main objective is to ensure my students' learning progress. I don't want any hindrance to my student's development in learning and thus depicts in my assignment as well.
Mow,
I think your values definitely fit an ENG 103 rhetorical analysis type assignment! The emphasis on rhetoric makes a lot of sense. And at the end when you mention "progress" I'm curious how you see this value appear in other assignments you've created as well? When we create assignments and scaffold them, we often talk about process, but I'm curious about how this could look differently if we are looking at progress (especially in acknowledging how different students come to our classes with different backgrounds; therefore, progress could look very different for two different students!). I'll be interested to see how your values reflect in your other assignments!
Will
Did you find "progress" as a value in the assignment? If not, is there a way you could stress that more? I think audience and rhetoric are really good ones to have for this type of assignment!