Details about daily assignments will be posted here and announced at class on Tuesdays and Thursdays. Check the website as you prepare for each upcoming class period. See the schedule posted in the syllabus for the tentative course outline.

Assigned November 17
For Tuesday, November 24: Remember that we won’t have class this Thursday, November 19. You may use the extra time to share your piece with others inside or outside of class so that you can get feedback about how to revise.

• Keep writing/revising your manuscript: have a full draft in hand by the 24 th so that all you need to do as follow-up is polish!
• Keep writing in your reflective journal each time you work on the project.

Assigned November 12
For Tuesday, November 17:

• Read Graff & Birkenstein Ch. 9 & 10, “Tying It All Together.”
• Continue writing your manuscript—another 1.5 double-spaced pages. Work to apply one piece of advice from the assigned readings.
• Keep writing in your reflective journal each time you work on the project.

Assigned November 10
For Thursday, November 12:

1. Read Flower & Ackerman, "Evaluating and Testing as your Revise" (coursepack), and chart the differences between writer-based prose and reader-based prose.  Also read Graff & Birkenstein Ch. 8, "Tying It All Together"

2. Keep writing--at least another 1.5 pages double-spaced. Work to apply at least one piece advice from the assigned readings.

3. Are you remembering to write in your reflective journal each time you work on the project?

Assigned November 5
For Tuesday, November 10:

1. Read Graff & Birkenstein Ch. 6 & 7 from the “I Say” section. As you read, look back at your mentor text to see how your author makes these kinds of “I say” moves; consider how you can use these kinds of moves in your writing.
2. Skim Hubbard & Power’s chapter “Perishable Art”; use the headings to help you find the section that will best speak to your current needs and challenges as a writer. Read that section, use it to help you with your writing, and be prepared to talk/write about it at class.
3. Write. Again, use up your ENG 306 homework time. Bring your electronic draft-in-progress to class.

Assigned November 3
For Thursday, November 5:

1. Read Graff & Birkenstein Ch. 4 & 5 from the “I Say” section. As you read, look back at your mentor text to see how your author makes “I say” moves; consider how you can use these kinds of moves in your writing.
2. Write—use up your ENG 306 homework time. Bring your electronic draft-in-progress to class.

Assigned October 29
By 3 p.m. Friday, e-mail me with your completed project proposal (see Step 2 in the instructions). For Tuesday, November 3:

1. Finish your forum analysis.
2. Choose at least one journal article that is similar in structure to the piece you hope to write. This article will serve as a mentor text for you as you write your manuscript. (Your mentor text may be published in a journal other than the one you are writing for.)
3. Read Graff & Birkenstein Part I, “They Say.” As you read, look back at your mentor text to see how that makes “they say” moves; consider how you can use these moves in your writing.
4. Do prewriting and/or drafting your manuscript.

Assigned October 27
For Thursday, October 29:

1. Begin your reflective journal, writing about what’s on your mind as you anticipate/start this project. (See Step 1 in the project instructions.) Remember to write for 5 minutes each time you work on the project.
2. Make notes toward writing your project proposal (Step 2), but wait to finalize your proposal so that you can keep an open mind about possible topics and types of articles for your writing.
3. Write either a rough draft or a substantive partial draft of the forum analysis (Step 3). Remember, you may collaborate with others who are analyzing the same journal.

Assigned October 22
For Tuesday, October 27: The remaining presentations will be given. The rest of your polished documents for the Business of Teaching module are due at the beginning of class.

Also, read:

• McEntee, “Diving with Whales: Five Reasons for Practitioners for Write for Publication” (coursepack).
• The instructions for the Professional Submission project . (Start the worrying phase: Mine your reflective journal from project #1 and your conference proposal & presentation from project #2 for topic ideas for this project. Also, start thinking about which journal you would want to write for—see a list of possibilities on our course resources page.)
• Graff & Birkenstein, preface and introduction from They Say, I Say: The Moves that Matter in Academic Writing (required course book).

Assigned October 20
For Thursday, October 22: Post your presentation PowerPoint to Courses@Dordt, and print out a copy of your presentation slides (as a handout). You will make your presentations during class; please observe the time limits closely. (Rehearse!)

The rest of your polished documents for the Business of Teaching module are due at the beginning of class on Tuesday, October 27.

Assigned October 15
For Tuesday, October 20:

• Continue to draft and revise your PowerPoint presentation slides.
• Read from the coursepack, and prepare to discuss and apply the ideas:
• “Making Word Processing More Effective in the Composition Classroom” (Goldfine) AND
• either “Does Spelling Count?” (Sipe) or “Developing Sentence Sense” (Gere).
• Draft your teaching correspondence for the module (see steps 3-5 of the module instructions).

Assigned October 13
For Thursday, October 15:

• Read the following from the coursepack: “Writing the Business Letter” (VanderMey, Meyer, and Van Rys), “What a Memo Is and How to Write One” (Zuidema), and “Sensitive and Negative Messages” (Oliu, Brusaw, and Alred). Take careful notes so that you are ready to apply what you learn as you practice writing sensitive/negative correspondence in class.
• Revise your conference proposal as necessary.
• Create a partial or rough draft of your PowerPoint presentation slides (see step 7 of the module for instructions). Note that there is a good example set of slides in Courses@Dordt--look for Geron Van Essen's presentation.

Assigned October 8
For Tuesday, October 13:

1. Draft your conference proposal (see step 6 of the module). Print a copy WITHOUT your name on it.

2. Read the article(s) assigned to you at class from among the following critiques of PowerPoint (originally collected by Michael Alley ). Make notes about the criticisms of PowerPoint and think carefully about these criticisms so that you can discuss them in writing.

• Group A: Keller, "Is PowerPoint the Devil?"
• Group B: Parker, "Absolute PowerPoint"
• Group C: Schwartz, "The Level of Discourse Continues to Slide" AND Tufte, "PowerPoint is Evil"

3. Lastly, read Alley's presentation slides about presentation slides ( "Rethinking the Design of Presentation Slides"). Alley is writing for professors, but think about how his ideas could be adapted for YOUR use of PowerPoint inside/outside the classroom. Feel free to study some of the model slides and the templates that are linked to Alley's site .

Assigned October 6
For Thursday, October 8:

• Review the instructions for the Business of Teaching module (handout). Complete drafts for steps 1 & 2 (the application materials). Note that there are a few pages on “Writing an Effective Letter of Application” that were inadvertently separated from the chapter “Finding the Right Job”; consult these pages to help you write your letter of application.
• What is a proposal? What kinds of proposals do teachers write? Who do they write them for? What are the important qualities of effectively written proposals? Consider these questions as you read the following:
• Course proposal for ENG 306 (Courses@Dordt)
• Grant proposals on DonorsChoose.org
• ICTE Conference call for proposals and program
• NCTE Conference proposal by Dawn Reed (Courses@Dordt)
• Lott, “The Proposal Submissions/Selection Process for National Conventions” (coursepack)

Assigned September 29
For Tuesday, October 6:

• Read the next selection from the coursepack—the excerpts from Oliu, Brusaw, & Alred’s chapter “Finding the Right Job.” Also, read Webb’s online advice for teachers: “Résumés” and “Cover Letters.” As you read, study the sample résumé distributed at class. Make notes about the advice you would give to Jane Vander Schmander about improving her résumé (handout).
• Find and print/photocopy a description or advertisement for a teaching job that interests you.
• If you have a résumé, bring an electronic copy to class.

Assigned September 24
For Tuesday, September 29: Your completed Genre Challenge Project is due at the beginning of class. Review the requirements carefully, and make sure that your writing and your reflective journal demonstrate your study of the writing conventions for your genre. Remember to post your assignment sheet and annotated bibliography to Courses@Dordt. Also, print and staple a copy of all the materials to be handed in so that you are ready for our celebration of writing!

Assigned September 22
For Thursday, September 24:

• Read closely pp. 161-164 from Katie Wood Ray’s “Another Invitation to my Library: Ways with Words.” Then hunt and peck in the four major sections that follow: “Wondrous Repetition” (pp. 164-6), “Wondrous Word Choices” (pp. 167-70), “Wondrous Sentences” (pp. 171-8), and “Wondrous Marks of Punctuation” (pp. 178-183). For each of these four sections, choose one “wondrous” technique that looks interesting to you and try it out in a few different spots in your genre piece. Highlight the spots where you’ve deliberately used these techniques, and post your draft as an attachment to Courses@Dordt.
• Use big blocks of time to continue writing, revising, and crafting your genre piece. Remember: the completed project is due on Tuesday, September 29. Make sure that your writing and your reflective journal demonstrate your study of the writing conventions for your genre.

Assigned September 17
For Tuesday, September 22:

• Read pp. 380-387 from Sommers, “Revisions Strategies of Student Writers and Experienced Adult Writers.” Pay special attention to the contrasts between the student writers and the experienced writers—and consider where your habits fit.
• Read either “Unsettling Drafts: Helping Students See New Possibilities in their Writing” (Tchudi, Estrem, & Hamlon) or “The Writer’s Toolbox: Five Tools for Active Revision Instruction” (Harper). Be prepared to explain the ideas to someone who read the other article and to apply the ideas to your writing.
• Keep writing (and revising) in big blocks of time!

Assigned September 15
For Thursday, September 17:

• In the coursepack, skim and scan pp. 400-405 from “Whither Peer Review?” to get a sense of the different ways that peers can respond to each other’s writing. Read “The Alligator in the Fish Bowl” to understand the approach to peer response that we’ll engage in on Thursday.
• Write! Give yourself a solid block of writing time, find a productive space, and write, write, write.
• Are you remembering to add a 5-minute entry to your reflection journal each time you work on the project?

Assigned September 10
For Tuesday, September 15:

• Read the next coursepack selection: Rose, “Rigid Rules, Inflexible Plans, and the Stifling of Language.” Also read EITHER (A) O’Shaughnessy, et al, “Who, What, When, and Where of Writing Rituals” OR (B) Ballenger & Lane “If You Can’t Be James Joyce, Why Bother?” along with Lamott, “Shitty First Drafts.” Don’t linger too long over any of the readings; the goal is to get a basic sense about where writer’s block comes from and about what can be done to prevent/treat it.
• Get writing! Keep working to complete steps 3 (annotated bibliography) and 4 (the assignment sheet); when those are finished, begin your genre writing (step 5). And remember: write in your reflective journal for 5 minutes each time you work on the project.

Assigned September 8
For Thursday, September 10:

1. Read the next coursepack selection: Bullock, “Annotated Bibliographies.”
2. Gather and begin to study the published examples and advice for your genre, and draft your annotated bibliography as described in step 3 of the Genre Challenge instructions. Remember: while the annotation for each example/advice piece should give a concise description of what the work is about, the most important description for each is your explanation about what writers can learn from studying the selection.

Note: You are welcome to look at on the Genre Challenge materials posted to Courses@Dordt by the 2008 class. You may build on ideas from their work, but you must (1) write your own materials, (2) give credit for ideas or words that you borrow or adapt, and (3) share alike—that is, share your version of the materials with the person whose work yours extends from.

Assigned September 3
By noon on Friday, September 4, send your project proposal to me via e-mail. (See step 2 in the Genre Challenge instructions.)

For Tuesday, September 8:

1. Read the next two selections from the coursepack: Perl, “Understanding Composing” and Reither, “Writing and Knowing: Toward Redefining the Writing Process.” These pieces were originally intended for writing professors, so allow time to work through them carefully. Make notes in your margins: comments, questions, and definitions (e.g., for key words like “recursive” in the Perl article). For each article, write one paragraph that answers this question: What are the author’s main points, and what can his/her ideas teach you about your own writing processes?
2. Keep moving ahead with the next steps of your Genre Challenge project. Remember to add another 5-minute entry to your Genre Challenge reflective journal each time that you work on the project.

Looking ahead: We’ll spend at least part of our class period in the library on Tuesday. Please watch for an e-mail about where class will be held.

Assigned September 1
For Thursday, September 3:

1. Finish and print your “Where I’m From” poem.
2. Review the instructions for the Genre Challenge project (handout). Then, for a better understanding of this type of project, read Andrew-Vaughan & Fleischer, “Researching Writing: The Unfamiliar-Genre Research Project” (coursepack). Consider: how does this kind of project work, and how does it meet writers’ needs?
3. You are in the “worrying” stage of working on your genre challenge project. Start your reflective journal with a 5-minute entry! Check step 1 in the project instructions for guidance. (Feel free, too, to look at my reflective journal on our Courses@Dordt site.)

Looking ahead: We’ll take some time at class on Thursday to consider genre possibilities for the project. You’ll need to send your project proposal e-mail to me by noon on Friday, September 4. (See step 2 in the project instructions.)

Assigned August 27
For Tuesday, September 1:

1. Read the first two coursepack selections to prepare for in-class discussion about how the writing workshop concept will fit with our course and with your future teaching : (1) Atwell, “Getting Started” and (2) Taylor, “Nancie Atwell’s In the Middle and the Ongoing Transformation of the Writing Workshop.” Look for connections and contradictions across the readings, and also consider how these texts relate to your own experiences . As always, read actively: mark it up and make it your own! Fill the margins with notes about the ideas that you find especially interesting, insightful, debatable, or questionable—as well as notes about the connections and questions that come to mind as you read.
2. Bring the draft of your “Where I’m From” poem to class, and be prepared to share. Feel free to look back at George Ella Lyon’s “Where I’m From” poem, at templates, and at models that you find online.