Assignment: Profile

OVERVIEW

You already have many profiles in life: parent, sibling, child, employee, cousin, aunt/uncle, recovering from something, athlete, artist, musician, gardener, person with a disability, etc. This assignment asks you to write a partner’s Student Profile.

In-Class Assignment: Rethinking Failure

When I told my students that we were going to spend the class period talking about failure, they immediately started responding with tried and true platitudes. "Failure is not an option!" Their enthusiasm for college success is bolstered by such claims.

The truth though? Failure is not only an option, but often a likelihood.

Assignment: The Professor & The Cell Phone

Background

In class, we first watch this YouTube video:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hut3VRL5XRE

We have a discussion about what happened (a cell phone goes off in a lecture hall; the interrupted professor takes it, then slams it to the ground before continuing with his lecture), and students' responses. Several say that student deserved to have his phone destroyed. Some say the professor should have taken the phone, but not broken it. Others say the professor was out of line completely. It's usually a spirited debate.

Then, we get to the assignment.

Assignment: Writing Process Description

Overview- This paper will be a description of your own writing process. Using the terms we’ve talked about in class (prewriting, writing, rewriting, brainstorming, outlining, etc.), describe the writing process you typically use when you write. Once you have your typical writing process down, describe where you think your writing process can be improved.

Assignment: Does Grammar Matter?

Overview- A solid discussion of grammar will often leave students in a space of uncertainty. If we explain that all dialects have grammar and that no grammar is inherently better than any other, we can give them impression that grammar does not matter. At the same time, if we explain that students are held purely to the Standard Academic English grammatical standards, we can give the impression that grammar is the only thing that matters.

This in-class activity is designed to explore that tension.