In your interest groups, look at the textbooks you brought. Take good notes here, and have each member of your group take good notes.
- What do these books contain? Describe the contents in detail–not
the table of contents, but what material is included in the book–genres
(are the pieces essays, poetry, short stories, "teaching stuff" like
questions, descriptions of the history of a piece, notes on authors,
letters to students, etc)?
- Who wrote most of the pieces in the text–men, women, young people,
white people, dead people (before they were dead)? When were the pieces
written? What are they about?
- Who are these pieces of greatest interest to? Students? You?
- Is this book and its activities and assignments ones that help students
learn the reading and writing skills you think you ought to have? (What
are these skills?)
- Does this book encourage the level of thinking that should be expected
of first year students? (and what level is that and what does this text
say about what the editors–all English teachers in this department–think
is the level of first year writers thinking?)
- For those of you who have actually used these texts, what did you
like about them?
- What did you not like?
- Do you think teachers like these texts? Why? Why not?
- What would your perfect writing text be? What materials would it contain
(examples of A papers written by students; sample organizational patterns;
grammar rules; comics; what would you be reading; what sort of assignments
would you be writing)?
- What sorts of writing course texts would be more interesting? What
would the texts for your "perfect" course consist of? If you could assign
your own readings and write your own assignments, would you want to?
Could you oversee your own projects with little supervision?
- What would members of your interest group say about all of this?
- Is there a point of connection, at which students could negotiate with your interest group?
You will need to finish this on Friday, bring your notes! (Try to think carefully about each question and discuss it in detail. Keep these notes–you'll be using them later.)
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