Sunday, January 15, 2006
Welcome to Annette's English 201!
I'm excited to be teaching 201 again this semester, and I hope that you're excited about taking the course. If you're not now, I'm sure you will be once we get to know each other better. :)
You may not be used to getting to know your peers and your instructor in a college class, but if you've ever taken a composition class before, then you know it's very different from other courses. There are 19 of you in the the class, and you're my only students this semester. This means we get a lot of quality time together. In a composition course, it's important that we all get to know each other well because it's important we feel comfortable sharing our writing and talking about it.
Because I always find the first couple of weeks of getting-to-know-each-other a little awkward, I've decided to try something new this semester. For the first day of class, I'd like you to bring a self-portrait and be prepared to share it with the rest of us. Now, don't be alarmed! I'm not looking for a work of art. I'm defining "self-portrait" very loosely. I mean, please bring something to class that is reflective of you (hopes, dreams, interests, friends, talents, fears, whatever) and be prepared to talk about it. It could be a photograph, an object, a written text, a song, a drawing, a collage, etc. I'll bring something to share with you, too. By asking you to do this, I'm hoping to avoid the traditional, "what's your major, why are you taking the course" introductions. I often find those boring and unhelpful in getting to know students because knowing you're a pharmacy student tells me next-to-nothing about you.
Feel free to browse this site and the links of my previous students' blogs to your right. We'll talk more about the course when we meet, but in the meantime, reading some of these may give you a good window into student experiences in my class.
See you Tuesday!
You may not be used to getting to know your peers and your instructor in a college class, but if you've ever taken a composition class before, then you know it's very different from other courses. There are 19 of you in the the class, and you're my only students this semester. This means we get a lot of quality time together. In a composition course, it's important that we all get to know each other well because it's important we feel comfortable sharing our writing and talking about it.
Because I always find the first couple of weeks of getting-to-know-each-other a little awkward, I've decided to try something new this semester. For the first day of class, I'd like you to bring a self-portrait and be prepared to share it with the rest of us. Now, don't be alarmed! I'm not looking for a work of art. I'm defining "self-portrait" very loosely. I mean, please bring something to class that is reflective of you (hopes, dreams, interests, friends, talents, fears, whatever) and be prepared to talk about it. It could be a photograph, an object, a written text, a song, a drawing, a collage, etc. I'll bring something to share with you, too. By asking you to do this, I'm hoping to avoid the traditional, "what's your major, why are you taking the course" introductions. I often find those boring and unhelpful in getting to know students because knowing you're a pharmacy student tells me next-to-nothing about you.
Feel free to browse this site and the links of my previous students' blogs to your right. We'll talk more about the course when we meet, but in the meantime, reading some of these may give you a good window into student experiences in my class.
See you Tuesday!
// posted by advee @ 10:21 PM 
