Our Writing Goals

This is what our chalkboard looked like on Thursday, September 8, after our first all-class brainstorming session. I asked everyone to make a list of what they expected to write in the next four years of college, followed by a list of skills they'd need to accomplish them.

Anticipated Assignments: a personal resume, a thesis or large research paper, analytical essays, field reports (in education classes, especially), journals, lesson plans, reflections, statements of philosophy, translations, lab reports, blog posts, and spread sheets.

Skills Needed: choosing words and writing concisely, thinking creatively to develop innovative approaches to writing, overcoming fears about big projects, structuring and organizing papers, working from outlines, making time for patience, learning about library and online resources, learning to use style guides for certain disciplines but also developing one's personal writing style, concentratring, punctuating, reviewing grammar, and getting down with citation.

In the coming week, we're going to be examining how we approach learning as a culture and how we, as a class, can drive our own learning to make college an engaging and transformative experience.

If you want a preview, here's an animation we'll watch in class: "Changing Education Paradigms," by Ken Robinson.