Meetings

2010-2011

Note: All meetings will be held at the common meeting time 12:30-1:45PM

Monday, August 16, A&S 315

1. Remember to submit your syllabi to both Melinda Martin (electronic or print) and Alex (electronic only) today. Alex will review syllabi using the Syllabus Checklist and ask for changes if necessary.
2. According to the new BOR policy, 1101 must be offered in the spring; however, the Chair does not plan to offer many sections of it.
3. GeorgiaVIEW for students
4. TurnItIn for Teaching Fellows and for students

Wednesday, September 1, A&S 315

1. Signup Sheet
   1. Coordinator Observations: Alex will observe Zach, Matt, Rachel, Josh, J. T., and Valerie this fall (Josh, J. T., and Valerie need to sign up). Alex can observe Evan and Ashley this fall if they need letters this fall (if so, sign up). Alex will observe Rebecca and Roger (and Evan and Ashley) in the spring. Alex may observe Abby in the spring depending on her schedule. Alex cannot observe Stephen in either the fall or the spring.
   • For observation debriefing, bring sample of graded papers (an A paper, a B paper, a C paper).
   2. Peer Observations
   3. Assignment in Common (GradeDistribution)
   4. Spring Teaching Schedule
2. GeorgiaView, TurnItIn, or Libary Day questions?
3. Book Orders due 15 October 2010
   • 8 first year Fellows (Rebecca, Abby, Matt, Stephen, Roger, Jonathan, Valerie) use required texts selected by Textbook Adoption Committee.
   • 4 experienced Fellows (Evan, Zach, Ashley, Rachel, Josh) select own anthology but run by Alex. Don't forget about Textbook Library and Recommendations.
   • All may supplement with outside novel or play or book of poetry after running choice by Alex.
   • 4 MA students (Nathan, Cara, Brittany, Sal) see Chair/Director of Graduate Studies.
   • Textbook Adoption Committee: Stephan McCormick will serve as the first-year TF representative; after a ballot, Josh Ruffin was elected to serve as the second-year TF representative. Since more TFs have expressed interest in serving, Alex will craft a revision.
4. Questions/Issues/Stories from first two weeks?
5. Composition vs Creative Writing Assignments

Wednesday, September 29, A&S 315

1. Midterm Grades due Wednesday, October 6 at 9:00AM in MyCats > Faculty Main Menu > Mid Term Grades
2. Consensual Relations Document located in MyCats > Groups > COAS Faculty and Staff > Files > Consensual Relations Document (2).doc.
• "When two parties have a professional relationship with each other, or one stands in a position of professional authority over the other, even an apparently consensual sexual or amorous relationship can lead to sexual harassment or other violations of professional obligations.
• The College of Arts and Sciences at Georgia College & State University prohibits all faculty and staff, including graduate teaching assistants, from pursuing sexual or amorous relationships or any sexual contact with students (undergraduate or graduate).
• [. . . ]A violation of this policy may result in disciplinary action."
3. Coordinator Observations, Peer Observations, Assignments in Common
4. Handling Prejudice in the Classroom
• Use Rebecca Hazelwood's experience as jumping off point for discussion.
5. Book Orders
   • Due October 15
   • The Textbook Adoption Commitee is meeting next week. First-time 1102 instructors will be notified of the selection, and then they'll place the order by following the textbook ordering process.
   • Experienced 1102 instructors select their own books (a reader and a rhetoric, or a reader/rhetoric combination); just okay your choice with Alex before October 15.
   • All Teaching Fellows can supplement with a novel, a play, book of poetry by a single author, a book of short stories by a single author, or a book of creative nonfiction.
   • MAs will probably be asked to teach the anthology that the Textbook Adoption Committee chooses and will probably be allowed to supplement; ask Dr. Whitaker.
6. Textbook Adoption Committee Revision
1. Current
   • Textbook Adoption Committee: The Textbook Adoption Committee is composed of the Coordinator of the Teaching Fellows, a first-year Teaching Fellow, and a second-year Teaching Fellow.
   • Each of the three members has an equal vote in adoption decisions, and two votes are needed to adopt a textbook.
   • The two Teaching Fellow representatives will be selected by the Teaching Fellows.
2. Proposed Change: Teaching Fellows Only
   • Rationale: More Teaching Fellows have expressed interest in participating on the Textbook Adoption Committee; therefore, future Committees should allow for increased representation. [Counterargument: The possibility that there could be a five person committee choosing textbooks for five first-year TFs, which may happen Fall 2011.]
   • Textbook Adoption Committee: The Textbook Adoption Committee is composed of the Coordinator of the Teaching Fellows, one or two first-year Teaching Fellows, and one or two second-year Teaching Fellows (the number of representatives from each year must be the same; if there are two first-years then there must be two second-years), for a total of either two or four Teaching Fellows.
   • The Teaching Fellow representatives will be elected by the Teaching Fellows. If more than two TFs want to serve their first- or second-year constituency, then a secret ballot election will be held in which the two TFs receiving the most votes win.
   • Each of the three or five members on the Textbook Adoption Committee has an equal vote in adoption decisions, and a majority is needed to adopt a textbook.
3. Proposed Change: MFAs, MAs, Adjuncts
   • Rationale: Since the Teaching Fellows' Textbook Adoption Committee selections are also being taught by the MA and Adjunct instructors, those groups should be represented on the Committee. [Counterargument: The future numbers of MA instructors remains uncertain, Adjunct instructors can technically choose their own books provided they are hired enough time in advance, and the Textbook Adoption Committee and the Aim & Scope Supplement governs TFs.]
   • Textbook Adoption Committee: The Textbook Adoption Committee is composed of the Coordinator of the Teaching Fellows, one first-year Teaching Fellow, one second-year Teaching Fellow, one MA instructor, and one Adjunct instructor.
   • The Teaching Fellow representatives will be elected by the Teaching Fellows. If more than one TF wants to serve her first- or second-year constituency, then a secret ballot election will be held in which the TF receiving the most votes wins. The MA representative will be elected by the MA instructors and the Adjunct representative by the Adjunct instructors, following the same ballot procedure, if necessary, as the Teaching Fellows.

October 27, A&S 315

1. Observations: Coordinator and Peer
2. Assignment in Common
3. English 1102
   • Aim & Scope of English 1101 and 1102
   1. Students are expected to write about six essays (three to six pages in length) during the semester, one researched essay (six to eight pages), and ungraded writing equal to about 25% of the writing total for the course.  These requirements equal about 9,000 words of student writing, including rough drafts and in-class work.
   2. The course reinforces in students a sense of the processes involved in creating meaningful, clear, and effective writing, including continual practice in brainstorming, prewriting, drafting, revising, and focusing for length and purpose.
   3. Instruction in the strategies and processes of revision as a way to achieve strong organization, sharp focus, effective specifics, meaningful detail, and clear purpose in the academic essay is a systematic and continuing part of the course.
   4. Students should experience peer reaction to finished work.
   5. Instructors should promote an awareness among students that writing methods, strategies, and processes acquired in Composition II will transfer to other writing arenas, such as other courses.
   6. The course should promote, through literature, student awareness of writing as an important part of artistic experience.
      
   7. Instructors may require grammar and punctuation exercises according to their perception of class or individual need.
   • University Profile System: English 1102
   • Topics
   • Basic introductions to various types of literature, including poetry, drama, and prose fiction;
     
   • Strategies for college-level writing about literary texts, including vocabulary, grammar, style, purpose and audience;
   • Revision;
     
   • Basic research methods for college-level work;
     
   • Analysis of texts orally (class discussion) and in writing.
   • Outcomes
   • To reinforce principles of writing and speaking acquired in ENGL 1101;
     
   • To reinforce the principles and strategies of argumentation and analysis acquired in ENGL 1101;
     
   • To write organized, clear, and purposeful prose that meets conventional standards of correctness.
     
   • To understand complexities of culture in order to write or speak about them;
     
   • To create forceful and effective written argument in the academic environment;
     
   • To reinforce principles of academic research and how to synthesize research in writing so that the insights and documentation are logical and clear;
     
   • To gain insight into various ways of interpreting texts and presenting insights about them orally and in writing.
     
   • To experience public presentation and public reaction to finished work. (This is a new requirement mandated by the new core curriculum.)
   • Syllabus Checklist
   • Syllabus Bank (Previous sections did not have the oral requirement.)
   • brainstorm oral and written assignments
4. Plagiarism
   • Degrees of Plagiarism and Plagiarism Procedure
   • Accidental vs Willful Plagiarism

November 17, A&S 315

1. Early College: Brooke Heindel <brooke.heindel@gcsu.edu> and Ed Averett <ed.averett@gcsu.edu> (Email them if you have questions about or suggestions for EC students in our composition classes.)
2. Teaching Statement: compose by February
• Teaching Statements are regularly required in job applications. So you have one on hand when you go on the job market, write one now. What is your teaching philosophy and how do you practice it in the classroom?
3. Class Cancellation and Coverage
4. Student Opinion Surveys
• Update for those on the job market: The Department is looking for the discursive comments and hopes to hear back from Institutional Research soon.
• Regarding the low response rates, colleagues have suggested you state that the university's switch to online surveys in Spring 2009 affected the response rate. Most search committees will understand because this is a national problem.
• I hope to have the MLA Job Information List password for you soon.
5. Saving Papers: "Neither the Chair nor I could find this policy written down in the Academic Affairs handbook, but tradition says student papers must be saved for one semester, so spring semester papers may be discarded at the end of summer semester" (8/17/2009)
6. Final Grades
   • Show students how to calculate their own grades.
     
   • Respond to student emails about their final grades within 1 or 2 days. If you are going to be out of email contact over break, then leave a copy of your gradebook with Alex.
   • According to FERPA, you cannot reveal or discuss the grade itself over email.
   What you can say is that you have double checked your calculations and the grade is final.
   • If a student wants to debate or discuss the grade and assessment, you can do so in GeorgiaVIEW mail, in your office, on your office phone, or via snail mail.
   • If you do make a calculation error, follow the change of grade procedure.
   • Note this section was amended on 11/18/2010 following the university lawyer's advice regarding FERPA.
   • How do experienced Teaching Fellows prevent end-of-semester or post-semester grade campaigning?
7. English 1102 Questions

Wednesday, January 19, A&S 315

1. Professionalism and Professionalization
2. Assignment in Common Redux
3. Peer Observation Redux
4. Coordinator Observation Sign Up
5. No Show Reporting due Monday, 1-24
6. Teaching Statement: Like artist statements, teaching statements reflect your ideal values and real practices. They are useful for setting the bar by which you judge your everyday teaching, and they are necessary for most job applications.
• Example
• Due next meeting
7. Academic Affairs Handbook links
8. Teaching Essays in 1101 vs Teaching Literature in 1102
9. Teaching Elements of Literature in 1102
• Fiction, Poetry, Drama in Madden or introduction to literature textbook
• Film, Graphic Novel, other genres require outside books or handouts

Wednesday, February 16, A&S 315

1. Midterm Grades Due Tuesday, March 1 at 9:00AM
2. Book Orders Due April 15
• Aim & Scope Teaching Fellows Supplement
• All Fellows (and presumably MAs) can choose their reader and rhetoric (or combination) for fall.
• Let the Textbook Adoption Committee know if you think the Fall 2010 common reader, Acting Out Culture, and common rhetoric, Writing and Revising should be kept or changed.
• Selecting Own Textbook
• Possible Bedford/St. Martin's Bookfair
• Publisher Websites
• Textbook Library
• Textbook Recommendations: By April 15, write own assessment or recommendation for 1101 or 1102 reader.
3. Student Opinion Surveys
• Retrieving Results
• All graduate student instructor courses must be surveyed
4. CETL Midterm Assessment
• At least two volunteers first-year instructors to learn how to do a midterm assessment this semester; see Mark Vail. Next year, you'll give the assessment to fellow graduate student instructors.
5. Teaching Ideals vs/and Teaching Reality
6. Next Meeting
• Bring Informal, Formal, or In-Class Assignment that puts your pedagogy into practice.

Wednesday, March 9, A&S 315

1. Reminders
• Grades Due: Submit grades by Registrar's deadline, or the Registrar will email the Dean who will email the Chair who will email me.
• Book Orders Due April 15: Possible Bedford/St. Martin's Book Fair
• Textbook Adoption Committee: W, 4-6 at 11:45 or M, 4-11 at 12:30?
• Student Opinion Surveys: Survey all courses
• Observation Follow Up: Evan (debriefing) and Roger (graded papers)
• Assignment in Common: Zach and Stephan
• Peer Observation: Roger and Josh, JT and Zach
2. Instructors are no longer allowed to drop students. (New Policy from the A&S Dean)
3. Students looking for instructors hours before drop deadlines?
4. Assignment (Informal, Formal, or In-Class) that puts your pedagogy into practice.

Wednesday, April 6, A&S 315

1. Reminders
• Observation Follow Up: Evan (debriefing), Rebecca and Roger (graded papers)
• Assignment in Common: Zach and Stephan
• Peer Observation: Roger and Josh, JT and Zach
2. Annual Training and Compliance Month
• Login to the  http://training.gcsu.edu using your myCATS login information. (The myCats login reset process is located on the training site.)
• Select the Annual Compliance Awareness menu item.
• Follow the directions on each page to complete the required compliance information.
3. Fall 2011 Textbook Orders
• All Use the Handbook selected by the Textbook Adoption Committee; Coordinator will order/distribute desk copies as well as place textbook adoption order.
• New 1101 instructors use the reader and rhetoric selected by the Textbook Adoption Committee; Coordinator will order/distribute desk copies as well as place textbook adoption order.
• Experienced instructors submit reader and rhetoric (or Reader/Rhetoric Combination) to Coordinator for approval; once approved submit book order to bookstore.
4. Student Opinion Surveys
• All classes of 10 or more students will be surveyed this semester.
• Remind students to complete survey last two weeks of April.
• Consider asking students to bring in laptops and give them class time to complete.
5. Final grade deadline: Wednesday, May 11 by 9:00AM.
6. Email issues as students turned instructors?
7. Assignment that puts pedagogy from teaching statement into practice?
8. Assignment that fulfills orality component in 1102?
9. Advice for new 1101 instructors?
• Over the summer, read Cheryl Glenn and Melissa A. Goldthwaite's The St. Martin's Guide to Teaching Writing and the Teaching Fellows website.