 Preparing Conferences for Instruction: Scenario #1 and Scenario #2 |
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| In
this thread we talk about the nuts and bolts of setting up your
workshop
in a teacher's classroom. Whenever you are assigned a writing workshop
in a professor's class, you will find yourself in one of two scenarios: Scenario #1 In this scenario, the workshop you have been assigned has been taught for that professor's class before, and you will find an existing conference for it in WRIT999. In this case, you only need to ensure that the teacher is still doing the same assignment before you import the conference into the classroom. |
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| Text Version: Scenario #1 You receive the following email from Michelle Bowman, coordinator of the Writing Fellows program:
Upon receipt of this email and assignment, you will first want to establish communication with the teacher, introducing yourself and projecting a sense of excitement about the opportunity to work in the classroom. In this communication, you should also let the teacher know that you will be sending out a welcome email to students. Techniques for and examples of doing this were covered in an earlier thread--"Communicating with Professors" One other important purpose of this pre-workshop communication is to determine where the teacher prefers that you post your workshop materials. We recommend that you suggest to the teacher that you create an EWC Workshop Conference in the conference area, and ask the teacher to let you know if he or she prefers otherwise. Ensure You Are Rostered In Your next step is to check your class roster in WebTycho to see if the assigned class has shown up yet. So let's do that. In this case we are looking for Amanda Barnett's WRTG291 class. Yes, there it is. I have been rostered in. You now want to confirm your status as a TA in the class. Open the class link and click on BIOS. Your should see your name listed. Click on Bio. If you have not yet done so, please fill out your bio and include a photo of yourself. You can do this by clicking on "Edit this Biography" at the top of the page. Check Course Schedule Next, check the Course Schedule in the Syllabus area to ensure that class assignments coincide with the dates of your scheduled workshop. It's also helpful to know the assignments leading up and following the one you will be working on. This provides you with the same context the students are working with. Under Project Descriptions, you should see the assignment instructions for the project that you will be helping with. Compare these assignment descriptions with any assignment instructions you have been given. You might also find additional assignment commentary in the Course Content area. Import Conference Next, open up the Conferences area. This is where you will post your materials unless you have been instructed otherwise by the professor. The first thing you will need to do is to import the conference. Recall that we are dealing with Scenario #1--doing a workshop in a class for which materials already exist. Here is how to do that.
Your next step is to import the individual conference threads. To do this, you first want to set up a split screen view with the target classroom on one side, and the WRIT999 on the other side where the individual threads are. In the target classroom, with your EWC workshop open, click on "New Topic" and give it the same name (or alter to suit your needs) as the original thread. Some advisers simply copy and paste the title. Then, if you wish to copy design view, activate your cursor in the window, and type CTRL A to select all, the CTRL C to copy all. Go to your target classroom, activate your cursor, then type CTRL V to paste all. Click on submit and you should see the conference thread reproduced. Since the thread is now posted under your name, you can also make whatever changes to it that you wish. A second option is for you to transfer the threads using html code. This is essentially the same procedure, but you are working with code only, not any object. Open the html thread. Activate cursor, and select all, the copy all. Go to your target conference in Professor Barnett's classroom. Click on New Topic. At the bottom, be sure to select the CODE tab. Now erase whatever is there, and paste in your html code. Add a subject, Click submit and you should see the same results. Follow these procedures until you have transferred the thread in 999 into your target classroom. Keep in mind that you name is on them, so you can alter the threads in any way you feel is justified. Scenario #2 A workshop for this professor has never been taught before and you will need to create a conference in 999, and add threads to it to create a unique workshop for your students. Text Version: Scenario #2 Now let's review the procedures for Scenario #2: you have been assigned a workshop for a class assignment that we in the Writing Fellows program have never taught before. This means that you will consult the correspondence between David, Michelle and the classroom teacher, as well as study the assignment directions yourself, to put together a sequence of threads that teach the skills student need for the assignment. Creating a New Conference For Scenario #2, you follow all of the same steps as above, except for the importing options. Instead of importing a ready-made conference from WRIT 999, you will have to create a conference for that teacher and workshop in 999, then populate it with the threads you want.
Now you will work with tabs in Tycho NG to populate your new workshop conference. Left click on the new conference in the left-side pane. You see in the right side pane that the name of the conference appears in the tab at the top, but the conference is empty. No problem. Now you simply go and find the threads you need. Your Multimedia Welcome Message There are some threads which should appear in very workshop. The first one is a Customized Welcome Message. Click on it and notice that a new tab has opened in the right side pane and the threads of the conference appear.-- the welcome messages. Each adviser should have some type of multimedia welcome message to post. As you notice here with Kevin's, it is paired with a virtual tour of the EWC. If you do not have a customized welcome message, please see thread below and we will work together to build one for you. There are two ways to copy an existing thread into your new conference. Try this both to see which one you like best. First, you can work in design view. Kevin would double left click on his message to see it in full page form. then he would simply copy and paste what he sees. Click in the window. CTRL+ A to select all, CTRL + C to copy all, Close the window. Click on the tab for the conference you are creating. Click New Topic. Activate cursor. and CTRL + V to paste it in. Type in a title and click submit. Be sure to check to make sure that everything works. A second way is to copy and paste the html. I have found this to produce fewer problems when it comes to picking up and reproducing multimedia elements. In this method, you open the html version of the same thread. Select all CTRL A then Copy all CTRL C. Now click on the tab of your target conference. Click on New Topic. Then go down to the bottom and click on Code tab. Delete what is there, and paste in the code you just copied. Fill in the subject field and Click Submit. Assignment Analysis Thread A second thread you will need is Assignment Analysis. This is the key thread for most workshops. Notice the blanks that must be filled in for this crucial thread. We consider helping students analyze assignment requirements and outline a response to that assignment to be our first and most critical task in a writing workshop. We will cover how to modify this thread and others in a subsequent video. "Generic" Section Finally, notice that Assignment Analysis is located in the section called "Generic"-- this is the area where you will find lesson threads on a large variety of writing topics that your can pull from and adapt. If you don't see what you need, contact me, David Taylor, immediately. For other threads-- Generally, students will need help coming up with strategies for on an introduction and a solid thesis. Body paragraphs vary a great deal depending on the assignment, so it is usually a good idea to have a body paragraph thread so that the student can show he/she understands the assignment well enough to discuss one aspect of it in a logical paragraph. Citations styles can also vary, so make sure you choose the one that the teacher requires. Back in the Target Professor's Classroom Once your threads are in place and your new conference is complete, simply go to the professor's classroom and follow the same import procedure as you did for scenario 1. After your conference is in the instructor's classroom, please notify the instructor. This serves two purposes: (1) to reassure the teacher that you are ready to go and (2) to give the teacher a chance to review the materials. Welcome Message to Students Finally, the day before the workshop is to begin or the morning of, please send a welcome message to students. You do this by utilizing the Class Roster in the teacher's classroom. Log into WebTycho in the usual way. Look for the class that Michelle has rostered you into and enter that class. Look at the bottom of the left side menu and Click on Class Members. On the Class Members page scroll to the bottom and select the appropriate box. It's best to send your communications to everyone in the class, including the professor and other assistants.. Then click "Send an E-mail to Selected Class members." Next Video In the next video, we will talk about how to adapt any of our materials to best fit the assignment, students, and your teaching. See you there. |
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