You made it! You are just about done here.

For this module, we went through:

1. All of the different communication channels we have
2. Thinking through the writing process and how this can be flexible to your needs in order to generate ideas, get practice, get feedback, return to revise, reflect back on what is working or not, etc.
3. Getting started with developing a writing practice by identifying elements of your environment during previous moments of writing that you felt to be successful and why your writing practice might have helped.
4. Got the logistics set up for our Writing Groups and the importance for peer response to help develop support for our writing (along with some help ways to support each other as responders to each others’ writing).

Writing Goals

What we will do now is to think back to our Introduction Presentations where you were asked to share a goal for your writing.

Take a moment to think back to that goal, but also consider other goals you might have for this semester.

These goals could be related to sentence level things and style, big picture things (e.g., argument, organization), but also about writing process and practice type things like the below:

• Sticking to my writing schedule each week
• Writing for at least 5 hours per week
• Writing 300 words per working day
• Rewriting at least two sections of 200 words or more during revision
• Sharing my work with others before first draft is done fore each assignment
• Finishing my reading assignments two days in advance to have more time to write

What are 3 goals you have for your writing this semester?

Literacy Narrative Prep

In your QSR2 in response to “How to Tame a Wild Tongue,” you got to explore the meaning of “I am my language” and a specific example of your language that brings you joy. This could be one example you use in writing the first draft of your Literacy Narrative.

Take a moment to review the instructions for the Literacy Narrative Draft 1 assignment on Blackboard (Course Documents>Assignment Prompts>Major Writing Project Drafts>Literacy Narrative, Draft 1 Prompt).

What are some initial ideas for what you will be (or have already started) writing for your Literacy Narrative? Here are some questions to start with:

• What examples will you draw from?
• What sorts of feelings associated with your language and literacy do you want to key in on?
• What parts of your childhood, your family, groups of people, schooling, hobbies, etc. are worth exploring in relation to your reading and writing?

Here are even more questions that could help you think:

• What is a memorable experience you have speaking a language/dialect/etc. you use to others who also speak the same language/dialect/etc.? Why is it memorable?
• What is a memorable experience you have speaking a language/dialect/etc. you use to others who also speak the same language/dialect/etc.? Why is it memorable?
• How did you learn to read?
• Who helped you learn to read?
• What were some of your favorite books, subjects, and stories, and why?
• What are some of your memorable experiences with reading (good or bad)?
• What kinds of reading do you do now?
• How do you approach reading a textbook and/or an academic journal?
• How has your attitude toward reading changed throughout the years?
• What do you remember about learning to writing?
• How was writing viewed by your family and friends as you were growing up?
• What is your current attitude toward writing?
• What role did your early experiences as a student play in developing your attitude toward writing?
• Describe a particular experience in school or on the job that influenced your current attitude toward writing?
• What specific kinds of writing do you enjoy? Which do you dislike? Why?
• What specific goals do you have as a writer now?

Take 5-10 minutes and think about some of these questions (not all of them of course! There are a lot!). Have some initial thoughts on the sorts of things you’ll write about for your Literacy Narrative Draft 1.

In a direct Slack message to me (how to do this here: https://slack.com/help/articles/201457107-Send-and-read-messages) on our course Slack, tell me the following:

1. Your 3 writing goals for the semester.
2. Some initial thoughts you have about your Literacy Narrative assignment–what you want to write about, questions you have, etc.

Great! You have goals!

Next time, for 9/10: 

We will read:

• “On Writing as Style and Entering a Conversation” by Lisa Blankenship, p. 16-18 (textbook)
• “Translingualism: Approaching Language from a Global Perspective” by Kamal Belmihoub and Lucas Corcoran, p. 61-65 (textbook)

We will write:

• Reading Annotation for Blankenship (submit to Blackboard if DEJ or just make sure I have access to your highlights on textbook)
• Reading Annotation for Belmihoub and Corcoran (submit to Blackboard if DEJ or just make sure I have access to your highlights on textbook)

Remember: homework is always on our Course Schedule, as well.