What is WRD 540 Teaching Writing?
WRD 540 Teaching Writing is a graduate course under the Teaching Writing & Language concentration. Taught by Dr. Erin Workman, this course introduces students to current pedagogy of teaching writing. Students are expected to walk away with both a theoretical and practical understanding, knowing what is involved in managing a writing course underlined by a personal teaching. philosophy.
Throughout the course, students will spend their time in class discussing and participating in activities meant to help them build strategies for teaching writing. The course work is both group-oriented and based on individual work, and students will collaborate to succeed the learning outcomes. In the past, course materials have included The Meaningful Writing Project by Michele Eodice, Anne Ellen Geller, and Neal Lerner, Kathleen Yancey’s Writing across Contexts, and The St. Martin’s Guide to Teachning Writing by Cheryl Glenn & Melissa Goldthwaite. By the end of the course, one should know how to create course materials and contend with and respond to student writing and needs.
The course is also a prerequisite to the Teaching Apprenticeship Program (TAP), where graduate students teach the first-year writing class WRD 103. As WRD 540 is only taught in the Winter Quarter, students interested in TAP should add it to their course list as soon as possible. Missing the class in the Winter Quarter will prevent students from applying to TAP for the following Autumn Quarter.
Course Projects
Model Activity Demonstration
For the second half of the quarter, students will create and present class activities of their own making. The assignment is two-fold. First, a classroom activity model for writing classrooms must be designed and presented to the rest of WRD 540. This includes formulating a list of required material for the activity, such as readings and handouts. Rather than being personally unique to a single student, the model must be created with other writing teachers’ usage in mind. Second, a theoretical backing for the model must be provided. Alongside answering questions of the model’s purpose and effectiveness, the student must show their ability to apply pedagogical theory to real practice.
Midterm Writing & Final Teaching Portfolios
Students develop a writing and teaching portfolio. On Digication, students will prepare a Midterm Writing Portfolio due by the quarter’s halfway point, where they will present and reflect on their own work done so far for the course. These elements include drafts of a Theory of Writing and Key Terms Map and a Teaching Philosophy, as well as other course assignments. The purpose of the Midterm Portfolio is to reflect on the course content up to that point and to begin synthesizing the writing knowledge that has been accumulated so far.
The final Teaching Portfolio should demonstrate the student’s learning throughout the course. The portfolio includes revised and final versions of the Theory of Writing and Key Terms Map and the Teaching Philosophy along with the rest of the course work. The work includes a classroom observation report, the model writing activity, and annotated responses to student texts. At this point, it should be evident that the student is developing a personal teaching identity built from their time in the course.
Classroom Observation
Students will, with the permission of the instructor, observe a writing class in session. This assignment comes with a report where writers will reflect on the experience and on how it influenced their perspectives on how they may teach. The assignment is incorporated into the portfolio and is due at the same time.
The Benefits of Taking WRD 540
“I developed my own personal teaching philosophy, practiced designing a writing assignment, and learned several approaches to giving feedback. Everything I did in WRD 540 is applicable to TAP (Teaching Apprenticeship Program). Despite the initial anxiety of teaching a class for the first time, I felt reasonably prepared going into the classroom. I understand how I might scaffold an assignment for students, how I might implement threshold concepts into lessons, and how I might give effective feedback which encourages students to revise.”
Robert Rosenbaugh, Current Teaching Apprentice
Why Should You Take it?
Any student pursuing a career in teaching writing should take WRD 540 as soon as possible. The course introduces students to the teaching writing and offers opportunities for students to begin developing as writing teachers themselves.
WRD 540 Teaching Writing is a prerequisite for TAP, meaning you will be locked out of the program if you miss the chance to take it for the Winter Quarter. For more information about WRD 540, check out the attached syllabus. For more information about TAP, please refer to here.