Lesson Materials: Syllabus & Grading Contract links; Medium essay & sample emails; Google Doc to record groups; an open mind & a collaborative spirit

Lesson Objectives: Understand syllabus policies; understand the sequenced writing approach and major assignments; learn about class colleagues and instructor; learn best practices for emailing your professors; assign writing groups

Connection to First Major Paper/Project: This activity will introduce you to the expectations of the course and the major assignments you will complete this semester.

Connection to Course Goals: Course goals are explicitly discussed. Looking at email writing is also an opportunity to highlight the importance of genre awareness. You will learn about email genre features and how they can be shaped by audience and purpose. Your groups will be an important part of this course. These are the workgroups in which you will peer review and discuss the topics of your major papers.

Activities:

1. Course and Instructor Introductions, Group Assignment, Attendance: 1. The instructor will introduce the course & herself; 2. Class members will be assigned into groups of three & will record their names in the shared Google Doc; 3. Groups will introduce each member using the following template:

This is Firstname. They are a college first-year / sophomore / junior / senior and their major is __________. If there was a meme that described their personality, it would be ____________.

2. Syllabus Review, Course Goals, Grading Contract: 1. Go over course policies; 2. Instructor will introduce the course’s technological platforms and what to use them for.

3. Code of conduct discussion and creation: 1. Definition and example of  “code of conduct,” “rules of engagement,” and “class charter”; 2. Break into groups that will be semester-long; 3. Engage in creating a collaborative code of engagement, identifying and negotiating what you want and what the instructor wants, and find a balance; 4. Discuss these expectations as a whole class and develop a concise code of conduct that will be placed within the syllabus.

4. Email Writing Essay & Handout: 1. Go over email writing etiquette; discuss differences between two email samples; 2. practice sending email using email etiquette;

Homework, completed before the next class:

—Sign up for CUNY Academic Commons and create a course site. If you need guidance, you can watch my YouTube videos: Signing up for CUNY Academic Commons and How to Create a Course Site. (Note: the academic commons has changed since I created these videos, but the general idea should be the same.)

—Put a link to your commons site in the dropbox on Blackboard. 

—Review these handouts: 11 Tips for Annotating; Reading Rhetorically; Reading Strategies. Do not email me anything, but be prepared to discuss annotation and reading strategies.

—Write me an email. Include any questions or just say “hi” so I have your address. Email me.