In my ENC 5705 class, we are designing a syllabus for a First Year Composition Class. It is a lot to think about. I have to consider, how do the reading build off each other? Do they all work to achieve the Learning Outcomes? What major writing assignments will I have? What supplementary sources will I require?
It is all very exciting, but it is also a lot of work. For example, I started my syllabus without ever telling the students how to cite or how to locate an academic journal. After realizing that most first year students would not know how to do these activities, I added time for such discussions and activities and shifted everything around. Also, when Dr. Jones talked to us about plagiarism, I kept thinking about all the policies that appear on a syllabus. My mind also recalls Dr. Trouard asking us how many novels we would teach, and which ones? I think the best thing to do when I get to the point where I will design a literature syllabus, is to ask an experienced teacher for guidance. Dr. Wardle has given us access to the Composition Training Website, which gives us a myriad of resources to pull from (as long as we cite!) for my Composition syllabus.
Probably my biggest concern with my syllabus is timing. How many activities will a class go through in 50 minutes? I have a feeling that this will be something I will have to learn through experience. As I got better with timing for my leads, I will get better at timing activities for my future classroom. I will learn to modify my plans according to experience. I cannot wait to dive into teaching.
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