Fordham University, Center for Teaching Excellence
ELOQUENTIA PERFECTA
Notes on the EP Seminars
These notes are provided by Dr. Toulouse. I will update them on an ongoing basis. They are intended to stimulate reflection on how to embody the Eloquentia Perfecta in our courses. They embody comments by all the seminar leaders and by many of the seminar participants. August 2009.
Writing for EP-1
Notes from Dr. Anne Fernald's seminar
Remember: students should be able to write a decent essay before they get to college. Your job is to make sure they do, to help improve their writing, and to drill them in the conventions specific to your discipline. Have fun!
What we all know...
- Teach writing as a process not as a product. Focus students on the art of organization that goes into producing a good essay.
- Break the writing process down into separate stages - such as the plan, the draft, and the final edited version.
- Try to give students feedback after each stage. You can do this to the class as a whole as well as on students' papers. Try to focus students on one significant aspect of their writing which they can improve - for eg. their use of paragraphs.
What we mustn't forget...
- Try to balance the upfront explaining of an assignment (in class and in the rubric) with the in-process updates that highlight where students are going wrong and what you want students to do. Unfold your explanation over more than one class because many of them need to hear what you want more than once.
- Mix some "low stakes" writing in with the "high stakes" essays. Try some writing assignments beyond the take-home essay such as writing in the classroom and online forum postings.
- Build review of writing into classroom time. There are many ways to do this: highlight good paragraphs in essays or online postings; read and discuss key quotes juxtaposed from different readings; discuss postings to online forums.
Your expectations...
It's up to you, but make sure you're clear on your syllabus and in class about what you expect.
Some things we should all expect!
- Expect students to spell check and proof read!
- Expect students to be diligent and scrupulous with citations and references. No quotes without citations.
- Have your House rules! For egs. expect students to give more than a web address for a reference, to give a page number for all quotes from books, and to know there's any such thing as a Proper Noun.
FACULTY RESPONSES: What was the best idea, comment, technique from the workshop?
- Separate writing/grammar from ideas/thesis. Work on argument and points made rather than grammar.
- The best idea was the need for clarity in assignments. Make shorter assignments. Assigning one paragraph in class sometimes.
- Get students to go over assignments with one another in class. Expose them to the variety of student writing.
- Anne's suggestion for how to be positive when grading, even a mediocre paper: pick out one paragraph and show them what the problems are; then pick one aspect for them to focus on.
- Writing that engages students freely, so writing is familiar and part of the class; I've been doing this hesitantly and haphazardly, but now I feel motivated to include these kinds of assignments deliberately.
- It was extremely useful to think about "stretching out the essay process"; I frequently get locked into assigning the essay and giving only one-on-one help. I think this will help get the students' own ideas out first.
Recommended by Dr. Fernald
- John Bean 'Engaging Ideas: The Professor's Guide to Integrating Writing, Critical Thinking, and Active Learning in the Classroom' (2001, John Wiley, San Francisco, CA.)
- Joseph Harris 'Rewriting: How to do things with Texts' (2006, Utah UP).
Recommended by Dr. Kelemen
- David Rosenwasser & Jill Stephen 'Writing Analytically' (2009, 5th edition, Thomas Wadsworth, Boston, MA.)
- Barbara E. Fassler Walvoord 'Helping Students Write Well: A Guide to Teachers in All Disciplines' (1986, Modern Language Association of America, New York, NY.)
EP Faculty can pick up copies of both of these books from Cathy Buescher (718) 817 3049
Speaking for EP-1
Notes from Dr. Lewis Freeman's seminar
Remember: speaking is already a part of your teaching when students talk about the reading in class. Think of speaking as the first stage of sorting out thoughts and exploring the range of possibilities. Only by talking about issues can we form thoughts about them and then write those thoughts down.
What we all know...
Your job in EP-1 is to get students comfortable talking in front of others. It's easier to make mistakes speaking than writing so be prepared for lots of mistakes. What you're listening for is improvement over time as students become more confident and concise.
What we mustn't forget...
- There are lots of ways to get students to talk in class: ask the class a question and wait for volunteers, call on individual students, break the class up into discussion groups. You can also give students responsibility for presenting the readings or ask them to present a question to the class and moderate a discussion.
- You will find many different speaking styles among your students, some are fluent the first time, others take repeated attempts. Remind them that they're learning while they're listening.
- Your goal is to get them to do the thinking on their feet, so be prepared to take the rough with the smooth, and be patient. You will also need to respond on your feet: what are they still in a fog about? Write a list of key words on the board and make sure they've written them down at the end of class.
Your expectations...
SEMINAR EXERCISE: List of faculty questions about teaching speach
- How do I draw out the silent types? Get them used to being called upon.
- How do I get them to take notes on other students? They look to us for cues, so take notes yourself.
- How do I get them to look at other students? Sit at the back.
- How do I grade speaking? It's up to you. You could do what you do now when you grade the 10% for classroom participation. Or you can treat the speaking-based part of an assignment as if it were the written one and grade their writing. What's important is the feedback as well as the grade, your responses to assignments, orally in class, and also by email.
- What's the most difficult part of this? Once you've let them go and ceded responsibility, and some of them have used it well, you have to reign in their enthusiasm, and make them see that they have to exercise their "voice" responsibily to persuade others.
FACULTY RESPONSES: Getting students talking: where to start?
- All this discussion would work better if everyone was seated around a table.
- Well the EP seminars are capped at 19!
- Very 1st class: break the ice by giving them a simple problem to solve.
- Give them questions in advance to guide the reading.
- Have them examine a short photocopied reading in class.
- I break them into groups and have them discuss the progress of ongoing projects.
- My students like to be involved in hands-on research.
- I get students talking with a weekly news review.
- Find the good writers and make sure they speak in class.
- Set up staged classroom debates.
- Teach them the basic tools of rhetoric - how to appeal to reason but also stir the passions.
- But at the same time, this is not mock trial!
- Give them permission to think out loud. That's where some of the best ideas come from!
FACULTY RESPONSES: What was the best idea, comment, technique from the workshop?
- Thinking about class participation in terms of "thinking out loud" or vocalizing ideas. Speaking is learning too!
- It's very helpful to have the reassurance of the abundant ways that we can encourage speaking in class: individual, partnered, group and teacher-led activities; also, all the ideas for speaking activities outside the classroom.
- The idea of building into the class thought-time so students have time to take notes and sketch a commentary and this prepares them for quality participation.
- The need to adjust expectations if the emphasis is on vocalizing ideas.
- The importance of summarizing and recapping the class at the beginning and end.
- I like the idea of the students presenting the reading assignments to one another.
- Big idea: student leader posting notes and questions on Blackboard before the presentation.
Critical Thinking for EP-1
Notes from Dr. Anne Fernald and Dr. Allan Hazlett's seminars
Where to start? Remember reading an article that's too difficult for you and the panic you feel about how to get a handle on it? That's the position students are in when faced with a new discipline, and don't forget, in their first year of college they're ranging across disciplines far more widely than we are.
What we all know...
The most important thing we can do for students is give them the confidence to ask good questions and use the concepts and theories of our discipline to answer them. Thus the issue is not only how to train them but how to intrigue and inspire them.
What we mustn't forget...
The centrality of the classroom
Classroom exercises can work to stimulate critical thinking because the classroom forms a crucible in which ideas are forged and exchanged:
- A handout with two columns highlighting quotes for comparison.
- A series of pictures or a short video as a catalyst for discussion.
- A board work exercise listing pros and cons and then weighing them up with a show of hands.
The importance of discussion
- Students have reason, but not necesssarily critical reason - it takes practice!
- Have them practice arguments first, then get to the formal properties of arguments.
- There are all sorts of ways of staging debates in class, but getting everyone involved is trickier.
The uses of juxtaposition!
One fruitful source of stimulation is to juxtapose quotes from the reading:
- The judicious use of biographical details can help highlight contrasting perspectives.
- It's more difficult to find diametrically opposed views than to find views that have interesting resonances.
Your expectations...
SEMINAR EXERCISE: Faculty list of dreaded student questions
- Is this on the test? The moment of anxiety. Should I pay attention or go back to sleep?
- This reminds me of... Some tangent where you don't want to go. "Did any one see 'The Daily Show' last night?"
- The judgmental question: Isn't she too old to have a love affair with him?
- Studies show.… statistics prove.… vague espousals of truth... a false sense of security...
- "Oh he's an idealist, this would never happen today" - digesting concepts through their contemporary applicability.
- Presentism. Flat-footed relativism. "That means nothing to me." "This looks great to me." Stops all debate.
- The out-of-left-field question. Either they don't understand or they're not listening.
- You want to ask a broad question to open up a discussion and they want a specific answer.
- The tragic non-sequiter: so we start on plastic water bottles vs aluminum water bottles and a student responds "That's why there are so many homosexuals."
SEMINAR EXERCISE: Faculty suggestions for getting better student questions
- I put forward a model question for next time. Bean talks about giving them good questions to take home.
- Give them confidence: give praise where it is due.
- Use the class before to advertise the book in advance before they start reading it.
- When they don't do the reading: make them sit at the back and audit.
- When they don't do the reading: I just dismiss class. But can really do that more than once?
- Give more time to the privileged importance of the question.
- How about the idea that there is no such thing as a stupid question? It's up to you to know how to bring it back.
- I ask what prompted the stupid question.
- When you get silence, ask them to write a question on a 3x5 card. Then I have them write. Then I sort their question into categories.
- Build a pause in to let everyone consider the question. Having people write helps them collect their thoughts.
- We're trying to attract them to have fun thinking harder.
FACULTY RESPONSES: What was the best idea, comment, technique from the workshop?
- Loved the idea of comparing short passages of text. Pulling out specific quotes and making handouts for students to read and write on.
- Doing more than one thing at once: juxtaposing texts, ideas or individuals and having a comparative rather than linear approach.
- The idea that there are strategies for getting students to ask better questions.
- Side-by-side bit size pieces; I often ask for comparisons but do some of the work for them to draw out nuggets. I also really liked the idea of asking them to find and discuss a single quote for homework as preparation for discussion.
- Exploring different genres of question: both good and bad.
- Ask students to take 5 minutes to write a response, then call on them.
- Having debate observers who summarize arguments and provide feedback.
- Provide them with an essay without an introduction and then ask them to write the introduction.
- It made me muse on all the different ways you can use debates, dialogues, and focused critical assignments.
- That the first step in teaching critical thinking to freshman is teaching them to identify arguments in texts.
Plenary for EP-1
Notes from Dr. Anne Fernald's seminar
Remember: in the real word of teaching, writing and speaking and critical thinking will always be integrated. Start with your goals are for writing and speaking and work from there...
What we all know...
Here are some key variables to weigh up:
Writing
- The sequencing of exercises and the balance between low and high stakes writing.
- How you respond - comments, addressing the class, office hours, working with groups, mini-workshops.
- High-order vs. lower-order - thesis before punctuation.
Speaking
- Formal and informal speaking exercises.
- Vary length, group size & scope.
- Indvidual presentations versus pairs versus groups.
- Professor-guided or student-led?
- Find extra-curricular opportunities for speaking.
Critical thinking
- Discussions during a topic and debates at the end?
- The adroit use of juxtapositions to highlight connections and conflicts.
- Encouraging better questions <- at the heart ofcritical thinking.
What we mustn't forget...
Keep trying new things! Be innovative. Don't stop tinkering!
Anne Fernald's students top 3 writing exercises:
- Write a paragraph incorporating a quotation <- they loved that!
- Post ideas on Blackboard & get peer feedback <- they got on with this themselves.
- Extended in-class writing (20 minutes, uncollected) <- they go home and write this up.
Make your expectations clear in the rubric. Read them out in class!
Is editing part of grading? You're not an editor, you don't have to fix anything. Pick out a paragraph and show them what's wrong. Comment to encourage revision, to show engagement in the process.
Hang on in there for the long haul. Writing, speaking, and critical thinking are hard to assess if students don't do a genre of performance twice (2 tests; 2 papers; 2 oral reports) so be sure to view any one assignment in the context of the whole. You will often know when it's not them because it doesn't sound like them. Remember some of the best papers and best presentations will break your rules!
Your expectations...
SEMINAR EXERCISE: Faculty suggestions:
- Spend the first 3 minutes asking them to summarize the last class.
- Peer review is the key: get them to look at one another's work.
- Challenge students to come up with the questions.
- Have them collaborate in coming up with better questions.
- Engage their interest by relating the reading to contemporary issues.
- Pull quotes out for juxtaposition.
- Use an online forum for student comments.
SEMINAR EXERCISE: Faculty reflections:
- Speaking is the bigger problem. We know writing is the essay. We know writing and speaking lead to critical thinking. But what does speaking lead to on the way to critical thinking?
- Suggestions for assignments to help us work up the relationship between writing, speaking and critical thinking: reaction papers, online forums, writing to mimic a style, group work, reading papers aloud in class.
- Rubrics: consider the delicate relationship between the formal text and informal reinforcement, the value of exemplars, the complexity of feedback, and the delicate balance between criticism and encouragement.
- The Long Haul: emphasize in the first class that this is a seminar and so for first years it will be a special challenge.
What are our main goals?
For writing - emphasize the process and the importance of the draft.
For speaking - emphasize the importance of practice.
For critical thinking - emphasize the importance of discussion to cover all the angles and the use of authority to give arguments substance.
