Resources and support for large courses with an emphasis on writing

1. Epic Composition: Teaching Writing in
Large Classes
“…whereas envisioning new pedagogies is about the art of
thinking ‘big,’ implementing these pedagogies is a science of
details.” —Paulo Blikstein, “Travels in Troy With Friere”
Dr. Kim Jaxon
California State University, Chico
Dr. Kim Jaxon
California State University, Chico
@drjaxon
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2. Quick look at a large writing class
Examples and time to consider:
Informal Writing
Student Choice
Digital Platforms
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3. Key Structures
Small Research Teams:
Permanent groups of five who establish norms together
Mentors:
“More capable peers” (Vygotsky)
Wide Variety of Participation Structures:
Use of social media and digital platforms as a way to open up
participation and support community building
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4. Small Working Groups
10 Students + 1 Mentor
Further Divided into
Permanent Group of 5
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5. Questions that guide course design:
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• What would an epic writing course look like?
• How could the structure force us to consider
taken-for-granted roles and identities between
writing teacher and student?
• How might we highlight the work of students
and make the instructor less central to the work
of the course?
• How might we make the connections between
more capable peers and students even stronger?

6. A snapshot
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12. “And the chance to do something you’re good at
as part of a larger project helps students build
real self-esteem among their peers”… “Not
empty self-esteem based on nothing other than
wanting to feel good about yourself, but actual
respect and high regard based on contributions
you’ve made.”
(McGonigal, Reality is Broken).
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Support for Writers & Writing

19. Can we broaden our definition of writing?
How might writing be used more productively in
meaning making, discussion, and in generating
ideas?
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I. Informal

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22. “Perhaps our most important goal for
[students] is that they will come to see
writing as a continuous process of decision
making.”
--Katie Wood Ray, About the Authors
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II. Choice

23. Are there untapped opportunities in our writing
assignments to release more responsibility to
students?
Jody Shipka, Toward a Composition Made Whole
Students’ rights to production
Students’ rights to distribution
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https://vimeo.com/247179991

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Dear reader,
My conclusion would have to be the least developed so far; I feel as
though it’s a call to action and I’m not sure if that’s very strong. If you
could please take a look at that and give suggestions on where I could go
with it or if it looks okay; should I just keep it? Both the conclusion and the
transitions between paragraphs may need some taking a look at. The
paragraphs are supposed to be support on what Maker Culture is, so if the
connections between paragraphs could be better, feel free to give me your
honest answers and opinions because right now it seems as though I just
copied and pasted my sources to this. It seemed too easy to do that so I’ve
been trying to make everything connect. The connections may not be
there because I also haven’t really been narrowing down what exactly I
want to convey to the reader by reading my essay; I definitely want to talk
about Maker Culture, so that should be clear to you as a reader. Any other
suggestions would be greatly appreciated, and any suggestions on titles
would be cool too. But if you’re going to leave suggestions, write out full
sentences of why something doesn’t make sense or what I could put in
instead of what I have because just writing “revise” wouldn’t be helping me
out with what exactly is wrong. Give me something I can work with to put
in as a revision. Anyway, have fun reading. And thank you!
-Zack

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II. Distribution
How might we redistribute labor in equitable
and effective ways to provide students with
feedback, with people to think with, with
notetakers and record-keepers?

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Course: http://kimjaxon.com/ENGL130
Course design resources: http://kimjaxon.com
@drjaxon