The Power of Representation

Writing Into the Day

Windows and Mirrors: Learning About Difference and Belonging through Books -Edutopia

Reflection Questions

Think about the texts your students read in your courses.

• Whose voices are most prominent?
• Whose voices are missing?
• How do texts about diverse experiences enrich the learning of all students?

Close Reading, Discussion, and FlipGrid

Teaching Demonstration for the CRWP Leadership Institute

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Ana M. Contreras Charmelo

What are we doing today?

1. Background of the lesson I’ve designed
2. Situate where this lesson fits into the semester
3. Introduce our text and take time to annotate
4. Apply our annotations to a FlipGrid that I’ve created
5. Take time to reply to one or more of our group members
6. End the demo with a discussion about our FlipGrid Discussion

Contentions

1. Close reading is skill that needs to be reinforced at the college level
2. Students need to develop and practice close reading skills in order to engage in discursive/academic conversations about a text.
3. Students are more engaged in the course when they understand the purpose and process of writing the transparent assignment explanations.
4. We need to model and scaffold the ways we use technology to enhance instruction in the classroom.
5. Technology is a tool. There are applications and programs that include features more amenable to promoting equity in learning environments. However, ultimately it is the teacher and the way they design the use of that tool that ultimately determines if the tool is being used to promote equity. Tools can also be used to reinforce inequitable teaching practices.

More about this Lesson

• Engage students in a conversation about the author’s ideas utilizing textual evidence to support their ideas
• Keeping equity in mind in the design of the assignment
• Incorporating authors of color as windows and mirrors
• Important to build community in online classes that may be largely asynchronous

01

Prep

Review and Annotate

• Connecting�Connecting is relating what you are reading to what you already know or have experienced. Connections can also apply to content learned in other courses or to personal experiences.�
• Summarizing�
• Questions�Questioning is asking questions during reading. “Questioning the Author” is a higher level of questioning. These questions can also include question to ask the instructor.

Annotations

The Danger of a Single Story

Chimamanda Adichie

• Connecting�Connecting is relating what you are reading to what you already know or have experienced. Connections can also apply to content learned in other courses or to personal experiences.�
• Summarizing�
• Questions�Questioning is asking questions during reading. “Questioning the Author” is a higher level of questioning. These questions can also include question to ask the instructor.

Annotations

02

Record

Think Aloud in FlipGrid

Flip Grid Example

Initial Impressions

How can a narrative/story be “dangerous”?

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What do you observe about our annotations to the text?

03

Reply

Reply and Converse

Part 1:

• Offer one comment of connection.�I made a similar connection to the story in my post. This makes me think _____________ .

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Part 2: Ask one question about that post that will advance the conversation your classmate has started.

• One question I have __________________. Have you thought about________________.

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Reply

Flip Grid Example

Part 1:

• Offer one comment of connection.�I made a similar connection to the story in my post. This makes me think _____________ .

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Part 2: Ask one question about that post that will advance the conversation your classmate has started.

• One question I have __________________. Have you thought about________________.

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Reply

Highlights/Mixtape

Discussion

• What did you observe about the conversations we were having in the FlipGrid?
• Was there a theme from the text or a quotation that was used multiple times?
• What surprised you about the FlipGrid discussion?

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References

Adichie, C. N. (n.d.). Transcript of “The danger of a single story.” Retrieved November 21, 2020, from https://www.ted.com/talks/chimamanda_ngozi_adichie_the_danger_of_a_single_story/transcript

Corbett, J. (2015). Academic discourse. In K. Tracy (Ed.), The international encyclopedia of language and social interaction. Wiley. Credo Reference: https://go.openathens.net/redirector/harpercollege.edu?url=https%3A%2F%2Fsearch.credoreference.com%2Fcontent%2Fentry%2Fwileylasi%2Facademic_discourse%2F0%3FinstitutionId%3D3252

Graff, G.and Birkenstein C. (2010). They Say/I Say: The Moves That Matter in Academic Writing. New York: Norton. Retrieved from: https://spscc.edu/sites/default/files/imce/students/LSS/Handout_They%20Say%20I%20Say%20templates%20all.pdf

Principles for the postsecondary teaching of writing. (2018, June 6). Conference on College Composition and Communication. https://cccc.ncte.org/cccc/resources/positions/postsecondarywriting

Thank You

CRWP Teaching Consultant

Faculty, English Harper College

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acontrer@harpercollege.edu

Ana Contreras