Office Hours are the time when I’m available in my office to answer your questions and provide extra help. You don’t need an appointment to visit me in office hours. Just drop in.

My office hours are Mondays from 1:15 – 2, Thursdays from 8:45 – 9:30, and Fridays from 9 – 9:30.

Conference Schedule

Concept Test

F. December 7 –

Publish the revised complete version of your Habits of the Creative Mind Reflective Essay on a new Post called “Habits of the Creative Mind Reflective Essay”

M. November 26 –

In class

Last chance to publish and share your “Creative Reading” paper due last Monday
End-of-semester concept test – content and rules
Intro to last essay

Homework (due W. Nov. 28)

Fully draft at least one section of the Habits of the Creative Mind essay.

W. November 21 & F. November 23

No Classes Happy Thanksgiving

M. November 19 –

In Class

Let’s write (10 minutes): Remember back to the first time you read your seed article. How has your thinking evolved over the last few weeks? In what other courses or life situations might your imagine yourself reading creatively as you did in this project?
Proofread, MLA formatting, Works Cited

F. November 16 –

In Class

Let’s write (10 minutes): What kinds of changes in your paper did you make for today? What would you still want to improve if you had the time?
Work with a partner to evaluate your paper for issues of paragraph coherence (look for gaps, places where a reader would have questions, changes in topic and decide how to fill gaps and which of the four strategies for connecting [TS/IS Ch. 8] to use), quotation, summary and paraphrase framing, signal phrasing, pivotal words, and voice marking.

Homework (due M. Nov. 19)

Time-on-task: 120 minutes | Work to make the improvements you identified yourself in today’s “Let’s Write” session and any other improvements needed. Also, use the four strategies for connecting parts (TS/IS Ch. 8) to improve the coherence of every paragraph of your paper.
Time-on-task: 20 minutes | Ensure that your paper meets all MLA manuscript formatting guidelines.

W. November 14 –

In Class

Let’s write (10 minutes): What challenges are you facing in your paper? What kind of help do you need?
Share your paper via Office 365 or Google Docs with your partner, Eric, and Megan Grumbling. Work with a partner on issues you identified during today’s “Let’s write” time. Ask him or her to write comments on your draft that help you address those issues, as well as comments evaluating 1) how well you’ve conveyed the conversation (clarity, understandability, accuracy) through well-integrated summary, paraphrase, and quotes from your seed article and other sources, 2) how you posed and explored questions to complicate and explore issues and arrive at a viewpoint of your own, and 3) how clear, understandable and persuasive your public motive for writing is. Reviewers: Each of your comments should have 3 parts: first, in a few sentences, describe what you think your classmates’ goal or purpose for a specific paragraph is, second, evaluate (NY | OK | G | EX) how well the paragraph fulfills that purpose and explain why you ranked the paragraph the way you did, third, offer specific suggestions on how to improve the paragraph. Also, help your partner decide what parts of their drafts should be cut out of future versions of the paper.

Homework

Time-on-task: whatever’s necessary | If you’re behind in the process, spend whatever time is necessary to catch up. Proritize reading and writing activities. Be sure that you have usable conversational sources to work with. Conversational sources are sources that have a viewpoint that they are advancing, not sources whose goal is to provide you with facts or an overview.
Time-on-task: 90 minutes | Improve the global aspects of your paper you identified today. Add at least 300 words to your body, an introduction to the conversation you’re joining, and a conclusion that explains how your thinking has evolved over the course of your creative reading.

M. November 12 –

In Class

Let’s write (10 minutes): What interesting results did you get when you connected two passages together with And, But or Or? Did connecting the passages in different ways lead you to think about them in a new way?
“What is the compelling problem, question, puzzle, contradiction or ambiguity” are you exploring in your project? Who (what type of person or reader) would be compelled by an exploration of it? How can you make it compelling to your audience?
Defining your public motive for writing by writing a clear motive statement using but, or, or however.

Homework (due. W. Nov. 14)

Incorporating what you wrote for today’s class, write a draft of at least 750 new words in which you join the conversation your seed article is part of. Start the draft by dwelling for a time on the “tenor” of the conversation (go back to p. 26 of Habits to refresh your memory of the conversation metaphor in play here): Describe the compelling problem, question, puzzle, contradiction or ambiguity and the range of people and positions already engaged in the conversation. Use questions (or chains of questions) and the power of But and Or to open up areas of uncertainty or special interest in the conversation and use your sources to wrestle with them in the way that Pollan did. Then locate your allies and interlocutors and put in your oar.
- Make and (connective), but (qualifications or exceptions) and or (alternatives/possibilities) moves.
- Be clear about your public motive for writing.
- Have a question in your essay’s subtitle

F. November 9 –

In Class

Let’s write (10 minutes): Review one of the sources you found during your creative reading sessions and see how the writer uses And, But, and Or. Which of the three words seems to get used most? Are there places in the source that might be more interesting, informative, or useful if But or Or were introduced more? Are there any creative uses of And in play?
Discussion of importance of submitting work as you go for final grade, that skills can be demonstrated in process work, not just the final paper.
Demo of how to develop and pursue ideas through creative reading – Unabomer and Boston Dynamics. Ask: why does my author want us to think about this topic in 2018?
More “creative reading”
Build on the informal essay you wrote: Find three pairs of two passages each from among your sources that when connected with AND, BUT or OR you find interesting, baffling, or eye-opening. Start writing about one of the pairs and try to explain what you find interesting about them together. Play around with the connectors. Try substituting a But for an And or an Or for a But and see what happens to your thinking. Aim for 300 words.

Homework (due M. Nov. 12)

Time-on-task: 65 minutes | Write a draft ~~in which you explore the pairs of passages you chose in class~~ with the goal of arriving at a question, problem, issue or conundrum you find interesting. Be sure to use summary, paraphrase and quotation describe the ideas in your original “seed” article that prompted your exploration. Then, providing overviews, making connections, and using quotation, summary and paraphrase, lead your reader through some of the more relevant pieces of reading you found towards an organizing question, issue, problem or idea. Throughout the essay, experiment with AND, BUT, and OR to connect ideas, be critical, and consider alternatives and push your thinking past reporting. In the final paragraph of your draft, reflect on what you’ve learned about the ideas or argument in the readings you selected, and pose a question that has emerged from your work with the passages you’ve chosen. Write at least 750 words. Post your draft to your ePortfolio.
Time-on-task: 15 minutes | Read “On Motivation” (pp. 92-95) and underline the passages that show the distinctions between a writer’s “private motive” and “public motive.” On p. 95, also read the “Reading” and “Writing” subsections of Practice Session One with an eye towards using what you learn there about “compelling problems” and the characteristic shape of sentences expressing public motives to use in your own current writing project.

W. November 7 –

In Class

Let’s write (10 minutes): What’s interesting about what you learned through your “creative reading” efforts? What new questions came up? Who else should be interested in this? Why?
Who is reading what? Send Email. Share your google doc with me and others starting with the same seed article.
Pp. 75-77 in Habits – Chris Osifchin’s email
More creative reading – remember to use your Google doc ~~DIIGO account~~ to collect, annotate and share what you find to ~~the ENG 122B DIIGO Group.~~

Homework (due F. Nov. 9)

Time-on-task: 45 minutes | More creative reading/drilling down – remember to use your DIIGO account to bookmark, annotate and share what you find.
Time-on-task: 20 minutes | Write an informal essay modeled on Chris Osifchin’s email (on pp. 76-77 in Habits) in which you describe the train of thought that accompanied your explorations during your “creative reading sessions.” Post it to your ePortfolio on a post called “Creative Reading”
Time-on-task: 15 minutes | Read and markup “On the Three Most Important Words in the English Language” (Habits pp. 100-105). Underline and annotate at least 5 passages you think are important to understand Miller’s and Jurecic’s points about And, But, and Or. In each of your annotations, summarize the passage and use one other “intermediate” or “advanced” level annotation strategy. Post pictures of your annotations on your Reading Log.

M. November 5 –

In Class

Let’s write (10 minutes): What is creative reading? Have you ever done it in your own life outside of school (maybe on the Internet)? How does the practice of creative reading connect to the work we’ve done so far on the habits of mind, the value of endless conversations, and the power of asking questions?
D~~IIGO~~ ~~| ENG 122B DIIGO Group~~ (or google doc)
Seed Articles
- Nathan Chandler, “How Anonymous Works“
- Kevin Kelly, “The Unabomer Was Right” (blog version)
- Eve Forster, “As a Woman in Science, I Need to Conceal my Femininity to be Taken Seriously” and Judith Taylor, “I’m a Woman Who Imitated the Swagger of an Entitled White Male – And It Got Results“
- John Lanchester, “The Case Against Civilization”

Homework (due W. Nov. 7)

Send an email to Megan and Eric letting us know which article you’ve chosen to pursue.
Time-on-task: 30 minutes | Read and markup your chosen article paying special attention to the questions, guesses, and speculations that arise in your mind as you read. Take note of moments when you’re curious, interested, and surprised by what you’re finding.
- Kinds of questions that might arise as you read which could drive you to read something else
  - Questions about facts or background information that is new or unfamiliar to you
  - Questions about related ideas or phenomena
  - Questions about people
  - Questions about what people think about something
  - Questions about causes or effects or implications
  - Questions that challenge something the writer takes for granted
Time-on-task: 50 minutes | Do some creative reading on the internet to answer your questions; as you read be mindful of the new questions that arise, write them down, and explore them through even more creative reading. Use a Google doc ~~your DIIGO account~~ to “curate” the sources you find the same way Alice does in the paragraph that starts “Alice posted the link…” on p. 83 of Habits of the Creative Mind. ~~Share your sources and descriptions to the ENG 122B DIIGO Group~~.

F. October 26 –

In Class

Sign up for Conferences
Review independent assignments for next week – Writing Lab attendance required next week.
Let’s write (10 minutes): What was it like writing a paper by finding a question to pursue rather than a thesis to prove? What’s different about the final paper as a result? What do you like about your paper? If you had more time, what would you improve?
Take this quiz – Submit it when you’re sure all your answers are correct. It’s OK to consult with a classmate to ensure that your answers are correct, but everyone should submit their own quiz.
Proofread, MLA formatting, Works Cited
Post your paper to ePortfolio; Share it via Office 365 with Eric

Homework (due as specified in the list below)

Go to Writing Lab as ordinarily scheduled
Due before your scheduled conference | Time-on-tasks: 75 minutes. Prepare for your conference (due before your conference)
- Collect everything to bring to our conference – readings, freewrites, drafts, notes, comments, homework assignments, classwork
- Print and review the learning outcome rubrics in the next bullet point
- Assess your performance on the learning outcomes by reflecting on your reading and writing processes and re-reading your paper. As you assess your performance, rank it on the rubric (NY | OK | G | EX) and explain in the space provided why you chose the marker you did. Write N/A for any rubric element that doesn’t seem applicable to you. We’ll focus on the following rubrics in our meeting.
Attend your conference (schedule here). Time-on-tasks: 45 minutes.
Due on or before M. Nov. 5 | Write your post-conference report (follow the link for a template for this report). Post it on your ePortfolio as Post-Conference Report 2.
Due after Oct. 29, but before M. Nov. 5 | Write for 30 minutes (300 words or more) about some of the ideas you found most interesting in Dr. Roger Berkowitz’s talk “Thinking in Dark Times” (see next bullet point for information). What ideas about “double-talk” and “fake news” will you take to heart as in your civic role as a citizen (or if you’re not a citizen, as a person with an interest in shaping the future of our society)? What ideas did you find challenging to accept? What connections can you draw between your work in our course and Dr. Berkowitz’s ideas about the “practice of thinking”? Post your writing on your ePortfolio on a post titled “Thinking in Dark Times”
Monday, Oct. 29 | Attend “Thinking in Dark Times,” a lecture by Dr. Roger Berkowitz. The lecture begins at 6p.m. in the Westbrook College of Health Professions Lecture Hall in Parker Pavillion on the Portland Campus and is preceded by a public reception at 5 p.m. Find Portland Campus Shuttle Information here. If you cannot attend in person, view the lecture live through this link. After the event, the presentation can be viewed here.
- Dr. Berkowitz’s talk explores what it means to say that we live in dark times? Dark times are not limited to the plagues, wars, and genocides that mark the course of human history. Instead, darkness names the way these horrors appear in public discourses and yet remain hidden. Darkness refers not merely to oppression and suffering but to the double-talk by officials and public figures who explain away unpleasant facts and pressing concerns. It refers to the fading distinction between truth and lie that allows environmental, economic, and ethical outrages to thrive hidden in plain sight. Darkness names the all-too-public invisibility of inconvenient facts. We hear much about “fake news” today; but what does it mean to speak the truth in politics? This lecture asks: Can the practice of thinking that is central to the humanities shine light amidst the darkness? https://www.une.edu/calendar/2018/thinking-dark-times
Due on or before M. Nov. 5 | Read and markup “On Creative Reading” (pp. 80-84 in Habits). Underline at least 5 passages to help you under what “creative reading” is and how to do it. Post your markup on your Reading Log page.

M. October 29, W. October 21, F. November 2 – Conferences & Independent Activities | Writing Lab is On as Scheduled

Go to Writing Lab
No classes this week. Prepare for and attend your conference with Eric (schedule here). Be sure to complete the activities detailed under F. Oct. 26 before coming to class on M. Nov. 5.

W. October 24 –

In Class

Let’s write (10 minutes): Describe the four strategies Graff and Birkenstein say writers use to connect separate parts of writing to one another. To what degree have you used consciously these strategies in your own writing? Which are new to you?
Work with a partner. Do Exercise 1 on pp. 115 of They Say/I Say using the reading handout provided.
Using the markup strategy explained in Exercise 1, do Exercise 2 on p. 116 of They Say/I Say using your own draft. In addition to noticing your tendencies, look for places in our essay where you could use the connecting strategies to improve the connections you make among your sentences and paragraphs.

Homework (due F. Oct. 26)

Time-on-task: 60 minutes | Keep track changes on. Improve the connectedness and coherence of your draft throughout the paper using the They Say/I Say strategies you’ve been reading about. Write a conclusion that explains how your thinking has evolved over the course of writing the paper and which also explains what kinds of people should care about what you wrote and why.
Time-on-task: 15 minutes | Come up with a great title for your paper, one modeled on the title of the article you wrote about, which includes some version of your question in the subtitle.
Time-on-task: 20 minutes | Ensure that your paper meets MLA manuscript citation guidelines: give close attention to signal phrases & verbs, parenthetical citation, and your Works Cited page. See the Sept. 21 homework assignment for more guidance on MLA manuscript formatting.
Post your paper on your ePortfolio in a post titled with the title of your paper.
Share your paper showing tracked changes with Eric.

M. October 22 –

In Class

Let’s write (10 minutes): What are the two most interesting paragraphs of your paper? What could you do in two specific other paragraphs to make them more interesting for readers?
Work with a partner to assess how well your genuine interest in your topic comes through to a reader, and to see if you’ve made it clear who, specifically, should care about your essay and why the questions and ideas in your essay should matter to them. Look for specific spots in your essay where you do (or could) make those things clear and identify templates from They Say/I Say or your peers’ writing that you could adapt to use in your essay.

Homework (due. W. Oct. 24)

Time-on-task: 70 minutes | With track changes on, work to make the two paragraphs you identified during “Let’s write” more interesting, and improve your paper’s ability to matter to someone by using voice markers to convey your interest and attitudes towards the ideas you’re conveying and by using relevant templates to identify who cares and why. Revisit your introduction – use what you learned from the Singer-Pollan paper to make your introduction work more like the Template of Templates on p. 11 of They Say/I Say, but instead of landing on a thesis, land on your question. Assess the middle of your paper to ensure that the body of your paper stays connected to the materials in your chosen article. Make changes to the middle of your paper to strengthen that connection. You likely will need to add new “material to think with” to the middle of your paper. Post your revised essay.
Time-on-task: 20 minutes | In They Say/I Say, read “As a Result: Connecting the Parts.” Find four ways to connect separate parts of writing to one another.

F. October 19 –

Partners: Joey – Kevin | Julian – Ryan S. | Ryan D. – Alivia | Jeremy – Kieran | Ray – Greg | Lauren – Doyle

In Class

Let’s write (10 minutes): What question did you arrive at? For what reasons do you find it interesting? What kinds of people do you think will find it interesting? For what reasons should they find it interesting?
Evaluating and developing arrival questions and the relevance/utility of the passages you wrote about. Discuss your draft with your partner. By the end of the conversation, each of you should have answers to the following questions:
- Is your question an essential question? If not, can you rewrite it as one, or discover the essential question or questions it’s pointing to?
- What is the set of supporting questions you need to answer to start inventing answers for your essential question?
- Which of the passages you wrote about are especially relevant to your essential question and useful in your effort to answer it? Which of the passages that you wrote about could profitably be dropped from the next version of your paper? Are there other passages from your chosen article containing ideas, stories, information or perspectives that could help you pursue answers to your question?
Planning for homework

Homework (due M. Oct. 22)

Time-on-task: 90-120 minutes | Do the “Writing” section of Practice Session Two (Habits p. 63). Incorporating a well-chosen selection (but not all) of the materials that you have developed since Monday,* write an essay that sets up, asks, explores and works towards answers to the question you arrived at for Friday’s class. Be sure that you write at least 750 new words. Use what you learned from the Radiolab guys about asking questions, using stories, and the value of unexpected turns to help your reader understand the complexity and range of views embedded in the issue.
- *Materials developed since Monday – your Google doc of questions, question stem list, exploratory draft (which was due Friday), feedback/conversation in class on Friday.
Time-on-task: 15 minutes | In They Say/I Say read and mark up “So What, Who Cares” (pp. 91-98). In both the “Who Cares?” and “So What?” segments of the chapter, underline the words and phrases in the Denise Grady examples that help her answer the “Who Cares?” and “So What?” questions in “The Secret Life of a Potent Cell.”
Complete the Engagement Form I distributed in class on Friday.

W. October 17 –

In Class

Let’s write (10 minutes): Find and describe two passages in your reading that caught your attention by being or doing one or more of the following: surprising, confusing, making an unexpected connection, presenting a provocative example, using a term in a new or unusual way, or posing an idea or argument that’s difficult for you to accept?
Reading/Discussion Groups: Discuss passages that you found surprising, confusing, making an unexpected connection, presenting a provocative example, using a term in a new or unusual way, or posing an idea or argument that’s difficult for you to accept.
- Key moves during your group discussion
  - summarizing, paraphrasing or explaining the passage
  - tracing the writer’s evolving answers to the question
  - clarifying confusing passages
  - examining the writer’s examples,
  - coming up with your own examples drawn from your own experience or from something you’ve read or seen
  - coming up with counter-examples or examples that compicate the writer’s view
  - exploring the writer’s digressions
  - asking questions of the expert,
  - coming up with questions of your own that you want to be answered
  - responding to or challenging the writer or another group member’s point-of-view with your own

Homework (due. F. Oct. 19)

Time-on-task: 80 minutes | Do the “Reflecting” part of Practice Session Two (Habits p. 62). “Write a draft in which you explore three or more parts of the reading that you find interesting or baffling–places where you feel friction between the text and your own thoughts, knowledge, or expectations. In the final paragraph of your draft, reflect on what you’ve learned about the ideas or argument in the reading you selected, and pose a question that has emerged from your work with the passages you’ve chosen. The standard for assessing the quality of the question you’ve generated is this: Do you genuinely want to answer it?” (62-63). Write at least 750 words. Post your draft on a new post titled “Writing to a Question”

M. October 15 –

In Class

Let’s write (10 minutes): What “rules of thumb” about thesis statements have you brought with you to college? Where did they come from? Why do you think teachers or mentors earlier in your reading and writing development taught you to look for theses in reading and to start with them in writing? How is what Miller and Jurecic advise different? How do you feel about their advice?
Draw on what you’ve been learning: For the remainder of this project, we should be using what we have learned over the last two weeks about sustained attention without leaping to conclusions, pattern finding, not leaping quickly to conclusions, and question asking to pursue our answers to questions.
Create and share a google doc (that eventually should look something like this) with a small group to facilitate your work to begin locating and inventing answers to the subtitular question and other questions in your article. As you page through your article:
- Look for and write down the writer’s answers (plural) to the question.
- Also look for and write down any additional questions asked or implied.
- Find and describe the material (ideas, sources, stories) the writer offers you to think with, materials that you can use to invent your own series of answers to the question
- Write down any comments, ideas, criticisms, or questions that come to mind during this work.
- Important Note about the Relationship Between Questions and Answers: Some answers may not be “right there” on the page. You may need to “pull them together” from multiple passages. Or you may need to arrive at an answer by combining something that’s “right there” with your own insight using a “text + me” strategy. It’s possible that no particular passage in the text will give you an answer and you’re left “on your own” to invent your own answers based on what you think, wonder, or can find out yourself. Also look for indicators in the text why any single answer may not be sufficient to provide ultimate or final answers.
Make sure you make a pdf of the article you’re choosing to work with because eventually you will run out of free visits to the website and be unable to access the reading.
- Atul Gawande, “Letting Go: What Should Medicine Do When It Can’t Save Your Life?” New Yorker. 2 Aug. 2010.
- Jeffrey Goldberg, “The Hunted: Did American Conservationists in Africa Go Too Far?” New Yorker. 5 April 2010.
- Elizabeth Kolbert, “XXXL: Why Are We So Fat?” New Yorker. 20 July 2009.
- Gene Weingarten, “Fatal Distraction: Forgetting a Child in the Backseat of a Car Is a Horrifying Mistake. Is It a Crime?” Washington Post. 8 March 2009.

Homework (due W. Oct 17)

Time-on-task: 70 minutes | Continue the work started in class of “paying attention to how the writer answers the question posed in the subtitle.” Make a copy of your group Google Doc and continue to work on the copy on your own,“tracing how the writer’s answer to the main question develops as the piece progresses. Take notes on how the answer to the question unfolds. Does the writer reverse or qualify your expectations? Are additional questions posed, explicitly or implicitly, that shift the direction of the writer’s inquiry or reshape your understanding of the issue?” These activities should produce two products: 1) New annotations in the margins of your article and 2) your own Google Doc tracing the evolution of the answer to the article’s question. PRO TIP: Be sure to include a paragraph number next to each version of your article’s answer to its question.
Post photos of your annotations on your Reading Log page
Post a link to your Google Doc (tracing the evolution of the answer to your article’s question) on a post called “Answer Map”

F. October 12 –

In Class

Let’s write (10 minutes): Is there value for thinkers in digression?

Comparing/analyzing questions maps (15 minutes): What have you learned about querying experts that you can use in your own college reading and writing? Write some sentence stems
Start Practice Session Three (Habits pp. 57-58) and make notes towards writing the essay in the prompt.

Homework (due M. Oct. 15)

Time-on-task: 60 minutes | “Using ideas from ‘On Asking Questions’ and examples from the two [Radiolab shows and your question maps], write a 400-500 word informal essay in response to the prompt in Practice Session Three (Habits pp. 57-58). Post it on a new post on your ePortfolio.
Time-on-task: 15 minutes | Read and mark up “On Writing to a Question” (Habits pp. 59-61). Underline four or more short passages that you think are important to understand why Miller and Jurecic advise that you not to start a writing project by looking for a thesis. Post photos of your markup on your Reading Log page.
Finish reading your chosen article. Post a few more pages of your annotated article to your Reading Log page.

W. October 10 – Bring Earbuds or Headphones to Class

In Class

Let’s write (10 minutes): What does your question map reveal about Abumrad and Krulwich’s methods for asking and pursuing answers to questions? What have you learned from about open-ended inquiry from the question-mapping activity that you can use in your own college reading and writing, including beyond this writing class?
Comparing/analyzing questions maps (15 minutes): What have you learned about open-ended inquiry that you can use in your own college reading and writing? Use your question lists to write some sentence stems:
- Why do _______? Why does _______? Why are _______?
Asking Questions of Experts – Radiolab, “Secrets of Success” – How does Robert Krulwich question Malcolm Gladwell? What variety of purposes do his questions have? To what degree does Krulwich accept Gladwell’s conclusions?

Homework (due F. October 12)

Time-on-task: about 35 minutes | Listen again to “Secrets of Success” with the aim of making a question map. As you listen, pause the recording “to write down the questions and other prompts Krulwich uses to get Gladwell to explain his ideas about talent, practice, passion and success.”
Time-on-task: about 45 minutes | Make a question map and then reflect – Respond to the prompt in the “Writing” section of Practice Session Two (Habits 57). Post your “Secrets of Success” question map and your response to the PS2 prompt to your “Question Maps” post.

M. October 8 – Asking Questions to Open Up Complex Realities

In Class

Let’s write (7 minutes): Write in response to this prompt from Habits of the Creative Mind: “Charles Darwin explains that species evolve through struggle and competition. If the fittest survive this struggle, how can we explain kindness, generosity, and altruism?”
What does “question-mapping” look like? Keep track of:
- Questions asked
- People/Sources turned to for answers
- Stories told to provide material to think with

Listen (22 minutes) – Radiolab: “An Equation for Good”. Doodling encourages you to have an active, creative mind, so doodle in your journal while you listen, and make notes of whatever is interesting to you and any questions that occur to you.

A doodle by Brock University professor Giulia Forsythe explaining how doodling helps with learning. Courtesy of Giulia Forsythe.

Homework (due W. October 10)

Consider going to the UNE President’s Forum event on Guns tonight at 6 in the Alfond Forum. Show up early for free food and beverage.
Time-on-tasks: 70 minutes. | Read and do the “Listening” and “Writing” activities in Practice Session One (Habits p. 56-7). Don’t worry about the reflection activity in the last paragraph of the “Writing” section; we’ll do that in class. Post your question map on a new post titled “Question Maps.”
Time-on-tasks: 20 minutes. Read and annotate some of your chosen article due October 15. Post pictures of your annotations on your Reading Log page.
If you haven’t already (and you should have), send Eric an email notifying him which article you have chosen to read for October 15.

F. October 5 – NO CLASS – Fall Long Weekend

Have a nice weekend! Make sure you’re prepared for class on Monday.

W. October 3 – Paying Attention (Without Expectations & Preconceptions)

In Class

Let’s play with our brains (15 minutes):
- Parking Space Puzzle: Work for a while to try to solve the puzzle, then write in your journal about how the puzzle works and the insights you get about how attention works from working on this puzzle.
- Rotating Cat: Work for some time to try to make the spinning cat change the direction of its rotation, then write in your journal about your efforts and what insights you get about how attention works from working on this puzzle.
Egon Schiele activity

Homework (due M. Oct. 8) | PRO TIP: Don’t leave all your homework til Sunday night. Get it done before Friday and take the weekend off!

Use 25 minutes to jot some notes down in response to the prompts in the Writing section on p. 39 of Habits of the Creative Mind. Post your notes in a new post called “Portrait in Attention”
Take 35 minutes and use your notes to write an informal essay about “what happened in your mind while you worked on your line drawing. There’s no right answer here. Think of your writing as a sketch of your mind at work. Learning how to see begins with learning how you see” (Habits 39). How would you characterize how you see in everyday life? In what kinds of situations do you see more intensely or attentively? What’s the value of seeing more deeply? Post your essay at the top of your “Portrait in Attention” post.
Take 15 minutes to read and mark up “Asking Questions” (p. 54 in Habits) and “On Asking Questions” (pp. 55-57). Underline and annotate at least three passages that you think capture something important about the art and purpose of asking questions. Post your annotations on your Reading Log page.
Send Eric an email notifying him which article you have chosen to read for October 15.
Read and annotate some of your chosen article due October 15. Post your annotations on your Reading Log page.
Optional: Start today, continue for the next 7 days – 10 minutes a day| Practice Session 1 (Habits pp. 44-45). For this activity, you will need to find “an organic object from the natural world, something that you can hold in your hand and that you can keep out of harm’s way for a week” (44). Following the rules set up on pp. 44-45, write for at least 10 minutes a day for the next 7 days recording what you see and “pondering what your observations and explorations tell you about the object” (45).

M. October 1 – Paying Attention

In Class

Let’s write (10 minutes): Why is paying attention important? Think about a time when it was difficult to give your full attention to something; what made it challenging to pay attention in that moment?
The Drawing part of practice session 1 (Habits p. 37). We’ll use cell phone or device cameras instead of mirrors.

Homework (Due W. October 3)

Prewriting: Use 20 minutes to jot some notes down in response to these prompts: “Look carefully at the shape of the features [in your drawing] and the relationships between features and think about how and why your portrait turned out as it did. What went right? Where did you successfully transform perception into image? What went wrong? What did you not see as you were drawing? How did you feel while you were completing this exercise? How did you feel when you were done? Why?” Post your notes (or a photo of them) to your ePortfolio in a post called “HW: Self-Portrait in Attention.”
Informal response: Take 35 minutes and use your notes to write an informal essay about the act of seeing that generated your self-portrait. Include some lines on what you think you learned about the relationship between expectations, writing, and paying attention. <–I suspect that, reading that last line, you might feel that you don’t understand what’s being asked of you. But, please, write for at least 7 minutes about the relationship between expectations, writing and paying attention and see what you can figure out. Post your essay in your “HW: Self-Portrait in Attention” post above your notes. Include a photo of your sketch in your post.

M. September 24 – F. September 28

In Class – Monday

Let’s write (5 minutes): What do you think of your paper? What’s been different about the way you went about writing this paper? What have you learned about college reading and writing that you can use in another class – either this semester or in the future?
Sign up for one-on-one conference meetings with Eric
Trouble-shoot printing in the library/Commons
Preview homework
Sentence Level Control Learning Outcome/Rubric
Polish
- Give your paper an effective title – “Paper One” | “Pollan v. Singer” | “An Animal’s Place” are NOT effective titles for your paper. Consider including one or two of the most important words from your paper in your title.
- Proofread at least one middle page of your paper. Correct spelling, wrong-word, capitalization, sentence fragments and one other kind of stigmatizing mistake you tend to make.
Publish your final paper on your ePortfolio on your “Re. An Animal’s Place” post. Include a link to the MLA-formatted Office 365 version of your paper. When building the link on Office 365 using the Share dialogue, choose the Anyone option and deselect Edit.

Homework (due as specified in the list below)

Due before your scheduled conference | Time-on-tasks: 75 minutes. Prepare for your conference (due before your conference)
- Collect everything to bring to our conference – readings, freewrites, drafts, notes, comments, homework assignments, classwork
- Print and review the learning outcome rubrics
- Assess your performance on the learning outcomes by reflecting on your reading and writing processes and re-reading your paper. As you assess your performance, rank it on the rubric (NY | OK | G | EX) and explaining in the space provided why you chose the marker you did. Write N/A for any rubric element that doesn’t seem applicable to you. We’ll focus on the following rubrics in our meeting.
Attend your conference. Find your meeting time here. Time-on-tasks: 45 minutes.
Due on or before M. Oct 1 | Write your post-conference report – see the Post Conference 1 Report Template for instructions. You won’t be able to edit the template, but you can use the “Edit in Word” button to save a copy to your computer or use copy-and-paste to create your own version of the document. Time-on-tasks: 90 minutes. Post your finished post-conference report on your ePortfolio under the title “Post-Conference Report 1”
Due on or before M. Oct 1 | Visit one of your other professors in an office hour this week and reflect on the visit. Time-on-tasks: 60 minutes.
- Before you go: write for 15 minutes about what you think the visit will be like. Write down any expectations or feelings you might have about making the visit.
- During your visit, do some of these things:
  - Talk about something you’re interested in from class
  - Discuss something you find confusing
  - Get more information about an upcoming or just returned assignment
  - Get some advice about how best to prepare for an upcoming exam or paper
  - Get some advice about how to get the most out of the reading you do for class
- After you go: write for 15 minutes about how the visit went, what you learned, and how the actual visit compared to your expectation.
- Publish both your expectations and your reflection on your office hour visit in one post on your ePortfolio titled Office Hour Visit.
Due on M. October 1 | In Habits of the Creative Mind, read and markup “Paying Attention” (p. 34) and “On Learning to See” (pp. 35-37). Underline at least two but no more than three chunky passages that seem important or surprising to you, or about which you are curious, or which present a new idea about paying attention. Go beyond underlining by choosing at least one other more intermediate or advanced annotation technique from the Active, Critical Reading Learning Outcome/Rubric to try. Be prepared to discuss the passages you underlined with classmates. Single-tasking time-on-task: 15 minutes

F. September 21 –

In Class

Let’s read (10 minutes): They Say/I Say, pp. 70-74 on how to signal who is saying what.
Exchange papers with a classmate and use the list of prompts on p. 76 of They Say/I Say to assess how well your peer’s paper includes multiple perspectives and signals voice-shifts. Write margin comments on your peer’s paper to report what you find. Before class ends, take photos of any pages you have written comments on.

Homework (due M. Sept. 24)

With track changes on, spend 45 minutes reading your paper from beginning to end and making changes along the way that improve the way you distinguish between what “they say” and what “you say” in ways that not only make the switch from one voice to another clearer but reveal your own view on what someone else says. Use some of the templates you saw in class. We should see changes throughout the paper, not just in the locations marked by your peer reader in class.
With track changes on, spend 15 minutes adding one new paragraph at the end of your paper that builds on the paragraph that explains how your effort to understand Pollan’s consideration of Singer’s positions has moved your own thinking on the matter forward. The job of this new paragraph is to explain the implications of your evolved way of thinking on the question for your own eating patterns. In other words, explain how – if at all – what you’ve thought about will change the way you eat.
Time-on-tasks: 60 minutes or more. Format your paper using the MLA-style manuscript formatting rules starting on p. 158 of The Little Seagull Handbook. There’s a sample paper showing you what correct formatting looks like starting on p. 161.
- Important MLA elements include:
  - Name block
  - Title
  - Page numbers:
    - Here’s how to insert page numbers in Word.
  - Special requirements for font, line spacing, margins, and indents.
    - Here’s how to do the hanging indent you need on the Works Cited page.
  - Different formatting requirements for long quotations (Little Seagull 123).
  - In-text (parenthetical) citations (Little Seagull pp. 122-128) – Since the Pollan article doesn’t have page numbers, we’ll use paragraph numbers).
  - Works Cited Page
    - Treat Pollan’s work as an “Article in a Newspaper” (Little Seagull 139). But since it has no page numbers, replace the Pages element in the citation with the original New York Times URL and add the access date (see the sample citation on Little Seagull 138 to see what it looks like).
Print out your paper with all tracked changes showing. Also, share it with me via Office365 before coming to class.

W. September 19 –

In Class

Let’s write (10 minutes): What did you do to improve your paper between Monday and now? What do you think of your paper so far? What else do you think you could do to improve it?
Learning Outcome/Rubric: Integrating Ideas: Writers work with the words of others to make their own meaning – 15% of final grade.
This is what revision with tracked changes should look like.
Read a few pages from the middle of one of your classmates’ papers. Mark at least two different places where you get confused or feel like something is missing. In each place, write a note trying to explain the source of your confusion or what you think might be missing. Before class ends, take photos of the pages your comments are on.
What Openings Do – Forget about “Hooking the Reader.” Instead, Invite Readers to the Conversation. Revisiting the Party Conversation Metaphor

Homework (due F. Sept. 21)

Time-on-task: 20 minutes. In They Say/I Say, read pp. 1-12, part of “Introduction: Entering the Conversation,” paying particular attention to how you can use some of the templates offered to write an effective introduction to your Pollan-Singer paper.
Time-on-task: 30 minutes. Turn on track changes and write a two-paragraph introduction using some of the templates you just read about.
Time-on-task: 30 minutes. Find two paragraphs in your essay that could use some work and – with track changes still on – improve them in any way you see fit. The changes you make should improve the meaning of the paragraphs, not just fix spelling, punctuation, or grammar mistakes. Consider:
- Adding context as you lead into a quoted or paraphrased passage
- Elaborating on the meaning and implications of a quoted or paraphrased passage
- Building on what one source says by introducing another that adds a complementary view or additional ideas that fit
- Making your point of view clearer and more robust
- Disagreeing with one of your sources by introducing a second source that challenges or complicates the views in the first source
- Building stronger connections between ideas in one paragraph and ideas in another paragraph.
Print out your revised essay to bring to class.
Post your revised paper at the top of your Re. “An Animal’s Place” post under the heading Sept. 21.
Bring The Little Seagull to class

M. September 17 –

In Class

Turn in your Engagement Forms
Create a post called Re. “An Animal’s Place.” Type Sept. 17. Then, copy-and-paste your paper into the post under the date. Publish the post.
Office 365 Microsoft Word:
- Login using your UNE username and password
- Uploading & Sharing
- Reviewing Toolbar: Track Changes | Insert Comment | Word Count
Work with a peer to assess the “art” of your summaries and quotations. Make notes on your paper near each quotation, paraphrase or summary in response to these prompts:
- Did you put yourself in their shoes? How well could your reader understand Pollan’s or Singer’s point from your summary, quote or paraphrase in a way Pollan or Singer would accept as accurate? How well? Really well? Pretty well? Ok? Not too well? Make notes about what changes can you make to move the needle towards really well?
  - TS/IS pp. 31-33
- Does your summary point to where you’re going? How well could your reader recognize the “quiet influence of your own viewpoint” at work shaping your summary of Pollan’s or Singer’s views? Evaluate using the “Really well…” scale above. Make notes…
  - TS/IS pp. 33-38
- Are you using expressive signal verbs? Highlight or circle them then evaluate. Evaluate…. Make notes….
  - TS/IS pp. 40-41
- Did you frame your quotations, leading into them with context and signal phrases and following them up with what you take the quotation to say and why you consider it to be important? Evaluate…. Make notes….
  - TS/IS pp. 45-49
- Did you use sources in at least three of the six ways experienced writers do? Label each source use with one of the six ways. Evaluate…. Make notes….

Homework (due W. September 19)

10 minutes: In your journal, write in response to this prompt: Think back to the ways you wrote papers in high school and compare them to how you wrote this paper. What was similar or the same? Considering all the activities you’ve completed since Aug. 29, what was different about the way you went about things this time? Post a photo of this on your ePortfolio on a post titled “Sept. 19 HW”
Turn on “track changes” and work for 60 minutes to improve the ‘art’ of your paper’s summaries and quotations. We’ll assess your improvements using the criteria under “Assessing the ‘art’ of your summaries and quotations” just above. Then – with track changes still on – work for an additional 30 minutes to add two new summaries or quotations, which you use in at least ONE new way. Finally, take 10 minutes and focus on one of the middle pages of your paper: with track changes on, add at least 2 new voice markers (TS/IS pp. 72-74) and 4 new pivotal words to the page.
- IMPORTANT: Track changes will highlight the changes you make in your paper. Please do not resolve any of these changes or any of the comments in your file. We want to be able to easily see the changes you made.
Print out a copy of your paper with all changes showing to bring to class.
Post your revised paper at the top of your Re. “An Animal’s Place” post under the heading Sept. 19.

F. September 14 –

In Class

Let’s write (10 minutes): Choose one:
- Paragraphs 48-53: Describe some of the most interesting (to you) ways Polyface Farm raises and slaughters animals and think about the implications of those practices for Singer’s insistence that the animals we eat are due our moral consideration and his conclusion that, because they suffer, we should not kill and eat them.
- In paragraphs 66-69, Michael Pollan sends an email to Peter Singer, asking him what he thinks about farms like Polyface. What do you think of Singer’s reply? Do you see any habits of the creative mind at work in their exchange?
Analyze paper assignment
Learning Outcome/Rubric: Writing Process: Experienced Writers have Flexible, Adaptable Processes
to Write Effectively in a Range of Situations – 15% of final grade.
~~Conversation mapping – second half of Pollan’s article~~
Framing quotations – They Say/I Say pp. 45-49: Tannen example. Pp. 46-47 | Pp. 48-49
Consider the free Grammarly app or browser plug-in to help identify and correct some critical grammar and spelling issues.

Homework (due M. Sept. 17 at the start of class)

Time-on-task: 2 minutes: Fill out the front side (first page) of the Engagement Form distributed in class on Friday.
Time-on-task: 15 minutes: In They Say/I Say, read pp. 30-38 (stop at the end of the “Know Where You’re Going”section), and pp. 39-41 (start at “Use Signal Verbs That Fit the Action”). Use the advice there as you:
Read this for even more details about this paper | Write a 600-750 word paper in which you introduce ONE aspect of the “endless conversation” about animals by describing and explaining the positions in the conversation as you found them in Pollan. While you’re describing the positions put your “oar” in and tell your readers what you think of the existing positions in the conversation. Finish by explaining how your effort to understand Pollan’s consideration of Singer’s positions has moved your own thinking on the matter forward. Try to use your sources in THREE of the SIX ways experienced writers use sources. Frame 3 quotations using the techniques from They Say/I Say pp/45-49. Time-on-task: 2 hours.
- Possible Aspects of the Conversation to Write About:
  - What should be the criteria for determining whether it’s ethical to kill and eat animals?
  - Singer’s speciesist/racist analogy
  - The relative weight of human suffering and animal suffering
  - Whether human beings have a responsibility to treat animals well
  - Whether the happiness or welfare of animals matters
  - The implications of Pollan’s definition of “domestication”
  - Should we define what’s good for animals as what’s good for the individual animal versus what’s good for the species
  - How useful is philosophy in thinking about these questions? Are there limits to philosophy?
  - Singer’s response to Pollan’s email
  - Animal rights versus animal welfare
  - How effective Pollan’s “glass walls”/”looking” solution would be to improve animal welfare
Steal some of Pollan’s signal verbs and pivotal words and use them in your own writing as you introduce the views of other people.
Print out a copy of your paper to bring to class.

W. September 12 –

In Class

Let’s write (10 minutes) – Describe your own initial attitudes about and reaction to animal rights activist and philosopher Peter Singer’s suggestion that eating meat is “a form of discrimination as indefensible as racism or anti-Semitism” and explain what ideas, beliefs, values or facts underlie your initial reaction. Describe Pollan’s initial attitudes about and reaction to the same suggestion: How does he react to the new idea? What does he do to stretch his mind around the new ideas or information? Compare Pollan’s reaction to your own.
Conversation Mapping: Working with Pollan’s sources – 1st half.
Noticing signal verbs, pivotal words, and voice markers.

Homework (due F. Sept. 14 at the start of class)

Time-on-tasks: 10 minutes: Use the UNE Portfolios Best Practices post/handout to tidy up your ePortfolio and ensure that I can easily find your Reading Log and HW posts. Familiarize yourself with best practices for handling images and providing users with direct access to your content.
Time-on-tasks: 45 minutes: Read the second half of Pollan’s article – starting from paragraph 47, which begins with “But before you swear off meat entirely….” As you read, number the paragraphs, put [brackets] around people’s names and mark and respond with short comments to ideas that are new and perhaps startling or disturbing to you. Notice WHO is saying WHAT in response to WHOM, and from WHOM each speaker is borrowing ideas.
- Underline and label important examples of the six ways experienced writers use sources. Draw a squiggly underline beneath signal phrases, voice markers, and pivotal words on at least one full page of the text.
Time-on-tasks: 45 minutes: Make a map of the conversation between Pollan (and his allies) and Singer (and his allies), and locate your own (possibly multiple) positions on the map. Be sure to include WHO is saying WHAT in response to WHOM and from WHOM each speaker is getting their ideas, and a paragraph number. Here’s an idea about how to visualize this map in two diagrams:

M. September 10 – Seeing the Conversation

In class

Special Guest – The best way to see the future is to ask someone who has already lived it: While listening to the guest, take notes, ask questions.
Let’s Write (15 minutes): Use some of the passages you underlined in “Joining the Conversation” to explain some of the ways Michael Pollan uses sources to stage a spiraling conversation – one that is endless but nevertheless takes us somewhere – for his readers. To help you write this, consider these prompts: “Where did Pollan engage with sources in ways that surprised you? Where did he use sources in ways that you’d like to [try for yourself]? What different kinds of conversation did Pollan engage in with his sources?”
Seeing signal phrases, voice markers, and pivotal words in Pollan’s article.

Homework (due Wed. Sept. 12 at the start of class)

In 250 words or more, reflect in writing on what our guest said about the ENG 122/123 experience. What will you take to heart? What surprised you? Time-on-task: 15 minutes
Print and review the six ways experienced writers use sources. Time-on-task: 5 minutes
Time-on-tasks: 60 minutes. Read and mark up the first half of Pollan’s “An Animal’s Place” (stopping at paragraph 47, which begins “But before you swear off meat entirely…”). As you read, number the paragraphs, put [brackets] around people’s names and mark and respond with short comments to at least five ideas that are new and perhaps startling or disturbing to you.
- Underline and label at least two examples of each of the six ways experienced writers use sources. Pollan gives us access to Singer’s sources as well as his own, so keep track of who is bringing the source to the conversation.
- On one full page in the middle of the article [but not the one that contains paragraphs 42 and 43, draw a squiggly underline beneath as many signal phrases, voice markers, and pivotal words as you can find.
- This is what your mark up should look like:

Post photos of your Pollan markup on your Reading Log page of your ePortfolio

F. September 7 – Orienting/Beginning

In class

UNE Portfolio Startup (10 min)
- Find email from UNE Portfolio – check Other and Junk Mail
- Login
- Reading page – organized latest notes at the top | include a descriptive subheading with date for each batch of notes. Uploaded photos need to be 2 MB or smaller. If your photos are larger than that, use ImageSmaller or Preview to reduce their file sizes.
- Submit informal essays, drafts, and other non-reading note HW as posts on your ePortfolio.
- When you don’t know how to do something on Word Press, Google it, visit the UNE ePortfolio help page, or vist the DigiSpace (Decary 204 from 6-9 pm) for face-to-face help with a peer Digital Literacy Consultant.
~~Let’s write (10 minutes) – Write about the pieces of advice you took from the High School to College Transition video.~~
Read pp. 26-8 of “On Joining the Conversation” underlining passages that help you understand what an “endless conversation” is, why people have them, and what one looks like in pieces of writing. (10-15)
- As you read, notice how Miller and Jurecic lead into and come out of quotations, summaries and paraphrases so that you can try out some of their moves in your own writing when you’re quoting, summarizing or paraphrasing.
- Also, notice how many times they use other writers’ names while presenting the ideas of those others writers. Why, given what Burke says about endless conversations, do they relentlessly remind us who is saying what in the conversation?
In the world beyond schools, people are constantly having “endless conversations” about all kind of topics: the effects of social media, how autonomous technology (like cars or artificial intelligence) should be, how much information big corporations or governments should have about you, who the best quarterback/point guard/guitarist/actor is, what the impact of video games or social media are on young people, whether border walls should be built between the United States and Mexico, whether business have ethical obligations to society, and more. Go out onto the web, and find people having an “endless conversation” about a topic that’s interesting enough for you to consider wanting to join in. Start writing down the ideas that seem central to the back-and-forth of the conversation, keeping track of who says what, and what side or sides they seem to be on.

Homework (due Mon. Sept. 10 at the start of class)

Print Michael Pollan’s “An Animal’s Place” and bring it to class on Monday. Time-on-task: 5 minutes
Finish reading “On Joining the Conversation” paying particular attention to pp. 28-30. Underline at least six passages that help you understand the range of central positions in the argument between Singer and Pollan and the need for allies that arises from Pollan’s gut response to Singer’s central claims. Time-on-task: 10 minutes
Go out on the web and find more examples of people joining both (or all) sides of the endless conversation you found in class. Write down the ideas that seem central to the back-and-forth of the conversation, keeping track of who says what, and what side or sides they seem to be on. Find enough sources to be reasonably sure that you have “caught the tenor of the argument.” Time-on-task: 45 minutes
Using Miller & Jurecic’s account of Pollan’s article as an example (pp. 28-30), sketch out the set of positions in the endless conversation you found, paraphrasing the key ideas and claims on all sides of the conversation and listing sources under them. Here are a couple of ways you could organize and present what you found, or be creative and figure out another way. Time-on-task: 30 minutes

Post your “Endless Conversation” notes and “Positions Sketch” on a new post (not page) on your ePortfolio.

W. September 5 – Orienting/Beginning

In class

Using Feedback
Let’s write (15 minutes) – The reading you chose to read for today is obviously not a five-paragraph theme. Review the reading again and think about other ways Zat, Ian, or Dayna breaks what you thought were rules of writing. Then write: describe a moment or two in the reading where the writer made some surprising choices, writing in ways that you thought were discouraged, or at least risky. What do these choices tell you about the writer’s habits of mind? What rules will you have to unlearn or habits will you will have to break to become a better writer?
Learning Outcome/Rubric: Active, Critical Reading Process: Experienced writers have flexible, adaptable, active reading processes that enable them to write effectively in a range of situations – 15 % of final grade.
“On Confronting the Unknown” (first five paragraphs, starting on p. 21 of Habits of the Creative Mind)
- As you read, look for and underline the reasons Laurence Gonzales thinks explain why Juliane Koepcke survived. Make a note explaining each reason to yourself. Then, make a connection to the reading and ask yourself: how can those survival strategies help me thrive in this reading and writing class and learn to use reading and writing to “confront the|my unknown.”
Preview Practice Session One on p. 24.

Homework (due Fri. Sept. 7 at the start of class)

Watch “Are You Ready? The High School to College Transition – Academics.” As you watch, write down three pieces of advice that you’ll take to heart as you make the high school to college transition. Time-on-task: 10 minutes.
Read “On Confronting the Unknown” in its entirety (starts on p. 21 of Habits of the Creative Mind). As you read, look for and underline the reasons Laurence Gonzales thinks explain why Juliane Koepcke survived. Make a note explaining each reason to yourself. Then, make a connection to the reading and ask yourself: how can those survival strategies help me thrive in this reading and writing class and learn to use reading and writing to “confront the|my unknown.” Also, Underline at least two but no more than three short passages on each page that seem important or surprising to you, or about which you are curious, or which present a new idea about writing to you. Be prepared to discuss the passages you underlined with classmates. Single-tasking time-on-task: 15 minutes
Use 60 single-tasking minutes to write an informal essay in response to Practice Session One on p. 24 of Habits of the Creative Mind. As you write your essay, consider whether you used any of the any of the strategies Gonzales identifies in Koepcke and other resilient people. If so, explain which ones and how. If not, how might one or more of them have helped you better cope with the “unexpected event” that forced you into a “confrontation with the unknown?”
Find your best paper from high school, print it and bring it to class. Single-tasking time-on-task: 10 minutes

F. August 31 – Orienting/Beginning

In class

Let’s write (10 minutes) – What rules or “rules of thumb” about writing, school, and learning have we brought to college? How is what the authors of Habits of the Creative Mind are saying about writing and learning different from these rules?
“On Unlearning” (pp. 16-18). On each page underline between 2 and 3 passages that you think are essential to your understanding of Miller’s and Jurecic’s ideas about “Unlearning,” rules, complexity, writing, and habits of mind. When you’re done reading, write in your journal for 5 minutes about what you see as the most important takeaways from this chapter for your approach to ENG 122 – College Reading & Writing I.
Submit your “Habits of Mind” informal essay
Email photos of your marked-up Habits of the Creative Mind pages and journal writing to me before the end of the day.

Homework (due Wed. Sept. 5 at the start of class)

Watch “Beliefs that Make You Fail…. Or Succeed.” As you watch, write down any of the “beliefs that make you stupid” that you might hold and take note in writing of the beliefs that cognitive psychologist Stephen Chew says you should replace them with. Single-tasking time-on-task: 15 minutes
Single-tasking time-on-task: 15-20 minutes for reading and marking up, plus another 30 minutes to complete the “Reading” section of Practice Session Two (in Habits of the Creative Mind, p. 19) using one of the following readings (you’re free to choose what you’d like to read):
Take no more than 5 minutes to skim this reading (by skim I mean, quickly read two or three paragraphs, skip two or three, read a couple more, skip a couple more) and 5 more minutes to review this college-level writing assignment, then take 10 minutes to answer the questions in this anonymous survey about your high school reading and writing experiences.

W. August 29 – First Day of Class

In class

Let’s write (and talk) about ENG 122 – College Reading and Writing I
Habits of Mind for Success in ENG 122 and The Rest of Your First Semester of College

Homework (due Fri. Aug. 31 at the start of class)

Email the photos you took in class today to me at edrown@une.edu.
Get a copy of Habits of the Creative Mind by Richard E. Miller and Anne Jurecic.

Don’t have a copy yet? You can purchase one at the UNE bookstore. We’re going to be using Habits of the Creative Mind a lot this semester and in ENG 123 in the spring as well, so it’s better to own the book than to rent it.

There are also two copies of the book on Reserve in UNE’s Jack Ketchum Library. You can borrow books on Reserve for a few hours at a time. Usually, when a book is being held on Reserve, students make copies of the pages they need, then return the book right away in case other classmates need to use it too.

In Habits of the Creative Mind, read “Orienting” (p. 1). Read the page all the way through without marking. Once you’ve finished underline at least two sentences that seem surprising or important to you or which present you with a new idea about writing. Time-on-task: 5 minutes.

If you’re concerned about marking up a rented textbook, you’ll have to find other ways to mark up your textbooks. You can use sticky notes like the ones I’ve given you in class or make photocopies to mark up.

In Habits of the Creative Mind, read “On Habits of Mind: A Letter to Students and Other Readers” (pp. 2-6). On each page of the reading, underline between 2 and 4 short passages that contain ideas that seem important to your understanding of the chapter or which present you with a new idea about reading, writing or thinking. Be prepared to explain the passages you underlined to classmates. Time-on-task: 15 minutes

Use between 45 and 60 minutes of high-focus single-tasking time to write an informal essay in which you describe, analyze and interpret the “Habits of Mind” inventory you took in class. You can use any structure you want to write, but please do write in the first person (using “I” to refer to yourself) and make sure that your essay reports what you see as the significant results of your inventory and explains what you think they mean. Given your inventory results, what do you think your strengths will be in this writing class? What habits of mind will you need to develop to be successful in this class? Be sure to describe and discuss specific moments in your high school reading and writing experiences to illustrate the strengths of your habits and to notice the habits you’ll need to develop this year. If it makes sense to you to bring in something you read from Habits of the Creative Mind, go ahead and do that. Print or photocopy your essay to turn in at the start of class on Friday, August 31.