Buettner-Ouellette
Curriculum-Based Acceleration Project: Rationale
I’ve had fun thinking of possibilities for an English 95 course. For this project, I’ve chosen the theme “Struggle and Success.” I may or may not do this particular theme when I teach my own Accelerated course, but I am passionate about it. The three book-length works I have chosen are Drive by Daniel Pink, Supersurvivors: The Surprising Link Between Suffering and Success by David Feldman and Lee Daniel Kravetz, and My Beloved World by Sonia Sotomayor.
Drive is focused on the seemingly subversive idea that extrinsic motivators (or carrots and sticks, as Pink calls them) do not work in the long term and that we need to be intrinsically motivated to do the kinds of creative and self-directed tasks that our 21st-century work environment demands. I read this book a year ago, and I didn’t realize that it was one of Katie Hern’s picks until talking with the Acceleration team about it! I’m choosing this book for my sample unit because I often use extrinsic motivators for students, perhaps because I assume (wrongly?) that they won’t complete the course requirements otherwise. I’d like to explore how to motivate differently, and I’d like my students’ help with this. When my students tell me why they are in college, they often tell me it’s because of the financial payoff, which I totally get. However, I wonder if they will re-envision their motivation for college in light of Pink’s ideas. Thus, I think this book has a lot of implications for college success. I also think it will be a little easier to build on the things that C.A.P. has created around this book and make them my own for this project.
Supersurvivors just came out last month. I’m reading it right now, and I like it! I’m very interested in habits of mind (I joined the 3SCN Growth Mindset community of practice for Fall 2015!) and resiliency studies. I know “grit” is a buzzword in education right now, but I think it’s for a good reason. I truly believe teaching to the affective domain is just as important as teaching our discipline-specific content. When students don’t pass my classes, it’s not usually because they haven’t developed the reading and writing skills—it’s that other challenges have gotten in the way. Life can be so difficult, and many students face numerous challenges and trauma (homelessness, violence, racism, poverty, illness, etc.) throughout their lives and during my time with them over the course of the semester. Research that shows that people sometimes don’t just survive—but they can actually thrive—in the face of trauma can be an empowering message, and I want to explore these ideas with students. Last, Sotomayor’s memoir about growing up in public housing in the Bronx and her journey to the Supreme Court is truly inspiring. In addition, many students aren’t particularly politically engaged (and may not know who our justices are), so I like this book for this reason as well.
This unit I’ve included is the first unit of the semester, and I decided to start with Drive because I think it sends the message that the reading schedule will be challenging and that the material will be meaningful and applicable to our own lives.
Day 1 /Day 1: Introduction to the Course/Acceleration
Introduction to the courseBuilding community
What is Acceleration?
Understanding course expectations
Syllabus Stations: student-centered
learning / 1. Classroom Logistics
Ø Attendance and adding
Ø Teacher introducers herself, the course, and a bit about why she is excited to teach this class and work with these students.
2. Icebreaker (Community Building—Why are we here?)
Teacher puts students into groups of three and asks them to introduce themselves. Each individual must answer the following questions:
1.) Why they are in English 95 (as opposed to English 70 or 90)?
2.) Their feelings about reading and writing, e.g. Reading/writing is great because ______. Reading/writing is okay because ______. I dislike reading/writing because ______.
Ø Share With Class
Each group’s speaker introduces their group members by name and goes over the groups’ responses. Teacher writes similarities and themes on board for each group. Students will hear that other students have struggled with reading and writing in the past as well. Creating a safe space to discuss challenges is an important outcome of this activity.
3. Introduction to Course: Lecture
What is English 95, and what should we expect to do? How do we get there? Teacher briefly explains Acceleration principles, challenges, and benefits to get student buy-in. Students should understand that this is a special course!
4. Syllabus Stations
In groups of six, students move through 5 stations throughout the room. Each station has a specific question about the syllabus on it (attendance policy, plagiarism, etc.) Students should find the relevant information in the syllabus and discuss and take notes on each station’s question. The teacher will be at the final station to answer any questions students have and to begin learning names. After they have completed all the stations, students will have a better understanding of the syllabus.
5. Wrap-Up
Any additional questions about the syllabus or course?
6. Homework:
Read and annotate Mike Rose’s “I Just Wanna Be Average.” Teacher provides hard copies for the students. Students should buy Drive and bring it to class next time.
In groups o,
Day 2 / Day 2: “Students float to the mark that you set”-Mike Rose—or why sticks and carrots don’t work
Introduction to key concepts on motivation and success
Application: “I Just Wanna Be Average” by Mike Rose
Prereading for Drive / 1. Classroom Logistics
Teacher takes role and students play the “name game,” in which they go around in a circle and try to remember every student’s name.
2. Quickwrite (10 mins)
Why does Ken Harvey, Mike Rose’s classmate state that he just wants to be average? How does Rose explain Ken’s defense mechanism? Do you understand or relate to this perspective?
3. Small-Group/Full-Class Discussion
Ø Why does Rose end up on the vocational track? What does it do to “track” students—especially early on in their educations?
Ø Why does Rose say the vocational track is a “dumping ground?” What kinds of racist or classist implications are in that language?
Ø What/who changes Rose’s life and why?
Ø When Rose becomes Mr. McFarland’s student, he begins to view himself as an intellectual. Why is this significant? Do you view yourself as an intellectual? Why or why not, and what would change if you did?
4. Prereading for Drive
Ø Who is Daniel Pink?
Ø According to the book jacket and book reviews, what is this book about?
Ø How would you describe the writing style of the book? Have you read anything like this before?
Ø What are your anticipated challenges in reading the first 67 pages (Ch. 1-2), and how will you get through these challenges?
Teacher gives out reading grid for students to fill out for Ch. 1-2 at home.
5. Homework: Read Ch. 1-2 of Drive and fill out the reading grid before the next class period.
Week 2: Day 3 / fdf ay 2: “Studen f Intrinsic and Extrinsic Motivation—Application: Paragraphing
Group activity: Close reading and evidence
Writing strategy: paragraph development / 1. Quickwrite/Mini-quiz (10 minutes):
What is the Sawyer effect? Describe the phenomenon and how it relates to motivation. Can you think of an example of the Sawyer effect in your own life?
2. Text-based Group Activity: Quotes and Claims
Students get in groups of 4, and each group gets one question. One student is the discussion leader. Students find textual evidence to answer their questions and write their quotes on large post it notes throughout the room.
Questions:
Ø What are Motivation 1.0, 2.0, and 3.0?
Ø How have economists miscalculated human motivations?
Ø How do incentives kill creativity?
Ø How is Motivation 2.0 connected to ethics and addiction?
Ø Are there some circumstances in which sticks and carrots can work? Explain.
3. Mini-Lecture and Activity: Paragraph Development
Teacher gives a 10-minute mini-lecture on P.I.E. paragraph development (point, information, explanation).
Students develop a claim based on their group’s question and use evidence from the quotes they chose in the previous activity. Each individual student develops a P.I.E. paragraph. We discuss the paragraphs and the challenges of writing good analysis.
4. Wrap-Up
What were two important takeaways from today’s class?
5. Homework
Read Ch. 3-4 and complete reading grid before the next class period.
Day 4 / Autonomy: Self-Directed Reading and Success Teams
Critical reading: Acceleration reading quiz
Metacognitive reflection
Application
Building community: success teams / 1. First Major Reading Quiz: Ch. 3-4
Students take in-depth reading quiz using their grids and books.
Sample questions:
Ø In your own words, paraphrase Type I and Type X behavior (from Ch. 3).
Ø In your own words, summarize three pieces of evidence supporting the benefits of autonomy (from Ch. 4).
Ø How does Pink scaffold and develop his ideas from section one through section two of Drive?
2. All-Class Discussion
Ø How did the quiz go? Were you prepared? If not, how can you adjust your reading and annotating to better prepare and to increase your reading comprehension?
Ø Chapter 4 is about the idea of autonomy. To be autonomous, you need to be self-directed, and you need to be able to control what you do, when you do it, how you do it, and with whom.
3. Think, Pair-Share
Based on Pink’s definition, have your own educational experiences been autonomous? Why or why not? If they were, what would change? How can we meet the SLOs of English 95 autonomously AND collaboratively?
4. Success Team Questionnaire
Teacher discusses the role of success teams in English 95. Students fill out success team questionnaire that asks students about goals, preferences for working with others, and learning styles. Teacher collects questionnaires and places students into success teams based on this feedback.
5. Homework
Read Ch. 5 and take notes. No reading grid provided this time. Give students prompt for Paper #1 to read at home. Students will bring questions about the prompt to class next week.
Week 3: Day 5 / Mastery: When does writing “flow?”
Building community: success teams
Low-stakes reflective writing
Sharing and responding
Prewriting / 1. Success Teams
Students briefly meet with teacher-assigned success teams to share goals and exchange information. Students decide how they will support each other and keep each other accountable throughout the semester in English 95.
2. Non-Graded “Diagnostic Essay”: Personal Narrative (45 minutes)
Prompt: In Chapter 5, Pink describes mastery as beginning with “flow”—optimal experiences when the challenges we face are exquisitely matched to our abilities. Describe a time in your life when you’ve achieved this “flow.” Analyze why this is an example of mastery.
3. Pair-Share
These stories can be powerful, so students will read their stories aloud to a partner in their success teams. In reading their papers aloud, they are encouraged to self-edit and listen to the “flow” of their own sentences. We often share writing in evaluative settings, so I think it’s equally important to share writing in non-evaluative settings too.
4. Questions and Brainstorming for Paper #1
Teacher answers any student questions about the prompt and clarifies writing expectations. Students complete a ten minute “loop writing” activity (from Peter Elbow) in which they freewrite about their ideas and summarize the main points of their freewrites.
5. Homework: Finish Drive
Read Ch. 6 and finish Drive.
Day 6 / Taking Action: Wrap-Up of Drive
Critical reading: Acceration reading quiz
Application
Prewriting / 1. Second Major Reading Quiz, Ch. 6
Students take in-depth reading quiz using their notes and books.
Sample questions:
Ø Why does Pink claim that we should take time out for noncommissioned work? Explain. How can you do this at LMC?
Ø In your own words, summarize Pink’s ten ideas for parents and educators. How can we apply these ideas to our own educations/the English 95 classroom?
Ø Choose one of the conversation starters on pg. 227 and answer in an 8-10 sentence paragraph.
2. Drive Action Plan
In pairs, students fill out an action plan grid with observable actions and deadlines, applying Pink’s theories to a non-academic part of their lives. They can apply Pink’s ideas for persuading one’s boss on pg. 176 or for devising a fitness plan on pg. 216, for example. Do students think Pink’s ideas are achievable? Do they offer any revisions or other suggestions?
3. Open-Ended Wrap-Up Discussion
Students and teacher discuss thoughts and reflections on the end of the book.
4. More Brainstorming for Paper #1: Claim, Comment, Question
Students are given time to write working thesis statements. In small groups of five-six, students read their claims aloud. For each claim, peers write a comment or a question about the thesis on a piece of paper and pass them to the writer. The purpose is to encourage the writer to think more deeply about the thesis and narrow the paper’s focus.
5. Homework
Students work on rough draft of Paper #1 and bring it for the Writers’ Workshop next class.
Week 4: Day 7 / Feedback on Paper #1
Feedback / 1. Writers’ Workshop: Paper #1
Writers’ Workshop: First Draft Due. Attendance is mandatory. Students will bring two copies of rough drafts: one for the workshop and one for the teacher. To receive credit, a student’s draft should be 3-4 pages long. Students work in success teams to complete instructor created workshop script. Student drafts receive feedback from two peers.
Day 8 / Feedback on Paper #1
Feedback / 1. Small-Group Conferences for Paper #1
Success teams meet with instructor for written and verbal feedback from the instructor on their rough drafts.
2. Homework
Second draft of Paper #2 due next week.
Curriculum-Based Acceleration Project: Reflection
I enjoyed doing this project, and it made me anxious to teach the course! I do think that the curriculum will be very challenging—both for the students and me because the reading load is so fast-paced and intense, and I’m asking a lot of the students. I always try to create challenging courses, but probably not to this extent. Because of the course’s level of difficulty, I actually think that Drive is the perfect text because it asks the reader to meet challenges differently and to really explore personal motivation. In this way, my theme, “Struggles and Success,” is fairly meta because it’s asking students to grapple and struggle as we focus on the nature of struggle. I like it!