Kristin WinetApplication for: Wildcat Writers Teaching AwardSpring 2011

Short Statement: A course in rhetorical analysis is a natural space for service-

learning, as students are learning to visualize their own words and ideas in a real-world context through a deeper understanding of audience, context, and purpose. While these goals can certainly be accomplished in the confines of the classroom, I have found that challenging students to take the content from this course to a community partnership is not only rewarding, but actually quite vital to the success of our ENGL102 curriculum—and to our ongoing development as instructors. Through the lesson I am including here, in which students participate in a panel discussion with their mentees and then complete a writing assignment on the rhetoric of educational spaces, I’ve discovered that the value of a community partnership lies not just in the personal edification of participating in something beyond the university’s walls, but also in the transformative seeds it plants in our students’ thoughts and writing.

The pedagogical reasoning behind this lesson comes from the notion that education is not only transformative, but that collaboration and mutual understanding are critical components for achieving social change. One of the primary goals of the Wildcat Writers program—to offer a space for students to interact, share their work, and form new perspectives on their writing—is a goal that only be truly achieved once students develop a trusting relationship with each other, the educational space they belong to, and the instructors they meet with on a weekly basis. This trusting relationship is not automatic, and requires a lot of patience, planning, and collaboration: three attributes that the Wildcat Writers program not only values, but strategically supports. Starting the semester with a lesson that reinforces the notion that the Wildcat Writers program is a safe space that values real-life experience, critical thinking, and collaboration, students begin to understand that professional relationships—and the roles they play as academics and future workers in their respective fields—should not only be helpful and supportive, but respectful, friendly, and mutually beneficial.

By participating in a real-life panel discussion with high school students (and then taking the work critically to a mini-writing assignment), both high school and college students can benefit tremendously from this lesson: not only do the high school students have a space to ask real questions, get advice, and start the process of demystifying getting a job, going to college, joining the military, or engaging in other post-secondary options, college students have the change to share their own experiences, give advice, and dispel myths

about the sometimes murky process of life after high school. In my experience with this lesson, students on both sides were able to find common ground, feel important, and gain multi-vocal perspectives on the uncomfortable period between high school and beyond. Then, through a writing assignment focusing on their assumptions about the physical spaces of the high school and college environments, my students took their personal experiences a step further, contextualizing them in terms of rhetorical strategies and persuasive elements—the content they’d been studying in the classroom. In their writing, I was amazed at the connections they made: students contemplated such details as the gated walls of the high school versus the open-air Student Union at the university and what these architectural decisions convey, the demographic makeup of the students and their goals for attending each institution, the legal ramifications for funding at both the secondary and post-secondary level, and the current legislative propositions in Arizona (such as HB 2281). This lesson (and how successful it was for my students) is, I hope, an excellent example of what can happen when community blends with campus—and when students meet over breakfast.

Title of Lesson: Meet Your Mentee: Getting-to-College Panel Discussion, Breakfast, and Paired Writing Assignment

Schedule for Lesson: (75 minutes)

Course: ENGL102

Semester Taught: Spring 2011

Required Materials: Social networking site (we use www.Edmodo.com) and either an ELMO or handouts (either is fine for the goals of this lesson!)

Context of the Lesson in Relationship to the Course Curriculum: This lesson, which has multiple parts, works really well when situated in the first few weeks of the semester. Students are eager to meet their mentors/mentees, and by introducing the course with a Meet & Greet party and a paired writing assignment, students will feel positive about their choice to be in the Wildcat Writers’ program and feel proud that they have something to offer their high school partners. Also, this lesson is an excellent way to introduce the importance of audience and rhetorical situations—both online and in-person!

As this lesson couples so well with the first unit (the Rhetorical Analysis unit), I suggest pairing the breakfast/panel session and the

writing assignment with the Visual/Spatial chapter of Writing Public Lives. I also recommend including some supplementary readings that will help students solidify the notions of observing spaces and understanding visual rhetoric. The readings I used to accompany this lesson were “Disney’s California Adventure Theme Park: Rhetorical Shape of a California Dream” by Michael Williams, and an excerpt from My Freshman Year by Rebekah Nathan. By having students read these models and think about their own observations in light of class discussion, students have some tangible examples from which to frame their analyses.

Agenda for the Lesson:

Prior to the lesson: Edmodo.com “Hello” Post: Using a social networking site such as www.Edmodo.com, have students write a “Hello” post to their mentee in anticipation of the Meet & Greet Breakfast. (My students were also required to comment on their mentee’s research project proposals, which the students had already uploaded). This gets students familiar with the interface of the website and allows them time to get comfortable using it.

Question Generation and Rehearsal: Before doing this lesson, have the high school teacher elicit a list of questions from his/her students regarding college life. This is a very helpful step because it helps the high school students conceptualize the importance of the Wildcat Writers’ program and it helps us at the University of Arizona offer an invaluable service to those students. After getting the list of questions, take the lists back to the students at the U of A, put them on the ELMO (if the classroom has technology), and have students get into groups and discuss their answers to the questions the high school students have for them. Stress the importance of their role as mentors and how their answers will help the high school students frame their ideas about college life and its multiple realities. Discuss notions of audience, context, and purpose.

Day of the lesson:8:00-8:10: Gather Students: Meet students at the high school and accompany them their mentee’s classroom. Remind them to take notes regarding differences they notice in the educational spaces of the U of A and the high school environment.

8:10-8:40: Introductions and Getting-to-Know-You Breakfast: Introduce the pairs and open up the classroom to breakfast. (For our lesson, Suzanne Hall’s students generously provided breakfast for the U of A students). Suggest that pairs sit together and introduce

themselves more fully, by discussing their interests, their hopes/fears for the future, and their hobbies. Students will feel both included and excited to share their stories with each other.

8:40-9:15: College Panel Discussion/Q&A Session: At this point, pass out copies of the high school students’ questions to various groups of students. Either have volunteers read specific questions to start the conversation, or have students simply begin by asking their own questions. (The handouts can be a good idea if the conversation lulls). In our experience, we had no trouble keeping the conversation going, though, as the high school students were full of questions and the college students were incredibly engaged and excited to share what they’d learned in their first year of college.

After the lesson: Mini-Writing Assignment: As a follow-up, ask students to read the two articles on visual/spatial analysis and have them complete a mini-writing assignment comparing the educational spaces of the high school and the University of Arizona. Then, discuss their findings during the next class period.

(*Note: My suggestion for teaching this lesson, in lieu of the recent restriction on taking U of A students off-campus, is to plan a field trip for the high school students well in advance with your team teacher (our suggestion is to get together before the semester starts). This way, you can avoid any issues with permission slips, administrative paperwork, or potential scheduling problems. It could be tailored to an analysis of the rhetoric the high school students’ use to discuss their knowledge and understanding of college life, or to an analysis of the disconnect between high school and college understanding of each other from different perspectives.)

Attached Materials: Instructions for Mini-Writing Assignment “Disney’s California Adventure Theme Park: Rhetorical Shape of

a California Dream” by Michael Williams Excerpt from My Freshman Year by Rebekah Nathan Examples of student work included: Mini-Writing Assignments

that turned into Essay 1: Rhetorical Analysis