Teaching Samples
Memorable Lesson
One of my favorite lessons in ENG 101 Rhetoric & Writing was rhetoric. I introduced the concept of rhetoric to students to prepare them for the Rhetorical Analysis writing project. I created a slideshow that covered the concepts of rhetoric and utilized speech excerpts from first lady and Secretary of State Hillary Clinton’s 1995 address to the Fourth World Conference of the United Nations to discuss successful rhetoric. At the conclusion of the presentation, the class watched a clip from “The Lego Movie” and then in small groups, analyzed how Emmett could improve his ‘inspirational’ speech with rhetorical devices. This lesson was memorable because it was engaging and used various examples to show the scope and diversity of rhetoric.
View the slideshow here
Memorable Moment
For our first project in ENG 101 Composition, students created a multimodal literacy narrative to share their literacy history. As we talked about the versatility and accessibility of different modes of communication, I read them an excerpt from Moby Dick by Herman Melville and asked them to paint the scene with the information they gathered from my reading. There were a lot of long “ummmms” and glazed eyes. Then I showed them the graphic illustration on the left (portraying the same moment from the written excerpt) and asked them to now provide their inference and context of the scene. The feedback generated was much more fruitful. As a class, we talked about how different modes can increase accessibility and understanding. As a book nerd myself, I was thrilled to tie in a literary classic to this lesson and to perhaps make it more accessible to my students.
(Illustration by Lalit Kumar Singh, from Campfire Graphic Novel’s adaptation of Moby Dick)
ENG 101 Student Feedback
“I learned things about peer reviews, its important to not be so critical about grammar and spelling and small things like that but rather focus on the message of the paper”
“I learned the value of reviewing your writing and working on rough drafts.”
“I’ve learned how to read as a writer and better my writing ability.”
“I felt engaged a lot because I really like this class and all the good things I am learning”
“I think you just do a good job of explaining everything and I’m never confused in class or confused on the assignments we have”
“I think you explain everything very well into detail. Every activity or project we are introduced with you explain in great detail and at a good pace”
“You were very encouraging to the class when it can be hard to stay focused and talk on zoom.”
ENG 101 Materials
ENG 101: Foundations of Writing & Rhetoric Syllabus
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