Week 12-14: Writing, Reviewing, Revising
12.0 Writing Reviewing, Revising
Objective(s): to support students in the storytelling process; to cede power and authority to individual writers; to inculcate clear, iterable processes for peer reviewing colleagues’ writing in a structured and supportive way.
Orientation
During Week 12 -14 students will be working independently on their respective projects. The focus of these two weeks is to adjust the scope of their projects to integrate relevant feedback gathered from peers, teachers, community members, and/or through self-reflection. In this section, we outline two approaches, one that centralizes synchronous class time and another that leverages our remote context to allow students greater control over their coursework through scheduling their own project groups asynchronously.
At this point in the semester, we will have implemented antiracism structures that have distributed power, value, and authority to students. Conversely, students will have cultivated trust and intimacy among their project groups, practiced peer reviews, developed individual writing plans and innovated said plans according to their emergent needs; further, students will have applied antiracism strategies cultivated earlier in the semester to their current projects. In other words, the antiracism structures and processes now hold the space and free us teachers up to conference with students, shift to asynchronous models of instruction, or allow students the choice between the two. Here, our role is to listen, observe, and adjust course structures where/when necessary; rarely is it to introduce new ideas, readings, or components.
The course structure does most of the work, holding space and supporting student projects. Returning to athletic metaphors, in the penultimate phase of the semester, we’re asking students to trust that their training and practices has prepared them and, for teachers, offering students only minor adjustments to help amplify and express their expertise in clear, powerful ways during their final class presentations (or, following the metaphor, game day).
12.1 Synchronous Structure for Weeks 12-14
Orientation
Running weeks 12-14 synchronously relies upon earlier interventions, such as writing blocks, group blocks, peer reviews, and writing plans, but offers updates to each such that students have the benefit of familiar structures and practiced protocols, but with updated focal points that correspond to their new positions along the project development process. Rather than rehearse previous descriptions, I’ve mentioned strategies by name and highlighted ways to update each exercise to fit the shift from the initial draft to the showcased iteration of students’ projects.
Activities
- Week 12: Writing, 2: Storytelling
- Week 13: Peer Reviews, 2: Positionality
- Week 14: Writing Plan, 2: Revision
- Writing Groups (10.2)
- Focal Point: As you approach the second writing/developing week of the project, think about the story you wish to tell, your audience, and the power dynamics construed through its structure, and your desired impact on your audience. Helpful questions to have circulating through your head during this writing phase might include: What story am I trying to tell? Who are its primary subjects? -peripheral subjects? -objects? To whom am I speaking? What impact do I want to have on my audience? Other questions I may wish to explore are __________.
- Peer Reviews (11.2)
- Focal Point: As you reflect on your colleagues’ writing, consider the larger social situation and political circumstances surrounding their projects. Holding these thoughts in mind, consider the following questions when reviewing each project: How does the story change depending upon the position of its narrator? How do my limitations affect the story? -are any of these misrepresent, omit, assume? How would your storytelling change if its characters were listening to you read it nearby? What aspects of your experience are activated through this story? -which are challenged, questioned, or unsettled?
12.2 Asynchronous Structure for Weeks 12-14
Orientation
Asynchronous class still offers students structure in the form of suggested benchmarks (to help pace students), objectives (in the form of learning outcomes and deliverables), and protocols (clear processes), but allows students to decide when and how to meet; it does not mean teaching stops because students convene on their own time. Oftentimes, asynchronous class requires more labor for teachers to clarify objectives and protocol and to generate structures ahead of time; be prepared.
For the purposes of the CDF curriculum, we’ve outlined one approach that offers a set of benchmarks, these are formative deadlines that students abide to the extent they are helpful (in other words, they are not punitive), labor agreements, which are negotiated ahead of time, and project outcomes. For example, I may ask students to meet for three hours during weeks 12-14 to update their project group on their individual progress, to give and receive feedback, and to organize their final showcase based upon their community agreements, roles, and divisions of labor. It is up to project groups to determine if they want to meet once per week for an hour, or twice over the three weeks for 90 minutes, the point here is that we’re trusting students to identify their needs and to make decisions based on their immediacy (rather than proposing a less meaningful and arbitrary structure). Before we move into asynchronous instruction, each project group must arrive at their project group schedule, including Zoom links, and post all that information to the group folder on Drive. Further, I provide students with a template to record notes (see below), which they post to their group folders. I encourage flexibility in what counts as “notes,” the goal is not surveillance or tracking, but to support students to develop meaningful and intentional ways to collaborate.
During synchronous class time, I hold mandatory project consultations in which I meet with every student to discuss their desired feedback. (In large lectures, I recommend hosting consultations during lecture and section sessions and dividing labor among Teacher(s), GSIs, and/or Readers.) In other words, while students are working independently on their projects, meeting in groups asynchronously, I am still teaching during regular synchronous course time, but through one-on-one consultations. As per peer feedback protocols, I ask students to email me one area of targeted feedback that would help them reach their project goals several hours before their consultation. In preparation, I review each student’s project, desired feedback, and take a few notes.
Activities
- 12.2.1 Asynchronous Project Group Meetings
- 12.2.2 Individual Writing Conferences (Mandatory 1-on-1 Consultations)
- 12.2.3 Writing Plan, 2: Revision
- 12.2.4 Templates (Individual Pacing Guides & Antiracism Toolkit Reminder)
12.2.1 Asynchronous Project Group Meeting
Orientation: One way to manage asynchronous group meetings is to ask each group to record notes in a public way, such that classmates and colleagues can participate from a distance. See example below.
Sample
Asynchronous Writing Groups: Outcomes
9/28-10/9
Instructions. Each group must meet for a minimum of 2 hours per week. Before each meeting your group will determine an agenda, schedule, and outcomes for the meeting, all of which you will share with the instructors below. After the meeting, add your group’s outcomes, too. Each group has its own page, and the first group starts directly below.
Team Tree Failure:
Week 1. Meeting Time(s): 12:30PM Monday, 1PM Wednesday
Monday 9/28
Meeting time: 12:30PM
Agendas: Discuss and share proposals for PR, request feedback
Schedules:
- 5 mins to get set up
- 10 mins for writer 1
- 10 mins for writer 2
- 10 mins for writer 3
- 10 mins for writer 4
- 5-10 mins for writing outcomes
Outcomes:
- Student A:
- I was wondering whether my idea could connect to the prompt/ whether it was too broad to make sense. My group members said it could work, and that I could talk about a range of different types of teas.
- Student B:
- Focus my definition of “Asian music,” my group mentioned that talking about “Asian music” might be too broad, I’ll make sure to focus on the fact that my object is specifically Kpop.
- The fact that Kpop is my specific object might not immediately come across in my proposal.
- Explore why Kpop specifically is the rising worldwide as opposed to other forms of Korean music or Asian music.
- Student C:
- My group members recommended I find a specific video from the Fung Bros Youtube channel, if I could. The general channel might be too broad. They also said my object was very clear and I expressed a specific purpose.
- Student D:
- Feedback: Other than writing about nationalism and what phở means to Vietnam, I can write about what it means to me as a Vietnamese person and possibly include an anecdote. I can also elaborate on the cultural appropriation of phở and how it takes away the significance.
Sample
There are no synchronous classes from [insert dates]. In lieu of class, each writer will meet once with [insert name(s)] for five minutes to discuss their AD project and each writing group will meet weekly for 1-hour according to each group’s schedule. Listed below are 36 ten-minute slots for individual conferences with either [insert name(s)]. Please sign up for only one.
The purpose of these consultations is to discuss your writing at whatever phase of development it is in.
What We Discuss & Deadlines:
In preparation for your writing conference, please email [insert name] a specific area of targeted feedback concerning your proposal that will orient our discussion by 6 pm PDT the day before your conference (e.g., by 6 pm PDT on Nov. 15 for a Nov. 16 conference).
Target Feedback:
Questions like: is this good? or, what can I improve? are too general to yield productive conversations.
Updates:
Lastly, when you arrive we’ll ask you for an update about your project. This can be an informal update, but we do ask that you prepare a 30-second overview of your GA project and highlight any questions or developments that may have changed in the 24-hours since you emailed us your latest project selection.
Day-of Instructions:
Please arrive 1-2 minutes early to your zoom session and have your question ready. Remember: when you join the zoom, you will be placed in a waiting room until your appointed time. Conferences may run slightly over so a short wait is nothing to stress; if you wait longer than five minutes sign out and double-check that you are in the correct room or email the day’s respondent directly.
Sign Up Below:
Monday, November 16:
Respondent: [insert name]
Zoom link: [insert link]
| Time | Name |
| – | |
| – | |
| – | |
| – |
12.2.3 Writing Plan, 2: Revision
Week 12-14, Activity 3
def. a revision plan provides a step-by-step outline for improving one’s writing by addressing general and specific moments in the given essay; it should be manageable and easy to follow because it is written by the writer.
Instructions
There are three components to the Revision Plan; please adhere to the following instructions and timeline.
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- Complete the meta-critique immediately; write the first thing that appears in your mind after re-reading your essay in bullet points, fragments, phrases, etc.
- Complete revision plan before revising your Project.
- Re-read your Project.
- Quick and Dirty Meta-Critique of Final Draft [complete immediately after re-reading]
- In 6-10 words: what aspect of your new media object does your essay address?
- In 10-15 words: what is its critique/position?
- In 50 words: what does the essay attempt to do? -what is its purpose?
- In 15-20 words: what choices do you want to address in your next draft, address differently, or address more precisely?
- Re-read your Project.
- Review Peer Reviews and Instructor Feedback and Tutoring (AoW).
- In 10-15 words: summarize the main critique for each respondent
- In 30-40 words: describe areas of overlap among all respondents
- In 50 words: respond to your feedback by considering the following questions – which feedback makes most sense to me? -which areas make less sense? -which areas don’t seem to fit with what I am trying to do?
- In 15-20 words: what choices do you want to address in your next draft, address differently, or address more precisely?
- Revision Plan.
- Identify successful moments (at least 2) in your essay and explain the specific choices (i.e., writing strategies, tactics, or moveset) that make them particularly successful. (Note: these moments do not have to coincide with your “desired feedback”.)
- Identify 1 general choice made in your essay that requires more development and attention.
- Identify 2-3 specific choices in the essay that require your critical attention.
For Draft 2: Embolden changes made for your next draft.
Sample Pacing Guide
| Individual Pacing Benchmarks | Date Addressed | Notes | |
| Week 12 | Complete second draft | ||
| Week 13 | Peer Reviews & Revision Plan | ||
| Week 14 | Revise, Rewrite |
Sample Antiracism Toolkit Reminder
| Strategies | Situations Applied | Outcomes/Observations/Notes |
| Writing Blocks | ||
| Group Blocks | ||
| Project Updates (in project groups) | ||
| Antiracism Frameworks | ||
| Communities of Care Check-ins | ||
| Self-Care Check-ins |