Good teachers need to know where their students begin in order to create a class that effectively builds

Good teachers need to know where their students begin in order to create a class that effectively builds on what students know to develop their abilities about things they don’t know. Additionally, our university uses a directed self-placement program, and my job, as an experienced teacher of this course, is to support the “directed” part of the placement. Below is a writing sample prompt that will give me a small window into you abilities as writers, help me plan the class with the students in mind, provide additional direction, if necessary, in regard to your ability to do well in this class, and give me an opportunity, as well, to give you a mini introduction to the work of this course.

Please follow the directions below very carefully, and please take this writing sample seriously. The criteria I will use to analyze and evaluate your writing sample are below. Feel free to use that information as you write and revise.

In class writing: Please take 10 minutes to reflect on why you chose this placement (English 5A/B) to meet the first-year writing requirement. Use the Directed Self Placement chart information in A Writer’s Reference (FS-4) to help you. Why did you choose English 5A/B? What experiences have you had with writing to make you feel that this is a good choice? What do you know about yourself as a reader and writer to make you feel this is a good choice? Feel free to choose one of these questions to focus on; you don’t have to answer all of them.

Homework: Please take what you have written today, read pages 45-52 and 3-9 in the Norton Field Guide to Writing (NFGW), and then revise what you have written in class. Please write an essay where you consider how well prepared you are for college writing and where you are in developing the habits of mind and inquiry processes the authors in NFGW discuss. For example, you might say that you were taught how to quote and summarize, but you could use a bit more work on the Responsibility element of the Habits of Mind. Or you might talk about how writing from a place of inquiry is a great idea but you might need help generating and organizing that much information. These are some ideas but you can certainly come up with your own ideas as you write. Please be sure to use at least one quote from the text, and if you can, please also integrate another text you might have read recently that applies to your argument. I would also like you to create a works cited page – using information you know to create that page (MLA, APA, etc will be find), and please be sure to proofread.

When I read these writing samples, I will look for:
Your ability to write an essay (with introductions, body paragraphs, and conclusions)
Your ability to address an audience with your writing
Your ability to read, understand, and integrate the outside text(s)
Your ability to present a finished writing product, that is proofread, sources cited, and free of errors
Your ability to understand and follow through with the directions of the assignment.

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