ECE English Presents
Inquiring About Writing: Syllabi and Texts in the ECE English High School Classroom
April 2024 Conference
UConn Hartford
For conference slides, please visit this website:
Teaching first-year writing in the high school classroom is a unique and fun experience that grants us the chance to experiment and play with how we and our students engage with writing. This freedom to pursue a course directed toward our students’ needs is the focus of this conference. How can you revise your syllabus to make it more inquiry-based and student-focused? What does it mean to teach first-year writing over a high school academic year? How can you utilize various types of texts—from books to articles to art to film to contemporary events—in your classroom? These questions and more form the basis of this focus on syllabi and inquiry in the ECE high school classroom.
With the end of another year quickly approaching, this conference brings together ECE English teachers to reflect on how to improve our syllabi, use different texts with our teaching, and implement first-year writing in the high school classroom for the next school year. We gather at the UConn Hartford campus for a differentiated conference experience. Choose from engaging with Hartford’s public museum, the Wadsworth Atheneum, and talking about identity and writing; an intensive for new(er) teachers to think about teaching a full year of ENGL 1007; workshops on unit arcs and using texts in the classroom; or come ready to do some guided work in our group working room.
April 26, 2024 | 10 a.m. to 2 p.m.
UConn Hartford
Agenda
“Barbie, Literary Theory, and Art” Course Unit Discussion
Advisory Board Member Kevin Barbero provides an example of a course arc focused around Barbie, literary theory, and art, showcasing his assignments and syllabus architecture for this unit. Teachers will engage in a workshop discussion about course inquiry and teaching units in the ECE English high school classroom with Kevin’s example as the jumping off point.
Wadsworth Atheneum: Engaging with Inquiry, Identity, and Writing
Join Advisory Board Member Arri Weeks as she takes a group to the Wadsworth Museum in downtown Hartford. The group will think about inquiry, texts, identity, and writing as it relates to an exhibit in the museum.
New(er) Teacher Intensive Workshop
If you are a new or newer teacher who is thinking about the yearlong ENGL 1004 or 1007 classroom in the high school setting, this intensive workshop is for you. Join Advisory Board Members Kyle Candia-Bovi and Alexa Kydd as they show you an example from their syllabi about how to turn the usually semester-long ENGL 1007 into a yearlong course.
Group Working Room
Do you need some time to just think deeply with a group about your syllabi and class and have some quiet time to work on them? Join Advisory Board Members Emily Genser and Ramona Puchalski-Piretti in some an hour-long guided working session.
“The Good Place, Literary Theory, and Philosophy” Course Unit Discussion
Advisory Board Member Kristen Rotherham provides an example of a course arc focused around The Good Place, literary theory, and philosophy, showcasing her assignments and syllabus architecture for this unit. Teachers will engage in a workshop discussion about course inquiry and teaching units in the ECE English high school classroom with Kristen’s example as the jumping off point.
Concluding Session
Join us for concluding remarks about syllabi, text choice, and inquiring about writing in the ECE English high school classroom.
A lot has happened in the last few years from pandemics to wars to disagreements to economic upheavals. Our students have lived through these events, surviving and, hopefully in some cases, thriving resiliently. How can we make our classrooms a space for optimistic inquiry through writing? How might we facilitate classrooms with positive critique and critical praise? How can we bring some joy and light through multimodality and studio pedagogy into the lives and experiences of our students? This conference builds on the work of Deonna Smith
What is “P.D.”? Plausible Dada? A Pajama Day? A Pleasant Digression?
The past eighteen months have brought substantial challenges to our profession. As teachers, we are just beginning to emerge from the heavy cloud of the pandemic to embrace the new normal. Concerns about access to technological tools for distance learning have given way to concerns about navigating a safe, socially-distanced classroom. In this new world, it’s easy to be overcome with frustration from the need to constantly pivot in our teaching while simultaneously implementing an antiracist pedagogy. Additionally, ECE instructors are keenly aware of the pressure to meet the criteria of the new English 1007 course next year.
