The Geniuses Behind the Glory

1. ~The Super Happy Fun Team Presents~A Super Happy Fun PowerPoint of Super Happy Fun Ideas for the future of FYC!

2. The Geniuses Behind the Glory • Laura Hennessey • Jennifer Dion Fox • Gloria Muñoz • EnaamAlnaggar

3. The Engines of Change We added content to the site that we feel would enhance the classroom experience and alleviate some of the stress teachers may face while lesson planning. Usability changes are in development and handled by an external party (i.e. not us.)

4. Content added includes: • Resources for projects 1, 2, and 3 • Annotations for existing resources for each project • Cross-referenced examples and links from the instructor guidebook to the FYC site • Writing prompts for each project, tested and approved podcast writing assignments. • Resources for under “Student Resources” targeted at ESL students • General teaching resources such as plagiarism and grammar websites An assortment of images has also been created for the purpose of updating the site’s appearance.

5. The first thing to be tackled in this project was improving material that already existed on the site. Links were checked for functionality and dead links were either updated or removed. Existing links were annotated for ease of navigation.

6. The idea to cross-reference examples and links from the instructor guide came about simply because that material wasn’t available on the FYC site. It seemed more efficient to have that information available and grouped with its respective project.

7. New content was added as well. For instance, examples of adsand remediation, historical videos to use in the historiography project. These were placed within their respective projects. Furthermore, all material was annotated to explain how it was utilized in the classroom.

8. Additional content of a more general nature was added to the “Links” area currently accessible through “All Site Content.” This is material that will most likely moved once a dedicated page is created for it. http://fyc.usf.edu/Lists/Links/AllItems.aspx

9. Writing Prompts for the 3 Major Projects • Project 1: Information Literacy • Summary and Analysis • Bring up a painting on the projector. Ask students to look at the painting and write a short summary of what they see. Then ask students to write a paragraph in which they analyze the painting. This will lead to a class discussion on the difference between summary and analysis. For this prompt it is helpful to choose a painting that is aesthetically engaging and depicts athe narrative of a historically relevant event. Romantic artists including Goya, Delacroix and Géricault work well for this writing. • Show the following clip from Ameliehttp://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3S0LNGA2hp8 . Then ask students to spend some time describing the scene and write about the different cinematographic elements of the scene that they noticed. After 5 minutes ask students to turn their paper over and write about how the elements in the scene worked together to create the director’s story.

10. Source Credibility • Have each student write three well thought out paragraphs focusing on 2 truths and 1 lie. Then have them work in pairs to read each other’s writing and decide which paragraphs seem to be credible and which one is the outlier. • This works well for a blogging assignment. Have students write a journalistic article about one shared topic. Have them post their articles on the course blog anonymously. Bring copies of all the articles for each student and then have them choose three that they would use as reliable sources. This leads into a conversation on sources and the author’s credibility.

11. Project 2: Historiography • Then & Now/ Lens finding • Share Smithsonian’s “40 Things You’ll Need to Know About the Next 40 Years” with your students. Then have students come up with their own prediction for the next 40 years. Prompt: Write a prediction for the next 40 years. Why do you think your prediction is possible? What trends in today’s society show aspects of it? • Write about a funny and/or embarrassing childhood story. Once you have finished read over your writing and write about how you viewed that situation then and how you view it today. • How History Changes • Have students invent a product and write a page long description that will make the class want to buy this product. This writing can be developed further and made into a product and ad presentation. • Watch a clip from “Thank You for Smoking” then have students write in the voice of an advertiser. Then discuss what makes a successful advertiser. • Write a letter to a younger version of yourself. • Play a segment of this podcast http://www.thisamericanlife.org/radio-archives/episode/378/this-i-used-to-believe then ask students to write about an experience they had that caused them to change their perspective on a belief they once held true.

12. Project 3: Critical Reflection • Voice/ 1st Person Practice • Write a monologue in someone else’s voice. • Meditate on your voice. Lead a guided meditation in which you ask students to think about their own voice. Then have them write about their voice and/ or from their voice’s perspective. • Media Talk • Write an ephemeral poem. For a homework assignment have students write short ephemeral poems. Ask students to memorize them and share them in class. This could lead into a discussion the role of different media in this project. • Look up 10 words you are not familiar with. Write definitions for all 10 (post them on Blackboard). Look at other posts and find 5 words that you have never used or that you wish you knew how to use properly. Bring in 2 of your own words and 3 from other posts to class. Prompt: Work in groups of four to create a story in which you use all of your words. Switch storytellers every time a vocab word is used.

13. First Day Writing Prompts • First Day • After brief introductions and icebreakers ask students to write a one page autobiography for homework. Have them share their autobiographies during the following class. • Have students write a new school year resolution list. Then have them write a few paragraphs stating how they intend to achieve their goals. • On the day you introduce discourse communities ask students to write about their primary discourse community. • Read Langston Hughes’ “Theme for English B” then ask students to write about why the speaker is resistant and hesitant to express himself. This could also be used later on to discuss the author’s voice in writing.

14. Tested and Approved Podcasts • http://www.thisamericanlife.org/radio-archives/episode/417/this-party-sucks After listening to “This Party Sucks” ask students to write about their own college experience thus far. • These next three are amazing and really interesting. I recommend choosing segments from each and spreading out the writing assignments through a week or two. Possible Prompt: Write about a time you experienced the limits of your body/mind. • http://www.radiolab.org/2010/apr/05/limits-of-the-body/ • http://www.radiolab.org/2010/apr/05/limits-of-the-mind/ • http://www.radiolab.org/2010/apr/05/limits-of-science/ • “Agatha Christie's clever detective novels may reveal more about the inner workings of the human mind than she intended”. After listening to the clip ask students to write about their own vanishing words. http://www.radiolab.org/blogs/radiolab-blog/2010/may/05/vanishing-words/

15. http://www.radiolab.org/2010/aug/09/ “We meet a woman who taught a 27-year-old man the first words of his life, hear a firsthand account of what it feels like to have the language center of your brain wiped out by a stroke, and retrace the birth of a brand new language 30 years ago”. • http://www.thisamericanlife.org/radio-archives/episode/389/frenemies “Frenemies” talks about word mash-ups and the influence that pop-culture has on language. It also examines the relationship of different frenemies. It is a brilliant podcast! I recommend playing the prologue and act 1 and then ask students to examine and write about a friendship that has gone awry. • http://www.thisamericanlife.org/radio-archives/episode/389/frenemies In Act Three. Speak Now Or Forever Hold Your Peace. David Rakoff demonstrates—in rhyme—how to make a wedding toast for people you never wanted to see married in the first place. • http://www.radiolab.org/blogs/radiolab-blog/2010/aug/09/bonus-video-words/ It’s almost impossible to imagine a world without words. This video shows how people experience words with and without language. Write about your own experience with language.

16. Links • Prompt Sites for Everyday: • http://www.thisamericanlife.org/ • http://www.writersdigest.com/WritingPrompts/ • http://www.creativewritingprompts.com/ • http://www.scribd.com/doc/55697/501-Writing-Prompts • http://www.themoth.org/ • http://www.radiolab.org/ • http://www.poetryfoundation.org/ • http://www.tengrrl.com/tens/019.shtml • http://www.nwp.org/cs/public/print/resource_topic/writing_prompts • http://homepage.mac.com/mseffie/handouts/18paragraph.html • http://www.warren-wilson.edu/~creativewriting/Prompts.php

17. Attention was also given to ESL students and their potential needs, specifically their ability in understanding colloquial language and American standards of style. Links to such material were added to the “Student Resources.” http://fyc.usf.edu/Lists/ESL%20Resources/AllItems.aspx

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