FWS Instructor Resources

Knightly News - Notes from the FWS Classroom

Check out KNIGHTLYnews: Notes from the FWS Classroom, an online forum for FWS instructors and other teachers of writing to swap and share ideas for best classroom practice. Weekly posts are designed to help teachers develop lesson plans and writing assignments, and respond to classroom challenges by introducing new teaching tools and sharing emerging pedagogical ideas. Posts also direct readers to program and campus resources that support teaching and learning, and provide opportunities for peer collaboration and mentorship.

Canvas Sites for FWS Instructor Collaboration

FWS Instructor Sandbox Find here pedagogical resources that can help you develop an online platform for your FWS -- whether you are interested in building a remote-access, fully online course or in simply developing a robust Learning Management System (LMS) to support multimodal instruction for an in-person or hybrid course. You'll find start-up tips and guidelines for recommended digital tools, links to campus and Knight Institute resources, videos of teaching demonstrations and workshops, and detailed lesson plans and activities that you can import directly into your FWS Canvas site.
FWS Online Scenarios Find here a plan for online or hybrid writing instruction that includes six scenarios reflecting core aspects of the mission and learning outcomes of the Cornell First-Year-Writing Seminar. These scenarios can be combined to set up a syllabus and to design an instructional system for an online or hybrid FWS on any topic.
Hypothes.is (Digital Social Annotation Tool) Test out with colleagues this social annotation tool that allows for sentence-level note taking or critique on top of classroom reading, news, blogs, scientific articles, books, terms of service, ballot initiatives, legislation and more.
Feedback Fruits (Peer Review Tool) A test environment for the Summer/Fall 2020 pilot of the FeedbackFruits learning app where you will be able to participate in building your test assignments.

Campus Resources

Campus Resources for Teaching & Learning

Guidance for International Students: How to Get and Stay Connected to Cornell | (Cox, 2020)

Additional Resources for Teaching & Learning

Archive of past workshops

Archive of Spring 2021 FWS Instructor Workshops

Brainstorm & Troubleshoot (2/5)

Meet up with other spring semester FWS instructors to brainstorm and exchange icebreaker activities and first assignments, and/or to troubleshoot lesson plans or Canvas set up and design. Drop in when you can and stay as long as you like. Click here to access the session materials and resources for this FWS workshop.

Activities to Help Deepen Analysis (3/5)

In this workshop, we will discuss strategies for helping writers to strengthen their analysis through critical thinking work. Cornell Writing Centers Director Kate Navickas will provide a sample reading geared towards students and some broad ideas for activities; participants will be encouraged to either share analysis activities or brainstorm more. Click here to access the session materials and resources for this FWS Instructor Workshop.

FWS Writing Assignment Exchange (3/12)

Participants bring drafts of FWS writing assignments, and meet in small groups where they will describe the assignment, learning goals, and rationale within the context of the course’s writing sequence. Assignments will be compiled in an archive hosted on the FWS Instructor Sandbox Canvas site. Facilitated by Knight Faculty: Ellie Andrews and Tracy Carrick. Click here to access the session materials and resources for this FWS Instructor Workshop.

What is a Teachable Text? Teaching Reading to Write (3/17)

What makes a text “teachable”? Teachable within the context of a First-Year Writing Seminar? Participants will work together to consider not just what makes disciplinary texts accessible to novice readers and those outside of the field, but also how can such texts be used to teach writing. Facilitated by Knight Faculty: Ellie Andrews, Tracy Carrick, and Darlene Evans. Click here to acces the session matierals and resources for this FWS Instructor Workshop.

Facilitating (Difficult) Discussion (3/26)

Associate Director of Writing in The Majors Kelly King-O'Brien will share ideas and strategies about how to foster good discussions in our current circumstances (whether online, in-person, or hybrid). Participants should bring their own questions and concerns so that we can brainstorm strategies together. Topics we might address are: Does “wait time” work on Zoom? How long should we wait? Should we avoid controversial topics this semester? How do we handle conflicts or tensions on Zoom when it might be easier (or harder) to intervene? How might we prompt engaging and productive discussions on Zoom? Or in-person socially distanced? How do we “create space” for quieter folks when some people may monopolize the discussion at times? Click here to acces the session matierals and resources for this FWS Instructor Workshop.

CROSS-LISTED EVENT: CNY Humanities Corridor Grant Re-envisioning Graduate Communication Through a Raciolinguistic Lens

Standardization, Racialization, Languagelessness: Raciolinguistic Ideologies across Communicative Contexts, Dr. Jonathan Rosa, Stanford University’s School of Education (3/30)

Follow this link to Dr. Rosa's masterclass: Masterclass With Jonathan Rosa - Unsettling Race and Language: Toward a Raciolinguistic Perspective

The Power of Reflective Writing (4/16)

Facilitators Kate Navickas (Cornell Writing Centers Director) and Tracy Carrick (Writing Workshop and Graduate Writing Center Director) will provide a brief review of reflective writing literature and share sample reflective writing prompts and student writing to consider the logistics and rewards of such work. Participants will have the opportunity to brainstorm and workshop their own activities. Click here to access the session materials and resources for this FWS Instructor Workshop.

CROSS-LISTED EVENT: FGSS Feminist Pedagogy Series

Feminist and Anti-Racist Student Evaluation and Assessment Strategies (4/20)Derrick Spires (Department of Literatures in English), Kate Navickas (Knight Institute), and Tracy Carrick (Knight Institute)

Click here to access Dr. Tracy Carrick's session materials: Alt-Assessment ⇒ More Inclusive, Equitable, Just.

Professionalization Panel: Positioning Yourself to Teach Writing (4/19)

Many graduate students facing an uncertain job market are interested exploring ways to evolve their FWS instructional experiences into careers in teaching writing and related fields. Panelists: Ellie Andrews, Kelly King-O'Brien, and Elliot Shapiro. Moderated by Jessica Sands. Click here to access the session materials and resources for this FWS Instructor Workshop.

How to Help Students Avoid Plagiarism & What to Do if They Don't (Postponed)

Participants will workshop case studies involving suspected violations of University Academic Integrity Policies, discuss examples of concerning student writing, and share strategies for developing assignments that interrupt bad practices. Facilitators will review University and College protocols and direct participants to instructional tools and resources. Facilitated by Knight Faculty: Tracy Carrick and Darlene Evans.

Archive of Fall 2020 FWS Instructor Workshops

Archive of Summer 2020 FWS Instructor Workshops

Teaching with the Johnson (Video: Sweet, 2020)