The KNIGHTLYnews is an online forum where FWS instructors and other teachers of writing can 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.
On November 9, first-year students will begin pre-enrollment for spring semester First-Year Writing Seminars. Are you or are you instructor of a current FWS student who may be struggling in a fall FWS? We would like to offer guidance on spring-term course selection.
Please take a few moments to reflect upon your or a student's recent writing and classroom engagement. We are trying connect with FWS students:
• who are performing unevenly and/or stumbling over the same kinds of problems?
• who are less able to manage the course reading load and/or maintain high-level reading comprehension?
• whose writing agility has stalled as assignments and intellectual challenges have become more complex?
• whose work is consistently weak, earning below a B-?
• who may need more time and support than a typical FWS offers, who might benefit from more one-on-one time with a tutor or instructor?
Please contact me -- tracyhcarrick@cornell.edu -- for more information. Over the next two days – ideally before pre-enrollment concludes on November 11 – my colleagues and I will meet with students to talk about their FWS selections and the kinds of courses and supplementary writing support the Writing Workshop offers.
