More about tw
Software: I teach exclusively on MS Word and Netscape Composer in my class. My rationale is that these programs are almost universally available in the workplace, and you can do just about anything with them. Word is cranky and not great beyond 50 pages, but you can always cut a document in half. Word is not easy to make brochures etc in, but once you can do it in Word, you can do it in some other program, that's for darned sure. I am open with my students about the fact that I think Word is cranky, but they know why I'm choosing to teach them in that program. If they have program proficiency in something else, and they'd prefer to use that (Quark, for example) I let them use it, but tell them they're on their own. I only devote teaching time to MS Word.
Netscape Composer is free and a decent little html writer. That's sufficient because I only need my students to have a basic understanding of how to create a webpage. Mostly I want them to critique other pages, learn some about electronic document design, and create something that is not hideous. That will give them the little leg-up they might need if they're ever called upon to create a site.
I teach the programs by taking the students through a demo of whatever it is I'm asking them to create.
Lab Work/Peer Workshops: As you observed, I have scads of workshop time. I teach in a lab every day, so basically I spend the first day (or the first half of class in my one-day-a-weeker) with lessons. The second day/half is workshop. There is no attendance policy, so most don't attend/stay for workshops. That's fine with me. My classes cap at 15, which isn't many, but the fewer the better, in my eyes.
The remaining students are supposed to buddy-up, help each other on the assignment that's due next, and ask me for input whenever they want to. The students that take advantage of workshop make As. The others don't. The workshoppers are basically getting pre-graded by their peers and once they understand that, they like that. I don't pre-grade during workshops. I only answer specific questions, not just "Read this whole thing and tell me if it's good."
I use the workshops as a substitute for collaboration. If you take advantage of your classmates, and get a buddy to help you with your writing, you will reap the benefits of two-heads-are-better-than-one. If you don't want to stay for workshop, well, IMO you're not the sort of person I want to collaborate with (or force my students to collaborate with).
Conferences: I don't do them. If you wanted to speak with me privately, well, you should have stayed for workshop, buddy.
Software: I teach exclusively on MS Word and Netscape Composer in my class. My rationale is that these programs are almost universally available in the workplace, and you can do just about anything with them. Word is cranky and not great beyond 50 pages, but you can always cut a document in half. Word is not easy to make brochures etc in, but once you can do it in Word, you can do it in some other program, that's for darned sure. I am open with my students about the fact that I think Word is cranky, but they know why I'm choosing to teach them in that program. If they have program proficiency in something else, and they'd prefer to use that (Quark, for example) I let them use it, but tell them they're on their own. I only devote teaching time to MS Word.
Netscape Composer is free and a decent little html writer. That's sufficient because I only need my students to have a basic understanding of how to create a webpage. Mostly I want them to critique other pages, learn some about electronic document design, and create something that is not hideous. That will give them the little leg-up they might need if they're ever called upon to create a site.
I teach the programs by taking the students through a demo of whatever it is I'm asking them to create.
Lab Work/Peer Workshops: As you observed, I have scads of workshop time. I teach in a lab every day, so basically I spend the first day (or the first half of class in my one-day-a-weeker) with lessons. The second day/half is workshop. There is no attendance policy, so most don't attend/stay for workshops. That's fine with me. My classes cap at 15, which isn't many, but the fewer the better, in my eyes.
The remaining students are supposed to buddy-up, help each other on the assignment that's due next, and ask me for input whenever they want to. The students that take advantage of workshop make As. The others don't. The workshoppers are basically getting pre-graded by their peers and once they understand that, they like that. I don't pre-grade during workshops. I only answer specific questions, not just "Read this whole thing and tell me if it's good."
I use the workshops as a substitute for collaboration. If you take advantage of your classmates, and get a buddy to help you with your writing, you will reap the benefits of two-heads-are-better-than-one. If you don't want to stay for workshop, well, IMO you're not the sort of person I want to collaborate with (or force my students to collaborate with).
Conferences: I don't do them. If you wanted to speak with me privately, well, you should have stayed for workshop, buddy.
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