Whether I am teaching first year writing, a literature survey, or an upper division technical writing course, I focus first on creating interesting assignments and activities that fit the course learning outcomes. Students learn through practice and feedback, so I craft assignments with multiple modes of communication, multiple choices of approach, and multiple opportunities for feedback.
From there, I build out the course schedule and readings to pair with the assignments. In first year writing, we may read articles, essays, or guides that help with crafting a specific artifact. We may also read texts related to a specific theme. I will also add in other activities where the verb “read” isn’t quite applicable, such as games or films.
These readings prepare students for assignments. They also provide a basis for day-to-day activities. In my classrooms, discussion is a key activity and can take several forms, from facilitating large discussions to think-pair-share or small groups crafting visual aids for mini Q&As. Students also do in-class writing workshops, peer review, and similar collaborative tasks. Students tend to learn more when they are actively engaged in generating knowledge in the classroom.
Finally, I think all the time about iteration, or repeating processes to attain a better result. Multi-stage processes allow students to iterate on their work, as sometimes students will need to do more than a single-night draft and a quick editing pass to complete a larger task reliably well. Feedback with iteration allows students to figure out how to substantively revise and, as needed, change direction. Finally, it is also how I teach: even if I keep a syllabus between courses, I am changing out tasks, readings, and other elements based on student feedback, developments in writing pedagogy, and other new material I’ve encountered. So iteration helps us all learn.