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Collaborative Learning Workshop

When students write for teachers, they are writing uphill in the authority dimension: instead of having the normallanguage-using experience of trying to communicate across to others in order to tell them whats on their mind, they arehaving the experience of trying to communicate up to someone whose only reason for reading is to judge theacceptability of what they wrote and how they wrote it.Peter Elbow_____________________________________________________________________________________One of the tenets of this courseas well as an idea that has permeated modern rhetoricis that rhetoric is aframework for understanding and participating in the social construction of ideas. Therefore, we makechoices. Which ideas do we believe and go with and which do we ignore? In other words, rhetoric is presentin every communicative act. Everything is an argument. As a discourse community we will decide which ideashave value.

Kenneth Bruffee explains in Collaborative Learning and the Conversation of Mankind that learning is asocial rather than individual process and that learning is not assimilating information but rather a social andcollaborative effort to create and maintain knowledge. Were in this together. So,your task is to work it out.

You will read each others essays as collaborators. This means that the ego should probably be left in thehallway.

In order to give our collaborative time some guidance and to help with getting these essays as close to perfectas possible, we will reference Peter Elbow and Patricia Belanoffs Sharing and Responding.

This collaborative process works best when the group focuses on one group members paper at a time. Focuson the process. Try to not fall back into habits of editing papers instead of revising them. The goal is toreview 2-3 papers each class period. 15-20 minutes should be enough time per paper.

We are using Google Docs in this course, so dont be shy about using the technology to help you. The chatand comments features will be useful.

To be done During the Writing Process

Step 1--Sharing: No Response

Student reads work out loud to peers

Peers do not respond but only listen attentively Student gains from actually having to think of her work as communicating to others

Step 2--Pointing & Center of Gravity

PointingPeers identify striking words or phrases

Center of GravityPeers identify particularly powerful moments in the text

Allows writer to see areas of development to enhance readers experience or to see newdirections in which the composition could go

Step 3--Summary and Sayback

SummaryPeers summarize what the text says in a 1 sentence summary Helps writer see whether main idea is coming across

Step 4The Almost Said

Writer asks peers questions about what peers would like to hear more about

Helps writer with development of composition by finding details that may be missing ordetermining whether subtle details are working as intended

Step 5Reply

Peers respond with their thoughts about the topic and/or the writers view (discussion of content,not composition)

Discussion can generate problems with topic/view, reveal counterarguments that need to bemade, or provide ideas that writer hadnt considered

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Step 6Voice

Peers help assess tone and language of the work feelings and attitudes expressed, trustworthiness,vividness, uniqueness and individuality

Thinking in terms of voice allows peers to describe writing with less need for technicallanguage

Step 7Movies of the Mind

Peers describe what they are thinking while they listen to or read the composition, their progressionas a reader.

Writer might stop peers in the middle of the text or ask for I statements about readersfeelings

Step 8Reply

Believing Writer asks peers to pose as though they believe everything in the composition and toprovide additional ideas/development that will enhance and improve arguments

DoubtingWriter asks peers to pose as though they doubt everything in the composition and to

propose what problems exist in the argument and what opposing views must be responded to orcounter-argued.

Helps writer get opposing feedback from readers about the persuasiveness or argumentationin the composition

Step 9Descriptive Outline

Descriptive Outline Peers break up the composition into says and does statements: saysstatements summarize sections of the composition; does statements describe each sectionspurpose for the whole composition (rhetorical effect, function for the rest of the piece, etc)

To be done near the end of the writing process

Step 10Criterion Referenced Peers respond to specific criteria or standards for the paper, whether generated by the writer or by

outside demands (i.e. rubric at the end of the assignment sheet)

Editing will be done during this step

Calls for specifics from peers, references to passages & words that show how a writer isdoing at meeting the specific criteria for the assignment