How to Teach Freshman English
Freshman English, or as it is called in many colleges and universities, First-Year Composition, is a subject that is generally included as a core course for all of higher education. Whether you're teaching the course as a graduate instructor or beginning your career as a professor, these tips will help you succeed in learning how to manage your first-year class.
Instructions
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Learn the departmental and institutional standards and requirements. Because Freshman English is such a common course, your institution will likely have department-wide requirements for the number of papers your students write, the number of classes they can miss or the breakdown of your grade into papers, tests and participation.
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Develop a detailed syllabus that gives not only the course policies and other information, but also a daily breakdown of what reading and writing assignments will be due each day. A daily syllabus allows you to plan out your lessons in advance and reduces the stress on you to remind students daily about assignments.
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Have students read pieces that you are comfortable discussing. Try to vary the genres of their readings and use assigned readings to illustrate different styles of writing and model effective writing.
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Give students several large writing assignments and allow time for drafting and peer revision in class. For many students, this is the only class they will ever take where they have the opportunity to learn how to write. In subsequent classes, they will be expected to have these skills already.
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Give more frequent smaller writing assignments in a low-pressure or no-pressure setting, such as journals that you don't correct or comment on or daily writing assignments on creative topics. Frequent writing helps students develop their skills and gain comfort expressing themselves through writing, making it easier for them to perform well on larger assignments.
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Provide grammar instruction when necessary, but focus on more substantive areas of writing such as creating a unified paper and supporting an argument with concrete, specific evidence. Rhetorical research has shown that students don't benefit from classroom grammar instruction, but instead have to internalize rules through reading and writing.
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Be responsive to students who don't enjoy literature. Be open to suggestions about pieces to read or topics to write about. Allow students to feel a sense of ownership in the course. Because literature and writing are very personal at times, it's important that students not feel antagonized by the subject or the course.
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Consider process-based rather than product-based assessment by replacing a final exam with a final portfolio. Final portfolios can include papers from throughout the semester, exhibits of the students' revisions of their own writing, other creative pursuits or uses of writing for other courses or for professional purposes.
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