English 101: Fall 2017

Dr. Deborah L. Harrington

 Goals for Tonight
Get to know one another (create connections
with fellow students and build supportive
relationships)
Build class norms and strategies for success in
order to thrive over the course of the
semester
 Writing Warm-up
Why are you here (taking this class tonight at
LAVC)?
What makes a good college student?
 Count Off Groups
In your groups, discuss and summarize your
answers to the following:
Why are you here (taking this class tonight at
LAVC)?
What makes a good college student?
To what extent do the qualities that make a good
college student correspond to your reasons for
taking this course and for being in college? To
what extent do they not?
 Brainology/Carol Dweck
Article entitled Brainology by Carol Dweck
Introductory concepts:
More and more research is showing that our brains
change constantly with learning and experience and
that this takes place throughout our lives.
What students believe about their brains whether
they see their intelligence as something that's fixed or
something that can grow and change has profound
effects on their motivation, learning, and school
achievement. These different beliefs, or mindsets,
create different psychological worlds: one in which
students are afraid of challenges and devastated by
setbacks, and one in which students relish challenges
and are resilient in the face of setbacks.
 Pair & Share
Read the article section to yourself; jot down
some thoughts to yourself; locate golden
linesi.e. lines that resonate for you.
In your color-coded group (all the purples
meet with all the other purples, etc.), develop
a short summary of the section youve read
each of you should take notes for yourself as
you and your colleagues discuss and
synthesize the article section together.
1. Return to your Home group
2. In your home group, teach each other
your section of the article
 Mindset 101
Carol Dweck ends her article stating,
Most of all, teach them that by taking on
challenges, making mistakes, and putting forth
effort, they are making themselves smarter.
What is one strategy you can implement to help
yourself and your fellow students internalize the
value of challenges, mistakes, and/or effort,
which in turn can help us create a more powerful
classroom experience this semester?
Class Norms: What will help this be a
learning environment in which you will
thrive this semester?
Syllabus
Overview
What We Will Do This
Semester & How We Will
Do It
Required Materials
Overall Policies for
Course Success
Rubrics for Course
Success
Resources for Success
 Homework
Read Ch. 1 of Lies My Teacher Told Me by Loewen
(posted on the class website and the class FB group):
Write a Reading Response following the guidelines
given in your syllabus.
Using this list of 100, choose two figures from U.S.
History (excluding Woodrow Wilson), one who you feel
has gone through a process of hero-making and one
who has not. Write a 2-4 page analysis describing why
you think this hero-making has happened or not
happened for each and what this says about U.S.
society and cultural values. Make sure to list the
sources youve consulted in preparing your answer.
Place both parts of your homework in your journal and
bring to class next time.