This semester, a number of faculty will be teaching the ENGL 1A + ENGL 10 for the first (and last) time, and I’ve gotten a few questions about it. So here are a few thoughts.
ENGL 10 was a stop-gap measure, responding to requirements from AB 705 while we worked to get a five-unit course (ENGL 1E) through curriculum and articulation. That course will replace 1A/10 next fall.
That’s not to say ENGL 10 is a bad thing; the “co-req model” is one of the most recommended strategies for offering support for students. But there are a few quirks that you’ll want to be aware of, if you’re teaching it:
- Since we aren’t allowed to split up a one-unit course, it’s created a somewhat awkward schedule: MW classes have two hours on M and three hours on W; TTh classes have three hours on T and two hours on Th.
- Since ENGL 10 is a separate course, it needs its own syllabus, even if (as many do) you choose to treat the 1A/10 pair as a single course. (Here’s a sample syllabus (PDF) from Kiara’s ENGL 10 from this semester.)
- Since it’s a separate course, it also means you’ll need to grade it separately. ENGL 10 is Pass/No Pass, though, so this is largely a formality ; P/NP doesn’t affect a grade point average, and has no effect on their ability to move on to 1B or 1C. (I don’t recommend you tell your students this, though; the grade-grubbers might decide it’s not worth their time.)
The course was designed to offer the greatest flexibility for instructors to meet the needs of their students. The Course Outline of Record (PDF) says:
Based on ongoing instructor assessment of student needs, students will work on some of the following:
The key really is to adjust to the students–the specific students you have, in your specific class, on that particular week.
I’ll quote some advice from a couple instructors, but first I want to say something quick about who the students are.
AB 705 required that we change our placement policies. We settled on the following (this is simplified, since not all students come to the college with a high school GPA, but it’s good enough for this discussion):
- High school GPA of 2.6+ — directly into ENGL 1A. That’s about 75% of the students.
- HSGPA 1.9-2.6 — we recommend they take ENGL 1A with ENGL 10. This is about 22% of the students.
- HSGPA <1.9 — we requires they take ENGL 1A + 10. This is about 3% of the students.
This means that we should expect a wide range of students (in terms of preparation, skill, and maturity) in all the ENGL 1A classes. And–in theory, at least–that distribution should skew a bit toward the unprepared side of the bell curve for the ENGL 1A/10. However, in practice, it seems–at least anecdotally–that there isn’t necessarily a huge difference between them. Thus the need for flexibility.
So here are some thoughts that Shawn and Carrie sent me. Much of what is here is valuable advice for both 1A and the 1A/10 combo, though Carrie’s suggestion relates more to the latter. And many of them have been touched on, or even more deeply explored, in the Community of Practice meetings (which everyone is welcome to attend!). And even if you can’t make the meetings, we encourage you to sign up for the community’s Canvas presence (you should have received an invitation from Shawn earlier in the semester); you could still follow along with the readings, and even participate in the discussion forum.
So here’s what Shawn wrote:
Here are a few things that come to mind, but it is not exhaustive.
- Create a comfortable, safe learning community
- Help students develop a positive reader/writer identity
- Explicitly model the cognitive moves an academic reader/writer makes and give time for guided practice in class
- Model and practice pre, during, and post academic reading strategies
- Make metacognitive conversations about HOW we read and write a routine classroom practice
- Build in plenty of time for reflection
- Help students with time management
- Use “Just in time” instruction, instead of front-loading via lecture
- Growth Mindset grading
- Allow plenty of time for low-stakes collaborative practice and formative, timely assessment before high-stakes, summative assessment
- Work to differentiate instruction and activities when possible
- Don’t assume technological expertise–try to take them to the computer lab to help them learn how to navigate Canvas and create documents that meet academic conventions.
And Carrie added this helpful suggestion:
I think the one thing I would add to Shawn’s list is to not plan 10 too strictly.
At the beginning of the semester, I used the “10 hour” for student success instruction (like drawing up a homework planner, or digital literacy exercises). As the semester has progressed, I’ve used the 10 hour to “balloon out” time for specific tasks that I know are going to take my 1A/10 students longer, like reading and discussion routines. Tomorrow, for example, I’m going to devote part of the 10 hour to a research exercise that my 1A students pulled off in an hour today– I know my 1A/10 students are going to need more time to process, discuss, and make decisions.
So, the point being: figure out a way to make 10 adaptable, even week-to-week.
I’ll just conclude by repeating an important point: Though ENGL 10 gives the time and space to incorporate many of these strategies, all of our ENGL 1A courses now are likely to included students who might not have been in our classes before, and we need to adjust to that reality. And many of the things that we can do in our ENGL 10 can also be applied in our ENGL 1A classes more generally–indeed, many of them should be.
If this post raises any additional questions, or if I was unclear about any of the issues, and so on, feel free to contact me at gkemble@yccd.edu.