English 10/11 Academic Literacies I & II

Reflection on Instructional Change:

The ACUE practice I implemented was using Group Contracts to help prepare students to work in teams. I adapted the Group Contract provided in the ACUE course & added some questions that related to the presentation assignment the class was working on. I've never used a Group Contract before but I felt this was essential to be proactive about expectations for students collaborating on a group assignment.

Using the Group Contract really helped set the tone for the assignment, especially since the class is run asynchronously. Having groups complete this assignment as the first step emphasized the collaborative nature of this assignment. One student noted in a post assignment reflection "I feel we all the the same amount of work. We did everything together as team without letting one person take weight". This helped me see that students achieved even work loads- which is always a concern with group projects. Another student said, "We followed the contract very well. None of us overstepped boundaries, we collaborated very well and we even became besties!" Hearing that students actually enjoyed working together and made a connection with their classmates gave me a much needed boost in my teaching spirit

I found the ACUE Course Demonstration Videos very beneficial as they were set in the online context and included student testimonial. ACUE Implementation Resources were crucial for the Group Contract practice I implemented because I used it as a base for the one I assigned. I also like that we still have access to the ACUE course for up to a year so we are able to go back and pull from these resources for future planning.

While I was a bit anxious to do the CTL "Observe and Analyze" session with colleagues but it was rewarding to see the practices in action and gain feedback and strategies on what to improve moving forward. One take away from this session was from another instructor who assigned synchronous discussion rooms where students were able to choose the topic or theme that interested them most. In my future synchronous sessions I want to offer students this type of flexibility to encourage student engagement on the topic.

Group Contract video screenshot

Video walkthrough of the Group Contract assignment provided to students

The Group Presentation Contract assignment on Canvas

ACUE Badges and Microcredential

Practice and Reflect: Plan to Implement Reflection Guide- Using groups

Faculty Biography

I've been teaching composition courses at Sacramento State since 2014. I received both my BA & MA in English so I'm proud to say that I was 'Made at Sac State'. Some areas of interest in composition are first year writing, writing assessment, equity, & metacognitive writing.

This work was supported by the Developing Hispanic Serving Institution Project INSPIRE