A Midsummer Day's Check-in

Happy Summer!

I hope your Summer is going well! Happy 250th to America & Happy World Cup to everyone: wish Team USA luck this evening! I’ve just started to teach my Summer term class, and it’s been fun seeing a few of you around the hallways of the JKB & JFSB. Please do continue to relish the uncrowded campus (FSY groups excepted), but keep the following announcements in mind as Fall looms, I mean gently approaches.

General Adjunct Meeting: Thursday, August 20!

The general adjunct meeting will be held Thursday, August 20, from 9-12 in 4186/88 with lunch at noon. Please RSVP by Monday, August 3 so we can place the lunch order! (For newly hired adjuncts, there will also be an orientation from 1:00-3:00 pm in the same location.) Attending the meeting is a great way to start the semester with pertinent, updated information. Hope to see you there!

WRTG 150 Textbook Update!

The new Writing 150 textbook, Becoming Writers, will be published later this month. It includes nine custom chapters written by BYU writing program faculty and fourteen chapters (including a new chapter on AI) from the 5th Edition of Everyone’s an Author. Click here to see a copy of the table of contents. Hard copies will be available for all English adjunct faculty by the end of July.

Becoming Writers is a required text for all WRTG 150 classes. You may use the ISBN numbers listed below to put Becoming Writers on your class Booklist, and please list Norton as both the author & publisher. We don’t yet know the final cost to students since the bookstore will partly determine the price, but the e-book should only be $10 cheapter than the paperbook + e-book (all the hard copies will come with access to the electronic copy). We’re estimating that the paperback + e-book will be around $60 after the bookstore markup. If you are teaching WRTG 150 this Fall, please use the same version of the book (ebook, hard copy, Perusall, etc.) that you indicated you would use in the March 2026 survey I sent out.

Paperback with ebook: 9781324080763, ebook only: 9781324139461, Perusall: 9781324080794

Featured Resource: University Writing Commons

As you’re preparing for your Fall courses, don’t forget to check out the University Writing Commons! The UWC is a repository of resources meant to make your teaching life a little easier. On the commons, you’ll find lesson plans, training materials, student work examples, assignment descriptions, slide decks, and more. Use the category tags on the lefthand side to narrow your search or enter keywords into the search bar. Also, we recommend bookmarking the link, so you can easily access it in a pinch. Whether you’re teaching a course for the first time or wanting to freshen up your syllabus, we hope the UWC can help meet your needs and your students' needs.

Call for Materials: If you have any teaching resources that have been working amazingly in your classroom, please submit them on the University Writing Commons! We’re especially looking to build up our materials for Writing 312 and Writing 316. Visit this link to fill out the form and upload your resource. We love getting new content! 

If you don’t have access to the commons, please email Ansalee Greenwood  (ansalee[email protected]) with your netID, and she can add you to the system. You can also email her any questions you have about the commons.

Labor-based grading & some AI thoughts

Katie Irion & Anna Low presented on labor-based grading during April’s biennial conference, and Rebecca Ballard organized a Zoom call a few weeks ago to discuss how other adjuncts have used labor-based grading in their classroom. Thank you to Becca for sharing the Zoom meeting recording that I’m including here and for inspiring me to give this a shot! (I’m trying out some labor-based grading for my final project this Summer!) In these AI times, and when we’re trying to focus on process over product, these are timely discussions! And in that vein, check out this recent article from The Atlantic shared by Liz Busby on AI & mental effort.

Stuff for your calendar

JULY

• Tuesday, July 28: Withdraw Deadline for Summer Term

AUGUST

• Monday, August 10: Last Day of Class of Summer Term

• Wednesday, August 19: Grade Submission Deadline for Summer Term

• Thursday, August 20: General Adjunct Meeting 9-12 pm, Lunch @ Noon, New Adjunct Hire Orientation from 1-3 pm: 4186/88 JFSB

SEPTEMBER

• Wednesday, September 2: First Day of Class Fall Semester

• Thursday, September 10: Add/Drop Deadline for Fall Semester