I think that one idea for our collaborative writing project might begin with the project proposals that we are going to collaboratively author for our classes. Perhaps we could show the interchange between theory and practice by designing projects and detailed plans, writing theoretical rationale for such plans, and then reporting on the actual practice with our students once we have tried daily activities in the classroom. This way the theory has a ready test and we can actively see the ways in which theory and practice work together in our classes. Further, we will then have a forum of ideas that includes what works (and what does not) at what points in the semester and why, and we might be able to analyze the disjunction between theory and practice in specific contexts. If we view this collaborative writing activity as something that we would like to "publish" as a class, we can offer advice and strategies (as well as the theoretical underpinnings therein) to other composition teachers based on actual observations.
Melinda Hollis
I second the motion for project proposals as our class writing project. In addition to project design and detailed plans, perhaps we could also create a few sample papers to attach with each.
Erin Trauth
I like Melinda's idea with a few caveats. Part of the point is that this we create a collaborative unified text, right? So we would want to make sure that the different sections (each dreamt-up project would need Detailed Plans, Rationale, and Class Results sections, right?) don't end up being bullet points. Or at least if they start as bullet points, we later take a couple weeks to smooth them out into language.
Also--again, assuming we're dedicated to avoiding the jumble of last year's collaboarative "essay"--we would need to find a way to assess how practices work in the classroom without losing the authoritative voice of a single author. In other words, I don't think we want one entry that says, "I tried this in class and it bombed," followed by a paragraph saying, "Well I tried it and it freaking rocked my pants off." Instead, we want, "This technique can work under X circumstance or bomb under Y circumstance." But the more I think about it, the more I think it might be necessary to have that preliminary step. I think collaborative essays necessitate a group of people dedicated to work on it over time. (Yikes.)
In short, I think Melinda and Erin are right on about identifying what we need most: something to help us with our group projects and more guidance on teaching current and future class projects. (Sample essays! Love it!) But I'm less convinced that we can do that ultra-effectively if we're locked into this collaborative essay idea.
-Kyle Stedman