I've taught at four institutions so far, and all of them required me to cover the traditional formal research paper. The assumption seems to be that professors in other departments give this sort of assignment frequently, and they believe it's the job of first-year composition instructors to make sure the students can complete it well.

A first year composition teacher has asked Slashdotters some questions about their college writing experience:

So think back to your writing. What has made you more comfortable with your writing, or eager to improve what you've written? What inspires you to read outside of a classroom or mandated context? Was has impressed on you the importance of revision, or at least of reviewing your writing at intervals? Which parts of which college (or high school) curricula have helped you write better? Finally, which aspects of your students' or co-workers' writing do you find most troublesome?"

Some insightful discussion in the comments. I can see the positive effects that writing teachers are having because they are debating issues of audience, revision, and whether or not to focus on grammar in early drafts.

Here's a fun blog containing a plethora of poems celebrating the absurdity of English spelling. You may have heard some of these before, but they're still fun and good grist for FYC. What's your favorite?

I know that so many of us here at Knews employ blogs in our FYC classes. What I'm curious about is if anyone has a good list (or knows where one can be found) of good suggested topics for FYC blogs. Last year I tried to recommend blog topics that involved writing and the university community. However, I'd like to offer more options that might help engage more students and get closer to the true spirit of blogs. The role I want blogs to play in the classroom is an opportunity to experiment with style, tone, and voice, as well as an opportunity to reflect on topics and themes relevant to the study of writing.