I am really delighted these students chose to have this experience with me. Here's my own picture, by the way:
Wednesday, November 30, 2016
Dear World Follow Up
We attended the Dear World event on campus, and a few of my students chose to participate, as did I. Here are our pictures!
I am really delighted these students chose to have this experience with me. Here's my own picture, by the way:
I am really delighted these students chose to have this experience with me. Here's my own picture, by the way:
Saturday, November 26, 2016
Moodle Forum Oops
Maybe giving my class Tuesday "off" over Thanksgiving break was not the best plan, but I was trying to be generous. I assigned instead mandatory participation in a Moodle forum. I even extended the assignment by a few days. Still, only about half the class participated, which means a drop in points for the rest. The students that did participate had a strong discussion after reading "My Crowd Experience: The Mob Project" by Bill Wasik. I set up two question sets for consideration and reply:
1. In answering the following questions, bring in at least one quote from the text that supports your point of view.
How does social media enable phenomena like flash mobs? Use the Dunbar number (Limits of Friendship, p. 236) to examine the ways in which social media allows memes to spread. How does the rule of three enable viral ideas? Do the limitations of the Dunbar number represent a limitation on viral culture as well?
and
2. Again, please use at least one quote from the text to support your point of view.
What role does emotion play in our use of technology? Does social media support or hinder our emotional development?What impact do memes or the bandwagon effect have on the ways in which we use technology? Do you turn to social media when you are bored? Does our ability to connect to others rely on emotions?
I did get some very thoughtful discussion, which I much appreciated. I just wish the whole class had participated.
On that note, I have two students I am very concerned about, the same two that failed to turn in essay three. One has missed many classes, but participated in the Moodle forum this week. The other had good attendance, and fairly good participation, at first, but now seems unconcerned with the class entirely. I need to speak with them after the holiday break. I plan to offer them a chance to make up a little of the credit for essay three, and a way to circumvent essay four. They won't earn full credit, but anything is better than nothing, and I hate the idea of failing any of them. Here's my offer, which I emailed to them and will follow up on next week:
Instead of two 2-3 page essays arguing opposite sides of one issue, please write a 4-6 page essay, arguing one side of an issue, but clearly addressing the counter-argument. You must use at least two of the readings we did for class, as well as at least two outside sources to provide greater support for your argument. You can earn up to 75% of the score for the two final drafts (essays three and four) in doing this, but will receive no credit for rough drafts. I still encourage rough drafts so that I can assist you in making corrections, etc.
1. In answering the following questions, bring in at least one quote from the text that supports your point of view.
How does social media enable phenomena like flash mobs? Use the Dunbar number (Limits of Friendship, p. 236) to examine the ways in which social media allows memes to spread. How does the rule of three enable viral ideas? Do the limitations of the Dunbar number represent a limitation on viral culture as well?
and
2. Again, please use at least one quote from the text to support your point of view.
What role does emotion play in our use of technology? Does social media support or hinder our emotional development?What impact do memes or the bandwagon effect have on the ways in which we use technology? Do you turn to social media when you are bored? Does our ability to connect to others rely on emotions?
I did get some very thoughtful discussion, which I much appreciated. I just wish the whole class had participated.
On that note, I have two students I am very concerned about, the same two that failed to turn in essay three. One has missed many classes, but participated in the Moodle forum this week. The other had good attendance, and fairly good participation, at first, but now seems unconcerned with the class entirely. I need to speak with them after the holiday break. I plan to offer them a chance to make up a little of the credit for essay three, and a way to circumvent essay four. They won't earn full credit, but anything is better than nothing, and I hate the idea of failing any of them. Here's my offer, which I emailed to them and will follow up on next week:
Instead of two 2-3 page essays arguing opposite sides of one issue, please write a 4-6 page essay, arguing one side of an issue, but clearly addressing the counter-argument. You must use at least two of the readings we did for class, as well as at least two outside sources to provide greater support for your argument. You can earn up to 75% of the score for the two final drafts (essays three and four) in doing this, but will receive no credit for rough drafts. I still encourage rough drafts so that I can assist you in making corrections, etc.
Sunday, November 20, 2016
Essay Three Results
It was actually rather difficult getting some of my students to firmly take a stance for their argumentative essays! Too many of them wanted to take both sides, or not express a strong opinion one way or the other. I commented on probably half the rough drafts that they needed to choose a side, and solidify their arguments. I also mentioned using sources wisely a number of times, and making sure that they followed the assignment.
Most of them managed to pull it off...MOST. There were still a couple of essays that did not have enough sources, or that were a little weak in their arguments. I even had two students fail to turn in anything at all. The problem here is that essay number four will be based off this essay, and if essay three isn't well developed (or developed at all), essay four will be impossible.
I had a few that were really good, that stood out above the rest. One, whose premise I don't agree with at all, said very firmly that transgender students should not be allowed to enroll in a single-sex college. While I may take issue with this, I have to admit that the student who wrote this essay took one of the strongest stances in the class, and used sources well to back it up. It was an argumentative essay, exactly what I had asked for.
I'll post the essay four prompt soon!
Most of them managed to pull it off...MOST. There were still a couple of essays that did not have enough sources, or that were a little weak in their arguments. I even had two students fail to turn in anything at all. The problem here is that essay number four will be based off this essay, and if essay three isn't well developed (or developed at all), essay four will be impossible.
I had a few that were really good, that stood out above the rest. One, whose premise I don't agree with at all, said very firmly that transgender students should not be allowed to enroll in a single-sex college. While I may take issue with this, I have to admit that the student who wrote this essay took one of the strongest stances in the class, and used sources well to back it up. It was an argumentative essay, exactly what I had asked for.
I'll post the essay four prompt soon!
Monday, November 14, 2016
Dear World
Our campus is hosting a Dear World project on November 17. I'd like my students to learn about this, and hopefully participate, as we'll be doing a service project on this in the spring (more details below). To gear up for this project, I am asking that they view the Dear World galleries, and see if anything resonates with them. I won't require them to participate, but will offer it as extra credit.
Dear World was "started...in 2009, when people across New Orleans wrote their “love notes to the city." People share a message, using their own bodies as their canvas. In the spring, we'll be working with elementary students to form their own Dear World messages, culminating in a photo-shoot that will be shared with friends and family. This is part of the service learning approach that I am coming to realize really connects real world situations to our education.
I'll post more when we have pictures!
Dear World was "started...in 2009, when people across New Orleans wrote their “love notes to the city." People share a message, using their own bodies as their canvas. In the spring, we'll be working with elementary students to form their own Dear World messages, culminating in a photo-shoot that will be shared with friends and family. This is part of the service learning approach that I am coming to realize really connects real world situations to our education.
I'll post more when we have pictures!
Thursday, November 10, 2016
Visiting the Writing Center
I mentioned last week that we would be doing a workshop at the Writing Center, in addition to the library visit we had made, so that my students will be very prepared in writing argumentative essays. Unfortunately, it seems some of them are/were still under-prepared! I had asked them to bring their rough drafts, and many did indeed do that, but there were several with only vague ideas in their minds as to what they are doing for this essay, and I had two absences.
Erika had set up four stations for us: how to write clear thesis statements; addressing the counter argument/rebuttal; how to structure your essay (reverse outlining); and paragraph development and organization. I was happy when we got there to see some familiar faces ready to assist!
I think of all the stations, one of my favorites was the paragraph organization station, where they were asked to use various pen colors to underline or highlights parts of their paragraphs. This gives them such a great visual as to their strong and weak points in each paragraph! This is a technique I would like to learn more about, for use in the classroom in the future.
I wish every student had come with a rough draft as requested. I could tell it was really difficult for some of the Writing Center staff to lead them in exercises when they had next to nothing to work with. Apparently I need to make it even more clear that they need to be fully prepared for our next workshop in the spring.
Erika had set up four stations for us: how to write clear thesis statements; addressing the counter argument/rebuttal; how to structure your essay (reverse outlining); and paragraph development and organization. I was happy when we got there to see some familiar faces ready to assist!
I think of all the stations, one of my favorites was the paragraph organization station, where they were asked to use various pen colors to underline or highlights parts of their paragraphs. This gives them such a great visual as to their strong and weak points in each paragraph! This is a technique I would like to learn more about, for use in the classroom in the future.
I wish every student had come with a rough draft as requested. I could tell it was really difficult for some of the Writing Center staff to lead them in exercises when they had next to nothing to work with. Apparently I need to make it even more clear that they need to be fully prepared for our next workshop in the spring.
Friday, November 4, 2016
Visiting the Library
Yesterday, with the essay three prompt fresh in hand, we headed off to the library for an introduction to library services and some guided research assistance. I was informed, as we were heading out of the classroom after a quick check-in, that one student would be late as he had locked himself out of his dorm room. At least he let someone know, so they could pass the message on! Once we got to the library, they were quick to assist us, and we soon found ourselves seated in a study room with laptops. I followed along with my students as we were led through the search process by Sheila. I checked in with each student too, regarding their ideas for the essay, and what kind of research they thought would be applicable.I also reminded the of essay deadlines for this assignment.
I had one student not attend at all, but the other fifteen were there, with the late student showing up minutes after we arrived. The students I checked in with at the end of class felt that it had been a good experience, and very helpful in knowing how to search, how to narrow results, and what types of resources to look for.
Next week, we have a trip to the Writing Center planned. I emailed them a little while back, including my prompt, and they are setting up a four station workshop for my students. They are to bring in their rough drafts so that we can tackle any potential issues ahead of time.
The class did get off to a bit of a rough start, as the day before, we had all gotten an emergency message from campus, relating to the discovery of a human body in a shallow grave on campus. My students were in a state of shock, and needed to have a check-in to gather their thoughts and settle down before they could move forward with the everyday tasks of writing an essay. Rumors were/are flying around campus about the victim... was it a child or an old man? Was it a student or a transient? Today I am thankful for the check-ins, because it gave us all a sense of safety in being together.
I had one student not attend at all, but the other fifteen were there, with the late student showing up minutes after we arrived. The students I checked in with at the end of class felt that it had been a good experience, and very helpful in knowing how to search, how to narrow results, and what types of resources to look for.
Next week, we have a trip to the Writing Center planned. I emailed them a little while back, including my prompt, and they are setting up a four station workshop for my students. They are to bring in their rough drafts so that we can tackle any potential issues ahead of time.
The class did get off to a bit of a rough start, as the day before, we had all gotten an emergency message from campus, relating to the discovery of a human body in a shallow grave on campus. My students were in a state of shock, and needed to have a check-in to gather their thoughts and settle down before they could move forward with the everyday tasks of writing an essay. Rumors were/are flying around campus about the victim... was it a child or an old man? Was it a student or a transient? Today I am thankful for the check-ins, because it gave us all a sense of safety in being together.
Tuesday, November 1, 2016
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