Thursday, November 18, 2004
Blog Assignment Week 13 and 14
The following two assignments are to be completed and posted to your blog by class time on Tuesday, November 23.
1. First, I'd like each of you to write a post about how your research for unit 3 has informed your vision of what professionals in the field you chose to study actually do on a daily basis. Whether you began with only a vague notion of the day-to-day work of your profession or whether you had first-hand experience within the field, explain how your understanding of the profession or field changed or developed in light of your research.
2. Since we didn't get to give our paragraphing discussion nearly enough attention the other day in class, I would like each of you to take a paragraph from one of your unit 3 papers and rewrite it according to the parameters we outlined in class (i.e. statement of main idea / explanation of main idea / example / explanation of example / conclusion of idea and/or transition to the next idea). You don't necessarily have to use the reworked version of the paragraph in your final paper, but hopefully some of you will.
Finally, for your last blog assignment, to be completed by class time on Tuesday, Novebmer 30, I would like you to assess the usefulness of your blog to your own work in English 11, in much the same way you assessed its usefulness to the scholar you studied in unit 3. I envision this post as both an assessment of your own work and a referendum on the entire concept of blogging in English 11 as I have implemented in our class. Since this is your last post, I'd like to see each of you post about 250 words, or about one double-spaced page in Microsoft Word. I ask that you pay special attention to this assignment, as it will both help you tie together all of the disparate things we learned in class this semester and it will help me rework the blog assignments for any future classes I teach.
The following two assignments are to be completed and posted to your blog by class time on Tuesday, November 23.
1. First, I'd like each of you to write a post about how your research for unit 3 has informed your vision of what professionals in the field you chose to study actually do on a daily basis. Whether you began with only a vague notion of the day-to-day work of your profession or whether you had first-hand experience within the field, explain how your understanding of the profession or field changed or developed in light of your research.
2. Since we didn't get to give our paragraphing discussion nearly enough attention the other day in class, I would like each of you to take a paragraph from one of your unit 3 papers and rewrite it according to the parameters we outlined in class (i.e. statement of main idea / explanation of main idea / example / explanation of example / conclusion of idea and/or transition to the next idea). You don't necessarily have to use the reworked version of the paragraph in your final paper, but hopefully some of you will.
Finally, for your last blog assignment, to be completed by class time on Tuesday, Novebmer 30, I would like you to assess the usefulness of your blog to your own work in English 11, in much the same way you assessed its usefulness to the scholar you studied in unit 3. I envision this post as both an assessment of your own work and a referendum on the entire concept of blogging in English 11 as I have implemented in our class. Since this is your last post, I'd like to see each of you post about 250 words, or about one double-spaced page in Microsoft Word. I ask that you pay special attention to this assignment, as it will both help you tie together all of the disparate things we learned in class this semester and it will help me rework the blog assignments for any future classes I teach.
Monday, November 08, 2004
Note About Draft Workshop Forms
On the right you will find recently-posted draft workshop forms for November 9 and November 11. These are the last draft workshop forms that will be provided for you. After November 11, you will be responsible for creating your own draft workshop forms and bringing them with you to class. You can use questions that have appeared on previous draft workshop forms or you can develop your own questions, but you MUST design a form with at least three substantial questions for every workshop or you will risk losing credit for that workshopping session.
On the right you will find recently-posted draft workshop forms for November 9 and November 11. These are the last draft workshop forms that will be provided for you. After November 11, you will be responsible for creating your own draft workshop forms and bringing them with you to class. You can use questions that have appeared on previous draft workshop forms or you can develop your own questions, but you MUST design a form with at least three substantial questions for every workshop or you will risk losing credit for that workshopping session.
Thursday, November 04, 2004
Blog Assignment Week 11
These prompts are to be completed before class time on Tuesday, November 9.
1. You just turned in your unit 2 portfolios, so once again I thought I'd give you a chance to reflect on your work in the unit. In addition to assessing your own portfolio, I'd like you to think about this: it seems that most people in the class did much better work for unit 2 than unit 1; do you think your work fits this pattern? Do you have any theories as to why this is happening?
2. Secondly, I'd like each of you to write about the discipline you chose to study for unit 3. Do you plan on majoring in this field? If not, why did you select it? If so, what drew you to this field? I encourage you to answer these questions as honestly as possible, because for many of you this is a decision that could affect you for your entire life.
These prompts are to be completed before class time on Tuesday, November 9.
1. You just turned in your unit 2 portfolios, so once again I thought I'd give you a chance to reflect on your work in the unit. In addition to assessing your own portfolio, I'd like you to think about this: it seems that most people in the class did much better work for unit 2 than unit 1; do you think your work fits this pattern? Do you have any theories as to why this is happening?
2. Secondly, I'd like each of you to write about the discipline you chose to study for unit 3. Do you plan on majoring in this field? If not, why did you select it? If so, what drew you to this field? I encourage you to answer these questions as honestly as possible, because for many of you this is a decision that could affect you for your entire life.
Tuesday, November 02, 2004
More Due Dates Changes
Please note that the due dates for unit 3 have changed slightly once again. The new due dates should appear correctly on the unit 3 assignment and due dates pages on this site.
Also, in case anyone was wondering, you didn't have any blog assignments for last week. However, you WILL have two prompts again this week (to be posted in the next day or two), so be on the lookout for that.
Please note that the due dates for unit 3 have changed slightly once again. The new due dates should appear correctly on the unit 3 assignment and due dates pages on this site.
Also, in case anyone was wondering, you didn't have any blog assignments for last week. However, you WILL have two prompts again this week (to be posted in the next day or two), so be on the lookout for that.
Wednesday, October 27, 2004
Academics Who Blog
In case you didn't see this site McLain found and you still haven't focused on an author to study in unit three check out this site. It has a lot of great links to academics who blog. This link is much, much better than the one posted in the assignment sequence, so check it out.
In case you didn't see this site McLain found and you still haven't focused on an author to study in unit three check out this site. It has a lot of great links to academics who blog. This link is much, much better than the one posted in the assignment sequence, so check it out.
Wednesday, October 20, 2004
Blog Assignment Week 9
These prompts are to be completed before class time on Tuesday, October 26.
1. Reflect briefly on how you believe that your speech was received by your partner during Thursday's workshop. Indicate both your general thoughts on the reception (good, bad, pretty good, etc.) and what specific parts of your speech (i.e. "the part where I talked about the monkeys," etc.) played well or played poorly with your partner. Also, explain how you think you will change your speech based on your partner's reaction.
2. Secondly, I would like you to reflect on your draft workshop process. I've been meaning to set aside some class time to talk about how your workshops are going, but as that's not likely to happen for at least a few weeks I'd like you to put your thoughts here. Do you enjoy doing the workshops online? Do you feel like you get more or less out of the workshops outside of class? Do you have suggestions about how we might run the workshops that would make better use of your time either inside or outside class?
These prompts are to be completed before class time on Tuesday, October 26.
1. Reflect briefly on how you believe that your speech was received by your partner during Thursday's workshop. Indicate both your general thoughts on the reception (good, bad, pretty good, etc.) and what specific parts of your speech (i.e. "the part where I talked about the monkeys," etc.) played well or played poorly with your partner. Also, explain how you think you will change your speech based on your partner's reaction.
2. Secondly, I would like you to reflect on your draft workshop process. I've been meaning to set aside some class time to talk about how your workshops are going, but as that's not likely to happen for at least a few weeks I'd like you to put your thoughts here. Do you enjoy doing the workshops online? Do you feel like you get more or less out of the workshops outside of class? Do you have suggestions about how we might run the workshops that would make better use of your time either inside or outside class?
Tuesday, October 19, 2004
Unit 2 Grading Rubric
· Student revises all drafts thoroughly and aggressively.
· Student displays a competent set of analytical skills.
· Student cites all outside research correctly using MLA documentation.
· Student participates well in class (arrives on time, participates in class discussions, etc.).
· Student completes all work on time, including blog assignments.
· Student performs effectively in draft workshops.
· Student displays a productive understanding of the components of a strong argument.
· Student displays an ability to effectively gauge and account for his or her rhetorical situation.
· Student understands the concepts of ethos, pathos and logos and when it is appropriate to deploy each of them in support of an argument.
· Student’s final drafts are free of excess verbage, spelling errors and other grammatical mistakes. Student’s speech is free of visual and verbal distractions.
· Student revises all drafts thoroughly and aggressively.
· Student displays a competent set of analytical skills.
· Student cites all outside research correctly using MLA documentation.
· Student participates well in class (arrives on time, participates in class discussions, etc.).
· Student completes all work on time, including blog assignments.
· Student performs effectively in draft workshops.
· Student displays a productive understanding of the components of a strong argument.
· Student displays an ability to effectively gauge and account for his or her rhetorical situation.
· Student understands the concepts of ethos, pathos and logos and when it is appropriate to deploy each of them in support of an argument.
· Student’s final drafts are free of excess verbage, spelling errors and other grammatical mistakes. Student’s speech is free of visual and verbal distractions.
