January 23

Today, we did a writing into the day about a Calvin and Hobbes comic.  Then, we looked at examples of blog comments (from the class' actual blogs) and talked about what makes a "good" comment.  We came up with the following:

• Asking questions about information the author did not think about initially
• Making connections
• Offering information (such as links to readings) to keep the author thinking, reading and writing
• Offering a different point of view
• Giving examples of other kinds of writing
• Constructive criticism (exploring the author's weaknesses and/or strengths in writing)
• Giving feedback
• Creating a discussion with the author
• Answering the author's questions
• Starting a debate
• Thinking critically about the post before commenting

Then, we started watching clips from movies and TV shows that depict school.  We watched clips from Dead Poet's Society, Boy Meets World and Dawson's Creek, and answered the first five questions on the "Pop Culture Representations of School" handout about each set of clips.  We will continue this next class.

Homework:

• Read "My 54 Year Love Affair with the SAT."  Read only the first five pages (page = a page of the book, not an 8X11.5 page.)  Stop reading at the three stars.
• Post a reading response on your blog.
• Post an additional post to your blog.  This can be a post about anything we have talked about in class or anything you are thinking about in the topic of school/education.
• Comment on two of your inquiry group's posts.