February 27

Today, we responded to a quote about research on the Web for writing into the day.  Then, we discussed the Research Proposal.  The Proposal does not need to go on Moodle (as it states in the assignment description).  Instead, we will bring a hard copy to the conference.  The Proposal will still need to be posted to the blog before the conference.  It would also be smart to bring a daybook to the conference to take notes.

After discussing the Proposal, we read the "Finding Credible Sources" handout in small groups.  We watched a video about the Primerica Scam and discussed whether it was credible:

How is the video credible?

• They stated that major companies support them.
• They used many statistics, numbers and facts.
• They showed how they have a strong foundation as a company.
• They showed interviews with upper management.
• They showed the "myths" that people were saying about the company so the video appeared more objective.
• They discredited the Internet.
• They showed interviews with people who had made money with the company.

How is the video not credible?

• Being part of the NYSE doesn't make a company credible.  Just look at Enron.  It is power, not credibility, that gets a company on the NYSE.
• They could easily make up the numbers.
• They talked about themselves rather than the people below them.
• They were very defensive.  They explained how everyone else was wrong.
• It was very biased.
• They blind you with talk of money.

How could they make the video more credible?

• Explain how to get involved with the company and what they actually do.
• Explain what the goal of the company is.
• Get real customers to talk about the services.
• Quote credible sources.
• Show a rating.

Then, we talked about why Wikipedia is considered an uncredible sources in academic (anyone can write on it) and how we can use it to our advantage.  Wikipedia is a good starting point.  It can give the reader a foundational understanding of a subject.  Then, the reader can follow (and use in a paper) the citations provided at the bottom of the Wikipedia article.  Make sure, though, that the source that it takes you to is credible before you use it in your paper.

Finally, we wrote about what participation grade we believe we deserved based on the following: participation in whole group, participation in small group, coming prepared to class, volunteering to read and staying attentive in class.  (If you were absent, please email this to me before Spring Break.)

Homework:

• Post the answers to the "Self Assessment Reflection" handout on your blog before Monday at noon.
• Post your second draft of your Exploratory Essay to your blog before Monday at noon.
• Post your second draft of your Exploratory Essay to Moodle before Monday at noon.  Post it in the forum called "POST YOUR EXPLORATORY ESSAY HERE." If you do not turn in the essay on Moodle before noon on Monday, you will receive a zero for this assignment.

Note: On March 11 (the day we come back from Spring Break), we will meet in Room 125 in the library.

February 25

Today, we wrote into the day about our writing processes for the Exploratory Essay.  Then, we got into our inquiry groups and workshopped our papers using the method discussed last week.  If there were three people in the group, the paper was discussed for 20 minutes.  If there were four people, the paper was discussed for 15 minutes.  If there were five people, the paper was discussed for 12 minutes.

Homework:

• On your blog, answer the questions on the "Workshop Reflection for Your Blog" handout before class on Wednesday.
• Post your second draft to the blog (copy and paste) and to Moodle (a Word file) before class on Monday (March 4) at noon.  You will post your paper in the forum called "Post Your Exploratory Essay Here."

February 20

Today, for writing into the day, we answered questions about the purpose of workshopping.  After discussing the writing into the day, we got into small groups and made a list of do's and don't's of workshopping using "Responding - Really Responding - to Other Students' Writing," the "Revision is" handout and our past experiences with workshopping.  We made a class list of the Do's and Don't's, which is as follows:

 

Do

• Comment on specifics
• Be specific
• Balance critique
• Ask questions
• Tell the writer what he/she made you think about
• Give detailed comments
• Balance comment length - be brief but specific
• Make suggestions
• Point out clarity issues
• Explain what you understood about the paper
• Know what stage of writing the writer is in
• Comment on grammar only if it messes up clarity
• Think about the context of the paper
• Talk about specific points and give a summary of your opinions
• Back up your opinion

Don't

• Don't be mean
• Don't be nice
• Don't re-write
• Don't have grammar be the main focus
• Don't be the teacher
• Don't change the writer's method and style 

Then, we discussed the handouts about reflections.  After workshopping next class, we will answer the questions on the "Reflection for Workshop" handout on the blog.  Then, when we hand in the second draft, we will answer the "Self Assessment" questions on the blog.  After conferences (which will take place the week after Spring Break), we will answer the "Reflection for Conferences" on the blog.

 

We read a newspaper article about a 6-year-old boy who took his mother's car to go see his dad.  We picked a perspective in the article and each person wrote a narrative from that point of view.  Then, we used the following steps to workshop Megan's narrative:

1. The writer address 2-3 concerns about the work
2. The writer reads the paper aloud
3. The writer and readers discuss the paper.  The writer asks questions and pushes readers to explain criticism.

For the last five minutes, we wrote out our current inquiry questions and our weekly availability.  Megan will be using these to schedule conferences.

Homework

• Finish writing your first draft of the Exploratory Essay.  (It must be three pages.)
• Post a copy of your draft to your blog before class.
• Bring four hardcopies of your draft with you to class.

February 18

Today, we wrote about what we have learned and/or thought about since the beginning of the semester.  Then, we got into our inquiry groups and wrote out our golden lines on giant post-it notes.  We walked around to read all the quotes and had the following discussion:

• When we see the quotes standing alone, they seem more significant than when we read them in the article.
• The quotes sum up the article as a whole.
• Every group had the quote about humanities giving richness in life.
• I wanted the author of the article to give more examples.  For example, he could have explained more about how humanities leads to richness in life.
• I like his teaching methods.  For example, he made his students figure it out on their own.  He highlighted the creativity and diversity of the classroom.
• The quotes made us think about the benefits of liberal arts.
• Rich people are above social norms.  They can get away with things that would make other people weird.
• You should take classes based on what you are pursuing.  Not everyone needs a liberal arts education.
• If you don't know what you want to do in life, you shouldn't focus on one subject.  You should do something like a liberal arts education.
• You should be able to choose your course path.
• There should be more flexibility in the kinds of liberal arts classes you take.  They should have classes that would be more related to specific majors instead of these broad catch all classes.
• They should have whole universities devoted to one occupational focus.
• There are schools like that, culinary school for example.  They still have to take liberal arts classes.
• Why not take them?  Liberal arts classes aren't going to hurt.  They can only help you.
• Liberal arts classes will help you interact with people.
• People who don't want to take liberal arts won't have the drive to apply what they learn.
   

After this discussion, we reread the assignment description for the Exploratory Essay and talked about the "Exploratory Essay - Further Explanation" handout.  Then we did brainstorming about the Exploratory Essay in partners.  We wrote about our ideas and then talked them over with our partners.

Homework:

• Read Swales' article "Responding - Really Responding to Other Students' Writing."  As you read it, pay attention to the do's and don't's of workshopping (peer review).
• Post a reading response.

February 13

For writing into the day, we listed everything we know about a country or countries.  Then, we watched two short videos about 21st century skills and global competition.  After these videos, we discussed questions (on the PowerPoint) in small groups, then have the following whole group discussion:

• These skills are essential to be able to compete.
• Some jobs don't need as much global awareness.  You won't need it for criminal justice or health care, for example.
• Global awareness could never hurt.  You will meet people from other places all the time.  It doesn't mean you have to go to those countries, but you will encounter them in the US.
• The amount of global awareness depends on your job.  Everyone needs the basics but the depth will vary depending on your future goals.
• We need to know what's going on in the news.  Things that happen in other countries affect us here.  We need to be more aware because it will make us more prepared for what is going to happen.
• Global awareness makes us better morally.  We will realize how much we have.
• It would help us be more critical thinkers.  You can apply smaller concepts to a global world.  You will develop skills that might help you pick up on things other people might not notice. 
• People in the US judge others for other countries because those in the US are uninformed.  If we are informed, we can give those people more respect.
• American students don't have the drive.  We don't work as hard as people in other countries.
• We need to have a higher value of education.  In other countries, they don't have access to education like we do.  In the US, almost everyone can pass high school.
• It's too late to start learning language in high school.  We need to start in elementary school.
• Most countries do that.  They start learning English in Kindergarten and keep learning it.
• One person being globally aware will help the people around that person be more globally aware too.
• Students should go on more field trips.  You should learn something over the year and go on a field trip to apply what you learned.
• Field trips help you learn without realizing you are learning.
• Field trips make students more creative.
• We need to structure our schools to be more competitive, like the elite schools in the "Social Class" reading.
• Other countries (like Finland) don't use multiple choice.  We use it because it's easier.  It takes work to teach critical thinking instead of the factory model of education. 
• Teachers need to connect current events to the subject matter.
• People can point out Americans in other countries because they know more about us.
• In other countries, they don't work when they are in school.  We don't focus on education; we focus on the future and what we want.
• It's interesting to learn about other cultures.  It breaks down stereotypes.
• Knowing Spanish and French doesn't help you compete with the big countries.  You need languages like Chinese.
• We should do more study abroad when we are younger.

Then, we read the descriptions of Liberal Education and Montessori Education.  In small groups, we discussed what we thought of these methods.  In the last five minutes, we wrote down what we were thinking.

Homework:

• Read "On the Uses of a Liberal Education."
• Post a reading response on your blog.
• Bring your golden line to class with you on Monday.

February 11

Today, we responded to a quote from "More Babies Please" for writing into the day.  Then, we had the following discussion:

• In the 1900s, women were the primary caretakers and now there is equality between men and women for careers.  That may be decreasing the value of having a family.
• Part of the problem is a need for welfare reform.  The system is abused.  Women will have children with multiple fathers to get more welfare income.
• A lot of people are not raising families.  It's more than just a lack of education or low economic status.
• A large number of women are thinking they'll never get married.  Why?  Is there really a shortage of marriageable men?  Where did the marriageable men go?
• According to last night's reading, the guys aren't dependable.  The women don't see the men as able to hold up their half of the relationship.
• On page 73, the girls say that the men try to tell them what to do.  Maybe they don't want to marry because they don't want to be controlled.
• What makes a man "marriagble"?  Who decides?
• Men have children out of wedlock too.  This quote is stereotypical.  It's not just women.
• In the reading, most women pregnancies were unplanned.

Then we brought the discussion back to "In the Basement of the Ivory Tower" (continued from last class):

• Everyone should have the opportunity to go to college, but not everyone can keep up with the work that college requires.
• People need to know the basics before going to college.
• Not everyone will want to go or should go.  
• Degrees are of lesser value now because everyone has a Bachelors.
• Lots of students cannot afford to go to grad school so they don't end up going.
• But then why bother getting the Bachelors if you can't do grad school (if you need grad school for your career)?
• Why is society making it so difficult to get a degree and to get a job?
• Classes should be weed out classes.  People should not need to apply to upper-division programs once they are already accepted into the college.
• Aren't you wasting your time if you don't get into the programs?
• But it makes people work harder because it's a competitive situation.
• It makes people more prepared for the work force.
• Weed out classes are better because they will show you who will stay/survive in the program and won't waste time and money.  The hard classes also prepare you better for the work force.
• It just shows the importance of guidance and support before college.  We all need someone who will be very real and honest about the realities of college, particular majors, how to pay for college and what the procedures are to get a job after college.
• Advising and preparation is necessary, but it is currently lacking.
• People focus on getting into college but not what happens when they get there.
• Not everyone should go to college.  Some people already have paths that don't involve college that will be just (if not more) successful.
• Experience has social capital value in society.  There are things that cannot be taught in school.
• No one should be forced to go to college, but everyone should have the opportunity.
• In the first year of high school, you should take a pre-college course to see if college is for you.
• Even if you don't go to college, there might be classes you could take to give you an edge (business classes, for example).
• Some view not having an education as a bad thing.
• According to society, yes, everyone should go to college.
• In the past, little to no school was required to get a job.  Now jobs are requiring junior college at minimum.
• Why does society require more school?  Is it because of modernized technology?
• Part of it is that major issues have happened if training is like a game of telephone (word of mouth).
• It's more dependable to have formal education.  It standardized things.
• There is also more push in jobs for continuing education.
• General education courses are not about getting a degree. They are about critical thinking about the job and the world around you.
• If you are only trained in one field, how will you be qualified for another position?  You need a broader education.
• If everyone went to college, who would do the other jobs (fast food, manual labor, etc)?  We need people in those jobs. 
• If everyone went to college, people would get very small amounts of financial aid.
• Even if you can afford it, should you have to pay for it yourself?
• Many people cheat the system for financial aid.  
• But how would you determine whether they are cheating?
• Some people make too much money to get aid, but not enough to pay for college without loans.
• If you are qualified for college and don't have money, you can get a scholarship.
• The big scholarships are for minorities and low income.
• You can work a job and go to college.
• You can do University of Phoenix.  You can do online school.
• There are trade class at some schools.  These trades could can give you a back up if college doesn't work out.
• Financial aid should be based on effort.  There should be an application process similar to college admission applications.
• Scholarships should be balanced between merit-based, GPA-based and needs-based.
• You need to be doing stuff for scholarships (volunteering, extra cir. activities) throughout high school.  You cannot just do it your senior year and expect to get scholarships.
• The people who do the work are the ones who get the scholarships.
• GPA is not the best determiner for scholarships.  And community service is easy when you already have the time and money.  It should be based on needs.
• But even if your parents have money that doesn't mean your parents will pay for you.
• Cheating is available to everyone, but not everyone does it.
• There should be a space on FAFSA to indicate who is paying for the college.
• Some parents think that children should have to work for college.
• Why should parents have to pay?  Your college doesn't affect them.
• What about parents who wouldn't let their kids have hobs in high school?
• Should people take time off between high school and college to earn money for college?
• Aren't you going to college to get a job?
• There should be bracketed scholarships.
• It goes back to being educated about education.

Homework:

Post what you are thinking about today's discussion.

February 6

After responding to a comic for writing into the day, we got into groups based on the assigned sections of "Social Class and the Hidden Curriculum of Work."  In these groups, answered questions (found on the PowerPoint) about the assigned section.  Then, we divided up the groups so that each of the new groups had at least one person representing each section.  These new groups shared what they had read.  In essence, after this group work, each person knew what the whole article said even though he/she hadn't read the whole thing.  We had the following discussion about the reading:

• Schools and districts can be subdivided by social class.  The higher social classes take the upper level courses.
• It was the type of activities that were used in the classroom that determined the social class of the kids.  What you learn is dependent on how you are taught.
• For example, the students from the elite class were encouraged to disagree with others, were given more control and were given the ability to be in charge.  These are characteristics for CEOs.
• We could tell which classes we are from
• As the social class gets higher, the control moves from the teacher to the student and there are fewer rules.
• The levels of the classes were preparing students to either be followers or leaders.
• The students were taught to be and think like their parents.
• I am reminded of the video about creativity.  Creativity is put in the elite schools, so obviously they realize that creativity is a good thing in schools.
• It might be harder for lower classes to be taught and to learn in the same way as the higher classes because they do not have models for that kind of learning at home.
• Teachers of higher class classrooms had more trouble with classroom management because, in those classrooms, success is measured by the ability to question authority and to be the maverick.
• The level of respect for students went up as the social class went up.
• Trade programs (supposedly easy courses) actually become more difficult for students who are used to AP classes  (supposedly hard courses) because the AP students are used to being able to think through a problem.  The trade program classes, instead, are more about memorization.
• You don't know how much a person can learn (or in what ways) until you push them.

In groups, we read through "In the Basement of the Ivory Tower" and discussed these questions:

1. Does everyone have an equal and open opportunity to go to college?
2. Should everyone go to college?

In the last five minutes, we wrote down what we had discussed in small groups.  We will continue that discussion in whole group on Monday.

Homework:
Read your assigned sections of Women without Class and post a reading response to your blog.
*Note: The reading is labeled Women without Class on Moodle.  The chapter you are reading (and the title you will see when you print it) is called "How Working Class Chicas Get Working-Class Lives."

If you were absent today, please email me so you I can assign you a section of the reading.