At this point in the course, students are almost finished with their first major assignment but now have to somehow balance the two remaining major assignments, the argumentative essay and the worker portrait. Although Karen said she likes that this setup keeps students busy, it seems a bit confusing. Some students even came up to Karen and me after class, and they were unaware that they were even supposed to submit the rough draft of their first major assignment. I'm almost leery of using Blackboard or relying so heavily on email communication because it seems to breed a lot of confusion. However, this confusion could just be a result of several changes to the syllabus.
Regardless, Karen spent the rest of Thursday's class discussing argument, which she said takes different forms for different purposes and audiences. She passed out copies of the recent New York Times op-ed piece, "Poor Models. Seriously." and broke her students into small groups to answer some questions about it (thesis and supporting points, intended audience, the writer's authority, outside sources, opposing arguments, strongest/weakest points). I was surprised by how much difficulty her students had in forming groups; it was kind of funny how childish they seemed. This guided groupwork, though, ended up working out perfectly. I also liked Karen's use of a current piece of writing from a major newspaper.
In the last 15 minutes of class (after the groups shared their responses to the op-ed), Karen showed the beginning scenes of Charlie Chaplin's "Modern Times," which humorously depicts an industrial workplace at the start of the 20th century. I absolutely love Karen's use of multimedia in the classroom, and I plan to incorporate as much as possible into my own 1550 class. For instance, in my cluster about advertising, I might show a few scenes from "Mad Men" (which centers on the world of advertising in the early-1960s). In one episode, Don Draper (the main character) says: "What you call love was invented by guys like me, to sell nylons." Interesting.
Karen also told me that next time she teaches 1550, she wouldn't assign minor writing assignments so many points. More than 10 points is way too many, she said. Duly noted.
COMMENTS:
* Guy Shebat: Emmalee: I wasn't able to post a comment to your newly-located journal -- as I was being prompted (after typing the comment) for a 'profile,' which I do not have (or maybe I do, as I have a gmail account, but for the time being I will just comment here).
Regarding the 1539 session:
It sounds like a good session -- and you describe well the strategies that Nikki used to demonstrate the two points that she wanted to make. Yes, it will be interesting to see how well the classroom lesson transfers over into the students' actual writing practice.
For 1550:
On the library session: I see what you mean about the students using a citation-generator. What usually happens, though, is that the citation machine sometimes doesn't get everything 'just right,' so students still have to be able to cross-check the citations against the handbook (or whatever guide they are using for documentation).
Also, it sometimes takes more time to put the info into a generator than it does to actually type out the citation and follow a model in a handbook.
I wouldn't be too worried about the students using a generator. I know a lot of 1551 instructors show their students where to find good generators on the web ("son of citation machine" is a very good one -- Google it and see) -- and so long as you take some time to explain the basic rationale behind the contents of a citation, it seems to me okay if your students avail themselves of a generator's help.
Proofreading class session:
I will have to look at that youtube video -- and yes, Karen's use of media sounds great, and I can see how it keeps the students' attention.
As far as Bboard is concerned, be cautious. You don't want it to become a hassle for you -- and a kind of time-waster (which it CAN be if you try to do too much with it and you are new to it).
Still, it seems like you could use it for storing 'access' to the media that you use in class -- a folder of named links, for example, could allow students to return easily to something that you presented in class.
If however, you see yourself as generating a fairly tightly scheduled course (and I know that you are highly organized and value structure), you might be able to put Bb to use for yourself. Then again, with only one session of three each week in the lab, you might find that you don't have enough time to keep the students 'oriented' to what's going on in Bboard for your course.
How/whether to use Bb is something to think about a bit more --
As far as keeping your students' 'clear' as to what's due when, that will be important. For a new instructor, it might be best not to have too much 'overlap' between/among assignments (as Karen, a more seasoned instructor, appears to be doing with her schedule). Keep things reasonably simple, without sacrificing your own creativity and the students' 'learning.'
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