This weekend, I went to New Jersey to attend a family event with Jack. I was also able to visit my brother in Saddle Brook, NJ. We spent Saturday morning shopping in Manhattan, and it was a good time all around. But here is my favorie thing from the weekend:
Jack and I spent Friday night at Nick's apartment. We arrived at 1:30am. My brother was still awake, blogging. The blog topic? Top Ten Horrible People from Ohio. The blog post is hilarious in and of itself (find it here-- http://mgobff.blogspot.com) , but the late night conversation that it sparked was one of those intangibly hilarious and good moments that I wish I could just suspend and replay, over and over. And as my brother pointed out "When I set out to do this, I was thinking "Drew Carey" would be on the list. But, as I got into my research, I started to discover that there are a ton of really, genuinely bad people from Ohio--like Charles Manson. Go figure. I'm really struggling now to keep this light hearted, dammit."
So, what was your favorite thing from the weekend?
Monday, July 20, 2009
Revamp.
This is going to be revamped as a place of discovery--a place where i hope to hear about many new, exciting, and interesting things from a variety of people.
I plan to adhere to a list of regular themes, such as "top 10," "local wonder," "blatant consumerism," "awesomeness" and "goal," and I hope that these themes will open up some cool discussions here.
Over the next few days, look for a lot of visual changes here, and a start on those themes. Feel free to provide feedback and suggestions for regular themes as well.
<3
Natalie
I plan to adhere to a list of regular themes, such as "top 10," "local wonder," "blatant consumerism," "awesomeness" and "goal," and I hope that these themes will open up some cool discussions here.
Over the next few days, look for a lot of visual changes here, and a start on those themes. Feel free to provide feedback and suggestions for regular themes as well.
<3
Natalie
Thursday, December 11, 2008
You've all been working hard...take a 2 minute break!
Here's another productivity break for you all--one of my FAVORITE videos that i've seen lately. Enjoy, then get those papers done, then get some sleep! Don't be late for class tomorrow!
Sunday, December 7, 2008
Because it is that time of the semester...
Everyone needs a good procrastination break. I recall reading studies about how 15 minute breaks and moments of humor or laughter can up productivity. So, here are some productivity boosters for all of you.
First, the sweetest love song ever written about Mario Kart ( surely, some of you are familiar with this already, but...it's nice to watch again.)
I'll post more throughout the week.
Hope those rough drafts are coming along nicely!
First, the sweetest love song ever written about Mario Kart ( surely, some of you are familiar with this already, but...it's nice to watch again.)
I'll post more throughout the week.
Hope those rough drafts are coming along nicely!
Sunday, November 2, 2008
National Novel Writing Month...
Perhaps you've heard that November is NaNoWriMo, or National Novel Writing Month. NaNoWriMo is a challenge to write a 50,000 word novel in one month. It's quite the challenge. I thought that, just for fun, I would present it to you all as a "writing prompt" for your blogs. Many bloggers choose to use their blogs for NaNoWriMo. If any of you were to actually complete your challenge (I've tried twice in the past...closest I came was just over 30,000 words...) I'd arrange some sort of prize.
Anyhow, if you're intrigued by this proposition, you can find out more at www.nanowrimo.org
It doesn't hurt to try! You might pen the next great american novel!
Anyhow, if you're intrigued by this proposition, you can find out more at www.nanowrimo.org
It doesn't hurt to try! You might pen the next great american novel!
Tuesday, October 21, 2008
Lesson Plans coming soon...
Hey all, sorry to be posting this so late--I'm having a nightmare evening. Just before I started this entry, I was doing some banking...and noticed a brand new credit card in addition to my normal savings account. It seems as though somehow, an unauthorized credit card was opened in my name. NOT GOOD. SO...I've had a long night of phone calls and hold music so far. The good news is that everything seems to be stemming from a bank error rather than attempted fraud, and the questionable account was inactive and has been closed. AAAND, just to be safe, I've put a credit freeze on my ssn, now. Sweet Action. I know that we are in the online/paperless age with many things, but you guys, I can't stress to you enough, keep up on your personal info, be secure, and be vigilant! It's especially important for you all when places like UMD make security blunders like sending your SSN out in a brochure (perhaps you all, being freshmen, were spared this debacle over the summer. If this did effect you, I hope you shredded that DOTS brochure!)
So, the point. My apologies for a late posting of tomorrows plans. Here is the game plan for tomorrow's class.
In addition to the reading from AWH on Paragraphs (Chapter 5), I also want to talk about a short passage from EWR on Claims, Evidence and Analysis--for my 101X 2006 students, you know about this reading already. For my 101 0213 Students, this is a new reading--but it's only 2 pages, and we'll be able to go over it all in class, should you not see this post tonight. The concepts of both readings are similar.
In addition to talking about building good paragraphs, we'll be doing an activity to help us build good paragraphs. The class will be broken up into small groups. Each small group will be given a handout that contains a paper topic, and a list of sentences. These sentences will either be "claims" or "evidence." As a group, you must identify and label the sentences appropriately. THEN you must select ONE of the claims from your list, as well as an appropriate amount of corresponding evidence, and build a paragraph around that claim, utilizing the evidence as support, and, as a group, developing the needed analysis that ties it all together. Each groups handout will be unique, and many different paragraphs can be created from the handouts.
A sample draft of paper 2 will be distributed tomorrow via email. We will discuss this sample draft in class on Friday. It will be your responsibility to print and read this sample draft for class on Friday.
There will be no formal written homework due for class on Friday. In Friday's class, we'll be working on a worksheet in the computer lab to help us develop strong introductions and conclusions on our topic, and reiterating the requirements and expectations for paper 2. For Friday, we will be relying heavily on the TSIS readings.
See you all tomorrow!
-Natalie
So, the point. My apologies for a late posting of tomorrows plans. Here is the game plan for tomorrow's class.
In addition to the reading from AWH on Paragraphs (Chapter 5), I also want to talk about a short passage from EWR on Claims, Evidence and Analysis--for my 101X 2006 students, you know about this reading already. For my 101 0213 Students, this is a new reading--but it's only 2 pages, and we'll be able to go over it all in class, should you not see this post tonight. The concepts of both readings are similar.
In addition to talking about building good paragraphs, we'll be doing an activity to help us build good paragraphs. The class will be broken up into small groups. Each small group will be given a handout that contains a paper topic, and a list of sentences. These sentences will either be "claims" or "evidence." As a group, you must identify and label the sentences appropriately. THEN you must select ONE of the claims from your list, as well as an appropriate amount of corresponding evidence, and build a paragraph around that claim, utilizing the evidence as support, and, as a group, developing the needed analysis that ties it all together. Each groups handout will be unique, and many different paragraphs can be created from the handouts.
A sample draft of paper 2 will be distributed tomorrow via email. We will discuss this sample draft in class on Friday. It will be your responsibility to print and read this sample draft for class on Friday.
There will be no formal written homework due for class on Friday. In Friday's class, we'll be working on a worksheet in the computer lab to help us develop strong introductions and conclusions on our topic, and reiterating the requirements and expectations for paper 2. For Friday, we will be relying heavily on the TSIS readings.
See you all tomorrow!
-Natalie
Thursday, October 16, 2008
Academic Integrity: Don't Kidnap or Plunder any work, y'all.
In class tomorrow, we will be starting with a discussion of the "Avoiding Plagiarism" chapter in AWH.
Lecture topics:
1) What's the point of citations? Why do we need them anyway?
2) How does one cite? In-text citations vs. footnotes.
3) Everything Comes in Threes: The three rules for avoiding plagiarism.
4) How can we determine if something NEEDS a citation? What falls under "common knowledge?"
We will NOT as a class be discussing the "Causes of Plagiarism" section. I don't care why you might be tempted to plagiarize. The bottom line is DON'T do it.
We will then look over in-class the MLA citation guide in the AWH (Chapter 14) and doing a few practice citations together. After finishing some sample citations, we will break into groups of three (I will determine the groups) to do what I call the "Citations Scavenger Hunt." This will be a competition between the groups, with a prize awaiting the champion team.
Each team will receive a copy of an electronic document. This document is a sample student paper...and this poor student just doesn't have a clue about how to cite her sources. She's tried to use quotes and paraphrase, but she's done it all wrong--and right now, her paper is a whole mess of plagiarism. As a group, you will have the following tasks:
1) You will need to fix the formatting of the in-text citations and uses of quotes in her paper. This means you will have to make sure that things such as block formatting, ellipses and brackets are used appropriately, in addition to making sure the parenthetical citation is correct.
2) You will need to develop a works cited page for the document. Using the AWH as a guide, you'll need to make sure that all entries contain the proper information, and are in the proper format.
3) BUT to form this works cited page, you'll have to locate the materials...you'll have to determine which quote came from which original source. There will be several to choose from, and you'll have to look at clues in the student's paper and perhaps even use some google-fu to match the quotes to their original sources.
Once you've completed all of these tasks, you'll send the document to me. I'll check it over, and either accept it, or reject it due to errors. The first team to submit a perfect document wins.
This project will likely take up plenty of class time, so I do not plan on discussing the reading from TSIS in class tomorrow. If you have any questions about that reading assignment, please ask them at the start of class.
See you all tomorrow!
Lecture topics:
1) What's the point of citations? Why do we need them anyway?
2) How does one cite? In-text citations vs. footnotes.
3) Everything Comes in Threes: The three rules for avoiding plagiarism.
4) How can we determine if something NEEDS a citation? What falls under "common knowledge?"
We will NOT as a class be discussing the "Causes of Plagiarism" section. I don't care why you might be tempted to plagiarize. The bottom line is DON'T do it.
We will then look over in-class the MLA citation guide in the AWH (Chapter 14) and doing a few practice citations together. After finishing some sample citations, we will break into groups of three (I will determine the groups) to do what I call the "Citations Scavenger Hunt." This will be a competition between the groups, with a prize awaiting the champion team.
Each team will receive a copy of an electronic document. This document is a sample student paper...and this poor student just doesn't have a clue about how to cite her sources. She's tried to use quotes and paraphrase, but she's done it all wrong--and right now, her paper is a whole mess of plagiarism. As a group, you will have the following tasks:
1) You will need to fix the formatting of the in-text citations and uses of quotes in her paper. This means you will have to make sure that things such as block formatting, ellipses and brackets are used appropriately, in addition to making sure the parenthetical citation is correct.
2) You will need to develop a works cited page for the document. Using the AWH as a guide, you'll need to make sure that all entries contain the proper information, and are in the proper format.
3) BUT to form this works cited page, you'll have to locate the materials...you'll have to determine which quote came from which original source. There will be several to choose from, and you'll have to look at clues in the student's paper and perhaps even use some google-fu to match the quotes to their original sources.
Once you've completed all of these tasks, you'll send the document to me. I'll check it over, and either accept it, or reject it due to errors. The first team to submit a perfect document wins.
This project will likely take up plenty of class time, so I do not plan on discussing the reading from TSIS in class tomorrow. If you have any questions about that reading assignment, please ask them at the start of class.
See you all tomorrow!
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