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
Tuesday, October 21, 2008
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!
Wednesday, October 15, 2008
The New Deal
So, I've been doing a lot of thinking about our class today, and trying to figure out a way to make the distribution of information more streamlined outside of class, and a way to make our lectures run more smoothly and effectively as well. Due to falling behind schedule a few weeks ago, I've been trying to cram more than I wanted into lessons in order to catch up, which has led to lessons that I find unsatisfying, overall. In an attempt to make our time in the classroom more effective, I'm going to try to add more structure to our class time. To do this, I'm going to do the following things:
1) I will post outlines of lesson plans on this blog for you to reference, made available no later than the evening before class. This way, you will have a general idea of what we'll (hope to) accomplish in class. We may not always get to everything on the lesson plan, but at least you'll know in advance what to expect. Of course, everything will be discussed in greater detail in class, but hopefully, this outline will help you 1) prepare properly for class 2) bring the proper materials to class and 3) have questions ready in advance, should you need clarification on a concept from the reading, lecture, or planned activities.
2)Sometimes, in preparation for future class activities, or in lieu of an in-class activity we didn't get to, I'll assign homework assignments in class. I will write these assignments on the board in the last 3 minutes of scheduled class time. In order to both assure that you receive these assignments, and as a measure of respect towards me, no students may start packing up their belongings until I have either written the homework on the board, OR announced that there is no special homework assignment. And, additionally, as a way of respecting your needs and schedules, students are allowed to remind me when we have reached the final moments of class time, since I have a tendency to loose track of time.
3) As a way to ensure that we are all focused and on the same page at the end of class, in class activities and group work will be completed BEFORE the final 5 minutes of class. This is a modification on my current method of lecture-then-activity, which often ends with people finishing up at different times, and drifting out of the classroom without any formal conclusion of class. Sometimes we will sandwich activities between parts of a lecture, other times, we will start with an activity. Again, hopefully, through your access to the lesson plans, you'll know what to expect in advance, and be prepared to break into activities more quickly, and with a better understanding of the assigned tasks.
4) I will primarily use this blog to disseminate information to the class, rather than ELMS. Assignment sheets will be available through ELMS, and weblinks will be posted both on Elms and in this blog.
I appreciate any feedback or further suggestions from you all.
1) I will post outlines of lesson plans on this blog for you to reference, made available no later than the evening before class. This way, you will have a general idea of what we'll (hope to) accomplish in class. We may not always get to everything on the lesson plan, but at least you'll know in advance what to expect. Of course, everything will be discussed in greater detail in class, but hopefully, this outline will help you 1) prepare properly for class 2) bring the proper materials to class and 3) have questions ready in advance, should you need clarification on a concept from the reading, lecture, or planned activities.
2)Sometimes, in preparation for future class activities, or in lieu of an in-class activity we didn't get to, I'll assign homework assignments in class. I will write these assignments on the board in the last 3 minutes of scheduled class time. In order to both assure that you receive these assignments, and as a measure of respect towards me, no students may start packing up their belongings until I have either written the homework on the board, OR announced that there is no special homework assignment. And, additionally, as a way of respecting your needs and schedules, students are allowed to remind me when we have reached the final moments of class time, since I have a tendency to loose track of time.
3) As a way to ensure that we are all focused and on the same page at the end of class, in class activities and group work will be completed BEFORE the final 5 minutes of class. This is a modification on my current method of lecture-then-activity, which often ends with people finishing up at different times, and drifting out of the classroom without any formal conclusion of class. Sometimes we will sandwich activities between parts of a lecture, other times, we will start with an activity. Again, hopefully, through your access to the lesson plans, you'll know what to expect in advance, and be prepared to break into activities more quickly, and with a better understanding of the assigned tasks.
4) I will primarily use this blog to disseminate information to the class, rather than ELMS. Assignment sheets will be available through ELMS, and weblinks will be posted both on Elms and in this blog.
I appreciate any feedback or further suggestions from you all.
Monday, October 6, 2008
For my 101 0213 Section ONLY
For 101 section 0213, here are the videos for your assignment. Choose one for your analysis.
(There are many of these Geico commercials--you can choose the celebrity you wish: the pips, joan rivers (love that one especially), charro, movie announcer guy, etc)
The analysis must be posted by 11:59pm on Wednesday. Comments on another student's analysis are due the following night at the same time.
(There are many of these Geico commercials--you can choose the celebrity you wish: the pips, joan rivers (love that one especially), charro, movie announcer guy, etc)
The analysis must be posted by 11:59pm on Wednesday. Comments on another student's analysis are due the following night at the same time.
Thursday, October 2, 2008
Rhetorical Analysis Blog assignment POSTPONED
Hey all in my 101 0213 section, I'm changing the due dates on the official rhetorical analysis blog assignment and pushing it all back a week or so. With Library Day Wednesday and a guest speaker tomorrow, I'm not going to have a chance to go over the concepts with you in class, and I'd prefer to present the assignment to you in person before it's due (I mean, it only seems fair, right?). So breathe easy tonight and know that you don't have any formal homework due for tomorrow.
Also, our speaker tomorrow is coming from the FairVote organization. If you want to find out a bit about the organization, you can check out their website.
www.fairvote.org
As for those of you in my 101X section, I'm looking forward to your presentations tomorrow!
See you tomorrow!
Also, our speaker tomorrow is coming from the FairVote organization. If you want to find out a bit about the organization, you can check out their website.
www.fairvote.org
As for those of you in my 101X section, I'm looking forward to your presentations tomorrow!
See you tomorrow!
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