Wed. Nov. 25, 2009

Happy Thanksgiving!

Nice day. I brought in two one page articles I had the students read and discuss a few weeks ago--one about how words and language shape thought and another that defines critical thinking as making connections. Both are easy to read articles that explain concepts the English department ascribes--yet again, in styles that makes sense through use of metaphors and analogies. I pulled each up on blackboard and interjected examples from the pieces into current 2.2 drafts. I think they now have a better grasp how to forward, analyze, and incorporated other thinkers into their writing.

Mon. Nov. 23, 2009

A strange class today. They were unusually unmotivated. In the end, I believe Thanksgiving break is having a big impact on thought processes. They're ready for a vacation. We have a draft of the second project due Wednesday and while I'm not overly concerned, I'm keeping my finger on the pulse to keep in touch with where they're at. We'll see.

Fri. Nov. 23, 2009

Nice class today. We focused on using the internet to access data (Ebscohost) and how to apply the data to their writing projects. I'm workshopping a lot right now -- my idea is that through regular writing in class, they can go home and utilize the tools we have practiced in class. For instance, today we traded papers and worked on searching out sentences that are jumbled or not complete thoughts. I explained that if an entire paper is not clear, one can begin looking on a sentence level to begin seeing incomplete thoughts on a sentence level arena.

Wed. Nov. 18, 2009

Good class today. I modeled an intro to the 21. project, having students chime in with ideas. They did a nice job, hesitatingly at first, of putting words to someone elses' work.

Mon. Nov. 15, 2009

Although I was a bit frustrated prior to this class, we got a lot done. My class was having a hard time locating themselves with project 2.1. Specifically, finding a community and analyzing it. We talked through, I had one student get up and share his data, and we then did collaborative work. Overall, I wasn't sure how they were doing, but they seem better now.

Fri. Nov. 13, 2009

Funny class today--at least I thought so. Students are scared of Project 2.0. I'm asking them to first ask what is the purpose and meaning of their communit. Some were really squirming when i asked them for an answer. One student is a cheerleader and. She asked me what the purpose and meaning of cheerleading. I turned it back on her and she said, "I don't know." I told her this project is to get her to start asking why she thinks and does things -- so that in 20 years when someone asks why she's a mother to three kids, she can have an answer "why."

Mon. Nov. 9, 2009

We looked in-depth into Said today. Students had insightful comments and ideas.

I have a pair of students who at times talk too much between themselves while we're holding class discussions. I had had it this morning, so I firmly said, "Will you two please stop.?." I then went on with class, paying close attention to how they and the class responded. I don't want to diminish self-esteem. The two acted well throughout the rest of class--I engaged one of them in a question on Said in order to bring them out of any shell. Personally, at times I see I have to be really firm in order to get the message across. I'm used to substituting where we have to be firm, but I'm seeing this approach is sometimes necessary in comp. class.

Fri., Nov. 6, 2009

Good Friday, today. We began Said today. First, I pulled up a map of the world on Google maps in order to locate Israel for students--I wanted to put an actual face to the piece. Also, I knew many students would be clueless where Israel was--a few didn't know where Egypt was--many didn't know where Iraq was located. Then, we moved on to Israel and I pulled up a map showing Israel and Palestine in close-up, showing Bethlehem and Jerusalem--so students could see why there's so much contention in this part of the world.

We then hand a base to work from on Said. They could put a "where" to the "what."

Mon, Nov. 2, 2009

Students turned in 1.3 today. I'm excited to see how far we've come. We finished up the first unit with a thoughtful round-table discussion on Anzaldua and why humans feel a need to be accepted. Why do we seek it? Are we okay without it? One student labeled her paper, "Sticks and Stones," so I asked why is it that as children we don' allow language to affects us as much as adults? Most jumped in with good, strong responses. The highlight of my day was wen a student re-focused on "La Facultad"-- he got it and is now paying more attention to it.