English 1B, Section 67

Final Portfolio

2009-05-12T14:37:00.000-07:00

Today, we discussed the requirements for the Final Portfolio. If you missed class, ask a classmate for help. No instructions will be posted online since a handout was distributed in class.

Due date: May 18, 10am, FO 220

Good luck!

Comments on Research Essay Drafts

2009-05-11T12:11:00.001-07:00

(Sent via email on 5/11/09)

I have completed comments on your research essay drafts. Please check the wiki for those comments (usually in all capital letters).

HERE ARE SOME GENERAL COMMENTS:

Some of you are having difficulty with sentence formation and grammar. Be sure to proofread everything; if you're having problems with that, ask someone from class to proof for mechanical errors.

Almost all of you are having trouble with in-text citation style, appropriate style of quotations introducing quotes with signals phrases. All of these can be corrected if you look it up in your Hacker handbook. These are the easy things to fix, people.

Some of you have been quoting from Dictionary.com. We have discussed in class that a dictionary or an encyclopedia is NOT an authoritative source. It's a good place to start but don't rely on it, especially those who are trying to define words such as "friend" or other common ideas that don't really need a definition.

Some of you have been ignoring the rule about using "you." NEVER use this pronoun in a scholarly paper. Also, do not refer to groups that are exclusive, such as "we," "us," "our."

Remember, punctuation is usually placed inside the quotation marks. And, you MUST provide citation information in-text: either the page number or (if an online only source) the paragraph number.

These are some basics that you should keep in mind for any paper and ones that we discussed at the outset of the semester.

Final Exam Prep, Final Portfolio, Works Cited

2009-05-07T14:07:00.000-07:00

Today, we graded each others' in-class essay and discussed criteria for improving essay writing for the final exam on Saturday (10-12pm, BBC 203).

Your job over the weekend is:

Show up and take the final exam on Saturday, May 9;
Revise Essay 1, Essay 2 and the Research Essay; and
Complete your Works Cited for the Research Essay.

Final Portfolio
On Tuesday (our last day of class), we will discuss the construction of your Final Portfolio, which will be due on Monday, May 18. The instructions will be discussed in class only; in other words, you need to be there to know what's happening.

Final Blog Post (due Tues, 5/12, 3pm)
We didn't have a chance to do this final blog post so complete it by Tuesday, May 12th by 3pm. This post is a reflection about technology and the changes that we made to the syllabus. It's your opportunity to help me shape this class for the Fall. Answer the following questions:

How does the revised version of our class differ from the first version?
Which one do you prefer? Why?
What could be changed next time? Why?
What did you like/dislike about the Clark 111 classroom itself?

Assignments due Next Week (5/5-5/7)

2009-04-30T14:15:00.000-07:00

Today, we reviewed your (very rough) drafts for this research essay. Many of you are still struggling with resources or did not even post a draft. Get it done so I can post comments to your draft.

On Tuesday, we will take our final in-class essay. Please come prepared with 2 pens, a dictionary and a bluebook or yellow book. Today we discussed strategies for taking an in-class exam. We'll also apply these to the final exam (scheduled for Saturday, May 9).

Writing Assignment:
By Wednesday, 5/6 at 12pm, post the 2nd draft of your research essay with the following criteria:

entire draft
include introduction & conclusion
2000 words
6 sources (cited properly)
revise the body of your essay directly onto the wiki

Reading Assignment:
For Thursday, read the following (and BRING YOUR BOOKS TO CLASS!):

Inventing Arguments: plagiarism & documenting sources (489-507)
Hacker MLA-2 (358-361) & MLA-4 (370-378)

We will do another round of peer review on Thursday and will discuss how to document sources, including how to do the Works Cited.

Assignment for Thursday, 4/30

2009-04-28T14:32:00.001-07:00

Today, we looked at two sample research papers. We also discussed how to start organizing your essay and all of that material. We also went over a few revised thesis statements and outlines. Now, it's time to start drafting your essay.

Assignment
For Thursday, write a first draft and include all 6 of your sources in the essay. Include the following criteria:

1200 words
post to wiki by 12pm, Thursday
write only the body

Re-read Hacker 362-369 on integrating sources to help you with MLA citation style, in-text citation, signal phrases, paraphrase and more.

Be sure to keep track of your sources on your working bibliography. From now until the conclusion of the semester, you should spend at least 2 hours per day on this project.

Assignments for Tues, 4/28

2009-04-23T14:42:00.000-07:00

Today, we discussed much about resources and their authority. Some of you may have to return to researching to find more resources or better ones. To help you with researching and creating a better thesis statement (and outline), we brainstormed on the following research question and potential resources. Stay tuned on Tuesday to see if we can turn this into a thesis statement:For Tuesday, you have the following assignments:

First Assignment:

Read through all of the comments from your peer review partner today.
Re-write your thesis statement and improve your outline accordingly.
Do this directly on the wiki page so you can keep track of changes.
Have this revision done by Tuesday, 12pm.

Second Assignment:
Read about integrating sources for Tuesday's class session. Bring both texts on Tuesday.

Hacker Sample research paper (408-412)
Inventing Arguments sample research papers (520-526)
Hacker integrating sources (MLA-3) (362-369)

Assignment for Thursday, 4/23

2009-04-21T14:33:00.000-07:00

Today, we discussed the schedule for the rest of the semester: it basically follows the steps for constructing a research paper, with the exception of our May 5 in-class essay exam. We are working towards a May 5th deadline to post an entire draft to the class wiki, so set your sights on that date.

We will work our way through several steps in constructing and drafting a research paper for the remainder of the semester, roughly like this:

Constructing a research paper

Evaluating your sources
Organize your evidence
Creating a thesis statement
Constructing an outline: Include quotes from your sources & include citations
Integrating sources (Signal phrases, etc.)
Documenting sources (Works Cited & in-text citations)

Drafting the Research paper & Writing

Paragraph-level construction
Sentence-level construction
Word-level construction

Organizing all of the research is only the first step. Actually writing up the research paper itself is another entire section. We'll spend much time looking at your writing but we will also read some sample essays in the Hacker and Inventing Arguments textbooks.

I will spend this week commenting on your blog posts about resources. You may find that you need a different resource if yours is not authoritative or helpful to your idea. But, for Thursday, you have some reading & writing to do:

Reading for Thursday:

Read Hacker, Sections R2 & r3 (333-347)
Read Hacker, Sections MLA-1B & 1c (356-58)
Read Inventing Arguments On research & beginning to incorporate research (430-471)

Writing for Thursday, posted to WIKI by 12pm:

Create thesis statement and a very rough outline
Include quotes from your resources in the outline (not just reference to vague resource)
Post to this writing to the WIKI by 12pm on Thurs in 1 document; name the WIKI page Research Essay Outline_[last name]

We will start to go over these on Thursday in the Clark classroom. If you are behind on your work, catch up now or you will eternally get behind.

Revising Essay 1

2009-04-13T16:47:00.000-07:00

(Emailed 4/13/09)

During your meeting, you received (or will receive) back your in-class Essay 1. As with all writing, this particular piece of writing could certainly use some revision. With that in mind, you will be allowed (even encouraged) to re-write Essay 1 and submit it with the Final Portfolio (due May 12th). The grade for the re-written Essay 1 will completely erase the in-class grade. However, you must follow the below criteria.

Re-write your essay using the prompt from the Essay 1 exam.
Do not perform any outside research.
Use our conversation to guide you in your revisions.
Give it an interesting title.
The re-written essay must be 800-900 words, typed and double-spaced.
Format the essay according to MLA style (e.g., page numbering).
All rules for formal writing that we have discussed throughout the semester apply to this essay: avoid using you, we or us. You may reference yourself for personal anecdote but be sure that it has a point. (To see more, look at the rhetorical strategies posted on this blog.)

Meetings, Assignments & Research

2009-04-09T14:32:00.000-07:00

Today, you began your Works Cited page in the wiki. As you continue your research, update your Works Cited page with any sources that you find. This will make it easier at the conclusion of this project.

Many of you struggled with a cohesive and well-defined thesis for today. We went over in class what makes a good thesis, or, more appropriately, what makes a good research question. Hacker helped with narrowing a research question (318).

Now comes the hard part: RESEARCH.

MEETINGS
Next week, we will not meet at all. Each of you have signed up for a 15-minute meeting with me on either Monday (4/13) or Tuesday (4/14). (See the calendar on the right for a list of times. We will discuss Essay 1 in this meeting as well as your research project so come prepared to talk.

Our in-class essay is postponed until May 5th.

On Thursday, we have no class meeting so you can conduct some research in the library and prepare blog posts for all of this researching and updating.

ASSIGNMENT DUE MONDAY (4/20), 5PM
Begin performing your research over the next week. In order to keep track of your findings, you'll need to write a blog post assessing each of your resources (a single blog post for each one). In your assessment, highlight how this source will be useful to your idea. You need to find the following types of resources (required!):

book (use a chapter or section)
magazine article
journal article
newspaper article
personal interview

At least one of the following:

video
blog
images
podcasts

By the time you finish this assignment, you should have 6 blog entries. You can add more later, but for now, find these 6.

Do not rely solely on the Internet. Go to our library. Email the librarian for help. Make sure you have a direction for your research, otherwise, you'll be running around everywhere.

Assignments for Thurs, 4/9

2009-04-07T14:21:00.000-07:00

Today, we discussed social networking in much more depth.

*******************

We also discussed using all resources to gain an understanding about social networking -- Wikipedia being one of them. For Thursday, you need to consider your social network service further as well as begin to formulate some ideas about social networking and privacy (very tentatively). Here are your assignments:

FIRST ASSIGNMENT:
Bring your Diana Hacker writing handbook to class on Thursday; we meet in Clark 111.

SECOND ASSIGNMENT (1st blog post):
Look up your social networking service on Wikipedia. Write an assessment of that Wikipedia entry and post it to your blog by 12pm on Thursday. In addition to all of the other assessment questions to ask, consider the following when writing your response:

Is it accurate? (Review the discussion to see what others object to in the wiki entry)
What information could you use from here?

THIRD ASSIGNMENT (2nd blog post):
It's time to start experimenting with your opinion about social networking and privacy.

Draft a thesis statement and post to your blog by Thursday at 12pm.
In addition, list what sources might be helpful in this proving this point.

Assignment for Tuesday, 4/6

2009-04-02T15:43:00.000-07:00

Today, we discussed how to create an effective assessment of a source. You also worked in groups to discuss and assess articles about technology and privacy (from Mauk and Metz). We did quite a few blog posts on assessing, commenting and finally your opinion about technology. For next week, do the following assignment to help us move forward on this research project.

To help define a social network, see our Wikipedia entry

Social networking
social networking services:

Due Monday by 5pm to your blog:
Choose one of the following social networking services:

Facebook
Twitter
MySpace
Aim
YouTube
LinkedIn

Write an assessment of this tool and post it onto your blog. This type of assessment requires deeper investigation than assessing an article. For this reason, include the following in your assessment:

note details about the entire site & describe briefly
assess how it is used
assess who uses it (based on the other users)
assess what it represents to the users
assess if it's useful or not (and answer the why or why not)
assess if private information about a user is apparent

This is the real start to our project, so I expect that this post will be longer than most of your others.

Essay 3 Assignments for 3/19, 3/31 & 4/2

2009-03-17T14:31:00.000-07:00

Today, we began discussing the topic for our major research project: technology & privacy. We brainstormed in groups. On Thurs, you will receive some help on researching this topic. Our class will be held in King Library, Rm. 213 with a library expert on researching.

FIRST ASSIGNMENT:
To prepare for this session, complete the InfoPower Tutorial by 12pm on Thursday: HTTP://TUTORIALS.SJLIBRARY.ORG/TUTORIAL/INFOPOWER/INDEX.HTM
This will take approximately 2 hours, so schedule wisely. Email all of your scores to me (should be 3) for credit.

SECOND ASSIGNMENT:
Over Spring Break, you will need to begin your assessment of authoritative sources. Before you can go find your own, you will need to work on evaluating some sources. By March 31, 12pm, write a blog that evaluates at least 3 of the technology & privacy sources posted to our course wiki. Be sure to write an evaluation and not a summary! This is a moment for you to explore the veracity of the arguments in these sources.

THIRD ASSIGNMENT:
Comment on at least one of your classmate's blog posts about these sources by April 2nd, 12pm.

FOURTH ASSIGNMENT:
We need to read as much as possible about this topic. The Mauk & Metz anthology offers us entry into the topic very conveniently. Over Spring Break, read all of the articles in Mauk & Metz contained in pages 753-798. Be prepared to blog about and discuss them on Thursday, 4/2.

Essay 2 Final Draft

2009-03-17T14:20:00.000-07:00

Essay 2 focuses on some aspect of California budget cuts. Many of you have already written 2 drafts and started your Works Cited. Everyone seems to have performed a plagiarism check with Turnitin. Now, it's time to revise for a final version.

BUT!

Since writing is a process, it's not helpful to have you submit this essay for a grade yet. As we have discussed, the final draft of this essay is not due until the Final Portfolio is due at the conclusion of the semester. So, you may continue revising this essay until that time. If you want me to comment or read through something, contact me via email or come to my office hours.

Requirements for Essay 2:
We have worked on a lot of writing strategies so far this semester. These are the ones in particular that are being evaluated in Essay 2:

Integration of 3 pieces of evidence: 1) Mauk & Metz article; 2) interview; 3) authoritative source
Introductory & concluding paragraphs
MLA style Works Cited
Thesis Statement
MLA in-text citation style
Use of signal phrases
A focused, revelatory argument
1500 words
An innovative title

Rhetorical Strategies:

tone
assumptions
evidence
argument
persuasion
POV
intended audience?
Counter argument (MM 30)
concession (MM 33)
qualifiers (MM 34)

Some Comments about your Comments

2009-03-14T16:06:00.000-07:00

[sent via email 3/14/09 @ 4pm]

Out of 25 students, only 8 students successfully posted their originality reports to the wiki. In addition, only about half of you received comments on your drafts from your peer review partners. Added to that are the egregious grammatical errors on some drafts that meant I could not comment about the ideas. Some of you are in serious trouble with this essay.

Plagiarism Report:
You did this to see if you had anything plagiarized in your essays. If you received 0% on the report, that means that you had absolutely no quotes!! You must use quotes to substantiate your claims.

Comments:
Of the comments that were on some of the drafts, some were unhelpful with statements such as: "other than 2 or 3 grammatical errors, this looks great!" Please know that if your partner is not giving attention to your draft that is required, I will also NOT post comments to your draft. Some of you also need to remind your peer review partner to comment. It's up to you. Here are examples of effective comments:

http://engl1bharris.pbwiki.com/e2b-fisher
http://engl1bharris.pbwiki.com/E2B-dang

The comments that you provided on the first draft were very lengthy because I gave you a list of things to look for. Now that we've had a class session on the second draft, too, go back and ask your peer review partner to provide full comments. (No points, just something helpful.) Partners, don't be afraid to actually provide interlinear comments -- actually edit the wiki page itself. See here for an example:

http://engl1bharris.pbwiki.com/E2a-Hussaini

My Comments:
I provide interlinear comments but please note that I do not point out every detail. I'm making general comments about your idea and some blatant errors in writing. I'll make a note once and expect you to find it throughout your essay.

Feel free to look through others' essays! This is the reason we have a wiki, to help you see other examples of writing.

Naming your Documents:
Please pay attention to the naming protocols. This makes it easier for others to find your drafts. Also, note that you should replace Harris with your own last name. (I used my last name just as an example.)

Missing Assignments:
As promised, I am not chasing anyone about missing assignments. This is completely up to you. However, if you haven't done any of the work, it will be very difficult to meet the goals of this essay and receive a passing grade.

See you on Tuesday in Clark 111.

Class Cancelled for Thur, 3/12

2009-03-12T08:40:00.000-07:00

[sent as an email to all at 8:40am, 3/12/09]

Due to an illness, today's class is cancelled. Please be sure that your Turnitin report is uploaded to your wiki folder.

There is no reading or writing assignments for Tuesday. However, if you'd like to continue working on your Essay 2 draft, go ahead. Just be sure to make edits and revisions on the wiki page so you can keep track of changes. Many of you needed to severely revise your Works Cited as well -- go to it! I'll make comments on your drafts over the next few days. For those who are having some trouble with grammatical errors, go to the Writing Center. I will stop reading & commenting on your draft as soon as I get to the third grammatical mistake. (It takes me about 20 minutes to read and comment on each of your drafts; if all I'm commenting on is your grammatical mistakes, then we're not meeting our goals for this class.)

Remember, since Essay 2 is not due in final form until the Portfolio is submitted at the end of the semester, you can continue to work on it. I urge you to take advantage of that.

On Tuesday, we got the computer classroom: meet in Clark 111!

Citation & Plagiarism Assignment for Thursday, 3/12/09

2009-03-10T14:30:00.001-07:00

Today, we discussed effective introductory and concluding paragraphs as well as the Works Cited page itself. On Wednesday (by 5pm), you will receive further comments on your second draft from a peer. I will also comment on your first and second drafts this week. It's now time to begin putting all of this writing together.

Assignment

Submit your entire draft (intro, conclusion, Works Cited) to Turnitin.com.*
You will automatically see a plagiarism report for your draft.
Print that and bring it to class.
Bring a copy of your entire draft to class (since we're not in the computer classroom on Thurs)
Also, upload your plagiarism report to your folder in the wiki (pt given for this part).

We will discuss your plagiarism report in class. We will also discuss what you need to do to this essay to improve it before posting it to the class wiki.
________
*If you haven't already done so, you'll need to create an account with Turnitin.com. Then, you'll need to add our class with the following codes:

Class ID: 2584318
Password: writing

Wiki Assignment for 3/10/09

2009-03-05T15:45:00.000-08:00

REVISE, REVISE, REVISE

Today, you spent much of the class session responding to your peer review partner's draft. When you have a moment, read through your own comments with an eye toward improving your draft -- whether it's the idea, the writing or the use of evidence.

First Assignment:
When you make changes, do it on your wiki page for the first draft so you can keep track of how much you've edited and revised.

Second Assignment:
After you have revised your first draft, take a stab at writing the introduction and concluding paragraphs. This will be your second draft -- just these two paragraphs.

For Tuesday, post a second draft to your wiki folder with the following requirements:

post ONLY the introductory and concluding paragraphs!
each paragraph should be at least 5-7 sentences in length
include the thesis statement towards the end of your introductory paragraph
avoid re-stating the thesis in the concluding paragraph
name your second draft as follows: E2b Harris [put in your last name]
post by Tuesday, 12pm

Third Assignment:
Also for Tuesday, take a stab at writing out your Works Cited. Post this as a separate wiki page.

name your Works Cited wiki page as follows: E2 WC Harris [put your last name in]
see Hacker 378-403 to help you with your Works Cited page
post by Tuesday, 12pm

Fourth Assignment:
Peer Review:
Since you also need comments on both your second draft and your Works Cited, today's peer review partner will be obligated to comment on both wiki pages by Wed at 5pm. You will be provided with a reading rubric on Tuesday to help you assess your peer's second draft and Works Cited.

Remember, you may revise your drafts at any time on the wiki!!! I will, of course, read through your drafts if they are posted by the deadline. If there are grammatical errors, though, I will stop reading and leave you a brief note about these errors.

Wiki & Reading Assignments for Thurs, 3/5/09

2009-03-03T14:14:00.001-08:00

We have finally gotten to the point of writing a draft. This means that we will meet in Clark 111 on Thursday and that you need to upload your first draft to the wiki prior to the start of class. (Follow the directions for Second Lesson on the wiki Front page: http://engl1bharris.pbwiki.com/)

Your first draft needs to include some of the rhetorical strategies we have discussed (see Mauk & Metz 3-37 for help with these).

Rhetorical Strategies:
tone
assumptions
evidence
argument
persuasion
POV
intended audience?
Counter argument (MM 30)
concession (MM 33)
qualifiers (MM 34)

It also needs to include several elements of essay construction:

Essay Construction
thesis
integrating evidence
paragraphs cohesion
topic sentences
in-text citations
signal phrases for quotations

Today, we discussed narrowing your thesis, incorporating evidence and creating an interesting argument. Put all of this into your first draft. A peer review partner will actually comment on your draft in the wiki (& will even do some editing on the draft itself).

I will, of course, read and comment on your first draft. However, I will not comment on grammar, misspellings and other mechanical errors. In fact, egregious errors will cause me to immediately stop reading and avoid commenting! At this point, you should catch these types of mistakes. Go to the Writing Center for help with mechanical issues. It's free!

Requirements for the First Draft:

avoid any use of "I" or "you" or "we"
give it an interesting title
write your revised thesis statement at the top of the page
800 words
skip the introductory & concluding paragraphs (we'll do these later)

Reading for Thursday

Read Hacker, 355-78 on thesis statement & in-text citations
Re-Read MM 36-37 & bring on Thurs

Blog Assignment due Tues 3/3/09

2009-02-26T14:34:00.000-08:00

Today, we discussed the politics articles in Mauk & Metz as well as more specifics about writing, rhetorical strategies, evidence and thesis statements. For Tuesday, you will begin working on a pre-draft of this particular topic. Since we discussed various points of view on Tuesday, you should have formed some opinion about the impact of the California Budget cuts.

For Tuesday, by 12pm, post the following to your blog:

Prepare a thesis statement and a rough outline.
Your outline should be roman numerals or in bullet points.
Put the thesis at the top of the page.
For evidence, use your interview, authoritative source and 1 article from theMauk & Metz readings.

Because we don't have access to the Clark classroom until Thursday, bring your outline and thesis printed on Tuesday.

ALSO, please read pages 3-37 in Mauk & Metz. Bring this textbook with you on Tuesday.

In case you're wondering about our progress: For next Thursday, you will create a first draft and post it to the class wiki!! If you'd like to get a headstart on working with the wiki, check out the Second Lesson for creating a folder and new wiki page.

Good job on Jump-Up Jeopardy today!

Blog Assignment for Thurs, 2/26

2009-02-24T14:42:00.000-08:00

Great job on the authoritative sources and interviews! They were intriguing. Now, it's your classmate's turn to evaluate the authority and validity of your sources.

By 12pm on Thurs, 2/26, post a comment/response to another's blog entry (either the interview or the authoritative source). In your comment, do the following:

Use a formal tone (instead of the normal blogging, informal tone) -- this means no using "I"
Evaluate the source: is it one-sided? why? is it authoritative? why?
How can the argument here be taken further? What can it become?

Avoid using "I" in any of this comment.

Remember, to receive your point, you must follow the instructions fully. On Thursday, we'll discuss your ideas so be ready!

Blog Points, Non Fiction Book, Blog Comments

2009-02-19T18:12:00.000-08:00

I just finished reading through all of the blog posts and comments. Many of the posts didn't answer the question and therefore did not receive points. I've indicated in the comments if you did not receive points. (I'm TriProfTri and kh.) We've had 6 points so far. Only 12 of you have achieved all of those points!!! Read your comments section.

The voting for the non fiction book was inconclusive. This means that we will stay with _Fast Food Nation_ so go ahead and buy the book if you haven't already.

Some of your comments on your colleagues' blogs were very inconsequential: "good post, man." <--That's not helpful.

If you haven't already done so, "follow" my blog.

If you read this blog post, send me an email with my favorite word (look to the right of this blog post at the conclusion of my profile).

Discussion from 2/19/09

2009-02-19T14:27:00.001-08:00

Today, we'll do some maintenance on blogs:

learn to follow others
see an interesting blog
using titles & labels

You'll post 3 times on the blog today, too:

Summarize 1 article from the politics chapter (MM)
Describe the rhetorical strategies
Comment on another blog

Groups will work on the various articles to discover the point of view, the next item in our list of rhetorical strategies:

Point of View
tone
assumptions
evidence
argument
persuasion

We're getting close to creating a draft but first, we need to focus this idea of politics. We'll discuss the latest crisIs in politics:

California Budget Cuts/Crisis

These are huge issues, but you'll need to think about them from a particular point of view in order to make them interesting to you and your peers. To this end, we'll start looking around for evidence from an interview and a newspaper. For this, we'll rely on videos, political cartoons and personal interviews!

For Tuesday, you have the following assignments:

Blog: Post the transcript of your interview (see MM 436)
Blog: Post a summary of your authoritative source (see MM 457) -- you may use videos, newspaper articles or editorial cartoons
Bring a print copy of your authoritative source & interview transcript to class
Bring Mauk & Metz to class to continue discussion about the Politics chapter

Readings for Thursday, 2/19/09

2009-02-18T12:29:00.001-08:00

Since I'm still working on the actual syllabus calendar, I announced Thursday's reading and "thinking" in class:

read all pages 540-81 from our Mauk & Metz textook

Be prepared to discuss the articles & images with the following in mind:

What rhetorical moves are used to persuade the reader?
How is evidence used? (circle or post-it where you see evidence)
What is the tone used?

Be prepared to blog about this in the Incubator Classroom on Thursday (Clark 111). You don't need to blog prior to the class session.

In addition, there is a recommendation on the table for our non-fiction book (to replace Face Food Nation). How about The World Without Us by Alan Weisman. See more here about this book: http://www.worldwithoutus.com

Take the poll here on this blog to register your vote. (If you don't vote, I'll take that as your agreement.)

Our New Course

2009-02-12T18:56:00.000-08:00

So, here we are with our new structure. I just couldn't continue going through the other structure where we did assignments that were just not accessible to everyone. Plus, we will be able to take advantage of multi-media such as watching Obama's speech, reviewing the New York Times cloud tagging or embedding images and videos into our blogs.

The Wiki:
Everyone should have signed up for the Wiki. Make sure you remember your password. The URL is available on the sidebar here. Please go into the Wiki and create a profile for yourself, including your blog URL.

A comment about blogging:
This is our journal space so writing is fairly informal. However, you may want to proofread your Profile to make sure that it's, well, grammatically correct.

You'll also notice that I now follow you on your blog. This means that I get updates when you make changes to your blog. Everyone should take a moment to follow each other!

Tuesday's (2/17) Assignment (Due by 3pm):
Please blog in response to President Obama's Inaugural Address. You
may find the video and text of the speech here (20 mins): http://www.whitehouse.gov/blog/inaugural-address/

In your blog, please answer the following question:
In his speech, how does Obama persuade people to believe in and follow him?

Additional Websites that might be helpful/useful in listening to the speech:

Be prepared to discuss this at our next class meeting in Rm. SCC 211. We will also discuss the new schedule, the grading/point system and the interesting topics we'll write about. (I'm reading through your blogs right now to see what you'd like to discuss/read/write about this semester.)

By the way, I'm a technocrat, which means that I'm interested in the digital world. I use/follow/subscribe to the following:

Social Networking: Twitter, Academia.edu, FaceBook, Blogs
Professional Listing: LinkedIn, Academia.edu
Old Form Social Networking: various listservs, 5 email addresses
Online Activities: New York Times online reader, Mac & PC User
Scholarly Uses: Editor, Digital Archive & Professional Webpage