Brainstorming: Intro Post Assignment

In your groups, start the conversation about what you want your blogs to look like. Please brainstorm on paper… it helps get ideas out without judging them. Here are some places you might start:

Who are you as authors? What do you and your group-mates have in common that might give the blog a coherent identity? 

Who do you want to write to? What is this population like? What background information do they have? What assumptions or biases will they have?

How will you establish your credibility? Why should your audience trust you as authors? How will you convey this to your audience?

Activity: Locating a Dialogue

Using the internet, try to find another author who expresses a different view about the merits or demerits of the census. You might start with these resources: 

http://www.google.com

http://www.google.com/blogsearch

Academic Search Premier (Scroll down and click the link for "Academic Search Premier")

Once you find an article or blog post, identify the author's main claim and what reasons s/he presents to support that claim.

Course Calendar

Week 1

Tuesday 8/24: Introduction; Arguments; Diagnostic Essay

Thursday 8/26: Group assignments; visual and textual conventions of blogs; thesis statements

Week 2

Tuesday 8/31: Locating an intellectual conversation; searching for non-scholarly sources; brainstorming: intro post assignment; homework: draft of your personal introduction for your introductory post assignment

Thursday 9/2: Introduction to Google Docs; Introduction to workshopping: Workshop: Introductory posts; Setting up your blogs; homework: draft of Feeder 1.1 due Tuesday

Week 3

Tuesday 9/7: Reading / writing thesis statements; draft workshop: Feeder 1.1; setting up your blogs; homework: revised Feeder 1.1 due Thursday; Introductory Post Assignment should be posted on your blog by 9/14

Thursday 9/9: Distinguishing between scholarly, professional, and popular sources; citation conventions; introductions; draft workshop: Feeder 1.1; homework: Feeder 1.2 draft due Tuesday; Introductory Post Assignment should be posted to your blog by class time on Tuesday

Week 4

Tuesday 9/14: Citation conventions; Draft workshop: Feeder 1.2; homework: bring your Feeder 1.1 to class on Thursday ready to post to your blog

Due date: Your group's Introductory Post Assignment should be posted on your blog by class time today

Thursday 9/16: Posting to your blog; Argument; Draft workshop: Feeder 1.2; homework: select the article you will write against for your Unit 1 Project

Due date: Your Feeder 1.1 assignment should be posted to your blog by the end of the day today

Week 5

Tuesday 9/21: Activity: Reading Sources Critically; Activity: Brainstorming / Preliminary Research; homework: Bring in 3 argumentative sources related to your topic with retrospective outlines of each

Thursday 9/23: Adapting to your audience's needs; composing a working thesis statement; paragraphing;  homework: Draft of Unit 1 Project due Tuesday; Post your Feeder 1.2 assignment to your blog by class time on Tuesday

Week 6

Tuesday 9/28: Revision strategies; Unit 1 Project Workshop; Due date: Your Feeder 1.2 assignment should be posted to your blog by class time today

Thursday 9/30: Sentence variety; critiquing model texts; homework: updated draft of Unit 1 Project due Tuesday

Week 7

Tuesday 10/5: Lesson: Style; Unit 1 Project draft workshop (2 parts); homework: 

By Thursday your draft should be at the point where you're ready to deal with the real nitty-gritty of sentence-level concerns; not only should the conceptual and organizational aspects of your paper be in order but you should also feel fairly confident about the tone of your writing and how it functions on a sentence level.

Thursday 10/7: Editing: the Paramedic Method; Unit 1 Project editing Workshop; homework: Your Unit 1 Project should be posted to your blog by class time on October 14

Week 8

Tuesday 10/12: University Day; no class

Thursday 10/14: Introduction to Unit 2; due date: your Unit 1 Project should be posted to your blog by class time today

Week 9

Thursday 10/21: Fall Break; no class

Week 10
Tuesday 10/26: Lesson: Writing a Research Report Part I; draft workshop: Feeder 2.2 data sheets; Homework: Draft of Feeder 2.2 script due Thursday
Thursday 10/28: Lesson: podcasting; Draft workshop: Feeder 2.2; in-class work on podcasts; Homework: conduct your self-study next week; draft of Feeder 2.2 podcast due 11/2

Week 11
NOTE: You should be conducting your Unit 2 self-study during this week; you should have collected all data for your experiment by Monday, November 8
Tuesday 11/2: In-class work on podcasts; Due date: Feeder 2.1 should be posted to your blog by class time today
Thursday 11/4: Optional meeting for in-class work on podcasts;

Week 12
Tuesday 11/9: Lesson: Writing a Scientific Research Report Part II; Draft workshop: Feeder 2.2; In-class revision of podcasts; Homework: Unit 2 Project script due Thursday; Feeder 2.2 podcast should be ready to go online by class time on 11/11
Thursday 11/11: Draft workshop: Unit 2 Project; In-class revision of podcasts; Homework: Draft of your Unit 2 Project podcast due Tuesday


Week 13
Tuesday 11/16: Draft workshop: Unit 2 Project; Homework: Feeder 3.1 draft due on Thursday
Thursday 11/18: Introduction to VoiceThread; Lesson: Arguments and Evidence in the Humanities; Draft workshop: Feeder 3.1; Homework: script for your Feeder 3.2 due Tuesday

Week 14
Tuesday 11/23: Draft workshop: Feeder 3.2; In-class work time for VoiceThread projects; Homework: Script of your Unit 3 Project due 11/30; Due date; Your Unit 2 Project should be posted to your blog by class time
Thursday 11/25: Thanksgiving; no class

Week 15
Tuesday 11/30: Draft workshop: Unit 3 Project; Due date: Your Feeder 3.1 assignment should be posted to your blog by class time
Thursday 12/2: Tutorial: posting VoiceThreads to your blog; Draft workshop: Unit 3 Project; Due date: Your Feeder 3.2 assignment should be finished and ready to post to your blog by class time

Week 16
Tuesday 12/7: Due Date: Unit 3 project should be posted by class time; all work for class should be submitted by today; no late work will be accepted after this date

Do these blogs suck?

http://scienceblogs.com/thoughtfulanimal/

http://www.wired.com/wiredscience/

http://science.blogdig.net/

http://www.guardian.co.uk/science/blog

1. Write down at least five adjectives that describe your first impressions after the link loaded.

2. Who writes this blog? Do you trust their information? Why or why not? How does the author attempt to create this sense of trust, or, conversely, how does s/he lose it?

3. Who reads this blog? How do you know? How does the blog send signals to the audience to let them know that this is something they'll want to read regularly? 

4. What is the balance of multimedia content (pictures, videos, etc.) and text on the blog's main page? How does it compare to the other blogs you scanned? What does this blog's particular balance say to its potential audience?

5. Write down at least five adjectives that describe the author's "voice." What does s/he sound like? What kind of person is s/he? What are his or her interests? Would you hang out with them? Why or why not?

6. Would you consider returning to this blog regularly? Why or why not?

Chalk Talk

This activity is completely silent; there should be no talking whatsoever. You may write whatever you like, and you may comment on others' writing by drawing connecting lines, changing, or otherwise annotating what they've written. There may be long silences, and there may be times when everyone is writing at once; just go with the flow. There is no right or wrong way to do this (other than talking, of course!).

First of all, I want you to develop a plan for how you will introduce the members of your group to the rest of the class. You can do anything you like, but no member of the group can introduce him or herself. You must work out your plan completely silently.

Once you've developed a plan for your introductions, answer the following question:

What are the elements of a strong student group? What does a group need in order to function well? What pitfalls must a successful group avoid?

Diagnostic Writing Assignment

Write about one page, addressed to me, detailing your personal history as a writer and your writing goals for this semester. I will use this document to form you into groups. Here are some suggestions of things you might write about and questions you might answer:

• What role does writing play in your life? Do you write daily? Just for school?

• Do you consider yourself a strong writer? What are your personal strengths and weaknesses?

• How do you think writing is important to your long-term academic and professional goals?

• What writing courses have you taken? What did they teach you? What do you wish they had taught you?

Before you begin writing, please stop for at least 90 seconds to think about your answers to these questions. 

Discussion Questions for Katrina Article

http://www.slate.com/id/2263996/

Work together in groups of 4 or 5 to answer the following questions about this article:

• What is the article's main claim?
• What are the author's most important reasons presented in support of that claim? Identify at least 3.
• Does the author offer any qualifications of her claim?
• Can you identify any unstated assumptions that a reader might disagree with?
• is the author's argument convincing? Why or why not?

Assign one person to jot down your group's answers on a sheet of paper. Write everyone's name at the top of the paper.