Course Evaluations

Hi, everyone. I know you're busy getting your work done, and I'll be spending the next few days giving you lots of feedback, so I'll be busy, too:). It's time for course evaluations, and since our class is online, so are the evaluations. You can find the link to the evaluations through the Course Content page in Blackboard. They're the same questions you're used to answering, so when you have a spare moment, please feel free to pop over there and do them. I know that taking this course in the summer can be hard and taking it online can be even harder even though it's often more convenient, and there were certainly times when I wished I could see you all face to face (especially at this time of the semester because I always make cookies for students on the last day of class, and I'm really sorry I can't do that for you!). But, I hope that you've gained something valuable you can take with you and that you leave with a positive experience. I have enjoyed getting to know you the little bit I have; your research questions have been really heartening to me and I know that you will continue finding ways to make your reading, writing, and research experiences at UTPA as meaningful as you can and that you will ask lots of good questions of your teachers so you can do that.

If you have any difficulty with the course evaluations, let me know. This is my first time with online evaluations through Blackboard, but I think it should be a pretty straightforward process. If it's not, we'll work the problem together as we always do:). If you have any additional comments to make about the class, please don't hesitate to send them to me via email or to add them at the end of the evaluation process. I respect your comments very much.

Final week's work

I have posted your Portfolio reflective essay assignment in google docs in the "Portfolio Reflection" folder (I have also put a link to this assignment under course documents on the right side of the blog). At the bottom of that document are the instructions for turning in your portfolio (your "final" thing to do for our class). I'm pasting those here as well.

Portfolio Guidelines and Checklist:
You will create a document (First name_Portfolio) in your individual folder which contains the following (in this order):
1. Your portfolio reflective essay
2. Your final draft of your reflective essay for your researched project (including works cited)
3. Your final draft of your "thing" (if you have a link for your "thing," just include it there, and I'll follow it to your "thing")

This Portfolio document will be due by noon on Thursday, but you're welcome to turn it in earlier if you finish. I will give you feedback on the pieces of your portfolio up until Wednesday evening. If you have a draft of your portfolio reflective essay that you want feedback on, you can upload it to the portfolio reflection folder, and I'll get to it as soon as I can. If you have questions, just email me at jcharlton@utpa.edu, particularly if you are concerned that your document is not uploading properly. You can always send me your doc through email as a backup. I will not be able to accept late projects as I have very little time to get your portfolio graded and your final grades turned in on Friday.

I'm out of town until Monday night, and I'm having a little trouble inserting comments on your docs in the mobile version of google docs, but I think I have a workaround for that, though I'lll only be commenting in the late afternoon and evening tomorrow. Good luck with your revisions and the writing of your reflective essay for your portfolio. Remember, the most important part of writing your portfolio reflection is to be VERY specific, referring to specific revisions you've made in response to particular comments, particular blog posts, readings, etc. The worst thing you can do is be vague or too general in your claims.

Friday's (8/12/11) & This Weekend's Work

Today and this weekend, I want you to work on revising your "thing" and your reflective essay based on the feedback you've received from me and your peers. I'll be giving feedback throughout the day and the weekend a few times a day, but if you need to draw my attention to something because you're working on it right then, just send me an email, and if I can, I'll go look right then. On Monday and Tuesday, we'll work on our end-of-semester portfolio reflection. Your finished portfolio will be due by Thursday, 8/18, at noon (though you are free to turn everything in as early as Tuesday if you're "finished" then). More details on the portfolio on Monday, but just FYI, it will include your revised research project--thing and essay--and your end-of-semester portfolio reflection.

Thursday's Workshop on Reflective Essay

The plan is for everyone to have a draft of the reflective essay portion of your researched project finished by this afternoon. I don't give page length requirements for this because that would be somewhat arbitrary, but if you're not writing 4+ (double-spaced) pages, you probably aren't doing some part of it justice (if yours isn't this long, don't freak out or pad it; I'll give you feedback about how you might develop it). When you're done, post it to the "Researched Project Drafts" folder in Google Docs (if you have trouble, send it to me via email--what's most important is that you get some feedback on it so you can revise this weekend). Then, I'd like you to read your partner's essay and respond to the following things, being as specific as you can and providing suggestions for revision when appropriate:

1. What context does the writer provide for the discussion surrounding his/her research question? What problem or misconceptions are at the root of the question? If the writer doesn't provide a discussion of the context, make note of that.

Pay close attention to the writer's discussion of his/her sources for these next three questions.
2. Organization of Source Discussion: How does s/he present what s/he's learned from the sources--Does she relate a story of finding the sources and present them in the order she found them (almost like a story of her research process? Does he discuss one source per paragraph, or does he organize the discussion more synthetically--by issue, rather than by source?

3. Source Analysis: Does the writer provide an analysis of her source's arguments, or does she just present the source information as "facts"?

4. Documentation: Does the writer document her source ideas correctly--using parenthetical documentation, even when ideas from sources aren't directly quoted? To what extent does the writer incorporate those ideas smoothly and meaningfully into his own writing (introducing a source, discussing the source ideas and its connection to his/her own point, etc.)? For this, you may want to take another look at the meaningful incorporation of sources handout I posted a few days ago).

5. Works Cited: Is there a works cited page? If not, make note of that as the writer will need to create one. If there is one, check it for accuracy. Only sources actually cited in the paper (check what's been parenthetically documented for this) need to show up on the works cited page. Are there sources mentioned in the essay, but not listed on the works cited page (or vice versa)? Also, do the citations include all the necessary info? Is it formatted properly according to MLA (or APA if the writer has chosen a different format)?

Now I'd like you to look carefully at the writer's discussion of the rhetorical choices she made regarding the creation of her "thing."
5. Has the writer focused his/her project on a single audience (teachers OR high school students at X school, parents of kids at Y elementary, etc.), or has s/he tried to reach too many audiences?

6. What claim has the writer decided to make to this audience?

7. What genre did the writer choose in order to reach this audience with this claim? Is there a good match between the claim, the audience, and the genre? In other words, if the writer has chosen a website to convey his message, but his audience isn't likely to have access to the internet, then there's a mis-match there which you'd need to point out.

Notes on Reflective Essay for Researched Project

On Thursday, you'll be drafting your reflective essay for your researched project. Here's what the researched project assignment says about the reflective essay:

A Reflective Essay: This is the part that will look like a more traditional “research paper” in that this is where you’ll write about your sources. It’s designed so that you can take much of your plan of inquiry (minus the part about how you actually located your sources since this isn't a research narrative where you tell the story of your "discovery" of your sources) and revise it into your reflective essay (the revision is significant, yes, but it’s better than starting from scratch). So, the audience for the reflective essay is ME. It’s where you can show me what you know about your question and the context of it. This is where you’ll be citing your sources in traditional academic fashion (parenthetical documentation and works cited pages will be required), but more important than that, you’ll be showing me how you’ve synthesized your research, analyzed the information, and come to your own claim in response to all you’ve learned. Please re-read Kantz as you’re writing this final essay as it’s important that you NOT just tell a story of your research process ("First I searched this database using these keywords; then I found this article, which said X) or organize your paper by discussing one source at a time. That’s more what your plan of inquiry is, and that’s an ok place to start. But, what I want to see here is you making a claim based on/in the context of an analysis and synthesis of the conversation surrounding this question. That means including the major ideas/perspectives you came across in your research. I also want you to write about what you made (your “thing”) and why. What choices did you make about audience, purpose, claim, and genre, and why did you make those choices?

I've put up a link to a handout on meaningful incorporation of source material (click the link here or on the right side of our blog or directly through our 1302SII Google Docs folder); it has a lot of helpful hints about the technicalities of quoting and paraphrasing source ideas, but also addresses the philosophy behind when and why you do it. Think of this as an add-on to what you've learned from our course reading this semester, particularly from Kantz. Remember that you don't have any arbitrary guidelines about how many sources to use or how many times to quote people. That is all completely dependent on your own project. But know that I expect you to have done a pretty thorough search of the databases on your subject, so if you're only quoting from internet sources or only referencing 1-2 sources, you can expect me to ask you to justify those choices:). Failing to acknowledge sources would result in a failing grade for your portfolio, but that's something we can address in revision, so it should never get to that point. If you have questions, that's part of what I'll be happy to address.

If you have any questions about the writing of this part of your project, post them here so others can benefit from the responses, ok? Good luck to you!

Wednesday's Work (8/10/11) & Homework for Thursday

By Wednesday morning, you should have already uploaded your drafts of your "thing" to the Researched Projects Drafts folder in Google Docs (you all now have editing access, so there shouldn't be any problem there). Please name your file Your First Name_Thing_Draft 1 so we can keep track of them. So, Part I of Wednesday's work will be for you to give each other feedback on your "thing." Here are the questions I want you to answer as you read:

1. What do you think this writer is trying to claim in his/her "thing"? In other words, what's the claim s/he is making? If there's any confusion, explain what exactly is leading you to be confused. What suggestions do you have to help the writer make his/her claim more clear and/or persuasive?
2. Who do you think the audience for this thing is? How can you tell? Be as specific as you can be with this.
3. How appropriate is this genre for the audience and/or claim? In other words, has this writer written a brochure when a T-shirt might have been more appropriate? What suggestions might you have for choosing a more apt genre?

Once you've given your feedback, read through the feedback your partners and I have left for you and make notes about what you'd like to revise. Were you trying to communicate one thing, but your partners thought you were saying something different? Is your choice of genre working out or not? How might you make productive changes (even completely re-thinking, if necessary, what you're doing)?

Then, Part II of Wednesday's work is to get started on your reflective essay (see the assignment sheet again for details--this is the part that looks most like a research paper, though with significant additions where you write about your rhetorical choices in designing your "thing"). You need to have a draft of that ready for feedback on Thursday afternoon (Save it as Your First Name_ReflectiveEssay_Draft1 and put it in the Researched Project Drafts folder in Google Docs). We're moving quickly, but think of this as one step at a time, and you won't be overwhelmed:). Only a few days left, and Summer II will be done! Again, email if you have any questions (jcharlton@utpa.edu).

Tuesday's Work (8/9/11)

Today, I want you to draft your "thing," whatever that might be. If you haven't gotten an okay from me about your audience, purpose, genre, and claim, please make sure you do yesterday's work first (and ASAP). You need to have a completed draft of your thing put in the "Researched Project drafts" folder in Google Docs by this evening. If your thing is not something you can cut and paste, take a picture of it and upload that or upload the link to the YouTube video, etc. If you have any questions, just let me know, and I'll try to help you. I'll leave notes later on today about how I'd like you to give one another feedback. You'll be in the same groups as before.

Monday's Work (8.8.11)

I hope you had a productive weekend and that you've completed most, if not all, of your research. Last week, I had you brainstorm about possible purposes, audiences, and genres for the "thing" you'll be creating as part of your researched project. I encourage you to go back and re-read the assignment for the researched project as you prepare to make some final choices about what you'll be making and why. Remember that what I'm asking you to do is likely very different than anything you've done before. It's not your typical research paper where you dump all the information you've found into an essay for some amorphic "general audience." All the things I've asked you to read this semester have been asking you to think about the purposes for research and argument differently, to see that you need to have a reason for doing this work other than "my teacher told me to":). So, based on your analysis of your sources, I want you to take one last stab at answering the following questions about the "thing" you're going to make:

1. What purpose do you want your project to serve?
2. What claim do you want to make? Or, another way of saying the same thing, what message do you want to send with your project?
3. Who do you choose as your audience? Try to be as local and specific with this as possible. If you're hoping to reach high school students, think of students at a particular school. If parents, how about parents at your kids' school? Remember that you can't have multiple audiences (parents, kids, administrators, teachers) because what you would say to each and how you would say it are quite different for each of those audiences.
4. What genre will you be writing in? For this one, remember that most people don't read essays and that brochures and Powerpoint presentations aren't the default answer either:), though for some audiences and situations, those choices make sense. Think about what your audience has occasion to read. Is it radio ads, YouTube videos, book covers, bookmarks, a letter to the editor, a parent newsletter from a school, etc., etc. Think widely here and don't worry that what you choose isn't enough work:). Everyone will be writing a reflective essay as well, and that's the thing which will look most like your typical research paper.

I'd like you to answer these questions here, and I'll try to get back to all of you this afternoon and evening. Once you get the ok from me, you'll need to start drafting your thing. We'll start workshopping your drafts tomorrow.

Friday's Work (8/5/11)

Today, I want you to read the feedback on your plan of inquiry and write up a brief plan for what you need to do before you're ready to start making some choices about what you're going to make for your 'thing" on Monday (you can write this at the bottom of your plan of inquiry, and I'll go back in and check it later today for a grade). You should have comments from me since I've looked at all the plans that were turned in as of last night, and you may have feedback from your peers as well. I've taken grades for 1) the plan of inquiry itself (counted twice as a daily grade) and 2) for the feedback you're giving one another (one daily grade), though I'm not going to put the grades directly on those docs since others can access them.

Homework for Monday: You need to work on finishing up your research. That means finding all your sources, but also reading and analyzing them. Several of you had found sources for your plan of inquiry, but I assume you hadn't had time to read them since you didn't have annotations for each. So, read, read, read this weekend and use your reading matrix to help you keep track of what you're reading (I'll check those Monday morning to see if you've made progress and give you a daily grade for that work). As you read, think about the following questions as a way to help you navigate your sources: What’s the rhetorical situation for the larger context of the debate about your question? What are the major ideas that come up as you look at your research? What are the rhetorical situations for each of your sources? What are your source writers’ values, motivations, and constraints? How do your sources of information compare on these fronts? On Monday, we'll do some brainstorming about your purpose, audience, and genre for your "thing." Remember that the "thing" will likely not be an essay, certainly not your typical "research paper" as most people never read such things:).

If you have any questions this weekend, email me at jcharlton@utpa.edu. There are no bad questions; just make sure that you've re-read the assignment itself if you have questions about that part of it before you ask me a question, ok?

Housekeeping Issues

Hi, everyone. Though this probably doesn't apply to anyone actively reading the blog, just FYI that the last day to drop the class is tomorrow (Friday). If you intend to drop, please send me an email ASAP at jcharlton@utpa.edu since you'll need my signature on the paperwork, and I don't usually go in to school since I'm working online from home.

Also, I'm still missing plans of inquiry from Marlene, Bee, Anna, Robert, Elias, and Noemi. If that's you, please email me ASAP so we can make a plan for when you'll have your work done.

Thanks!

Thursday's Work (8.4.11)

Hopefully, everyone now has their plan of inquiry up in the "Plans of Inquiry" folder in Google Docs (remember that's in the "Collections shared with me" spot in google docs). If you haven't already, please read and make comments on at least one of your group member's plans of inquiry and read the comments your group member(s) left for you. I will be making my own comments throughout the day and evening; I hope to get to all of them today, but if not, I'll definitely get to whatever is left tomorrow morning. The instructions for the feedback work and your group assignments can be found in the blog post for yesterday. Please make sure you get your plan of inquiry in the correct place ASAP as others are waiting on you to do that so they can do their own work.

Once you've read the feedback given to you, I want you to write a note at the bottom of your plan of inquiry, letting me know what your plan is for moving forward with your project. What research do you have left to do? Which parts of your issue have you not fully explored yet? What questions do you have for me?

Then, I want you to move forward with your research. You'll need to make sure you've located all the sources you want to use by the weekend, and I'll give you some work to do to help you narrow your ideas about what to do with the research you've collected tomorrow and over the weekend. But you won't be able to do that work if you haven't found and read your sources, so that's what you should focus the next 24 hours on. If you have any questions, email me at jcharlton@utpa.edu

Wednesday's Work (8/3/11)

Today, I want you to finish your plan of inquiry and upload it to the "Plans of Inquiry" folder (titled "PlanofInquiry_YOURNAME"). I created this folder this morning and shared it with you so you'd have a single place for everyone to upload their plans of inquiry and everyone would be able to access everyone else's plans for peer feedback. You can access this folder via the link that will come through in your email or by looking under "Collections shared with me." A couple of people have had trouble locating the 1302SII folder because they were looking at "My Collections" instead of those in "Collections shared with me."

Once you've finished your plan of inquiry and uploaded it to the "Plans of Inquiry" folder, I'll ask you to read the plans of inquiry your group members have written and respond to them directly in the documents themselves (groups are assigned below). Here are the questions I'd like you to address as you read each others' work:

1. Has this writer included all the parts the plans of inquiry were supposed to have? If not, which ones are missing? (You can remind yourself what was supposed to be in there by looking at the research project assignment).
2. Where are the places you have questions? Where are the places where you were confused or wanted to know more?
3. Are there any places where you thought of something the writer hasn't yet addressed (like a perspective on the issue that the writer hasn't discussed yet or a potential audience or genre that might make good sense, etc.)? Think of this as an invitation to offer suggestions for sources the writer hasn't found yet, directions to take the research, keywords they might try, potential purposes they might pursue, etc.
4. What are you most excited about with this project?

You can answer these questions however you'd like--as a long comment at the end of the plan of inquiry (use a different colored font and sign your work so the writer and I can keep track of who's saying what) or as comments you insert along the side as you read (highlight whatever section of text you'd like to comment on and click "insert" and then "comment" to be able to write your comment about that portion of the text. I will be giving grades for your feedback that you give one another. We don't have time to read about how to give good comments, but here are a few tips:

-Know that everyone is in the same boat, and everyone wants and needs good feedback, so please don't get stressed out over trying to be too nice. You can be respectful and constructive and offer good, specific advice. Saying things like "I liked it!" or "Great idea" isn't particularly helpful. It makes us feel good, but we need to help each other further our projects, not our egos:).
-Every one of you is qualified to give each other feedback. You understand the assignment, and you have a great deal of experience reading--and that's what's required to give good feedback. Just read as a normal person and let the writer know when you're having difficulty or when you have an idea about something they've said.
-Be very specific with your comments. Refer to specific parts of the text (by highlighting the text your comment refers to or actually quoting from what the writer said in a particular place) when you're explaining something you think about what the writer has done.

Here are your groups you'll be working in for peer feedback:

-Oli (Aholivama), Laura, & Brenda
-Mariela & Zoe
-Noemi & Robert
-Alex (Alexandra), Karen, & Monica
-Anna, Merilyn, & Andrea
-Bee (Bernarda), Sandra, & Enique
-Kaylee & Raul

I tried to put you in groups according to similarities in your projects. That way, as you're reading what others are up to, you might find leads of your own and might be able to lend more issue-specific expertise to each other than others could.

TIMELINE: Your plan of inquiry is due by 2:00pm today. After that, you can go in and read your group members' plans and respond to them. If you're in a group of 3, just make sure that you've read at least one of your group member's plans and given feedback on it. You don't have to read and respond to both unless you're feeling generous and curious (and that would be cool:)). You have until 8:00am on Thursday to finish your feedback on your peers' work.

Tuesday's Work Part II--Drafting Plan of Inquiry

The second half of your work today is to start drafting your plan of inquiry (see the project assignment for full details about what should be in the plan of inquiry). Tomorrow you will complete your plan of inquiry, and we will begin group workshopping of your drafts (so, for those of you who can only work at night, you will need to think about how best you can manage this work--tomorrow we'll talk about identifying possible audiences, purposes, and genres, so if you have to write the whole thing tonight and you have questions about those parts, just send me an email at jcharlton@utpa.edu). Think of the plan of inquiry as just that--a plan or proposal--but to write it, you should have already done some research and reading on your question. And, remember, too, that when I ask you to identify possible claims/purposes, audiences, and genres, I'm just asking for what you're thinking right now. You might very well change your mind as you do more research and reading. We just have so little time in the summer to think through these choices that I want to get your mind rolling as quickly as possible.

Please save your plan of inquiry to your individual google docs folder. I will be creating workshop groups based on similar questions and will create new spaces for each group to share their work with one another to better facilitate the feedback process for the rest of the semester.

Tuesday's Work Part I--Primary Research

Today, I want you to think about whether and how doing some primary research could help you get some valuable perspective on your research question. Primary research is research that you conduct yourself (as opposed to secondary research, which is when you read about research other people did). This might include conducting surveys and/or interviews or perhaps doing some first-hand document analysis. Not everyone in class will choose to do primary research for your project, and that's ok. For some, you won't have time or access to the people or documents you might need; for others, primary research might not give you anything significant enough to spend your time doing it. But, for others, it might make perfect sense; it might provide some local perspective on a larger problem, a way to ground your project for a real purpose and audience you have in mind for your final project. So, I'd like you to spend a few minutes today thinking about how primary research might add to your project. Read the handout on empirical research in writing (in the 1302 folder in Google Docs) and respond to the following questions by replying to this post:

--If you were to do primary research for your question, what type(s) do you think would be most appropriate?
--What specific questions would you like the primary research to help you answer?

For instance, if I was doing this version of Robert's question, "What effects does standardized writing assessment have on students' attitudes towards writing?", I might do several types of primary research (in addition to my secondary research which would give me a larger picture of the overall context of the discussion about how standardized writing assessment affects kids). I could survey high school kids in the 11th grade with the goal of finding out how those kids' ideas about writing have been affected by taking the TAKS test. What do they think the purpose of writing is? How does the school's emphasis on these tests make them feel? I could interview local high school English teachers, trying to find out what they think the effects are of spending so much time teaching to these tests. I could actually analyze a sample writing test from the TAKS 11th grade test, and I could do the same for the new end-of-course STAAR writing exam for 11th grade, trying to figure out what the differences might be and how that might affect students' ideas about writing.

The point here is to identify the possibilities that exist for doing primary research for your project, but I realize that, in summer, we have such a short time frame and your access to the people you need to talk to might be limited, so you'll have to make choices about what kind of primary research you can actually do (this week) and what might not be doable. If you do decide to do primary research, I'll talk with you individually because it'll be important to make sure you have a good plan for doing it (good interview questions, for instance) so you use your time optimally.

Monday's Work (8/1/11)

Today, I want you to continue doing research and reading the sources you're finding. As you read, I want you to analyze the arguments made by each of your sources. What are the major ideas/issues in the conversation about your question? Where do your sources agree? Where do they disagree? What kinds of evidence does each source use? Do they agree on what counts as evidence? I'll be asking you to write about that this week, so I'm just giving you a heads-up about it now so you can make sure you're thinking this way as you read and taking enough notes to be able to answer these questions about your sources.

To help with some of this note-taking, I want you to start filling out a "Reading Matrix" as you read. If you click on the link to the "Reading Matrix," it will take you right to the document (it's in Google docs in our 1302SII folder). All you need to do is copy it and start a new doc in your own individual Google Docs folder. That way, you can continue to add to it as you read, and I can check in on your progress. I'll check Tuesday morning [8:00am] to see if you have this started and will give you a grade for your progress.

Essentially, the Reading Matrix is just a way to organize 1) the major ideas that you're encountering in your research and 2) where those ideas pop up. You won't fill in every box (not every idea will be represented by every source), and you should definitely feel free to alter the chart to keep track of whatever ideas you want to keep track of. I suggested on the template that you be as specific as you can be in the chart, even noting page numbers and/or quotes so you can quickly find important ideas later. If it works properly, you won't have to re-read everything as you're sitting down to work on your draft of your reflective essay for your researched project. It'll serve as a crib sheet of sorts for you.

I'll be back in court tomorrow for possible jury duty--not sure yet if they're going to choose me or not––but I'll keep you updated. I've been checking the Google Docs folders to see if anyone has written me for feedback, and I've been responding to those as I see them. If I miss you and you need feedback quickly, just send me an email at jcharlton@utpa.edu and I'll get back to you as soon as I can (at least by evening on Monday).

First Sources--8/1/11

Once you get some feedback on your keywords, start trying to do some of your research through the databases available to you (most through UTPA's library, but also CompPile, available through the web). Try to locate at least three sources which look promising. Post the information for each here (at least author and title of work) (along with your research question). Read through others' sources to see if any of them might look promising to you as well. (And don't forget our book is an excellent collection of potential sources for you).

Research Questions & Keywords (HW for Monday)

I want everyone to write your research question here and which keywords you're going to try for your first attempt at using databases for your research. You must use a database at first (no google, yahoo, ask.com, etc.). Read through everyone's posts and offer advice about keywords when you see some you think might not work or some that have worked for you if you've already started doing your research. Ask questions if you have them, too, of course:).

Homework for Monday, August 1

Here's your homework for Monday:

1. I've put the researched project assignment in the 1302sII folder in Google Docs, and I'd like you to read it. Post here and write a summary of it. What is it asking you to do? What questions do you have about it? It's not your typical research project assignment, so it may take reading a couple of times:).

2. I'd like you to generate some keywords to use in your database research for your research question. If you haven't revised your research question to really reflect what your interest is yet, you might find choosing appropriate keywords difficult. For instance, some of you have questions that are still pretty general (How can I become a better writer?) and using "writing" as a keyword will get you millions of hits, so it's not useful as a sole keyword. You'd need to combine it with other things:). Hopefully, you'll learn about this from "Research 101," but we'll all be available to help you when and if you hit roadblocks. I want you to write about what your research question is and what keywords you're using here on the blog (in the "Research Questions & Keywords" post) so you can help one another, learn from what's working or not for others, and I can help more than one of you at a time who might have similar questions/problems.

3. Start your database research and try to locate at least 3 articles/books/book chapters that look promising for your question. Post those on the blog under "First Sources--8/1/11."

Friday's Work (7/29/11)

A little later on this afternoon, I'm going to put up your major research project assignment (I'll put it on Google Docs in the 1302sII folder). But, in preparation for that, I want you to go to our library's tutorial on doing research--"Research 101"--and read through it carefully with your research question in mind. I'd also like you to explore the library site so you can see what kinds of stuff is available there (especially the "Chat with a librarian" feature and other ways you can get help from the librarians, even when you can't physically get to the library). Respond to this post after you've done the tutorial. Ask any questions you have about the library and doing research via the library.

Good Databases for Work in Reading, Writing, and Research: JSTOR, ERIC (education database), and CompPile (a rhetoric and composition database housed on the web). There are others, of course, especially depending on your research question, so be prepared to spend some time looking for sources--and asking the librarians for help (can i say that too many times?).

Student Researchers

Post here if you've chosen "student researchers" as the construct most relevant to your research question, but please read "Thursday's (7/28/11) Work" post first if you haven't already. If you've chosen a different construct. you don't need to respond to this one.

I want you to be as detailed as possible in your responses to these questions, so please don't think about answering this post in list or Q&A form. Try to compose paragraphs that get at all of the questions, but in a coherent, well thought through way.

--What do you think student researchers are supposed to do?
--Where have your ideas about what it means to be a "good student researcher" come from?
--How have the readings we've done so far influenced your ideas about what good student researchers do?
--What misconceptions do you think people have about "student research"?
--How might we go about changing those misconceptions?

Remember to read everyone's comments and make at least 1 additional reply (though what I really hope to see is a conversation develop and your collective ideas advance about the issue).

Good Student Writing

Post here if you've chosen good student writing as the construct most relevant to your research question, but please read "Thursday's (7/28/11) Work" post first if you haven't already. If you've chosen a different construct. you don't need to respond to this one.

I want you to be as detailed as possible in your responses to these questions, so please don't think about answering this post in list or Q&A form. Try to compose paragraphs that get at all of the questions, but in a coherent, well thought through way.

--What is your idea of "good student writing"?
--Where have your ideas about what it means to be a "good student writer" come from?
--How have the readings we've done so far influenced your ideas about what good student writers do?
--What misconceptions do you think people have about "good student writers"?
--How might we go about changing those misconceptions?

Remember to read everyone's comments and make at least 1 additional reply (though what I really hope to see is a conversation develop and your collective ideas advance about the issue).

Good Writing

Post here if you've chosen good writing as the construct most relevant to your research question, but please read "Thursday's (7/28/11) Work" post first if you haven't already. If you've chosen a different construct. you don't need to respond to this one.

I want you to be as detailed as possible in your responses to these questions, so please don't think about answering this post in list or Q&A form. Try to compose paragraphs that get at all of the questions, but in a coherent, well thought through way.

--What is your idea of good writing?
--Where have your ideas about what "good writing" come from?
--How have the readings we've done so far influenced your ideas about what good writing is?
--What misconceptions do you think people have about "good writing"?
--How might we go about changing those misconceptions?)

Remember to read everyone's comments and make at least 1 additional reply (though what I really hope to see is a conversation develop and your collective ideas advance about the issue).

Good Writers

Post here if you've chosen good writers as the construct most relevant to your research question, but please read "Thursday's (7/28/11) Work" post first if you haven't already. If you've chosen a different construct. you don't need to respond to this one.

I want you to be as detailed as possible in your responses to these questions, so please don't think about answering this post in list or Q&A form. Try to compose paragraphs that get at all of the questions, but in a coherent, well thought through way.

--What is your idea of a "good writer"?
--Where have your ideas about what it means to be a "good writer" come from?
--How have the readings we've done so far influenced your ideas about what "good writers" do?
--What misconceptions do you think people have about "good writers"?
--How might we go about changing those misconceptions?

Remember to read everyone's comments and make at least 1 additional reply (though what I really hope to see is a conversation develop and your collective ideas advance about the issue).

Good Reader/Good Reading

Post here if you've chosen good reader/reading as the construct most relevant to your research question, but please read "Thursday's (7/28/11) Work" post first if you haven't already. If you've chosen a different construct. you don't need to respond to this one.

I want you to be as detailed as possible in your responses to these questions, so please don't think about answering this post in list or Q&A form. Try to compose paragraphs that get at all of the questions, but in a coherent, well thought through way.

--What is your idea of good reading?
--Where have your ideas about what it means to be a "good reader" come from?
--How have the readings we've done so far influenced your ideas about what good readers do?
--What misconceptions do you think people have about "good readers" or "good reading"?
--How might we go about changing those misconceptions?

Remember to read everyone's comments and make at least 1 additional reply (though what I really hope to see is a conversation develop and your collective ideas advance about the issue).

Thursday's (7/28/11) Work

I've taken a look at the calendar and have decided to do things a little differently. We have just over three weeks left and rather than asking you to do three separate projects, I'm going to ask you to do one--with several parts. It'll cut down on the need to do major revisions of 3 separate projects, and the learning outcomes will be the same. I'm assuming that'll be ok with you:).

Yesterday, I asked you to revise your research question and write about some of the major constructs connected to your research question and the misconceptions about those constructs. As I've been reading your responses, it occurs to me that some of you might be making that last part too hard, so I'm going to give you a little more guidance. I want you to choose one of the following constructs to write about. Choose just one--whichever one is most relevant to your research question and post your responses to the appropriate blog post (I'll put up one for each). And I want you to read one another's posts and respond to at least 2. Use this as an opportunity to refine your ideas, particularly as they relate to your potential research question. If you have a question about which one is more relevant to your research question, send me an email at jcharlton@utpa.edu [due: Friday morning by 10am]

-Good Readers/Reading (What is your idea of good reading? Where have your ideas about what it means to be a "good reader" come from? How have the readings we've done so far influenced your ideas about what good readers do? What misconceptions do you think people have about "good readers" or "good reading"? How might we go about changing those misconceptions? )
-Good Writers (What is your idea of a "good writer"? Where have your ideas about what it means to be a "good writer" come from? How have the readings we've done so far influenced your ideas about what good writers do? What misconceptions do you think people have about "good writers"? How might we go about changing those misconceptions? )
-Good Writing (What is your idea of good writing? Where have your ideas about what "good writing" come from? How have the readings we've done so far influenced your ideas about what good writing is? What misconceptions do you think people have about "good writing"? How might we go about changing those misconceptions?)
-Student Writers (What is your idea of "good student writing"? Where have your ideas about what it means to be a "good student writer" come from? How have the readings we've done so far influenced your ideas about what good student writers do? What misconceptions do you think people have about "good student writers"? How might we go about changing those misconceptions? )
-Student Researchers (What do you think student researchers are supposed to do? Where have your ideas about what it means to be a "good student researcher" come from? How have the readings we've done so far influenced your ideas about what good student researchers do? What misconceptions do you think people have about "student research"? How might we go about changing those misconceptions? )

Wednesday's Work (7/27/11)

Hi, everyone. I just finished responding to all the research questions I could find in Google Docs, so before I move on to today's work, I need to do a little housekeeping.

1) I still haven't seen research questions from a significant number of you. You really can't move on with the rest of the semester if you don't have a researched question that I've given you feedback on. So, PLEASE get this done ASAP or email me at jcharlton@utpa.edu and let me know what the problem is so I can help if at all possible. If you think you turned one in, but don't have any feedback from me, email me now because that means I haven't seen it (at least as of 10:45am).
2) When you upload something into Google Docs or create a document directly in Google Docs, you need to make sure you've clicked on your individual folder first. Then, when you upload or create a document, it will automatically be placed in the correct folder (yours). You don't need to "Share" anything as it will already be shared with me. Sharing just means it sends me a link to your document through the email, and I don't have the ability to comment or for you to revise if you do it that way. I found a few of your documents outside of your folders, and I tried to cut and paste them into a document in your folder for you so you could see what it should look like.
3) Remember to name your documents something recognizable--with your first name in there. So, for the research question, something like "ResearchQuestion_Raul" would be good for Raul. This isn't a huge deal yet, but as we accumulate more docs and eventually share them amongst the whole class, this will get messy fast:).

Okay, now to Wednesday:
1) I'd like you to read my comments on your research question and revise if necessary. You can ask questions of me by replying to my comments or by inserting new comments of your own (just click "Insert" and "Comment" to do that), and I'll get back to you sometime today. What I'm trying to do here is create a conversation between you and me about your research question. You've got really interesting ones, but I'll be pushing you in the coming days to be as precise as you can so we can start identifying the keywords you can use to locate research in the databases about your question. This won't always be an easy process, but that's just the way research goes:).
2) I'd like you to go back to your research question document and add a section to it about "Relevant Constructs/(Mis)Conceptions." For your first project, I'm going to ask you to write about a construct or a conception of writing, reading, researching, learning, etc. The first step is to start thinking about what the important constructs or (mis) conceptions are related to your research question. So, for instance, Robert has this question: Do standardized state (writing) tests, like the TAKS, ultimately help or hurt students? At the root of this question are assumptions about what "good writing" is and how writers work. After all, for tests to be good measures of student writing, they should tell us whether writers are able to produce "good writing" and they should account for how writers write, right? What I'd like you to do today is go back into your research question google doc and start a new section with the heading "Relevant Constructs/(Mis)Conceptions) and brainstorm about what some of the important constructs are in your question or what (mis)conceptions might be relevant to your question. [Due: end of day Wednesday]

Tuesday's (7-26-11) Work

Because a good research question is so important, I'm devoting the next 24 hours to making sure you have a good, workable draft of a question. Some of you got a start on this on the blog over the weekend and on Monday, and now it's time to weed through all your potential questions and choose one you'd like to focus on for the rest of the semester. To do this, I'd like you to go to Google Docs and, in your individual folder, write about the research question that interests you most. Remember this is a question that must be related to reading, writing, researching, or learning, and it must be a question you don't already know the answer to. In your document, which you can create right there in your individual folder or upload from Microsoft Word, I want you to do the following:

-Write your research question at the top. Remember to phrase it as a question and to be as specific as you can at this point in your thinking.
-Write about why you were drawn to this question. What issue(s) is at stake in your question, and why do you find yourself needing to search for answers about it? This should take at least 1/2 page, maybe more, because I want you to give me as much info as possible so I can give you the most useful (and quick) feedback that I can. Remember that context plays an important role in everything we read, write, and research, so I need you to provide me with enough context that I can understand why you're interested in the question and what you're hoping to learn.
-Write about who you imagine to be impacted by your question. A number of you have questions which clearly have ramifications for yourself, but who else is involved in the issue(s) at stake in your question?

If you're finding it difficult to come up with a research question, you can always 1) read back over others' ideas for research questions, both in my initial blog post about research questions and in your peers' potential questions in the comments section; and 2) look back over the readings we've done. All the readings address areas of dissonance related to questions about what counts as "good writing," "good reading" and "good researching." Is there a question related to one of these ideas that you could start with?
[Due: by end of day, Tuesday; I will give you feedback starting Tuesday evening and running through Wednesday morning]

Williams Discussion--Error as Construct (Monday's work)

In the lead-in to Williams' article, Downs and Wardle define "construct" for us, a term I've been throwing around for several days, but haven't yet defined. And since you'll be writing your first project about constructs, it's important that you have a clear idea of what they are:). So, D&W write that a construct is "a set of ideas woven together over time until they seem inevitable, the only way of thinking about a problem, when in fact they are not at all inevitable but simply choices in thinking that are constructed to look unavoidable. The concept of error in writing that most people hold," they add, "is one that people have become accustomed to, but it is not one that is necessarily universally true" (37-8). Here are the two sets of questions I'd like to use to begin our discussion of Williams' article. [Due: end of the day Monday]

1. What is this common conception of error that Williams is responding to? What have been some of your own experiences with this idea of error? Why do they stand out for you? How would you react to those experiences now after reading Williams' piece? What, if anything, did you disagree with in this article? What arguments did he make that conflict with your own experience or with your sense of how things should be done?

2. Two of Williams' claims are that (a) if we read expecting to find errors, we tend to find them, whereas if we aren't looking for them we are less likely to notice them, and (b) if we were to read student papers as we read "ordinary" texts, we would find far fewer errors in them. If you take these two ideas together, what does Williams seem to be saying? What do you think about that?

Jonikka's ENG 1302 Summer II: Research Questions: A Beginning List

Jonikka's ENG 1302 Summer II: Research Questions: A Beginning List: "Over the weekend, I asked you to start thinking about questions that you have related to writing, reading, research, or even learning .For t..."

Research Questions: A Beginning List

Over the weekend, I asked you to start thinking about questions that you have related to writing, reading, research, or even learning.For this post, I'd like you to add all the questions you can think of. Don't worry about overlapping with anyone else's question or even having the same or similar question. And don't worry about whether the question is "right." There is no "right" question. They just need to be questions that you don't already know the answer to, or else there'd be no reason to ask them:). You might have a suspicion about some answers, but if you go into your research thinking you already know what you'll learn, you won't be open to discovery and learning. Once you've settled on the question you want to pursue, I'll be asking you to identify key constructs/conceptions about writing, reading, research or learning that are key to thinking about that question. Then, we'll be ready for Project 1 and your individualized research.

I've been called for potential jury duty on Monday, so I will be checking in as I can throughout the day. I might actually have more time than usual since I'll be confined to that small room for long periods waiting to see if they pick me:). But, if you try to contact me and don't hear back until later in the day, that's probably why. Please try to post your potential research questions as soon as you can, but for sure, by Monday at noon, and star or otherwise mark the one(s) you're most interested in.

To provide a spark, here are some questions past students have pursued, as well as some that I would like to pursue for my own research. Of course, you don't need to choose one of these; they're just here to help you see the kinds of questions that some people have asked before.

-What is the role of grammar in writing instruction?
-What can be done to help high school students better understand the demands of college writing?
-How could rhetorical reading help engineering students?
-How does someone get started on a new writing project?
-How much does a student's attitude towards writing affect their ability to finish a writing project?
-Why do so many students have trouble with plagiarism?
-What is a good strategy for reading a teacher's writing assignment?

These, of course, are all school-related, but your question doesn't have to be about school-related writing, reading research, etc. Let yourself think widely here. The worst that could happen is for me to say your question might not be workable in such a short summer session. Our job is to help you figure out how to do what you want to do if it's at all possible in 3-4 weeks:).

Homework for Monday, July 25

I'd like you to read Williams' article for Monday, focusing on what he has to say about many people's misconceptions about "error" and how that compares to your own experiences with this construct, both in and out of school.

Also over the weekend, I'd like you to start thinking about questions that you have related to writing, reading, research, or even learning. Go to the post "Research Questions: A Beginning List" and add all the questions you can think of. Don't worry about overlapping with anyone else's question or even having the same or similar question. And don't worry about whether the question is "right." There is no "right" question. They just need to be questions that you don't already know the answer to, or else there'd be no reason to ask them:). You might have a suspicion about some answers, but if you go into your research thinking you already know what you'll learn, you won't be open to discovery and learning. Once you've settled on the question you want to pursue, I'll be asking you to identify key constructs/conceptions about writing, reading, research or learning that are key to thinking about that question. Then, we'll be ready for Project 1 and your individualized research.

I've been called for potential jury duty on Monday, so I will be checking in as I can throughout the day. I might actually have more time than usual since I'll be confined to that small room for long periods waiting to see if they pick me:). But, if you try to contact me and don't hear back until later in the day, that's probably why. Please try to post your potential research questions as soon as you can, but for sure, by Monday at noon.

Is All Writing Autobiographical?

Murray makes the claim that all writing is autobiographical in some sense, yet I've had many, many students tell me that their past English teachers have told them they can't use "I" in their writing, particularly "formal" writing (whatever that means--I've never really understood:)). Think back to what you've been taught about how "personal" your school or work writing (that is, not your diary, journal, poetry, songwriting, or other "expressive" writing) could be. What kinds of rules or guidance did you get about your school or work writing? How does that advice you got compare to what Murray is saying? What are the implications of his arguments? If he's right, how would it change the way you think about writing? [Due: end of day Friday]

Genre Features: Murray Blurring the Lines

Murray's article was published in a peer-reviewed, scholarly journal, yet it does not share the typical features of that genre (in this case, "scholarly article" is the genre). Murray's writing is more informal, more "creative," and easier to read in some ways. Make a list of the ways that Murray's article is different from the other scholarly articles in this chapter. Now consider the opposite. Make a list of the features that mark Murray's article as belonging to the genre of "scholarly article." What are some reasons why Murray would have wanted to break out of the usual 'rules' for writing in the scholarly genre? What features of scholarly articles did he have to keep in order to still be heard by his audience (teacher-scholars who read College Composition and Communication)? [Due: end of day Friday]

Constructs-Part II (add Murray)

Yesterday, I asked you to post to the "Constructs--Looking Ahead to Project 1" blog entry. I had asked specifically that you discuss Kantz, but I also wanted you to go back through all the articles we've read so far (Greene, Kleine, H&F, Grant-Davie) and identify the constructs or conceptions about writing or reading or research from those articles, too. Now, I want to add Murray to the mix. Go back to the original blog post ("Constructs--Looking Ahead to Project 1" and post a new comment today. What construct is Murray asking you to consider? What misconceptions is he trying to address about this construct? What other constructs have you identified from our course reading so far? I ask again because I didn't see enough discussion about our other articles yesterday, and I want to give you a chance to try that again:). [Due: end of the day on Friday].

Constructs--Looking Ahead to Project 1

One of Downs' and Wardle's goals for Ch 1 is "considering constructs or conceptions about writing that don't survive close scrutiny" (85). In Project 1, I'm going to ask you to choose one of these constructs or conceptions about writing to explore further, so I'd like you to get used to looking at our readings through that lens. What constructs or conceptions is Kantz trying to analyze? Why would it be useful for you to understand her findings and claims? What are other important concepts and constructions that have come up in our reading so far this semester? [Due: end of day Thursday]

Using Sources--Kantz

We've read several articles now that have implications for how and why we do research (remember the readings from last week on research as inquiry as well as today's article by Kantz). How has reading these articles affected your thinking about how to do research? Thinking of Kantz, especially, do you think her ideas will change your approach to doing research and, especially, writing with sources? If so, how?

How Texts Work--Kantz

"Make a list of the things Kantz says students don't know, misunderstand, or don't comprehend about how texts work. Judging from your own experience, do you think she's correct? How many of the things she lists do you feel you understand now?" (D&W 85). [Due: End of Day, Thursday]

Facts, Opinions, Claims, and Arguments--Kantz

In the "Getting Ready to Read" section before Kantz's article, Downs and Wardle asked us to write down our own brief definitions for fact, opinion, claim, and argument. They did that because they assumed (I think) that Kantz might challenge, or at least complicate, our ideas about what these terms mean. In one of their questions after the article, they write that Kantz says that Shirley "believes that facts are what you learn from textbooks, opinions are what you have about clothes, and arguments are what you have with your mother when you want to stay out late at night" (76). They then ask you to explain what Kantz says these terms mean; I'd like you write about that here. What does Kantz say that facts, opinions, and arguments are? What are claims? How do her ideas compare to your own ideas about these words? [Due: end of day Thursday]

Homework for Thursday

For Thursday, I want you to read Kantz's article and respond to the blog posts I put up about it. Don't forget about Wednesday's work, though:). One day at a time; I'm just giving you a heads up in case you're working during the day and not at night.

Rhetorical Situation--Wednesday's Class Discussion

Grant-Davie offers us a complex nuanced discussion of rhetorical situations, building off of other scholars' definitions in an attempt "to offer a more thoroughly developed scheme for analyzing rhetorical situations" (104). And while I don't expect you to be able to understand and use every word of his article (no one could anyway), I do want you to be able to take something useful from his ideas. So, I'd like us to try to develop a good working definition of "rhetorical situation" that's written in our own language that we can continue to use as a class as the semester progresses. The trick is not to oversimplify the ideas, but to try to capture the complexity in a way that means we get this idea and we can apply it to our own daily lives. It might help to begin by thinking about what the key elements of a rhetorical situation are. Then, see if you can provide a beginning definition of "rhetorical situations" by explaining how those elements interact. [Note: There is no correct response to this task, and I'm hoping that reading your peers' responses will help you refine your ideas. Don't be afraid to start with one of your peers' ideas and revise/refine it. It would be really cool if we could see a class definition develop as the discussion progresses:).] [Due: end of day on Wednesday]

Google Docs

I asked you (for Wednesday's homework) to answer two questions related to the Grant-Davie article for Wednesday and post those responses on Google Docs in your individual folder. I want to make sure you can navigate and use Google Docs, and writing it up will help you with our blog discussion of the article as well. So, if you have any difficulties posting to Google Docs, respond here and ask for help. One of us will hopefully be able to solve any problems. (And remember not to email me through google as I rarely check that email:)).

Monday's H&F Discussion: How & Why We Read

In a few questions at the end of the H&F article, Downs and Wardle ask you to consider how H&F's ideas about reading might be different than how we're used to thinking about it. Respond here to D&W's "Questions for Discussion and Journaling" #2, 4, and 5. When possible, try to reference specific passages from H&F's article and document appropriately. That way, we can begin to see how your ideas are developing in response to what you're reading. Once you see your peers' responses, respond to at least one (ask questions, make connections between what they say and your own experiences, make a connection back to the reading based on what your peers have said, etc.). I'll monitor the discussion throughout the day to see how it's progressing. Please have your posts done by the end of the day:).

Monday's H&F Discussion: Rhetorical Situation & Exigence

In a couple of questions that Downs and Wardle write after the Haas & Flowers article, they ask you to think about why H&F did this research and what their "rhetorical situation" was. So, I'd like you to respond to that here. Why did H&F do this research? What did they hope to learn? And why did they write the article after they did the research? Who was meant to read it, and how can you tell? What are they trying to do by writing it?

H&F Before You Read Discussion

I'm really excited to see your responses to one of the "Before You Read" options for the Haas & Flower article (see the calendar description for today's homework if you don't remember what I asked you to do). So, post what you came up with here as a comment and then read through your peers' responses as they roll in throughout the day. DUE by 5:00pm, though earlier would be helpful:).

Research as Inquiry

Both Greene and Kleine write about research as "inquiry." Greene specifically asks us to think about how we can see research and argument as "conversational inquiry," and Kleine's article asks us to think about how we go about doing research and what we do with it once we've done it. I think it's important that we begin our class thinking about these ideas because WHY we do research is an important pre-question to HOW. Today, I'd like to get a sense of your answers to both of these questions. So, read the next paragraph and write your own response.

Certainly, we all probably vacillate between being "hunters" and "gatherers" depending on our task, but for the purposes of thinking about the work you'll do in our class, I'd like to get your ideas about how these two articles might apply to your life as a student. What's the difference between "hunting" and "gathering"? Which one are you, and does it depend on what you're being asked to do? If you're mostly a hunter for school purposes, why is that? What do you think encourages this kind of approach to research, and how might it change your life as a student if you were more of a gatherer than a hunter? What have your past experiences with research for school been like? How did you find sources for your work, and how did you use them in your writing? Try to refer to a specific experience or two and analyze these experiences in light of your reading for today. When possible, refer to Greene's and Kleine's articles, quoting or paraphrasing bits and documenting what you take with parenthetical documentation so we can go back to the articles if we want to find what you're referring to. And, once you've written your initial post, come back in later this afternoon or over the weekend and read what others have written. Respond to an idea brought up in at least one other person's post. DUE DATES: 1st post: 5:00pm Friday; 2nd post: by at least 10:00pm on Sunday.

Hello

Just trying to get familiarized.

Questions about the Class

This is your space to ask any questions about the class after you've read through the syllabus and wandered through our class sites. I'll be in meetings most of the day, but I'll be checking in periodically when I can to see what you're up to today. If you can answer one another's questions, please do, but if it's something only I can address, hang tight and I'll get back to you.

Student Introductions

Because we won't get to see each other face to face, it is incredibly important that we take a little time to get to know one another. I'd like you to respond to this post (by clicking on the comment button) and tell us a little bit about yourself. I'm purposely being vague here because I want to see what you share (though remember we do have a public blog:)). I'm also interested in why you decided to take your ENG 1302 course online, so if you don't mind, add a bit about that as well.

As for me, I'm Jonikka, though you should feel free to call me Dr. Jonikka if that makes you more comfortable. I've been teaching for over 15 years, the last 6 here at UTPA. I direct the First-Year Writing Program, and this is my first time teaching an online class. We haven't done too many classes online because writing classes are so interactive, but I'm looking forward to seeing how we can make it work. I have two sons--Duncan, who just turned 6 two days ago, and Ian, who is 12. I'm married to Colin, who also teaches in the program, and I'll probably reference all of them at some point this semester:). I love to cook and am sad I won't be able to bring you guys cookies like I usually do in face to face classes. And I can't wait to get to know you and see what really cool work you're able to do. If you have questions about me, don't hesitate to ask. I can always decline to answer, but probably won't:)!

"Good Writing": Online Discussion

As a way to begin our class inquiry into writing, I'd like to start simply. We all have our own ideas about what "good writing" is, often influenced by "school" authorities (our past teachers' expectations, standards associated with tests we've been forced to take), but also influenced by larger cultural ideas about good writing which might come from assumed workplace expectations, as well as our own expectations as readers/consumers of texts. Today, I'd like you to start thinking about where your ideas about "good writing" come from and how those ideas have influenced the choices you've made and your assumptions about what writing can be/do. Respond to this post by clicking on the comment button and address the following questions:

-What is your idea of good writing?
-Where do your preconceptions of good writing come from?
-Can you think of a time when your conception of good writing didn't work or seem "right" in the context?
-Is your conception of good writing limiting in any way?
-Would you behave differently as a writer, or understand yourself differently as a writer, if you conceived of "good writing" in a different way?

Once you've responded to these questions (you don't have to write the questions out or respond to them in some lockstep way--you have the freedom to pursue them as you wish), I want you to read through what your classmates have said and respond to at least one of their ideas. This is an opportunity to practice your referencing skills by explaining who you're responding to and by paraphrasing or quoting from that person's post.

Try to get your initial response posted by 2:00pm so that you can go back in and read your classmates' responses and write one additional post by 10:00pm this evening.

Homework for Friday

I'm alerting you here to your homework for Friday, but you should get in the habit of looking at the calendar at the end of the day to see what's due the next. I've also added a Full Class Calendar link to the right side of the page so you can go back and look at an older calendar posting if you need to. I also added a "Labels" link on the right which might be helpful to you. You'll see one, "jonikka-class info;" I'm putting that label on all my posts which give important class info (instructions, reminders, etc.). That way, if you click on it, it'll show all the posts I ever write which are relevant to that label. It's just an easy way of searching. You can also add labels to your own posts.

So, here's the homework for tomorrow (Friday): Read the "Introduction" to your textbook (pp.1-33). This will include an intro from the textbook authors as well as a handout they adapted from John Swales' work and two articles, one by Greene and one by Kleine. Please let me know today if you haven't been able to access Google Docs since you'll need to be able to work with your individual folders tomorrow.

Welcome

Hello All,
I'm trying to get familiar with this site, so sorry for the random posts. I wish everyone well in this online class!! Good luck!
Brenda J.

Intro to the Class-Responsibilities and Site Overview

Hi, everyone. I'm glad you found our course blog, hopefully with little trouble, and I welcome you to our main course "hub". If you're not familiar with blogs, please spend some time today learning as much as you can. Play around and see what's here and what happens when you click on things. And make sure you're able to access the materials in Google Docs. That, reading the syllabus carefully, and buying your textbook (see the syllabus) are your main priorities for today. Here's a general overview of these sites:

Responsibilities: It is absolutely crucial for participation in an online writing class that you read everything carefully, not just the articles we'll be reading, but also the class blog, the instructions for your daily activities and major writing projects, any emails which are sent, etc. It takes an independent learner to be able to survive and thrive in an online class environment, so you'll need to take responsibility for trying to find answers to your questions (by reading and re-reading instructions, finding a classmate you can ask on the blog or by phone or email, etc.) before you email me. I'll be happy to answer any questions you have, but please do everything you can to make sure the answers aren't already addressed somewhere on our course sites.

About the Blog:
Our class blog is public (which means anyone can view it), but only those who have been invited can post to it (and you'll need to be able to post to it). Please check your BRONCMAIL account for an email invitation to the blog from me.
Discussion-You'll see that here in the middle will be our main discussion place. This is where I'll put specific discussion questions or directions for activities that require you to post to the blog. You can post your own new posts by clicking on "New Post" in the top right corner of your screen, and you can post a comment to an existing post by clicking on the "X Comments" link at the bottom of the post.
Search Feature-At the top right, you'll see a search button you can use for our blog. That will come in handy as our discussions get archived and material you may want to access again is not here on this main page anymore.
Calendar-Below the search feature, you'll see our calendar. That's where I'll post what we'll do each day and what you need to do for homework.
Class Documents-Here, you'll see links to any class documents you might need (syllabus, handouts, major project assignments, etc.) as well as other useful links (UTPA library, Purdue's Writing Center site, etc.). If you find a useful link you'd like to share with the class, run it by me, and, if it looks good, I can always add it for you.

About Google Docs:
There's a link to Google Docs here on the blog, and there's a pretty good description of how we'll use it in the syllabus. You need to make sure you have access before the day is through, so please check your BRONCMAIL account for my invitation to this site. You will need to create a Google account if you don't already have one, but you will not be required to use a Gmail email address. Do some troubleshooting on your own and ask questions on the blog if you have any trouble. Maybe someone else in the class can help you.

NOTE: I will be at a conference from Wednesday through Sunday, so I will be checking in on our class during short intervals throughout those days and again later in the evenings. Please bear with me if you have questions; I promise you that I will get back to you as quickly as I can. If at all possible, use the blog to write a post and ask your questions, and if someone else in class knows an answer to your question(s), please post a comment to answer them. We'll be relying a lot on one another to make the class run smoothly, so there's no better time to start that than now!