April 17, 2008
-
Spoooooky.
I think I may have just done 50% of the work necessary for my online summer course to get rocking & rolling. I updated the syllabus (I’ve started calling ‘em “cheat sheets”: the first page is the basic schedule/chart on the right side of the landscaped page with my info and strict rules on the left, then the next 2-3 landscaped pages that follow are the “boring things” that students rarely read but that need to be in a syllabus; it works out so that essentially, they only really need that first page, the cheat sheet) and put that on there (no more making syllabi in Publisher and then trying to transfer it all over to Word or PDF). Then, I created a mini-PPT about what to expect in the class. The main projects are listed, the theme is too, and some of the routine activities/assignments. It’s a small introduction, but it’s done in less than a minute with some creative custom animation. If the audio would work (and I may see if it will with the Articulate program), it’d be even better.I may only have to change the dates in the specific units. I want to add more YouTube videos and insightful PPTs, but if I can’t get around to placing those in the summer class, they will go into the fall one for sure.
Oh, and in regards to my reading of Sex, Drugs, and Cocoa Puffs, I read the chapter last night that looks into the Pam Anderson versus Marilyn Monroe comparison. Is Pam the same sort of icon for us that Marilyn was to a previous generation? I think Chuck essentially says ‘no’ to that, as do I, yet he brings up a lot of evidence for either side of that argument (who each one has dated, why they are sexual icons, etc.). Sometimes I walk away from his writing confused and smarter all at once, if that is possible.
I also wrapped up the chapter I stopped in the middle of where he’s on the road with a Guns-n-Roses tribute band (Paradise City). It was the type of Literary/Creative Journalism I was hoping to get my Creative Writing students to look at WHEN we were in the middle of the Creative Nonfiction unit. Ooopsie. Anyhow, this Chuck guy can do it all, or write it all I suppose. He writes sports-based stuff for ESPN’s Page 2, he wrote for the Fargo Forum (again, if I am remembering correctly), and he’s written a lot about music. Plus, chuck (hee hee) in some popular culture essays and this guy has multiple-personality-disorderly-writing skills. Practically. It’s like me being able to write about Buddhism, blogging, Beck, and biking… which I may be able to do someday.
