December 16, 2010

• Positivity Will Get You Everywhere.

  From a student in my Online English 120, Gabriella:
  "This class really exceeded all my expectations. Or let's say, it was totally different from what I expected. English is not one of my strengths (at least that is what I think); it fills me with dread to even think about writing an essay. Thank you for making in enjoyable and "different".

  What I liked:
  * weird projects, especially the flickr projects. It was fun to learn something new.
  * extra credit opportunities. It is good to have some extra cushioning to fall back on.
  * the reading material was fun and interesting
  * Sybil did not look for work that agrees with her views. She wanted ideas, whether or not we think alike. Very different from my high school days, thanks!
  * mini arguments. Writing short essays made it easier to feel comfortable writing longer ones. Thanks for the large number of topics to choose from.

  What I did not like:
  * my words. I don't think I will use (or even remember) most of the words I found.
  * Doc Sharing has too much stuff in it. It would help to remove some old stuff and unnecessary stuff to make it easier for students to sort through. Leave the examples, though.
  * Shortfolio. I think it is very hard to find time and ways to work together with classmates in an online class. After all, most of us choose this method because we want to be flexible in our schedule."

  Today, I have quite the load of assessment to complete... after our dept lunch, of course. First things first: food & good conversation are good ways to jump-start assessment, kids.
  Anyhow, I just wrapped up, from home, the Course Reflections (as seen above) in the Online 120; I think I have Tests and Shortfolios left in that class as well as Tests and P7s in my English 110s.
  World Lit will get wrapped up this weekend since they have a Friday deadline. Oh wait, they did have something due last night... I could assess that from home I think.

  • 9:55 am
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