Pre-Week Planning...
1) FYE meeting tomorrow at 2pm? Figure my FYE class out...
2) English 120: Add changes (Roundtable PR, WC, dates for quizzes, Doc Sharing - syllabi & rubric, mini-argument sample, Project 3 sample & tip sheet, blended course needs possible meeting days,...)
3) English 105: Look at shell - any changes? Look at syllabi too.
4) Make an appt for bug for Thursday or Friday.
5) Print off or email all syllabi before Friday & bring to Copy Center.
Next Monday & Tuesday:
1) English 110 Doc Sharing - add outside readings. Double-check everything else.

Best pancakes ever!

1/2 C oats
1 C cottage cheese
6 egg whites
dash of vanilla
dash of cinnamon
*1/2 handful of choc. chips

In a blender. Then in pan coated w/Pam. Makes two servings.
*My personal touch.

Now for some coffee... and another crack at that English 120 shell.

Ah, crap.
Why do I have to be so ambitious? Why, god, why? Or rather, why can't I leave things "as is"? Because I have just enough perfectionism in me... errrg. How annoying. So, yea, now that I've redone English 110 with fewer visual units, I think I may have to do the same to English 120. That syllabus and eCompanion/eCollege shell just doesn't look as nice now. DANG IT! Luckily, time is on my side. We start late this year, so I do have two weeks to redo this course and look at English 105/FYE 192. And maybe, just maybe, it'll only take me 2-3 days like English 110 did.
*crosses fingers*
*knocks on wood*
Just focus on the benefits, Sybil. You'll have shiny, well-organized shells and syllabi that make even more sense than before. Students will cheer over the added fun mini-argumentative essays... the online students will be on the same schedule as the on-campus ones... harmony will become a part of your life! Oh, jeez, I can hope.

Goal for the day... move everything from Weeks 9-16 into Units Intro-7... then attempt to revise Units Intro-2 (three units at a time seems like a good chunk to cover each day). So... a possible schedule emerges:

> Today, July 30: English 110 eCompanion, Units Intro-2
> Tomorrow, July 31: English 110 eCompanion, Units 3-5 (& help Anne over in FF with her eCompanion?)
> Friday, August 1: English 110 eCompanion, Units 6 & 7 (& help Anne over in FF with her eCompanion?)
> Monday, August 4: English 120 eCompanion, decide what needs changing
> Tuesday, August 5: English 120 eCompanion, implementation
> Wednesday, August 6: English 120 eCompanion, implementation
> Thursday, August 7: English 120 eCollege shell updating
> Friday, August 8: Take a break or look at English 105?

Three days per class? That'll force me to stop lolly-gagging about only doing little per day. I realize it's summer, but by doing more at once, I'm less likely to forget the plan or where I left off. Plus, that's only about 3-5 hours per day. I'm guessing.

A new idea for my English 120 mini-assignments... I found a list of questions here that I narrowed down to 130 possible arguments. Mini-arguments that is. I think I'll have students, from time to time probably on Fridays, pick one and write up a mini-argument for the following Monday. They have to use at least one source (maybe if they use more it'll be bonus) and argue their answer in under 500 words.

Then, on Monday, I'll ask students to share their mini-arguments (small group or with the entire class - the classroom we're in works well for large group discussions with a group of tables gathered in the middle of the room/computers along the walls). Those who argue against them will receive bonus or attendance points or something for that day. I could even put 'em all into groups and give them 10 minutes or so to find a source that contradicts the mini-argument of another group. Something like that... I can see it really sharpening their argument skills as well as making the idea of arguing a bit more fun and somewhat of a group effort.
Here are a few of the questions:
1) If you were asked to make a fair evaluation of your teachers, what criteria would you use for the evaluation?
2) Has college made you less sure about what is right and what is wrong?
3) How has your attitude toward your home (either town or family) changed between the time you entered college and now?
4) Do college students benefit from participation in extracurricular activities?
5) Why you would or would not want to live in a large city?
6) What do you believe are the chief reasons for students' academic failure in college?
7) How does your public image differ from your private self?
8) Is romantic love a good basis for marriage? Why or why not?
9) Is college a good place to find out who you really are? Why or why not?
10) Is it better to long for the past or look eagerly toward the future?

Here it goes, here it goes again!
Online student evals just plopped into my email.
So, what's that mean? TIME TO VENT.
Most people/students know that I defend students all the time. Their writing ability, mainly. Today, however, I'm not going to. How come I STILL get crappy/crabby feedback from my online students? My "inconsistent grading" even though there's a rubric, my "lack of direction/instructions" on certain assignments even after I've said that the GBP & the Final Group Essay were new assignments (they don't cut me any slack... perhaps that's what I get for not cutting them slack?), my "strictness" on late work, my ___...

What's hilarious is that they don't even cover up who they are when the survey is anonymous. I can instantly tell who are the torked off students by what & how they write. Would they say these things to my face? Would they feel this way if they were doing well in the class? Would they think these thoughts IF I was older and male? [Yes, I constantly think I would be treated better if I were older and a male.]

AND why doesn't the online system ask the same questions in the student evaluations as the on-campus ones? The on-campus evaluation form asks students to evaluate themselves & what effort they put forth.

I'm a good instructor & I constantly work at getting better, making my courses challenging AND fun. Anyone who thinks otherwise is missing a few marbles. Like Wade mentioned the last time I allowed these evals to frustrate me, I have to remember Steve Ward. I LOVED Steve's classes, but not everyone did. He had lovers and haters, yet he was a great teacher although not everyone was up to his challenge. I wonder if Kevin & Betsy & Amy get crappy evals. They challenged the heck out of me.

Lastly, I found out this semester (by teaching 120 on campus) that the online class isn't as overloaded with homework as I previously thought or was previously told. It's actually a little lighter weekly in the homework area. FYI.

Okay. Finished with that vent. Thank you to all the students who gave me CONSTRUCTIVE criticism and/or applauded my efforts to make this class different/fun/challenging/complex.

Having diagnosed myself with some small head cold
+ a splash of mono
= another random idea for a class.
... Students rarely 'read' the chapter(s) & stuff I assign.
Okay, I've noticed this. I can deal with it.
However, students do like to create stuff.
This I have noticed too.
If it's called a paper (I've commented on this in the past), they tune out. Go to La-La Land in 4.3 seconds. But if a teacher calls it something else and it appears relatively interesting/simple/different/fun, students typically will give it a shot. SO, with those things in mind, I may implement the use of teeny PPTs more often BY having students read chapters in the book(s) (like they are 'supposed to') and then create, in groups or alone, PPTs that sum up the chapter/relate it to them/make use of the chapter's content in a fun way, etc. I'd, of course, create a few 'starters' to give 'em all an idea of what I am looking for. They'd be like multi-modal mini-lessons. They'd 'force' the students to read or teach each other what they got from the chapter(s). And I wouldn't have to be the 'main attraction' in class as far as lecturing on something noone read; they'd show off their creations. I think this would work well in English 120 since the class revolves around the theme of controversy, but I may be able to sneak them into English 110 too with the chapter(s) on Works Cited pages, MLA, the Writing Process, Evaluating Sources, etc...

The more exhausted I am, the better the ideas. That's sad and cool all at once, I think.

I got a new idea. In thinking about Visual Arguments (Chapter 7 in everything's an argument) and after having my on-campus 120 students create their own visual argument (mini-assignment), I've lead myself, domino-wise, to thinking about having them FIND visual arguments. I'd require them to have a digital camera or buy a regular camera and take pictures of visual arguments around them throughout the semester. Then, they'd put together a PPT or paper with those visual arguments and explanations as to what they are arguing and how. I'd put one together over the summer as an example.

Juggling. The pros and cons of having two 12week courses (and then two regular semester courses... and then two online courses) are balancing themselves out. I feel a little frazzled when prepping for one particular 12week course (English 110) because they are covering my content quicker, and some of the content is new (I'm trying out a new book, Strategies for Successful Writing). Then again, when it comes to my regular English 110 course, I've already covered whatever it is in the 12week course, so I'm able to fly through the preparation much easier.

Too little? Or just different? Then there's the other 12week course - English 120. Now, I've never taught this course on this campus (only online), so I'm dealing with a lot of day-to-day creation of in-class activites, revising the online work into in-class work or discussions. At first, I remember thinking (and telling Wade) that it appeared I may be covering too much in English 120 Online because my chart seemed packed with activities and deadlines (and they read practically the whole book), etc. But, I've already had to move things "up" in the semester due to covering content faster in-class. So... I wonder if it all evens out there. The online activities are flexible; the in-class activities get covered quickly because I'm there to explain them.

Reading in class. I chatted with Wade about this already. The other day, I had my students read something for class out of their primary book. Then in class, they had to use the strategies from that book (about reading and writing better) in order to read an essay, "Would You Like Fries with That?" and fill out a handout. I explained the activity for about 10-15 minutes (and covered other announcements), then they read for about 10-15 minutes and took another 10-15 minutes to fill out the handout in groups or alone. While they're reading, I'm watching them. I've read the essay many times. I fiddle with my things, prepping for what questions they'll have about the handout. But, like I said to Wade, I'm not really doing anything. They are reading; they are actively learning. I appear to not be "teaching" by traditional standards (or, maybe, by anyone's standards?), but they read the essay and then have to recall the strategies they read for class. They critically look at the strategies, answer questions about their reading, and also complete a small writing that asks them to use a format/style suggested by the "Fries" essay. I consider it a nice collection of activities for a 50 minute class period. By the end of class, they've read, written, worked in groups, discussed with me and their peers, critically thought, and created a small piece of work. I easily give up control of the classroom; I like to circulate and discuss with student groups. While I see success in these methods, I still wonder why I question them.

Lecture. Essentially, I don't like to hear myself talking. For me, that equates to students not learning (but, rather, zoning out). I like to be the 'guide on the side,' not the 'sage on the stage' as Kevin would say. In the classes I took, once upon a time, I enjoyed those instructors who broke up the class period with discussion (groups or as a whole class), activities, and just a bit of lecture. I feel that my students can benefit from that, so I suppose that's why I feel comfortable with it.

Classroom Feng Shui. I'm certain there is research out there about this, but the ultimate classroom for English classes would have to be those that have loose seating (seating that can be placed into a circle or seating that allows everyone to sit around a large table) as well as computers to the side that can be used towards the end of class time for various activities (but mainly to write/print off drafts and examples). We have two classrooms like that; it's tough to get them reserved.

I had a lot to say today, I guess!

Every so often, I am wacked upside the head with the fact that students just don't read, or, if they do read, they don't comprehend the material like they should/could. I created a handout for Paper 1 in English 120. It had the basic layout I was looking for with their papers - what to write about in the first batch of paragraphs, what to write about in the second batch, etc. I thought it was a fabulously, helpful little handout. Some of them followed this nice outline; most have not thus far. Why many haven't received automatic As and Bs is beyond me.

I don't even think it's a matter of bashing them over the head with these things. Some are going to read what they are supposed to read, and some will not. Do I continue to lay out everything for them? Apparently, this will only benefit a minority of students who really, probably, don't need things laid out for them. Is it about creating assignments that they'll enjoy and just naturally do well at without a step-by-step procedure? Are those assignments realistic? What's so wrong with having them being able to write a simple argument & defend themselves? Nothing.

Writing is required because it makes you think, or at least gets you to write down what you are thinking so you can REALLY figure out what you think about your thoughts. Students like to complain about taking English, but, essentially, they are complaining about having to organize their thoughts. On paper/screen. They are complaining about having to think which shouldn't surprise me. Many don't have original thoughts... and if they do, they are hiding them.

Am I stereotyping? Yes. Am I right about them? A little bit. Am I searching for an answer? Always.