On the relevance of Media to Composition

I always get a few students who don't see the point of using media in a composition classroom. This always surprises me. How many people see themselves writing essays for a living? How often will we write essays in our future jobs?

In my as-of-yet unpublished dissertation I have found a wealth of solid research supporting the incorporation of multi-modal forms of "writing" in composition:

Sheltzer and Warshauer (2000) write, “Language professionals who have access to an Internet computer classroom are in a position to teach students valuable lifelong learning skills and strategies for becoming autonomous learners” (p. 176). Those without access or with limited access are at a distinct disadvantage.

Teachers, in preparing content for digital modes of instruction delivery, have too often tended to, “transpose books and lectures, and so they miss the opportunity for use of the computer for creating responsive and active learning environments”(Bork, 1985. p. 7 cited in Alvi text but not referenced in their works cited).... Researchers (Lunsford, 2006; Jones-Kavalier and Flannigan, 2006; Ito et al. 2008; Lenhart et al. 2007) argue for us to redefine what it means to write in the digital age. Whatever definition we use, we must consider the role of modern web-based communication networks. It is likewise important to note, as Zhao (2003) and others have, that it isn’t the technology that makes the difference for students, but the way it is used.
Cummins (2000) notes that projects making extensive use of instructional technology (IT) can develop language and literacy more effectively than projects that make minimal use of IT. He concluded that this may be through heightened communities built across ethnic, geographical, social and linguistic divides (See also Brown et al., 1998; Cummins & Sayers, 1995).
Language educators should examine the potential of IT not only to increase the linguistic power of the individual student but also to harness that power in critical and constructive ways to strengthen the social fabric of our local and global communities…we should acknowledge the fundamental changes that IT is bringing to our societies and seek ways to use its power for transformative purposes (Cummins, 2000, p. 539). The diverse student population of our school makes development of literacy and the building of community essential.

I frequently share that many instructors (I can think of 3 off the top of my head now, and I think earlier I counted as many as 11) use multi-modal (or media) projects in composition 1. I also share that this project was the teaching demonstration that impressed my hiring committee when I got this job. We took a museum tour where the docents explained how art was composed - in many of the same ways the written word is composed.

If you need to make a presentation to a boss, will you read an image free text - or will you include pictures, charts and graphs? Will video or sound help persuade a manager or sell a product?

And my final question, should colleges prepare students for the workforce of 20 years ago, the work force of today, or the workforce 5 years down the road?

Profile Writing

Our textbook offers excellent instructions and suggestions for writing profiles, in addition to many fine examples. If one reads that material one should have no trouble with the assignment.

A profile differs from a memoir in that it is about another person. For this assignment we require that the subject of your profile be associated with JCCC and available for interview (or respond to email requests for information). This is necessary because the paper must have at least 2 examples of quoted material (be it speech, email or publication) and that all sources be listed on the works page/ bibliography at the end of the writer's paper. All choices are up to the discretion of the instructor, and family and /or romantic partners are not allowed.

To give some ideas and expose students to some of the groups available on campus the following JCCC organizations have sent representatives to address classes in the past.

• Inter-varsity Christian Fellowship: campus contact erin@ivkansas.org
• Queers and Allies: Facebook group; Google Group page;
  

The JCCC Center for Student Involvement coordinates a host of other groups, and in the future I hope to have other groups talk to our classes.

Technology expectations in the classroom

Had a couple students balk at using the Learning Management System - and even computers in general - in an English class. Teaching writing has always been about teaching technology, and inventions from the printing press to the typewriter and word processor have redefined our writing processes.

You get to this by going to the school website> enroll> Search class schedule>then enter “English> as a search term> then hover over f2f (face to face). It may be for all classes on campus - but I know it works with any English class.

Click the image to see it larger - and I'll reproduce the text below:

Face-to-Face Courses (F2F)

Face-to-Face instruction takes place in a classroom. Based on JCCC's Statement of General Education. Students in all classes, including face-to-face classes, are expected to use technology appropriate to the course content and as needed to access web-based course materials. Face-to-face classes typically require access to computer equipment (either at home or in college labs provided for student use) and basic computing skills utilizing standard office, business and web browsing applications.

When students enroll, they agree these conditions - but they may not be aware of it.

Managing distractions

I like the options that teaching in a computer lab brings to writing classes - afterall, writing today is done on computers, but they offer so much distractions. Students aren't the only ones. In presentations to teachers and business people, wise presenters generally block access to the web, and / or expect professional behavior (in real life people lose promotions, jobs and other opportunities - and worse). A business writer explains that we need to stop blaming technology and be honest.

If you are having sex, you have a good sense that very few emails in the whole world need your attention right then. If you are at a birthday party for ten year old boys and they are screaming up and down a soccer field, you are probably bored and emails look a little more enticing. This is not about addicted or not addicted; this is an issue of knowing when email is essential and when it's a distraction.

You have probably been out to dinner with friends and they checked their Blackberry. This means you are not their most important priority at that time, just for that moment. You of course hope that your presence would make you most important, but in fact, it did not. Does that mean your friend is addicted to her Blackberry? No. It means your friend is prioritizing and she's letting you know that .

She elsewhere uses a colorful / NSFW analogy (see last 3 paragraphs) to note that we don't check technology while engaged in sexual congress, because it's fun and interesting. We use it when we're bored and want stimulation. I'd like to add to thoughts.

1. Being plugged means you will miss some of the subtle and not so subtle joys of life. Parents texting during a soccer game will miss seeing their childscore goals and students on facebook or texting during class will miss information and fun
2. learning requires quiet reflection. Sometimes we need to be disengaged from the constant bombardment of stimulus to be open - to give our minds the space we need to move ideas around and rearrange our thinking.
   

We need discipline in using technology - but in my classes lately I'm not seeing self-discipline.

Expectations

I always have great advice at the end of a semester, but at the begining of a semster I want to build group dynamics and assess.... next semester I plan on having students read all my posts labeled "advice" and do an annotated bibliography.

Re: ANGEL. to recap my syllabus, my courses are neither self-paced nor online. Most material is online, but we work in classrooms and attendance is mandatory. ANGEL hates Macintoshes. If you work on one at home you should plan on uploading your papers on campus on a PC. Upload in MSword. Turning in wps. is files antisocial and passive aggressive. It never pays to be like that to an instructor.

You do not need to own a computer to take my class - but in the real world we write on word processors of some sort. No one on a college level - in the United States - has accepted handwritten work for 50 years - and good luck finding a typewriter. My classrooms next semester have computers and there are ample labs on campus. If you don't do class work in class don't expect me to accept it for participation points if it's turned in late. Sometimes I'll say I'll accept work for the next 12 or 36 hours - but that's on you - and if it gets turned in. If a computer doesn't cooperate - or if you submit an unreadable file... that's on you. Excuses are irrelevant. Had it been done in class it would have worked.

To quote the Yoda, "You either do or do not. There is no 'try.'"

And don't expect me to hound students about missing work or showing up on time, or even just showing up. I notice. I keep records. It affects grades. It's up to each individual student to keep their own records and discipline themselves.

Quoting the dictionary: Faculty responses

In an unscientific poll of Composition 1 instructors at JCCC, 8 have weighed in. When asked how they felt when a writer quoted the dictionary in the introduction of an essay, 7 of 8 chose “Arrgh. I hate it” with the remaining voter selecting “I rarely see it work but it doesn’t bother me.” No one chose a positive (“I love it”) or neutral (“Fine. Whatever.”) response. The survey was anonymous, faculty had to follow a link, and perhaps that attracted only those with strong feelings; however, there seems a consensus that quoting from a dictionary does not succeed in comp. 1 classes or higher classes.

In response to the question I posed to the faculty list-serv , however; colleagues offered more useful, nuanced and reflective replies. I asked (all emphasis – bold – is mine):

How do instructors here feel about students quoting the dictionary (particularly in an introduction)? This may be a personal bias I need to address. I don’t generally like it, and I’ve had colleagues who felt strongly about it, but I once taught from a writing textbook that encouraged the practice…..-I’d like to be able to honestly tell students if this is a personal style issue specific to an individual instructor, or if citing the dictionary is generally unsuccessful with college writing professors.

Prof. Brannan explained:

particularly for developmental writers, patterns and other structure are critical. The dictionary gambit can be used as fluff--which it often is in Comp I, II, and beyond--but is useful for our 106 and 102 writers. It is especially useful when these students also see the classifying/dividing element in good dictionary definitions and have the concept of specific, detailed examples reinforced.

In the Precomposition class (roughly the equivalent to JCCC’s ENGL 106 ) I once taught elsewhere, the book suggested incorporating a dictionary definition. This lends support to Prof. Brannan’s thoughts. Prof. Lillich expressed:

I just finished grading a batch of definition essays and had several students use dictionary definitions as jumping off points/introductions. This is the developmental level in Engl 106, where the chapter on writing the definition essay suggests incorporating the dictionary into your pre-writing and using your specific definition in your essay. I really think it all depends on what level writing you are teaching AND who your students are.

There seems to be consensus. There’s a time and place for it, but Comp 1 students should be in the process of moving out of the practice. Prof Allen wrote:

At the risk of sounding like I worry about template writing a lot, I think this comes back to that. Students are given certain patterns, tricks of the trade early in their writing experiences and they are never moved out of that. What I don't know is why. Are they not given enough opportunities to think? After all, writing requires the ability to think not just regurgitate facts. Or are they encouraged to stick with what "works" for so long that they fear leaving the security of it? What I do know is that the definition opening is one of those strategies encouraged early on as an "opening technique" for young writers.

Maybe my overexposure to the technique (because I teach comp 1) has contributed to some sort of allergy. The repetitive exposure results in a numbness or fugue in others. Prof. Karle explains:

Dictionary definitions are boring and, as I tell my students, a missed opportunity to say something that is actually interesting to the reader and significant to the paper's argument. I also tell my students that if they must define a word, their own definition (for example of the word hero) would be far more interesting to the reader.

Prof. Schmeer tells writers that their goal is to:

grab our attention and “delight the reader”--that is, engage us and make us want to keep reading. Dictionary definitions are the written equivalent of Ben Stein’s character in “Ferris Bueller’s Day Off.” It helps to show a YouTube clip of the roll-call scene in FBDO or read students papers aloud in a Ben Stein voice when you explain this. They get it right away…
But beginning writers need templates to follow. I think we all forget that we needed templates at some point, too. Learning to think isn’t easy. Learning to trust your thinking is harder. Learning to trust that what you put on the page is often a poor representation for what you think and you need to think harder and represent those thoughts better is impossible unless you are willing to put forth the effort.

I’m going to share the video link in class next semester to provoke a free write on the analogy Prof. Schmeer talks about (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=G7zYyTotwfE). I like analogies. Prof. Fitzpatrick posited:

I have always thought of things like modes or the known/new pattern or even “claim-logos support-pathos support-ethos support” models as solid training wheels for students to use while they are finding their bearings in this new world of academic writing. ….But you don’t keep training wheels on forever, and the trick is helping students know when to take those training wheels off —and I think it is particularly difficult in late 106 …and early Comp1 (where some students come in with the stock patterns, which have given them success in high school and that are damn near required for standardized tests, and assume every kind of thought can be squeezed into one of those templates). That is something that, in my opinion, needs to be done on an individual basis with the student and the intention of the essay. But, for me, the place to start is to make sure students understand that these things are training wheels (or scaffolding) that will disappear once the ideas have enough wherewithal to support themselves.

This dialogue responds to the question much better than a simple and reductive rule for or against a practice; hopefully my students will read it. Lance Armstrong could show up to a bike race with training wheels and those who knew of him wouldn’t laugh He’d likely win the race, but for most riders, once they reach sufficient proficiency with a bike the training wheels become a hindrance rather than a help. ( I imagine he’d use them like the wheel weapons in the chariot race in Ben Hur, or like those vicious chrome plastic lug nut covers on semis).

Prof. Heflin makes an important distinction and relates the question to larger issues of research

if the student feels compelled to justify her/his point of view on an idea with a definition, I require that they use an authoritative dictionary, not a common one....so I remind students that they are not doing research by using a common dictionary, but merely doing preliminary research. I push my students to realize that the easy sources can be accessed by anyone, but a scholar accesses the authoritative, hard to find sources, which helps to build the writer's own authority in the process… that is also the rationale I give about avoiding using Wikipedia or eHow or any other abbreviated or condensed encyclopedia--it is not authoritative enough in and of itself (besides other issues).

All comments collected from email over the period of 12/9/10 to 12/12/10 and reprinted with permission of the authors.

reflection on TBL: FA 2010

The overwhelming majority of the class really liked the Team-Based Learning (TBL) project, but 5 or 6 didn't. As a whole the classes succeeded, but there were issues of ineffective group dynamics and missed deadlines. Last semester I ran the TBL unit later in the semester, after a tour of the Nerman and perhaps more direct discussions of the relationship of composition in art and media to college composition classes. There hasn't been trouble connecting the project to the goals of the class in the past.

There seems to be more misunderstandings due to errant expectations this semester. We need to review how college is different from High School (see link for the brilliant comparison contrast by SMU). We had a quiz over this the first week. For example

Professors may not follow the textbook. Instead, to amplify the text, they may give illustrations, provide background information, or discuss research about the topic you are studying. Or they may expect you to relate the classes to the textbook readings....Professors expect you to think about and synthesize seemingly unrelated topics.

It surprised me that several students said they didn't learn anything about composition from the TBL project. That was on the rubric as a goal.

High schoolers read short assignments, and can expect the teacher to cover the homework and explain it. In fact many don't need do assigned readings, but will expect the teacher to correct or explain missed homework. In college the onus is on the student.

Also, high school teachers will remind you when you don't turn in work, and when assignments are due. That's not the expectation of a college teacher. I have been doing this, but it seems wrong and unfair because 5% of the students take up almost 50% of my time and cause 85% of the aggravation. And it bothers me that some students who appear to be struggling haven't come to see me, even when I ask them to. The SMU site goes on to say:

[In High School] teachers approach you if they believe you need assistance. [While college] professors are usually open and helpful, but most expect you to initiate contact if you need assistance.

Also

[High School] teachers are often available for conversation before, during, or after class. [But college] professors expect and want you to attend their scheduled office hours.

Composition classes are gateway classes. Much of what we teach in Comp 1 is really academic readiness or life skills. In Mary Sherry's "In Praise of the F Word," she argues that for real learning to happen, failure has to be an option. This may not happen in high school if you show up most of the time, but it the work world, and in college failure happens and we learn from it.

3 people complained that they did too much of the work, and that it caused resentment or friction. Comments made by others in their groups lend credibility to their concerns. Because these were students identified by their teammates as leaders and hard workers, it rings true. Several of the harder working students complained that people in their group "goofed around on the computer" during class instead of staying on task and getting work done in the classroom. This is the first time I've run this project in a full computer lab. This bears study.

Most groups had problems meeting outside of class and this caused friction, which interests me because I instructed for all work to be done on campus during scheduled class time. Groups made inappropriate use of classtime, assuming they could meet outside of class. This happened last semester too. I talked about it in class.

Several groups didn't submit readable/viewable video. I offered use of my camera - no one said they needed it.

1/3 said the amount of time was appropriate, and 1/2 said they needed more time. Many of the people who said the amount of time was appropriate (or in one case too long) come from groups that didn't produce functional video and missed other deadlines.

At the begining of the semester we did an icebreaker where we chose what we would be if we had to be reincarnated. I disproporianate number of both my classes chose power-dominant images. In the decade or more I've been doing this icebreaker I've only had this many power-dominant images chosen twice. Both times it was a challenge to teach the class, but in one case the class experience was ultimately one of the most rewarding teaching experiences I've had.

On File Names and formatting

I learn a lot from seeing student digital work, as opposed to merely the paper end-product. We in composition intruction may assume a great deal more word processing skills than students have. Yes, today's students have keyboard skills far superior to those commonly found back in the 80's and 90's, but word-processing and file management skills haven't come far yet. Students routinely use the space bar instead of tabbing or using the center command located in the toolbar. They hit hard return at the end of a line instead of letting the computer wrap words automatically. Sure, it may look CLOSE to right in format on the paper copy, but if one has to edit any of the information it messes everything up. Also for someone who reads papers for a living, close is not the same thing as correct.

Page #'s should also be put in the header, so that they float, and if you take out a paragraph or add content it won't mess up the location of the page numbers. Placing Page numbers in the header also keeps margins the right size and location.

Because a digital file will be moved around and used by people other than one's self it should have a file name that will benefit others. That file-name should include author's name (last name and first initial) and a short and/or abbreviated description of the assignment. Many applications can't handle a space so jam words together or separate with an underline or period. I highly recommend inserting a date or number to designate a version to help distinguish early drafts from late drafts. For an annotated bibliography of a textbook, I'd name it dixong_AnnoText the first time I save it and I'd add the date whenever I saved to a new location - dixong_AnnoText.10.22.10 Editing changes the date modified if you use windows explorer (which everyone should. It's visual, intuitive, quick and convenient), so it is important to keep track of what is the latest revision of your work.

Save multiple copies in multiple places and save often. Those of us who can remember before autosave learned this the hard way. Email a copy to yourself, save it to your home computer, invest in several cheap flash drives,... even most portable media players can simultaneously work as portable storage.

"A Rose for Emily"

Everyone needs to be familiar with "A Rose For Emily." Because it appears in so many anthologies and textbooks, most people who have been to college should have read it, and it has something to offer everyone - including social criticism and commentary on: race, gender, perverted and/or abusive intimate relationships and more. E-notes tells us:

“A Rose for Emily” is a story that stands by itself. Faulkner himself modestly referred to it as a “ghost story,” but many critics recognize it as an extraordinarily versatile work. As Frank A. Littler writes in Notes on Mississippi Writers, ‘‘A Rose for Emily’’ has been ‘‘read variously as a Gothic horror tale, a study in abnormal psychology, an allegory of the relations between North and South, a meditation on the nature of time, and a tragedy with Emily as a sort of tragic heroine.’’

See also Spark notes.

Questions I have for myself before class:

• Do I want students to look at the conclusions and ideas from past classes - or come up with an interpretation on their own - unbiased by previous readers?
• Should I have students compare the tale to a CSI or Law & Order episode? We've previously compared the meaning of the rose to a Bachelor / Bachelorette reality TV meaning. How would they react to a role play?
  
• Why did our text book place the student example of a literary analysis in front of the story itself?
• Did I warn them in advance of the inappropriate language (by today's standards)? Can or should we discuss it? They could see the same term in the middle stall of the 3rd floor LIB men's bathroom.
  

Questions I want readers to think about today:

1. When was the story set? Where? Describe the social context.
2. Is it believable?
   
3. What do we know about the narrator?
4. What do we know or suspect about Homer Barron? anyone look it up? Here, or here(?)? What're your gut feelings about him?
   
5. Was the writer intentionally using symbols and multiple layers of meaning?
6. Do Homer and Emily seem like a good match?
   
7. How do the town's people feel about Emily? How do you feel about her?
8. What does Emily's reaction to the death of her father tell us about the way her mind works?
9. What does the hair in the last sentence mean?
   

See more questions courtesy of Web English Teacher. Find full text online here - until the text book thugs take it down.

on Academia

Thanks to SMBC

Team-based Learning: ad campaign

I'm toying with a new idea for the team-based learning (TBL) unit of Comp 1. The lesson uses TBL methods and develops multi-modal composition skills by creating audio, video and static graphics. Last year I allowed greater student direction by letting groups choose their own products to develop. Where

This year I'm thinking of allowing students to take on authentic products and services. I've spoken with the director of the Writing Center here on campus, Kathryn Byrne, and she supports the idea of students promoting the WC, and would like several options to choose from because audio, video and/or promotional material created could be used in real promotion. That means student work could appear in podcasts, vidcasts and the student newspaper, and maybe even radio, TV and more public venues. Any student participation in a successful advertising campaign could be used in resumes as authentic work experience.

We have some material from past classes on the wiki here, a couple classes have used facebook - but that has limitations. See class Facebook group here, but the problem is they mostly created pages in private places that restricts sharing with future classes. Students have also posted video on YouTube here.

I like the idea that education creates a "walled garden" where students are safe to experiment and take risks - but sometimes we build a roof over the garden and ideas wither from lack of sunlight - or root rot. I'll figure out how to wrestle this analogy back to coherence later.

Cultural or Academic Informants

If one goes to the writing center (WC), one gets the most out of the trip by going in prepared. Have a few specific questions or issues you want to address ready and present them to the consultant before you get started. None of the 1/2 dozen or so WC's I've worked with have prioritized grammar and mechanics, and most try to avoid those "lower order concerns," believing them to be less of a barrier to understanding than higher order concerns like logic or organization. The goal, as Steven North put it, is to create better writers rather than better writing. As a result tutors sometimes find themselves conflicted when faced with international students.

For the Non-native English speaker, immigrant or Generation 1.5 student the boundary between higher order and lower order concerns is blurred. Syntax, word choice, the appropriate use of articles and awkward grammar may not typically thwart understanding between 2 well educated Native-English Speakers from a similar background, but when one comes from an alien environment with different language, culture and values, the typical assumptions can lead to disaster. I've even seen this happen when white upper-middle-class consultants work with students from less privileged urban schools in Toledo, Kansas City, KS and KC MO. Schools tend to train tutors to resist the urge to address lower order concerns even when the tutor's instincts tell them they should. Partly this is to ward off the possibility of the tutor appropriating the student's work. And often grammar and mechanics are not the biggest problem a paper has. Also, IMHO, this keeps the WC from getting too popular. No one wants to create a proofreading center on campus.

Asking for or finding a Cultural Informant provides a solution for NNS and students from diverse backgrounds. The University of Richmond Writing Center tutor training site explains that the role of a cultural or academic informant is to

try to identify the problems that the student is having, and then use a direct approach to teach writing as an academic subject. When we, as ESL tutors, "understand, respect, and respond to the differences between the needs of ESL and native-speaking writers," we can increase the effectiveness of a particular session (Powers 103). For more advanced students, it may be advantageous to show "specific examples of how to fix a particular error, and then to try one on their own, or explain what he/she has fixed" because this process allows the student "to really grasp your ideas, and helps them learn in an effective way," according to Dotty Giordano (Connect, 10/17/97).
All ESL students who enter the writing center come from different backgrounds, and therefore, bring different cultural and social contexts to a tutorial. Although some of the problems that an ESL student has are a result of the rhetorical structure of their native language, "others are social or cultural attitudes and beliefs that will definitely affect the tutor-tutee relationship" (Powers 98). Therefore, the tutor must act as a cultural informant. As an example, the nature of asking questions is different among cultures. For an international student, questioning a tutor, or an authority figure, may be frowned upon in one culture, whereas in ours, it is simply regarded as a means of obtaining information for clarification. Since questioning authority may be considered disrespectful in the eyes of a particular international student, he or she may refrain from asking questions in a tutorial because he or she feels that it is inappropriate. In this situation, the tutor should encourage the student to ask questions and inform him or her that this type of behavior is not considered disrespectful in the eyes of Americans

The term "academic informant" is also used because sometimes non-typical learners, such as dyslexic, dysgraphic, and some students with autism spectrum conditions also benefit from more direct help and communication.

So tell your consultant you want a cultural or academic informant if your learning style needs it, but also let them know specifically what you need work with on your writing. Read the margin and end comments from teachers to get some ideas.

The above research is tertiary - see the Asian EFL Journal on the topic.

Minimum length on Papers

Many students complain that English classes frustrate them because of subjective grading, and that rules of grammar can be flexible. For the most part that isn’t quite true. Teachers do “grade norming” exercises with colleagues and find that we in fact have similar expectations and similar ideas of what constitutes an “A,” “B,” “C,” “D,” or unsuccessful paper. See the syllabus for Grading Rationale. However, I do understand where students are coming from with those comments.

With length or content minimums in my class, we have concrete and objective measures. Most instructors won’t accept a paper under the minimum specified word count or length, or they will simply fail the paper giving it 50 % and not bother going to the work of reading it. After all, the student didn’t bother going to the work of doing the minimum requirement.

I read every paper. Papers that fall under the minimum word count invariably leave me wanting more information. Some papers over the minimum length do too – and that may be reflected in comments about content.

It surprises me though when someone puts in minimal effort (as indicated by a brief response to an assignment) and then expects an "A" or "B." If a "C" is average - barely making the word count shouldn't guarantee you even that.

I had way too many papers under the minimum word length on the first paper this semester, and sometimes I read one that barely makes the minimum. I go back and count the times they used the word "very" or similar such filler. I generally find a relationship between the # of filler words and the word count in that the closer a paper is to the word count cut off - the more empty words or phrases clog up the prose. I did that once too. Read the assignment prompt and the rubric and you'll see why it won't work.

Real graphic for comparison contrast

What New Students Need to Know.

One of my groups did a project on "Important things students should know before their first day of college" and they published originally to Facebook on May 8th, and it was republished in a local high school paper for the benefit of new students. This is by by Jenna Groth, Alex Soborov, Patrick McMahon and Sunny Shukla. In case the link above doesn't work, we'll reproduce it in it's entirety below:

Sorry if you're getting this if you've already begun college. I couldn't remember if some of you already began college or not and I figured it's better if you get this and learn how to save lots and lots of money when buying your first semester's college textbooks.

If you're a high school teacher and you're getting this, please feel free to show this to your students.

If you're wondering who Alex, Patrick, and Sunny are, they're from one of my classes. This was a class project.

Seniors, you can get cheated out of your valuable money, or you can read this column.

Between enrolling in college, paying for your first college classes, buying the necessities for your dorm and saying goodbye to your high school friends, you probably don’t have the time to think about how to buy your college textbooks. Buying textbooks is easy. All you have to do is go to your college bookstore and ask the salespeople how to buy their grossly-overpriced books. This is a great method….if you want your college to cheat you out of a hundred bucks. There’s actually a better way of buying books that’s only a little time-consuming but will save you lots of money.

First, you start at your college’s bookstore. Not to buy the books, but to look for a series of numbers stamped on the back of the textbooks, known as the ISBN number. After you find those numbers, write them down and then go to a computer and visit www.amazon.com. Look on the site for the textbook search and choose search by ISBN number. Enter in the ISBNs of your books (you can search for more than one book at the same time).

You will probably find several books that are one edition below the books your college’s bookstore sells. They’re almost exactly the same thing your professor expects you to use except instead of costing $150, these books cost as low as $1.50. Your professor usually teaches out of the most recent edition, which college bookstores usually sell, but professors usually understand that not all students have the most recent edition. If your professor insists on using problems from the most recent edition, you can still keep your “primitive” edition of your textbook and ask the cute classmate who sits next to you to let you copy down the problems.

But before you buy the cheap books off of Amazon, you should do a Google search for “college textbooks” and (the city and state your college is in). This will help you find the bookstores that sell books for your college at a discount price. Call these stores up and ask them how much they are selling these books for. Beat the Bookstore, a college bookstore in Lawrence, typically sells its books for whatever the best deal on www.amazon.com is for that particular day. If the bookstore offers you an amount that will lead to you saving money on shipping, ask the manager if you can order your books from the phone and pick them up when you visit your college for orientation over the summer.

If there’s still a book that costs more than $50 on Amazon, you don’t have to give up and buy from the fiendish college bookstore…yet. You should just show up to your first day of class and ask your professor, “What are we going to use our textbook for?” After your professor answers you, follow your question with, “How often are we going to use the textbook?” It is very important that you do not ask, “Do we need to use the textbook?” You probably won’t get an honest answer if you ask it like that because some department deans won’t allow professors to tell students they do not need the book. If your professor says the book won’t be used often, you might not need it. Instead, you can check copies of the book out from the campus library or from the resource centers of the department your class is in (i.e. the English department’s writing lab for a literature or writing class or the math resource center for a math class). Or again, you can copy down the problems from the cute classmate who sits next to you.

If your professor says you have to use the book about once a week and you have tried searching for your book online and through bookstores that aren’t affiliated with your college, it’s time to cave in and buy your book from the college bookstore. Our only advice to you is to not buy an electronic book that costs $10 less than the new books or a customized brief book. These deceptively look like you are saving $10 to $20, but you’re actually losing about $30 because you cannot sell these books back at the end of the semester.

After a semester of adapting to college homework, social life, and professors (who you, of course, looked at performance reviews of on www.ratemyprofessor.com before your first day of class, rather than blindly signing up for a professor and hoping it’s one who actually hopes you pass your classes), you will want a little money back at the end of the semester, right? The important thing to know is that selling back your textbook is also an important money-saving process just like buying your textbook. Instead of rushing to the bookstore that sold you the cheapest book you bought online, you should visit every local bookstore and ask the cashiers what their stores are willing to pay. You will be surprised at how much more generous some book sellers/buyers are. A little bit of searching can get you $50 back.

While you have learned a few tricks of the trade from us, there is still much, much more you need to learn about getting by in college. Grades are different. Homework is different. Even the clubs you got involved in in high school can be intimidating by the new air of professionalism your club officers might expect out of you. Don’t read this column and think you know everything about college. Ask your older cousins, siblings or older friends about navigating college. Ask them anything from how to get an “A” in college to what a permission code is and why asking your professor for it before you enroll for your courses will save you valuable time during orientation.

And most importantly, make sure they teach you to wash your laundry.

A Rose for Emily

In addition to traditional discussions of race, gender and sexual orientation, classes today broached the topic of domestic abuse and potential incest. The 11 am class also speculated that today Emily would be diagnosed agoraphobic.

The 12:30 class discussed race more in depth and decided that despite the dated language, the text should not be bowdlerized.


Link to summary and study guide
Link to wikipedia on the story
link to cliff notes analysis
Essays online to facilitate plagiarism, see also http://www.echeat.com/essay.php?t=30552

Microlab Spring 2010

A student set a new high for my classes in the Microlab this semester: 86. Last year one person scored a 78. I've learned that the Writing Center tutors told us the scores average around 52%. Several students told me they thought the failed because they scored under 60% when they were actually above average.

I noticed too many people being really hard on themselves because of the score. It's just one assessment. Don't put too much stock in any one assessment, be it a computer test or a teacher. Listen to what they have to say and figure out what they mean. Pay attention to themes or recurring messages.

OR maybe people beat themselves up excessively in a sort of passive aggressive protest? If so, touche.

Several this time around pointed out issues with the font. That bothered a lot of people. Also that you can't go back and change things. Why might that be intentional?

This is meant to be a snapshot - one imperfect but relatively objective measure.

I wonder if in some ways it is like weighing one's self. Just because you weigh yourself more often doesn't make you lose weight faster. It doesn't work that way for me anyway - I tend to weigh myself multiple times a day. But owning a scale and checking does seem to help.

Can/ should I discuss results (ie performance of NNS/ by race/ gender/ origin?)

JCCC Writing Center resources

Located on the 3rd floor of the library in room 308, the Writing Center (or WC) holds a slew of resources. they have a copy of each textbook used by English and Journalism faculty - maybe each text book used by humanities. MLA Handbooks, EasyWriters, and other style and usage texts also litter the tables.

Many instructors keep a binder with assignment prompts and examples of student work. Sometimes an example is worth more than any other kind of explanation. Look for mine.

They also have scads of handouts, but the most useful resources are the peer consultants. Talk to them.

REMEMBER: you need your JCCC ID card for many services.

The shape of student journals to come

We will be keeping journals (or working files) in Comp 1. Nothing has been shown to improve writing skill as much as daily writing. Some classes have used the $.09 spiral notebooks, some have used the 3 prong portfolio folders, and too many have gone rogue and turned in some sort of 3 ring monstrosity that makes transporting them ...challenging. I went into this in detail in the first educational blog I wrote for. In them we will keep daily writings, handouts, drafts of essays and some homework.

I taught a graduate class at KU that posted journal entries online in personal blogs. The results impressed people who evaluated me - but there were challenges.

A professor writing for the Chronicle of Higher Education makes a provocative case for posting all journal writing online - his class found fame and fortune and learned something along the way. He says:

By changing their homework assignments from disposable, private conversations between them and me (the way printed or e-mailed assignments work in students’ minds) into public, online statements that became part of a continuing conversation, we realized very real benefits. The very first semester I began asking students to share their homework this way, a popular e-learning newsletter found and liked one of my students’ essays and pointed its readers to the student’s blog. When the visits and comments from professionals around the world started coming in, students realized that the papers they were writing weren’t just throw-away pieces for class – they were read and discussed by their future peers out in the world. The result was a teacher’s dream — the students’ writing became a little longer, a little more thoughtful, and a little more representative of their actual intellectual abilities. And this benefit came by simply asking students to submit their homework through a different channel. They were already going to write and submit it; I was already going to read it.

Blogs can be private - by invitation only - or public (which is more fun). And you can add video, photos, links and such.

Whatever our classes decide - the journals should be in a uniform format. That maximizes my time reading and responding and minimizes confusion and hassle.

advice to students

Attendance is necessary for success - and no matter how often I tell students ,about 3-7% don't seem to "get" that; however, just showing up and doing the minimum required by the assignment won't get you an "A." About a third of students don't get that.

How can I get these ideas through to students better?

Further advice - straight from students - can be found in a couple of videos I shot and edited in 2008. Student perspectives are different from teachers' - and sometimes we can learn better from a peer than we can from a teacher. See here, and here. The videos are short and fun.

P.S. all numbers and percentages pulled out of the air - but my best estimate. I may be venturing into "do as I say; don't do as I do" territory.