Monday, May 16, 2011

Research Unit

need to change proposal (see WAC research prompt)
Need to add lesson about integrating ELP into their papers - late in the unit.

Need to provide better samples of the 3 different leads

Need to make sure to include discussion of sample thesis statements

Monday, April 11, 2011

A Perfect Storm

New topic about declining quality & student expectations in higher ed:

http://chronicle.com/article/A-Perfect-Storm-in/126969/

Also saved in Word, under gcc101 A Perfect Storm

Wednesday, April 6, 2011

Food Topic & Sample intro.body.conl

Stop being afraid of the food industry
Submitted by Maria
Tuesday, March 01, 2011

As a nutritionist who works mainly with low-income children and their parents, I see the problem of childhood obesity on a daily basis. The problem is obviously multi-factorial, so the solution needs to address the multitude of factors involved. I think one of the biggest problems in this country has been the unwillingness to deal with the food industry head-on. As we saw with tobacco, the industry has to be forced to acknowledge its responsibility before real solutions can be implemented. Of course, the food industry is enormous, and employs powerful lobbyists in Washington, so the prospect of any policy restrictions on the food industry seem to be slim to none at this time. However, I believe it is time to stop letting big corporations get away with enticing children to consume their high-calorie, high-fat and high-sugar products with billions of dollars in advertising, and then using the "personal responsibility" excuse to avoid all corporate responsibilities in this matter. Obesity and overweight are shaping up to be the most important public health problem for our society, and the time to act should be now. Our children are suffering from a number of conditions that were only observed in adults decades ago. I regularly see children as young as 5 years old with high cholesterol, high triglycerides and elevated liver enzymes (indicating accumulation of fat in the liver). I have personally seen children as young as 12 already diagnosed with type 2 diabetes... What are we doing to our children? Why can't we be more courageous in taking the bull by the horns and solving this problem in an efficient way? So this is what I propose: 1) Immediately ban all advertising of high-fat, high-sugar, high-sodium, low-fiber and highly processed foods and beverages to children of all ages. 2) Enact a tax on the above mentioned items to fund well-designed public health media campaigns and information campaigns, targeted to children of all age groups and their parents, to promote the intake of fruits, vegetables and whole grains, as well as physical activity, and to increase awareness of the dangers of high-fat, high-sugar and highly processed foods. 3) Speed the implementation of the recently passed federal law regarding school lunches. 4) Expand and subsidize research on the addictive quality of the above mentioned foods in order to establish scientific evidence and rationale for policy changes regarding food and advertisement issues. 5) Stop government subsidies of crops that contribute to the obesity problem, and implement a system of subsidies for highly nutritious fruits and vegetables. 6) Make physical education (P.E.) mandatory in all grade levels. By implementing these and other possible solutions that tackle the problem directly, that is, that confront the source of the problem which is the food we eat, we may finally begin to see solutions that actually work. As long as we continue to bow down to the food industry and their lobbyists, obesity will continue to be a threat to our health and the future wellbeing of our children.
http://hive.slate.com/hive/time-to-trim/stop-being-afraid-of-the-food-industry

Wednesday, March 23, 2011

Teaching to the Text

I’VE been teaching college freshmen to write the five-paragraph essay and its bully of a cousin, the research paper, for years. But these forms invite font-size manipulation, plagiarism and clichés. We need to set our sights not lower, but shorter.

I don’t expect all my graduates to go on to Twitter-based careers, but learning how to write concisely, to express one key detail succinctly and eloquently, is an incredibly useful skill, and more in tune with most students’ daily chatter, as well as the world’s conversation. The photo caption has never been more vital.

So a few years ago, I started slipping my classes short writing assignments alongside the required papers. Once, I asked them, “Come up with two lines of copy to sell something you’re wearing now on eBay.” The mix of commerce and fashion stirred interest, and despite having 30 students in each class, I could give everyone serious individual attention. For another project, I asked them to describe the essence of the chalkboard in one or two sentences. One student wrote, “A chalkboard is a lot like memory: often jumbled, unorganized and sloppy. Even after it’s erased, there are traces of everything that’s been written on it.”

Wednesday, March 16, 2011

Call in Sick

818 246 5094
full name
date, time, class of absence
reason
special instructions

Monday, March 14, 2011

Peer Review 1

Next time, bring draft or draft on flashdrive. Going to go over MLA conventions and show you a revision process that you can begin using in the lab.

Pass out the grading criteria and review – 7:45

Today, you are going to get feedback on your draft from 2 other people. Ideally, you will form groups of 3. If that doesn’t work out, form one group of 4, and partner with one person, then switch.

Here’s how it will go: group of 3: choose whose paper will be read first. Groupmates read the paper.
Author re-reads the paper.
As groupmates read, look for and take notes on these things:

DISCUSS the essay. Author, ask questions. Participate. Try not to be apologetic or defensive.

Time: going to take about 10 minutes to read, about 10 to discuss. So it should take an hour for groups of 3 to complete their feedback. Keep an eye on the time.

Course Updates

donna cross art of bamboozling - MAY BE BETTER FOR 104

Research unit - need to add at least a day to it. As it is now (WAC Syll) - may need to cut peer review so we have time to cover MLA. I think to compromise, will do a small peer review and spend 20 minutes of that class covering the MLA.


WHAT THE DOG SAW - interesting chapter on plagiarism (maybe as midterm). Most chapters start w a question. Good real-world research.
Have Norton Samples of Student Papers
Curious Researcher
Mercury Reader?

To make better:
more concise rhetoric
better, more current readings and topics (I can pull from my stash or compile things this year. They don't have to be too snazzy with TV components, as I think this gets overwhelming for them. Maybe that could be a 104 thing - visual argument).
NY Times Debates http://www.nytimes.com/roomfordebate/2011/03/27/how-to-raise-the-status-of-teachers/redesign-the-workforce-system-for-teachers
Mercury Reader (build own book)

Genre of the status update

Beginning essay is The Perfect Storm: what do you expect at college culturally?

Need some exercises w ethos, logos, pathos, where they actually mindfully employ these strategies. Maybe an informal or an extended homework, or part of the research or synthesis prompt.

once a week or so, spend 25-30 minutes working on style

Food: http://www.washingtonpost.com/opinions/why-being-a-foodie-isnt-elitist/2011/04/27/AFeWsnFF_print.html

Thursday, March 3, 2011

Thesis

For the order of this first paper, I really need to reorganize things. I think having them do thesis, before we get to intro's or the essay itself, is weird. IT just feels backwards. But on the other hand, having them know the point of having a certain direction to go in, can be useful.

Next time, I think I will have them write the in-class, then the day they get them back, we will work on development that day. Then, they can see how once the essay is written, we can pull from their main ideas and create a thesis from that. I will have them do that in class on Tuesday, anyway, and we can do that.

Tuesday:
Discuss the sample paper. Look at intro, thesis, a couple para's of development. Then, show them how they can construct the thesis backwards by looking at the topic sentences of the paragraphs.

Review thesis statements.

Review intro's and conclusions; have them write and respond to a sample.

Wednesday, February 16, 2011

Paper Ideas

Social Networking
Food Safety (GMO, organic)
Celebrity Culture
advertising

Blackboard

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