It's been forever since I last posted. Sorry about that. I've been working for the last two weeks on preparing their assignments for the paper 2 project. I handed out their third response paper (attached) last wednesday, which they just turned in this afternoon. I made them choose a topic to advocate (which they will be working with for the 3-5 page research paper) and then find two sources to evaluate. I had them choose one that they believed was a good source and one that they believed was bad, and then use the section in CDA that we talked about to evaluate its credibility and relevance. On Friday, I had them choose a topic and I did some web searches on it and looked at some sources, asking them to explain to me what they saw about the page that made it credible or not. We also did searches on Megasearch and some other databases. The last two classes have pretty much just gone over the readings.

This week we've been going over the RUG chapter on identity. It's been tieing in really well with the portrait playlist assignment, since their working on a 3 page narrative about themselves for that. Monday's discussion went well in spite of my terrible nervousness during observation -- it was almost as bad as the first day, for some reason. But we had a lot of fun on Wednesday. I first had a short discussion about the "three divisions of identity," and then I had them create a character sketch on the board in terms of the three concepts we were discussing. They came up with a very pathetic sort of character with many quirks and problems, and it became a bit tricky by the time we got to "the constructed;" but the class became very lively, and I think it helped them digest the material. I ended class with a worksheet to help them think about their identity in these terms in preparation for the narrative they have to write for Friday.

Today we had a peer editing workshop. It seems like it went well. I created a worksheet for them explaining what I wanted from them and what sort of comments they should make, what they should be looking for. I have attached it below. I gave them three main points to look at in each others papers: thesis strength; organization and consistent focus on the thesis/argument; and incorporation of source material/citation. I told them that these are the most important things to be focusing on in their own final drafts, too. They each edited two of their peers' papers, spending roughly twenty minutes on each one. I'd like to hear how any of your peer workshops go, how you went about conducting them, etc.

Class got off to a rough start. I was a few minutes late and without my Topic Creation assignment print-outs, due to the printers being broken in all of the grad labs. Every time I discuss RUG, too, which I did for fifteen minutes or so, there is an epidemic of confusion in my students, but I'm thinking of making them read some of their journal entries in class next time (with some warning), so that I can get a better sense of what they're not getting and what they are. I had them freewrite and create a short statement of purpose (on blank paper, alas) for the second half of class; I plan on spending the rest of the week helping them develop this for the first draft of their first 3-5 page paper, to be peer reviewed next Monday.

Note: I'm having them use their journals primarily as a response to each reading - a way to get them thinking a little about the reading. I suspect some of them are not doing any entries yet, nor doing much of the readings. I'm thinking about both quizing them from time to time, as well as making them bring what they have written and paraphrasing it for the class. Hopefully this will both enliven discussion and participation, as well as get them to more actively deal with the concepts in the readings.