This week in class im focusing on the groundwork for the research paper. First I had my students complete a prewriting excersize about topic selection. I made them list at least three topics, and then chose one. For the chosen topic they had to come up with at least five points of interest and then write a 250 word abstract twoards developing a thesis and argument in the paper. I think that is the most difficult concept to communicate to them (the fact that this is an argumentative research paper.) First, they presented their ideas like it was an informative research paper, then when i started to talk to them about it being an argumentative paper they seemed to have trouble wrapping their minds around the fact that they didn't have to write fifteen pages of pure argument, nor did they have to solve once and for all the argument they developed.

It was a computer room class today and because there has been some confusion about MLA style and citation I spent the first part of class giving a sort of explanatory tour of the Online Writing lab. (owl.english.purdue.edu) I tried to reinforce the basics that I had covered and showed them how to navigate the site to find information pertinent to their needs. I also talked abit about professional writing and the different styles that they might be exposed to during their academic careers.

The second half of class I had an open question section for the paper (there were lots of questions that I have been getting repeats of on an individual level that I thought it would be good to answer in front of the class to make sure that I caught anyone who had the question.) Then the last fifteen minutes of class I had an open workshop of sorts to help people with specific issues they were having with their drafts. I had one student who seems to do particularly well with his writing that asked a number of good questions about polish and phrasing. The questions overall ran the spectrum, most being either functional (do we need sources for the draft, ect.) or related to narrowing a topic down. I did have one student who all but admitted that they had not started their paper yet, and while I tried to help them as much as possible I made sure that the people who actually put effort into getting it started and moving earlier took precedence.

The first thing I did was to revisit the prompt for Paper 1 and field questions/concerns that they didn't think of when I assigned it yesterday. One of the things I appreciate about the group of students I have is often they will ask questions that show they were actually paying attention and thinking about the assignment. Then we moved on to a brief explanation of how to site newspaper, magazine, and internet articles in MLA since I am requiring them to have 3 sources along those lines. The mechanics of citation aren't exactly riveting but they may not have been introduced to the concept of siting periodical sources in high school and there are alot of deviations from the standard book citation in MLA.

Today was computer lab day--My students presented their group projects. I was actually pleased with the results, they varied in levels of complexity and effort in the design department, but the presentations and papers that detailed the purpose behind their media choices in relation to their topic were well thought out. I did have to give the lecture of 'pay attention when someone is presenting' because there were a couple people typing away that I had to get on...but I do not think that that will occur again.

I also assigned Paper 1 today. It actually was better received that I thought it would be. I am having them select a current event and find three articles on it (at least one from a major world newspaper.) Then, they have to defend a for or against point of view related to their choice of subject. But instead of the just for or against paper that they probably had them write in high school I'm having them work with the technique of anticipating and addressing counterarguments in order to strengthen their own paper. My goal in this is to help them transition as writers from a high school mode of thought into more complex writing that will serve them later in their academic careers.