Thursday, September 27, 2012
Wednesday, September 26, 2012
Tuesday the 2nd: Special Session Extra Credit
If you have time before Tuesday's class:
On October 2, at 1:00 in E500, VP Baston will open LaGuardia's Fall 2012 Series "Conversations at the Center."
This year's theme is The Whole Student, Body and Soul.
On October 2, at 1:00 in E500, VP Baston will open LaGuardia's Fall 2012 Series "Conversations at the Center."
This year's theme is The Whole Student, Body and Soul.
Thursday, September 20, 2012
What we did today and what we learned
Conversations
Students asked each other the questions about their week and this class. All the students were able to take notes and write a short paragraph in the time they had. We then discussed the negatives and positives of taking notes. Oddly, all the negative parts about taking notes ended up being positive things! For example, when students took notes they had to decide what was important, and they had to figure out how to "translate" the ideas they heard into writing that someone else would understand. Yet these issues mean that their writing can be understood by others, and means that they'll have the main ideas when they write!
Note-taking also helps students deal with writing anxiety and with writer's block: it's hard to feel scared when you're working from notes that help you write. It's also hard to feel "empty," or like you have nothing to say, when you can turn to your notes to spark a new sentence, paragraph, or idea.
Notes are a key technique to success in writing. They're worth the time and effort.
When in doubt, take notes.
CAT-W Review and Practice
Since most of the students in our class have already taken the CAT-W, our review went pretty well. We looked at the "CATW Practice Materials" handout from last week, "Individuals in Groups." We read over the "Guidelines for Summaries" and noted some of the "rules" that appeared with the main ideas. In addition to noting the main ideas of the passage, for instance, the guidelines also emphasized examples and evidence that supported those main ideas. In one of the main ideas, too, we got a key term, "diffusion of responsibility," along with its definition. So our rules became:
1. Find the main ideas.
2. Find one significant idea.
3. Find a key term and its definition.
We then talking a bit more, and we added these rules, too, to remember:
4. Include the title of the article and the author's name, preferably earlier on in the piece.
5. We can use the main ideas to support the idea we feel is most significant. We can do this in many ways.
6. When we talk about a main idea ,we can summarize an example in our own words.
7. Once we summarize the example, we can relate it to a personal experience, or something we read, or something we learned.
CAT-W
We then took a practice CATW exam for 45 minutes: "How your birth order influences your life adjustment."
Students asked each other the questions about their week and this class. All the students were able to take notes and write a short paragraph in the time they had. We then discussed the negatives and positives of taking notes. Oddly, all the negative parts about taking notes ended up being positive things! For example, when students took notes they had to decide what was important, and they had to figure out how to "translate" the ideas they heard into writing that someone else would understand. Yet these issues mean that their writing can be understood by others, and means that they'll have the main ideas when they write!
Note-taking also helps students deal with writing anxiety and with writer's block: it's hard to feel scared when you're working from notes that help you write. It's also hard to feel "empty," or like you have nothing to say, when you can turn to your notes to spark a new sentence, paragraph, or idea.
Notes are a key technique to success in writing. They're worth the time and effort.
When in doubt, take notes.
CAT-W Review and Practice
Since most of the students in our class have already taken the CAT-W, our review went pretty well. We looked at the "CATW Practice Materials" handout from last week, "Individuals in Groups." We read over the "Guidelines for Summaries" and noted some of the "rules" that appeared with the main ideas. In addition to noting the main ideas of the passage, for instance, the guidelines also emphasized examples and evidence that supported those main ideas. In one of the main ideas, too, we got a key term, "diffusion of responsibility," along with its definition. So our rules became:
1. Find the main ideas.
2. Find one significant idea.
3. Find a key term and its definition.
We then talking a bit more, and we added these rules, too, to remember:
4. Include the title of the article and the author's name, preferably earlier on in the piece.
5. We can use the main ideas to support the idea we feel is most significant. We can do this in many ways.
6. When we talk about a main idea ,we can summarize an example in our own words.
7. Once we summarize the example, we can relate it to a personal experience, or something we read, or something we learned.
CAT-W
We then took a practice CATW exam for 45 minutes: "How your birth order influences your life adjustment."
Professor Answers to Chat and Write
1. My week has been alright. I've been reading and writing research for an article I'm writing on nineteenth century food riots. I've felt a little "sniffly" the past day or so - I need to take some vitamins!
2. My week with ENG 101 has been fine. I enjoyed seeing students write their first blogs. It's been easy to update the website and start following students on Twitter. I have missed teaching in the classroom, though, and I wonder if students are confused by this missing week.
3. I thought the student conversation on Thursday from the Global Warming Reader was impressive. Students were energetic and made some very smart observations.
4. I've had an easy time keeping up with my own blogs for this class; I wonder if students have figured out how to "publish" their blogs.
5. The biggest challenge so far is this crazy schedule. I understand we had be away on Monday and Tuesday, but I do feel like that interrupted the rhythm we had started to develop.
2. My week with ENG 101 has been fine. I enjoyed seeing students write their first blogs. It's been easy to update the website and start following students on Twitter. I have missed teaching in the classroom, though, and I wonder if students are confused by this missing week.
3. I thought the student conversation on Thursday from the Global Warming Reader was impressive. Students were energetic and made some very smart observations.
4. I've had an easy time keeping up with my own blogs for this class; I wonder if students have figured out how to "publish" their blogs.
5. The biggest challenge so far is this crazy schedule. I understand we had be away on Monday and Tuesday, but I do feel like that interrupted the rhythm we had started to develop.
CATW Practice: Birth Order
How Your Birth Order Influences Your Life Adjustment
The child becomes known as the family’s only child, oldest child, middle child, or youngest child, depending on his birth order. He is thought and talked about as having that place in the family. Both in his mind and in the minds of other people, an important part of his identity is his family position.
The other members of the family assume certain attitudes toward each child in terms of his birth order. Parents usually expect their oldest child to be more capable and more responsible than the younger children. The oldest child comes to think about himself in the same way. These ways of seeing himself, of thinking about himself because of his sibling role, become part of his self-concept.
Similarly, the middle child may think of himself as able to do things better than other people because he is usually more capable than his younger siblings. Sometimes, though, he must turn to an older sibling or to his parents for help, and so he thinks of himself as being able to obtain help when he needs it.
The youngest child may develop the self-concept that he is less able to do many things than other people. However, he is not concerned because there are always others around to take care of him.
In contrast, the only child tends to think, “When my parents are not around, I have no one to turn to for help. So I’d better learn to take care of myself as much as possible.”
The place in the family establishes for the child a specific role to be played within the family group. It influences him to develop certain attitudes toward himself and toward other people and helps him develop specific patterns of behavior.
(290 words)
Adapted from an essay by Lucille Forer, “How Your Birth Order Influences Your Life Adjustment”, in Write to be Read, p.7.
Writing Directions
Read the passage above and write an essay responding to the ideas it presents. In your essay, be sure to summarize the passage in your own words, stating the author’s most important ideas. Develop your essay by identifying one idea in the passage that you feel is especially significant, and explain its significance. Support your claims with evidence or examples drawn from what you have read, learned in
school, and/or personally experienced. Remember to review your essay and make any changes or corrections that are needed to help your reader follow your thinking. You will have 90 minutes to
complete your essay.
The child becomes known as the family’s only child, oldest child, middle child, or youngest child, depending on his birth order. He is thought and talked about as having that place in the family. Both in his mind and in the minds of other people, an important part of his identity is his family position.
The other members of the family assume certain attitudes toward each child in terms of his birth order. Parents usually expect their oldest child to be more capable and more responsible than the younger children. The oldest child comes to think about himself in the same way. These ways of seeing himself, of thinking about himself because of his sibling role, become part of his self-concept.
Similarly, the middle child may think of himself as able to do things better than other people because he is usually more capable than his younger siblings. Sometimes, though, he must turn to an older sibling or to his parents for help, and so he thinks of himself as being able to obtain help when he needs it.
The youngest child may develop the self-concept that he is less able to do many things than other people. However, he is not concerned because there are always others around to take care of him.
In contrast, the only child tends to think, “When my parents are not around, I have no one to turn to for help. So I’d better learn to take care of myself as much as possible.”
The place in the family establishes for the child a specific role to be played within the family group. It influences him to develop certain attitudes toward himself and toward other people and helps him develop specific patterns of behavior.
(290 words)
Adapted from an essay by Lucille Forer, “How Your Birth Order Influences Your Life Adjustment”, in Write to be Read, p.7.
Writing Directions
Read the passage above and write an essay responding to the ideas it presents. In your essay, be sure to summarize the passage in your own words, stating the author’s most important ideas. Develop your essay by identifying one idea in the passage that you feel is especially significant, and explain its significance. Support your claims with evidence or examples drawn from what you have read, learned in
school, and/or personally experienced. Remember to review your essay and make any changes or corrections that are needed to help your reader follow your thinking. You will have 90 minutes to
complete your essay.
Opening Chat and Write
Good afternoon! Welcome back to ENA 101!
Opening Assignment
Let's start off today by having a conversation with a neighbor about how our work is going with ENG 101. Find out from your partner the following information:
1. How has their week been going? Anything exciting or crazy?
2. How has the work been going for ENG 101?
3. What's something they remember about ENG 101 so far?
4. How did it feel to write the first blog for ENG 101?
5. What is their biggest challenge so far?
When your partner answers these questions, take notes. I want you to write up a "report" on your partner that puts all their answers into one paragraph that you write. Then I'll read the paragraphs and learn more about what's happening with you!
Review CATW Rules, Essay, and 5, 4, and 3 responses.
For this you will need the handout from last week.
Responding to a New CATW
Hurray! The moment you've been waiting for! A brand new CATW!
Opening Assignment
Let's start off today by having a conversation with a neighbor about how our work is going with ENG 101. Find out from your partner the following information:
1. How has their week been going? Anything exciting or crazy?
2. How has the work been going for ENG 101?
3. What's something they remember about ENG 101 so far?
4. How did it feel to write the first blog for ENG 101?
5. What is their biggest challenge so far?
When your partner answers these questions, take notes. I want you to write up a "report" on your partner that puts all their answers into one paragraph that you write. Then I'll read the paragraphs and learn more about what's happening with you!
Review CATW Rules, Essay, and 5, 4, and 3 responses.
For this you will need the handout from last week.
Responding to a New CATW
Hurray! The moment you've been waiting for! A brand new CATW!
Tuesday, September 11, 2012
Writing Technique: Lists
Before you decide to start writing, try making a list. For example, in class today we are writing about a story of accomplishment. We made a list based on Dorothy's idea of "moving forward." (It seems like she considers moving forward an accomplishment, as she should!)
In class, her list included:
moving from Peurto Rico alone
learning English
deciding what to do with her life
looking for a job
getting back to school
dealing with school
getting a new job
keeping moving forward
After looking at this list, Dorothy decided to focus on just one part of it for awhile. She chose to focus on the last item: keeping moving forward. When we asked her about how she'd do this, she said:
finish school
work
make goals
This means that we could see her drafting an essay that included paragraphs about finishing school, working, and making goals. Each one of these topics could be a paragraph. For instance, we asked her about finishing school. She said she'd need to:
find a shrink
study a lot
get good grades.
Now Dorothy's first paragraph about finishing school could include sentences about finding a shrink, studying a lot, and getting good grades.
Title - Moving Forward
Paragraph One: Finishing School
To move forward, I need to finish school. To do this I'll need to find a shrink. I'll need a shrink because _____. I'll also need to study a lot. I'm going to have to study _______ and _______. Studying will help me get good grades. To get grades I'll need to ________ and __________.
NOTE: Littling thing: when you introduce new information, put in an "also" (see sentence four).
Bigger Thing: ask yourself questions, too. If you talk about shrink, say why. If you have to study, ask yourself what you need to study, or why you need to study, or how you plan to study. To get more DETAILs, ask yourself more questions.
In class, her list included:
moving from Peurto Rico alone
learning English
deciding what to do with her life
looking for a job
getting back to school
dealing with school
getting a new job
keeping moving forward
After looking at this list, Dorothy decided to focus on just one part of it for awhile. She chose to focus on the last item: keeping moving forward. When we asked her about how she'd do this, she said:
finish school
work
make goals
This means that we could see her drafting an essay that included paragraphs about finishing school, working, and making goals. Each one of these topics could be a paragraph. For instance, we asked her about finishing school. She said she'd need to:
find a shrink
study a lot
get good grades.
Now Dorothy's first paragraph about finishing school could include sentences about finding a shrink, studying a lot, and getting good grades.
Title - Moving Forward
Paragraph One: Finishing School
To move forward, I need to finish school. To do this I'll need to find a shrink. I'll need a shrink because _____. I'll also need to study a lot. I'm going to have to study _______ and _______. Studying will help me get good grades. To get grades I'll need to ________ and __________.
NOTE: Littling thing: when you introduce new information, put in an "also" (see sentence four).
Bigger Thing: ask yourself questions, too. If you talk about shrink, say why. If you have to study, ask yourself what you need to study, or why you need to study, or how you plan to study. To get more DETAILs, ask yourself more questions.
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