Reflections on Oreskes

It's been a while since we finished the unit on Oreskes.  I like to reflect on a project after I'm done, but lately there is no time to reflect on anything.

Still, right now I'm reading my students' reflections on writing this project, and I'm pleased.  At some point I'm going actually have to read what they wrote in their essays, but honestly, I'm procrastinating on that.

From ASAS, music to a teacher's ears:
"I never realized that most authors use ethos, pathos, and logos.  And I just realized that when I read Oreskes. I had never analyzed a chapter so profoundly.  I think it's the first time I feel like I did understand most of what I read.  This essay made me want to analyze everything I read so I have a better understanding of the reading."

From NP: "I saw the article as a learning experience for how to write any future pieces that I may write for science classes."

Also from NP: "[The article] was a breath of fresh air from the grammar and novel related English assignments that I have grown used to in my high school days.  I like how it transcended subjects and went into science and taught us about how consensuses are formed and why some sources are less reliable than others.  I would hope to get more assignments like this on in the future weather (sic) or not in this particular class."

Thanks, NP.  

Developmental Writing Exercise - Pronouns

I don't think I would do this with my 200 classes, although many of them need this, but it does seem like this would be a waste for most of them.

Many students have a hard time with pronouns.  They use them, but there is no clear antecedent.  Or there is a clear antecedent, but the noun and the pronoun replacing it don't quite match.

The exercise would be:

Have students circle every pronoun and then mark the noun it goes with.  That noun should be almost immediately preceding it.  And it needs to agree.  When it doesn't, students would rewrite their sentences.

I could have students mark each others' papers, but that not be very encouraging.  I think I would want to ask someone else's thoughts on that.  

Paraphrase

One of the things I notice with students is that they struggle to state what a quote actually means.  A good exercise for in-class would be to ask them to paraphrase claims.

What do individual words mean?
What the most important part of a sentence?
What does it mean in context?

In classes with lots of board space, I could have students work in groups and write their paraphrases on the board, but I only have that in two of my four classes at SDSU.

I could have them do that as an in-class individual exercise, but then I would have to read what they wrote.  Aaargh.

Hmmm.  Another idea.  If I had these printed out, I could ask students to do this in the first five minutes of class, when students aren't showing up.  Worth 2 points.  One point for getting it right.  One point for being there to do it.

I like that one.

I wouldn't even need it to be printed out.  I just need to put it on power point and show the quote on the screen.  I like it!

As I think about this, I could teach the whole idea of a quotation sandwich and parenthetical with this exercise.

I can put the quote up on the screen with the author's name and the page number.  Students can introduce the quote, include the quote, add parenthetical citation, and then provide a paraphrase afterward.

This exercise would work well for RWS 100, 200, and developmental or basic writing classes.  

No Time

I'm teaching five classes and taking a class.  I've got a B+, and I don't even think the class is that hard.
I quite SDICCCA and my internship.  I just couldn't keep up.
I have had 24 hours without papers to grade.  Only 24 hours.

I've learned a bajillion things this semester, and I can't even keep track of them.

This is hard.  

Research Training

I just tried to train students in how to research.  That did not work, and I'm trying to figure out why.

It's hard to do on a screen, of course, but my strategies were all wrong.

I have two more classes that will do that, and I really need to figure it out.  More later.

Content of an Argument versus the Construction of an Argument

Somalia - Day 1

The theme is social justice.  I wanted students to think about the needs of other people in the world.

If you can make a chance, should you?

I showed images of a current international crisis, the famine in Somalia, and then asked them to read four articles about Somalia and respond to them.

The responses were well written for the most part, as students described what they were thinking and feeling.  They adequately described the situation, and I was pleased.  Many were shocked that this was happening, but they didn't know anything about it.

Observations:
1.  I hoped to start off by appealing to their emotions.  I definitely did that.
2.  I hoped to get them to think about the controversial aspects of response.  We discussed that in class.  Not all students agreed about what we should do.
3.  I get some of the best free response papers I have seen.
4.  Images were essential.  In one of the classes, I didn't have time to show the images so they looked at them at home.  That really helped the students.  Many of them referred to what they saw.
5.  Appealing to a current event really helps students place rhetoric in context.  Even if they don't follow the news, they do want to know what's going on.

In every class, at least three students missed out on this very foundational aspect of the class because of the add/drop/shuffle.  I wonder if I should wait. I don't know.