Hello students.
It seems only fair that I complete the blog posts that I assign you. My name is Kim and I'll be your instructor this semester if you are in EN112 section 1, 2 or 3 at BMCC in Spring 2011.
This is my second semester teaching at BMCC after moving to the Soo from Minnesota. I am an Ohio native and ended up in this area after I married my husband who has worked for the hospital in the Soo for the last decade. My husband and I have a 15 month old puppy, a cat, and a large tank of fish.
In my spare time, which is almost non-existent, I like to watch old television shows, work out, eat ethnic foods, and play on Facebook. I also am a huge Renaissance festie. I own quite a bit of garb and like to have an excuse to wear it. I am thinking about getting involved with the madrigals next winter.
I have been teaching writing classes off and on since Fall 1999. I love to use technology in the classroom when appropriate. I actually had a class website since my first semester of teaching. I actually coded it in HTML, if you can believe that. I still sometimes work in code to fix things in Moodle :)
Thursday, January 13, 2011
Thursday, September 23, 2010
Reflections on the Supreme Court nominations process
Today in class I assigned students to look at some older articles that were in my old copies of The Week and do some analysis. I picked the article "Kagan: Why the questions on her sexuality?" from a May 28, 2010 magazine. Although the Senate approved her back in August, the question still remains - what good comes from questioning the sexual orientation of a potential supreme court justice?
Andrew Sullivan argues that since the president can take gender and ethic background into account than "why is sexual orientation out of bounds of even inquiry?" He continues to his argument that to take sexual identity off the table when other aspects of human identity are fair game is somehow "offensive". But I wonder how questions of human identity play into politics. Just because I'm a woman does not make me a feminist. Just because I'm a christian does not make me conservative. To assume that personal convictions and beliefs cross over into my professional life and supersede all else is not logical. Most of us juggle many hats that require multiple perspectives.
In fact I wonder how much the Senate digging into a person's background really helps the process. I'm not arguing that we should dump the checks and balances, but rather be a little more realistic with what topics are focused on. Waldman in his online editorial piece points out that using a past as a predictor of the future and what Kagan will be like and do on the bench is kind of pointless. Perhaps the Supreme Court should be more concerned about character than determining a political stance on a myriad of potential issues.
Andrew Sullivan argues that since the president can take gender and ethic background into account than "why is sexual orientation out of bounds of even inquiry?" He continues to his argument that to take sexual identity off the table when other aspects of human identity are fair game is somehow "offensive". But I wonder how questions of human identity play into politics. Just because I'm a woman does not make me a feminist. Just because I'm a christian does not make me conservative. To assume that personal convictions and beliefs cross over into my professional life and supersede all else is not logical. Most of us juggle many hats that require multiple perspectives.
In fact I wonder how much the Senate digging into a person's background really helps the process. I'm not arguing that we should dump the checks and balances, but rather be a little more realistic with what topics are focused on. Waldman in his online editorial piece points out that using a past as a predictor of the future and what Kagan will be like and do on the bench is kind of pointless. Perhaps the Supreme Court should be more concerned about character than determining a political stance on a myriad of potential issues.
Thursday, September 9, 2010
Stay strong in the struggle
To my students:
Do not be harsh on yourself if you are having difficulty with blogging. There is a learning curve whenever you learn a new skill. Do not evaluate your learning based on how quickly others are mastering this new skill; evaluate yourself on your effort and where you are today versus where you were the first day of the term.
We have been talking some about what a blog is during class. The fact that blogs are in reverse chronological order with the newest post first. That blogs should contribute to the conversation by either continuing the conversation (from another source) or contributing new information. Anton Zuiker posted a blog entry that shows the anatomy of a blog that you might find helpful.
My purpose in assigning you to write a blog was for you to learn while doing. Your blog should be veiwed as a sandbox: A place to play, create, and show off your learning. Feel free to change your blog's look or topic as you wish. Your grade is based on your effort and learning experience.
Do not be harsh on yourself if you are having difficulty with blogging. There is a learning curve whenever you learn a new skill. Do not evaluate your learning based on how quickly others are mastering this new skill; evaluate yourself on your effort and where you are today versus where you were the first day of the term.
We have been talking some about what a blog is during class. The fact that blogs are in reverse chronological order with the newest post first. That blogs should contribute to the conversation by either continuing the conversation (from another source) or contributing new information. Anton Zuiker posted a blog entry that shows the anatomy of a blog that you might find helpful.
My purpose in assigning you to write a blog was for you to learn while doing. Your blog should be veiwed as a sandbox: A place to play, create, and show off your learning. Feel free to change your blog's look or topic as you wish. Your grade is based on your effort and learning experience.
Monday, September 6, 2010
Considering citizenship
As many of you know, I recently moved to Michigan. I live in a boarder town where I can (and do) cross a bridge and find myself in another country. I attend church in Canada. I workout at the Chi Mukwa Community Center and teach at Bay Mills Community College in the land of the Ojibwe. I find myself pondering what it means to be a citizen.
People talk about being a "global citizen" or a "citizen of the world". In school we have to take citizenship tests, and we get recognized as being a "good citizen". We are suppose to "exercise" our citizenship by voting. But what about those of us who have multiple citizenships? Or what if our citizenship that is not recognized by others?
This article attempts to present both sides of one example of this issue: citizens of the Iroquois Nation wish to travel using their own passports rather than US passports.
Questions to blog about:
People talk about being a "global citizen" or a "citizen of the world". In school we have to take citizenship tests, and we get recognized as being a "good citizen". We are suppose to "exercise" our citizenship by voting. But what about those of us who have multiple citizenships? Or what if our citizenship that is not recognized by others?
This article attempts to present both sides of one example of this issue: citizens of the Iroquois Nation wish to travel using their own passports rather than US passports.
Questions to blog about:
- Why is it so important for members of this nation to travel under their own passports?
- Government is for the protection of its citizens -- what are the disadvantages and advantages of tribal passport use vs. US passports?
- Considering terrorism, identity theft, and other dangers, make an argument about whether or not tribes should issue passports for their citizens.
Thursday, September 2, 2010
Questions on privacy
This year I decided to do something new with my composition classes. I've decided to incorporate blogs. Although I am aware of many people that have used blogs for years with their writing students and I genuinely like using technology with my classes, I always used technology in other ways in my classroom.
This year I decided to take the plunge for a number of reasons. The textbook we are using is Mike Palmquest's Joining the Conversation which emphasizes the interplay among texts and the relationship and dialogue that takes place between writers and readers. Naturally, online space allows writers a readership and access to a community of writers that have similar interests.
Another advantage of blogging over other forms of technology I could add to the classroom was the notion of personal space. I want my students to have a space that is "theirs" where they can play with technology, explore various communities and find their own voice. Learning how to write academic papers is an important life skill, but I would position it is not the best or only way to teach critical thinking, argumentation, research or even attribution. It is possible teaching these skills as merely an academic exercise may not promote easy skill transference to other situations (writing or otherwise). There is something amazing about having strangers read your writing especially when they leave feedback. For good or ill it creates a "real" learning situation that it is difficult to replicate with classroom-based exercises.
However, there are also drawbacks to requiring this real-world activity in a classroom. One that concerns me most are issues of privacy. I asked my students to create accounts with blogger (aka Google). I have had a blogger account for many years, long before Blogger was bought out by Google, and I have had a Google account for almost as many years. However most of my students did not have Google accounts, and I discovered the many safe-guards Google has put in place to ensure real people are signing up for accounts ---like requiring a phone number--- causes me to pause. We tell our students not to have their phones out or ringers on yet now I require one for instruction? Is it a reasonable expectation that students will have cell phones? And if they do, will they want to give their numbers to Google?
I honestly believe that experimenting with a blog is advantageous, but students also have rights to privacy. I personally have never had a problem with spam coming from Google; I have no reason to doubt their privacy policy. Google has many tools that I may use with my writing classes so having an account will be helpful in many ways. Is there a way to get around this need for a phone number or a generic phone number the whole class could use (perhaps google voice account on my end)? This is something I need to research.
This year I decided to take the plunge for a number of reasons. The textbook we are using is Mike Palmquest's Joining the Conversation which emphasizes the interplay among texts and the relationship and dialogue that takes place between writers and readers. Naturally, online space allows writers a readership and access to a community of writers that have similar interests.
Another advantage of blogging over other forms of technology I could add to the classroom was the notion of personal space. I want my students to have a space that is "theirs" where they can play with technology, explore various communities and find their own voice. Learning how to write academic papers is an important life skill, but I would position it is not the best or only way to teach critical thinking, argumentation, research or even attribution. It is possible teaching these skills as merely an academic exercise may not promote easy skill transference to other situations (writing or otherwise). There is something amazing about having strangers read your writing especially when they leave feedback. For good or ill it creates a "real" learning situation that it is difficult to replicate with classroom-based exercises.
However, there are also drawbacks to requiring this real-world activity in a classroom. One that concerns me most are issues of privacy. I asked my students to create accounts with blogger (aka Google). I have had a blogger account for many years, long before Blogger was bought out by Google, and I have had a Google account for almost as many years. However most of my students did not have Google accounts, and I discovered the many safe-guards Google has put in place to ensure real people are signing up for accounts ---like requiring a phone number--- causes me to pause. We tell our students not to have their phones out or ringers on yet now I require one for instruction? Is it a reasonable expectation that students will have cell phones? And if they do, will they want to give their numbers to Google?
I honestly believe that experimenting with a blog is advantageous, but students also have rights to privacy. I personally have never had a problem with spam coming from Google; I have no reason to doubt their privacy policy. Google has many tools that I may use with my writing classes so having an account will be helpful in many ways. Is there a way to get around this need for a phone number or a generic phone number the whole class could use (perhaps google voice account on my end)? This is something I need to research.
Tuesday, October 30, 2007
Belly flops with new media
The largest digital writing assignment I've ever created was the biggest flop. So let me share with you what I did, what happened and what I'd do differently.
**Group Instructions Project**
I was teaching a couple of sections of Professional and Technical Writing. A course requirement was a group project and instructions lend themselves naturally to a group assignment because of the complexity of creating an object, writing instructions, using illustrations, testing the final instructions on potential users, etc. The problem was I had five students that for legitimate reasons missed class frequently. I thought I had a perfect set of circumstances to try a distance-learning group project that used digital writing. I asked each potential member if they would be willing to do an online group and all agreed to participate.
''The assignment''
The assignment, in my mind at least, was straight-forward. They were to create a wiki using the U of M's wiki system that would explain to someone that hadn't used wikis before 1) what a wiki is 2) how to create a wiki 3) how to edit a wiki and 4) important issues that new users should consider before contributing or using a wiki. Group members didn't have to come to class (since their group had members in my morning and afternoon class) but they were expected to post each class period on the discussion board I created to divide up work and report back to the group to their progress. My assignment sheet was as clear as I could make it and about triple the length of my assignment sheet for the "traditional" assignment.
''What happened''
Absolutely nothing. The students obviously didn't really read the assignment sheet. Even when I sent emails to the group members reminding them to introduce themselves on the discussion board only one or two of them did so. More than a week into a two week project a few of them came to see me not understanding what a wiki was or why it was important for them to know.
Finally a two of the guys stepped up and took some leadership (grades are great motivators). They got the project divided up and one created the wiki and emailed his group with the link. But the group never became a group - they all did their segments of the project but didn't touch others sections even when their were obvious errors. They all claimed work as individuals and none of them did the posts that I required three times a week.
''What I would change''
If I were doing this assignment again I would require an initial face-to-face meeting with me to discuss the project, the objective and the requirements with the group. I would make individual points for participating in a timely manner as well as group points for having their work done so usability testing could occur. Not having them meet face to face was my largest mistake as a teacher, but I thought the introductions post and the post I asked them to do about their interests and strengths/weaknesses would start the conversation sufficiently. I failed to realize that EVERYTHING has to be for points in an online environment otherwise students see it as optional. Even when it is as important as communicating with their group, many students don't see communication as logically necessary.
If you want to see their final project it's at https://wiki.umn.edu/view/Main/Towar003.
**Group Instructions Project**
I was teaching a couple of sections of Professional and Technical Writing. A course requirement was a group project and instructions lend themselves naturally to a group assignment because of the complexity of creating an object, writing instructions, using illustrations, testing the final instructions on potential users, etc. The problem was I had five students that for legitimate reasons missed class frequently. I thought I had a perfect set of circumstances to try a distance-learning group project that used digital writing. I asked each potential member if they would be willing to do an online group and all agreed to participate.
''The assignment''
The assignment, in my mind at least, was straight-forward. They were to create a wiki using the U of M's wiki system that would explain to someone that hadn't used wikis before 1) what a wiki is 2) how to create a wiki 3) how to edit a wiki and 4) important issues that new users should consider before contributing or using a wiki. Group members didn't have to come to class (since their group had members in my morning and afternoon class) but they were expected to post each class period on the discussion board I created to divide up work and report back to the group to their progress. My assignment sheet was as clear as I could make it and about triple the length of my assignment sheet for the "traditional" assignment.
''What happened''
Absolutely nothing. The students obviously didn't really read the assignment sheet. Even when I sent emails to the group members reminding them to introduce themselves on the discussion board only one or two of them did so. More than a week into a two week project a few of them came to see me not understanding what a wiki was or why it was important for them to know.
Finally a two of the guys stepped up and took some leadership (grades are great motivators). They got the project divided up and one created the wiki and emailed his group with the link. But the group never became a group - they all did their segments of the project but didn't touch others sections even when their were obvious errors. They all claimed work as individuals and none of them did the posts that I required three times a week.
''What I would change''
If I were doing this assignment again I would require an initial face-to-face meeting with me to discuss the project, the objective and the requirements with the group. I would make individual points for participating in a timely manner as well as group points for having their work done so usability testing could occur. Not having them meet face to face was my largest mistake as a teacher, but I thought the introductions post and the post I asked them to do about their interests and strengths/weaknesses would start the conversation sufficiently. I failed to realize that EVERYTHING has to be for points in an online environment otherwise students see it as optional. Even when it is as important as communicating with their group, many students don't see communication as logically necessary.
If you want to see their final project it's at https://wiki.umn.edu/view/Main/Towar003.
Epworth-Euclid United Methodist Church
Here is one of the photos I found that I would have included in my slideshow. This is my church back home, affectionately known as Church of the Holy Oil Can :)
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