Spencer Pforsich: Humanities 08-09

Google Reader Subscriptions

2008-09-02T15:28:00.000-07:00

Visit my Digital Portfolio and find the link called "Google Reader Subscriptions." Right click this link and select "Save Link As..." or "Save As" to download a list of all the blogs in our team. (You do not need to open this file, just download it. If you open it, it just looks like a bunch of code.)

Then, log in Google Reader (www.google.com/reader) and go to Settings in the top right corner. Click the "Import/Export" tab. Here you will see an Upload form where you can browse for the file you just downloaded. Once you upload this file, you will have access to all the other blogs in our team! It's that easy!

More tips for effective blogging

2008-02-10T10:52:00.000-08:00

When thinking about how to use your blog, consider these tips...

CONTENT:

Include links to other sites of interest (list the URL and make it a hyperlink)
Comment on the content of those other sites - in other words, why are you listing them? Summarize them in your own words.
Ask questions about things you don't understand, about other issues you haven't addressed yet, etc.
Make connections to other ideas, thoughts, issues.
Assume a broad readership - don't just write to Spencer or to your class; write as if everyone is reading. Tell us what we need to know (about your project, about your research, etc.) in order to feel included.

FORMAT:

Use proper spelling, grammar, and punctuation.
Be yourself, but maintain a professional tone.
Include images whenever appropriate.
Cite your sources whenever ideas/information are not your own.

For examples, see my teaching blog, or visit www.dailykos.com or www.instapundit.com (two very biased but very popular political blogs).

Blogging Tips

2008-02-01T22:40:00.001-08:00

A while back, TIME Magazine had a nice, brief article about the "blogosphere." It gives six easy tips for better blogging, and lists tools for sifting through the dungheap of blogs to find the ones actually worth reading. Start here to learn how to make your blog stand out from the rest...

"Blogging 2.0" by Jeremy Caplan (Sept. 18, 2005)

The tips that seem the most helpful to me are:
* Keep your design simple and your posts concise.
* Use proper spelling, grammar and punctuation.
* Post often--frequent updates keep people coming back for more.
* Check facts.

History of Rock N Roll

2007-12-31T13:50:00.001-08:00

For the next two weeks, you will use your blogs for exploring and reflecting on the history of Rock N Roll and the way that history has influenced the music you know and love today. There will be three assignments to do on your blog. I'll put them all here now with the due dates so you can keep track of them as you go:

1.) Required Listening: Go to Spencer's DP and click on "Required Listening List." There you will find a number of songs and the schedule of when you should listen to them. Once you've heard all of them, choose at least three songs that elicit a reaction from you (it could be a good reaction, a bad one, whatever). Write about each one on your blog, discussing why you were particularly struck by it, what someone who has never heard it might want to know, etc. Also, include a photo of each artist in your post. Due Monday, 1/14 by 8:40am.

2.) Album Review: One of the greatest bi-products of the emergence of Rock N Roll was the creation of a new style of media reporting: Rock Journalism. Probably the most familiar form of this writing is the album review. On your blog, write a review of an album of your choice. A typical review includes basic info (artist name, album title, year released, record label), your rating of the album (between 1 and 5 stars is the standard scale), a description of what's good or bad about it (which usually includes specific examples or characteristics of certain tracks), and a picture of the album cover. See Rolling Stone Magazine's review of the Foo Fighters or Pitchfork Media's review of 50 Cent as examples. Due Tuesday, 1/15 by 8:40am.

3.) Talk Back: Leave a comment on at least two other students’ blogs about their posts (either the Required Listening post or the Album Review). Your comment could be a response to their ideas, a suggestion of further reading/resources, other artists/albums that you would recommend based on their posts, etc. Due Friday, 1/18 at 8:40am.

Literature Circle Responses - Part II

2007-12-10T15:50:00.000-08:00

THIS PROMPT HAS TWO STEPS:

STEP 1: VISIT THE BLOG OF AT LEAST ONE PERSON FROM YOUR LIT CIRCLE GROUP AND LEAVE A COMMENT IN RESPONSE TO WHAT HE/SHE WROTE ABOUT THE BOOK.

STEP 2: For the reading you've done from the beginning of your lit circle book up to Wednesday, 12/12, respond to the following prompts. You do not need to include every single point, but include at least a couple ideas from Section A, a couple ideas from Section B, and at least one quote for Section C. Due Thursday, 12/13 by 3:40pm.

Section A – Making observations

1. What strikes you about the book? What do you find interesting or significant about the book?
2. Do you like the book? Why or why not?
3. Make a bullet point list of 3-4 themes that seem to be developing in the book.

Section B – Asking questions …

1. Small Questions: Write down any questions you have concerning the literal meaning of the text (i.e. “on the surface” questions).
2. Big Questions: Write an interpretative question. That’s a question that people could have different opinions about. These are often good questions for a seminar discussion or for a debate. You do not have to completely answer them; but at the very least jot down thoughts, reflections, and random notes.

Section C – Quotation Analysis

1. What quote struck you as memorable or particularly interesting? Why? What point was the author making? What significance does it have to the meaning of the book? OR...

2. What quote seems particularly relevant to one of the themes you identified above? What does it add to the theme overall? How does that theme enhance the meaning of the book overall?

Literature Circle Responses - Part I

2007-12-04T15:30:00.000-08:00

For the section of your book that you read up to your second lit circle meeting, reflect on how you read by using the following prompts. You do not need to respond to every single one, but use these as a starting point for a larger reflection on your progress in the book. DUE Monday, December 10 by 3:40pm.

1. Predicting
I predict …
In the next part …
I think this is …

2. Picturing
I picture …
I see …

3. Making Connections
This is like a …
This is not like …This reminds me of …
I started to think about …

4. Identifying a problem
I got confused when the author said …
I’m not sure of …
I didn’t expect …
Some words I didn’t know were …
I was distracted by …
I lost track of everything except …
I stopped because …
While reading this section I forgot important things that I already read …
During this part I got stuck; it made no sense …

5. Identifying a solution
I figured out this word from context …
I re-read this sentence/section …
I skipped this sentence/section …
I kept reading to see if things later became clear …
I took notes on the margin or on a post-it …
I took notes on a separate sheet of paper or on the computer …
I made a diagram, drew a picture, or used another graphic organizer

Guidelines for Posting

2007-08-24T11:57:00.000-07:00

As you begin to research your topic, use your blog to record your observations. This will be a place where you and your classmates can explore ideas in writing, share interesting information, and organize your research sources. You should update your blog soon and often (an average of once a day, including weekends). Anne and I will check your blog periodically during the course of the project, looking for new information and progress. Be sure to reference outside sources as URL's and hyperlinks AT ALL TIMES.

Things you might include on your blog are:

- Comments about articles you find online that you find particularly interesting
- Images that you discover about your topic
- Questions that arise from your research
- Comments about other students' research (your group mates or others)
- Facts that particularly strike you (and why you find them striking)

Don't just regurgitate information; say what you think about the information, how you interpret it, etc. In other words, don't ever cite information without commenting on it. Also, (and this should be obvious) don't copy your group mates' blogs. This blog is for your INDIVIDUAL work, as our way of monitoring each student's individual progress.

Good luck,
Spencer

The Truth About Blogging

2007-05-22T19:52:00.000-07:00

So far the information students have shared on their blogs has been overall quite positive. I've seen some of them reading (and commenting on) each other's work; I've seen some interesting little "a-ha" moments in their writing; and I've even learned a thing or two from reading their research. However, the following post is so refreshingly blunt, and yet so effective at serving its academic purpose, that I have to share it here:

"The Truths That All Teachers Know"
http://diseaseproject.blogspot.com/2007/05/truths-that-all-teachers-know.html

Here are the first two sentences (my favorite part): "So, this blog idea is both ingenious and evil. As I understand it, the idea is to make sure that students are actually, you know, doing their research."

Yes indeed.