Summing Up

If you are reading this, congratulations, you made it to the end of the semester.  Now tell us what you learned, not just in this class mind you (though that is, of course a part of your learning experience) but in every part of your life, both in school and out.  How have you grown, shrunk, changed, stayed the same?  And, most of all, what lessons do you want to pass along to the rest of us.  As usual, 250 word post up by Thursday night (4/28) and 100 word response up by Sunday night (5/1).

Your Social Action

Since all of you have (hopefully) written your papers by now and have (hopefully) begun working on social action projects, then by now you should be able to tell us about what your topic is and what you're doing.  This is an opportunity to get your classmates interested and, potentially, get them to help you out if your cause is something you need audience participation for.  As usual, 250 word post up by Thursday night (04/14) and 100 word response up by Sunday night (04/17).

Haikus

Here's the deal folks, I'm including a link to a website about haikus and, after reading a few of them, I will be expecting you to do one of two things: post a 250 word reaction to some of the haikus you read or write three (3) haikus of your own.  If you don't know the rules of a haiku, better check, because I will count off if you don't follow them.  For the follow up, you can either do a 100 word response or write two more haikus.  Have fun with this one.  First response up by Thursday night (04/07) and 100 word response up by Sunday night (04/10).  http://haiku-poems.50webs.com/

Project Two Reflection

Now that you've wrapped up on Project Two it's come time once again for a reflection.  What did you get out of the project?  Was this useful to you or a waste of time?  Do you feel it enhanced your development as a writer in any way?  Again, do not be afraid to be honest, because negative feedback will help us improve the project for future classes.  As usual, 250 word post up by Thursday night and 100 word response up by Sunday night.

A Tough Question

Since the death of James Berlin, there have been very few advocates for social epistemic pedagogy.  To what would you attribute to this decline in popularity and what merit, if any, does social epistemic pedagogy still carry in the 21st century?

Ha ha, just kidding.  What'd you do over spring break?  As usual, 250 word post up by Thursday night (03/24) and 100 word response up by Sunday night (03/27).

55 word stories

I'm bringing back an old favorite from last semester (and if you did this last semester, you cannot reuse your old story): I'm including a link below to a website that publishes stories of exactly 55 words.  Read a few of them, and then you have one of two choices: a.) do a standard 250 word post discussing the stories or b.) try writing a 55 word story of your own.  The rules for a 55 word story: 1.) I will be checking to make sure it is exactly 55 words (otherwise, it wouldn't be a 55 word story), 2.) you can title it, but it doesn't count towards the 55 words, and 3.) there are no restrictions on content, but keep in mind this is a public forum, so exercise common sense.

Whichever option you choose, I'll give you until Sunday night (03/06) to get it done.  You only have to do one post this week because of conferences.

The link: http://www.birdandmoon.com/55words/

Natural Born Killers

Class time is going to be devoted to discussing the deeper issues related to Natural Born Killers, so I'm giving you this space to give just a simple personal reaction to it.  What did you think of the film (love it, hate it, etc.) and how does it compare to other movies in the same vein that you've seen before?  As usual, 250 word post up by Thursday night (2/24) and 100 word response up by Sunday night (2/27).

Project One

By now, you are basically done with project one, so this is where I give you the space to discuss how you feel about the project.  Did you love it, hate it, didn't feel one way or the other, was it meaningful, useless?  Don't be afraid to be honest, there won't be any repercussions if you didn't like the project and negative feedback has been used to improve projects in the past.  As usual, 250 word post up by Thursday night and 100 word response up by Sunday night.

What is controversial?

So, we're going to be talking about controversial films in the next few weeks, so I'm going to ask you to speculate on what causes controversy.  Why did a film as shockingly violent as Machete hardly raise an eyebrow while a seemingly innocent film like The Golden Compass caused a public uproar?  What is it that makes a controversial film?  As usual, 250 word post up by Thursday night and 100 word response up by Sunday night.

Favorite films

We're going to be starting in on the controversial film project soon and to get us warmed up I always like to ask about favorite films (because who doesn't like to talk about them).  Here's the rule: since most of us could name quite a lot, I'm limiting you to three titles (though I'll let something like the Godfather trilogy count as one title) and you have to give a reason for each title.  As usual, 250 words up by Thursday night and 100 word response up by Sunday night.

Nuclear Bunkers in Finland

This is a rather unusual ethical dilemma that has emerged in Finland recently for which you will have to read the following article:

http://articles.cnn.com/2010-11-12/world/finland.nuclear.waste_1_nuclear-waste-disposal-canisters?_s=PM:WORLD

And now I would like to ask you to consider the following: does the documentarian Michael Madsen (not to be confused with the American actor) have a valid point in his documentary?  Or do you agree with the scientists who feel that his argument is nothing to worry about?  Or are you somewhere in between, since arguments are rarely black and white.  As usual, 250 word post up by Thursday night and 100 word response up by Sunday night.

New Semester

As we're gearing up for a new semester, I would like to give you this space to discuss what your expectations for Spring 2011 are, not just in regards to this class but for your semester at large.  Remember that I require a 250 word post up by Thursday night and a 100 word response to someone else's post by Sunday night.