Monday, November 29, 2010

 
Today in class we are assembling the portfolio beginning with the cyber-assignments which is a lengthy task. Start with the student response to the syllabus and the email introduction you sent to me in August.

Paste all of these documents in one Word Doc.

We will also look at the SV AGR essay in SPHE and work on revising TKW essay and the book report essay.

 

Portfolio Checklist 2010

This checklist can serve as the table of contents. Put a check next to the items to show inclusion in the portfolio. Use as the second page to the portfolio, after the cover sheet. Where there are questions for the section, students can post the answers to the narrative there.

Number the pages with a header.


Name ______________________________
Date ______________________________
Class including class code and semester ____________________
Address _______________________________________
Phone number __________________________________
Email address__________________________________


1. Portfolio Essay 1 Don't forget to talk about SPHE ________________

2. Portfolio Essay 2 __________________

3. Stewart Pidd Hates English _______________

Quizzes: List scores for all:
Punctuating Sentences Quiz A______ Quiz B______; MLA Style Title Quiz ________; MLA Style Format _________; Pronoun AGR ________; Pronoun Case _______; Quotations and Ellipsis Marks Quiz _______; Possessive Nouns and Pronouns ________; Parallel Structure ________; Subject-Verb AGR_______

Essay Exams
Essay Exam 1: Pronoun Case______; Essay Exam 2: Possessives; Essay Exam 3: Parallel Structure __________

For each essay exam, note which errors were chosen and whether or not you had to revise the essay. If you did, what corrections did you make, and why?

Grammar Exams
Grammar Exam 1: Score: ________. Analyze your score. What type of errors did you make?


Grammar Exam 1: Score: ________. Analyze your score. What type of errors did you make?

Other Pidd Essays: Sentence Punctuation ________; Pronoun AGR _________; POV _____; Be-Verb ________; Subject-Verb AGR________.

List scores for all. Analyze your errors. How many revisions? Why?

American Culture Presentations and Feedback
Post the narratives and self-reflections for all presentations. Also post any peer reviews or responses to the presentations.

Cyber-Assignments
How many?_____________

The Known World
Post essay and all the graded drafts beginning with the highest grade and the planning. Make sure each essay includes the works cited page.

TKW cyber-assignments _____________ (how many?)
Any in-class writing ___________ (how many?)
Post any logs for the book and grades __________ (how many?)

Book Report Essay
Post essay and all the graded drafts beginning with the highest grade and the planning: Initial Planning Sheet, outlines, etc. Make sure each essay includes the works cited page.

Presentation:
Abstract________
Self-reflection________
Feedback___________ (how many?)

For this section also post all the cyber-assignments _____________ (how many?)
Any in-class writing ___________ (how many?)
Post any logs for the book and grades __________ (how many?)

Social Entrepreneur Essay

Post essay and all the graded drafts beginning with the highest grade and the planning: Initial Planning Sheet, outlines, etc. Make sure each essay includes the works cited page

Presentation:

Abstract________
Self-reflection________
Peer Reviews or Feedback___________ (how many?)

For this section also post all the cyber-assignments _____________ (how many?)
Any in-class writing ___________ (how many?)
Post any logs for the book and grades __________ (how many?)

Post the Frontline World Assignments here as well as the New Heroes Cyber-Assignments


COA Library Assignments

Library Orientation Self-Reflection (Cyber-Assignment)_________
Library worksheet_______
Website Evaluation_______

Course Evaluation
Course evaluation __________ (included or not included)

Teacher research: Can the professor use any of your work? Student will be notified if such is done and if there is any monetary compensation. Student work will be anonymous.

Yes, permission is granted______________. No, permission is not granted_________.

Extra Credit: How many essays? Grades? _______________________

More Extra Credit
Students can also include in the portfolio an essay from another class which demonstrated their competence. Get permission from the other professor first before including the graded essay. Post the assignment, any comments and the grade. It has to be a research essay using at least one source. That is, there needs to be a Works Cited page.

Grade Justification
What grade have you earned this semester? Give a salient argument with evidence proving your case. Don't forget a Works Cited page (smile).

Anything else? Questions, comments? Did I leave anything out? __________________

 

Note changes to due dates

Portfolio assembly: Collect all cyber-assignments and posts and put chronologically into a word document. Also include the introductory email sent in August per syllabus.

SPHE: Subject-Verb Agreement Essay. Bring templates to class typed in an electronic form tomorrow.

Book Report Make-up: We will have book report presentations Tuesday, November 30, 2010.

Wednesday, Dec. 1 is the peer review for the Social Entrepreneur Essay. We'll have practice presentations.

Thursday for the morning class there will be Grammar Exam 2. For the afternoon class, Grammar Exam 2 will be given on Wednesday, Dec. 1. SE presentations will be Monday, Dec. 6.

Tuesday, November 23, 2010

 

Portfolio Narratives

For students who are interested in starting the portfolio essays now, here are the questions which serve as the introduction to the portfolio.

The portfolio narratives (These are essays)

1. The fist narrative will look at the 18 weeks, the themes we looked at this semester, privilege and entitlement. Talk about what you've learned and discovered this semester about writing, college and life, which have transformed or changed you.

What have you learned about yourself this semester? What have you learned about the discipline you are studying in this class: composition and reading that you plan to carry forth into your lifelong pursuit of learning?

Please also comment on the texts and whether or not they were helpful in this process. You can also talk about the instruction, culture of the class and the teacher.

2. Besides the two essays you use as evidence to discuss your revision process, I also want you to include the The Known World essay, the book report essay and the social entrepreneur essay. We have already started the narrative on revision (check past cyber-assignments). Each essay needs to be 250 minimally words.

The checklist will list all the assignments, but you know what they are. On the checklist include the assignment grade. All the essays included in the portfolio are graded essays.

If anyone would like help assembling the portfolio bring the assignments electronically to class beginning next week, Monday, Nov. 29 and we will have a few portfolio assembly workshops: Nov. 29 (9:30-10:30, 3-4), Nov. 30 (1-2), and Dec. 1 (9:30-10:30.

3. Stewart Pidd Hates English: Students do not have to post the essays, just the grades and any extra writing like narrative-type essays. Students can also list the quizzes and how they did on each one.

4. Cyber-Assignments: Start collecting all your cyber-assignments. It takes a while to go through all of the posts, so start now. There is a section on the portfolio for these assignments.

5. Freewrites: Type your in-class freewrites. This is another section for your portfolio. Some freewrites are also cyber-assignments.

6. Extra credit. If you have written any essays this semester for extra credit they would go in this section.

7. Evaluation: There is a course evaluation for the class which is optional. I also ask if I can use any of your work for academic research.

This is a preliminary checklist.

 

Cyber-Assignment on To Kill A Mockingbird

Yesterday in the afternoon class, the Internet went out before some students were able to complete Essay Exam 3: Parallel Structure. Students can make the essay up either today at 12 noon or tomorrow at 3 PM.

We also reviewed revisions of TKW and Book Report essays. Planning is due on the Social Entrepreneur essay. Follow the assignment sheet for the outline. Answer the questions.

We continued reading To Kill a Mockingbird. Reflect on the story up to now. Do you thing the defendant "Jim" has a chance at getting a just hearing? Why, why not? Are there any modern cases that remind you of Jim's"? In what way?

We also spoke to language, vulgar or racial slurs like "nigger," which is used in the play. Talk about the way language changed over time and whether or not ignorance of a words etymology or linguistic history and usage is an excuse for modern application.

Post your reflections here.

Sample Portfolios
Today I posted sample portfolios on several desk top computers this morning.

Wednesday, November 17, 2010

 

English 201 Social Entrepreneur New Due Dates:

Planning Due by Nov. 22 (share or write in class)_____________
Essay: Planning Sheet, Outline, Thesis due Monday, Nov. 22 (share and/or write in class) __________

First Draft Monday, Nov 29 (peer reviews)__________
Final Draft due via email, Dec. 1 by 12 noon. Send to coasabirenglish201@gmail.com

Presentations: Dec. 1/Dec. 2 (if we run out of time). Don't forget your abstracts. If you didn't get to present your book report, if we have time students will have one last time to present.

We will spend Dec. 6-8 working on portfolio assembly. Bring all of your work to class this week: all the graded drafts. The portfolio is due: Wednesday, Dec. 15, by 12 noon.

Make sure you paste it and attach it. Remember attach only one Word Document, not several documents. If you send it wrong, I will not read it.

 
Essay Exam 3: Parallel Structure. Students who were not ready for the essay exam can take a make-up on Monday, Nov. 22, 2010.

We then read the play: To Kill a Mockingbird," based on the novel by Harper Lee.

Reflect on the experience of hearing a play read aloud. Secondly, comment on the story and where you think it is going.

Homework in SPHE is to continue with Subject/Verb Agreement. We will write the essay on Wednesday next week. The SE essay is due this week, the presentations are next week. Is anyone ready (smile)?

At this point essays should be coming in more polished, which means they get passing grades on the first draft.

Use the Writing Center or the tutoring center or both. Check your email for grades on your essays this week.

Monday, November 15, 2010

 
This week we are completing SPHE Parallel Structure Essay and the Social Entrepreneur Essay.

We took the Possessives Quiz.

Email the planning sheet for the Social Entrepreneur Essay.

Afternoon class reviewed the Parallel Structure essay and then we reviewed what is meant when students are required to write an essay about their essay Stewart Pidd style.

We will write Essay Exam 3 on Wednesday/Thursday. make sure the templats are typed in advance and emailed to oneself.

Wednesday, November 10, 2010

 
Essay Exam 2
Peer Reviews
Book Report Presentations

In the morning class we took Essay Exam 2: Possessives. If you missed class there is a make-up on Monday afternoon, possibly Monday morning, call me.

In the afternoon class students made presentations, did peer reviews, and/or completed Essay Exam 2.

The mood was festival and noisy, but toward the end, students did really well on the presentations: Rachel on Henry K. Lee's Presumed Dead, Winnie on Maxine Hong Kingston's Woman Warrior, Dalina on Dave Pelzer's A Child Called "It", Evelyn & Miguel on Luis Rodriquez's Always Running, and Folami on Alice Walker's The Color Purple.

Don't forget to read a published review, a bio on the author and a critical article on one of the topics in the book.

I read all TKW essays, so check your email and revise by Monday. I look forward to reading the book report essays Friday. They should be in by 12 noon.

Some students are behind in Pidd, you have until Wednesday to catch up. Check the blog for the Portfolio Checklist, which is a list of all the assignments for the semester. Print it out and put your grades on it, an average is your grade so far in the class.

If you have missed many days and are very behind, talk to me. Next week is the last day to drop with a W. After Nov. 24, I have to give you a grade.

Monday, November 08, 2010

 
Freewrite

Email a list of topics you'd like covered in the concluding weeks of the class. We will continue working on essay structure, thesis development, comprehension and critical thinking, and MLA and research questions and strategies.

Book Report Essays Presentations:

Give a substantive comments on student presentations: What worked well? Key points raised that surprised or caught your attention?

In the afternoon class, we decided to complete Essay Exam 2: Possessives, and the Be-Verb Quiz, and postpone the presentations to Wednesday. We will spend the first part of class doing peer reviews on the Book Report Essay and the second part on presentations. Come on time.

If anyone missed Essay Exam 2, make up exams are Wednesday, Nov. 10, 3 PM.

SPHE
Possessives Essay

Wednesday, November 03, 2010

 

Coopa-Roca Con't.

We developed a thesis sentence together and student who hadn't completed the Grammar Exam 1 took them home (a no no--smile). I returned the others. Tomorrow bring in your book for the book report, along with an outline. Again, we are using the format in the handout for the 3-part essay.

Complete an essay on the theme of "keeping focused," and entrepreneurs, such as Maria Teresa Leal, who leave their comfort zone to help others have better lives. Maria is the hero profiled, however, how are the women design artists heroes as well?

Visit http://www.coopa-roca.org.br/en/index_en.html and http://www.pbs.org/opb/thenewheroes/meet/leal.html

Respond in a three-paragraph essay.

Use the thesis we developed:

Although the women in the collective, Coopa-Roca have a successful business operation, it is not without peril, becasue the favela where they work is the site of armed gang warfare.


Maria Teresa Leal (from pbs.org)
Project: Coopa-Roca

Location: Rio de Janerio, Brazil

Maria Teresa Leal founded Coopa-Roca, a sewing cooperative located in Rocinha, the largest favela (slum) in Rio de Janeiro, in 1981. Nicknamed "Tetê," Leal has a college degree in social science and a license to teach elementary school.

It is unusual for a middle-class or wealthy Brazilian to set foot in a favela. But when Leal visited the favela with her housekeeper, who lived there, she saw that many poor women in the favela were skilled seamstresses — yet they had no opportunity to use their skills to generate income. So she got the idea to start a co-operative, which would recycle fabric remnants to produce attractive quilts and pillows. Gradually, as the women gained experience and developed skills in manufacturing and marketing, the work grew more professional.

In the early 90s Tetê attracted interest from Rio's fashion world, and in 1994 Coopa-Roca began producing clothes for the catwalk. In order to acquire the luxurious fabrics for high-quality designer clothes, Tetê sought out donations. She also convinced fashion designers to teach the women about production skills and trends. Coopa-Roca started getting media attention, which helped Tetê get more fabric and more contracts.

Pieces produced by the co-op are unique, combining a particular type of craftsmanship originated in northern Brazil with luxe fabrics found in couture fashion.

Tetê recently signed a contract with the European clothes manufacturer C&A, which she hopes will allow the co-op to expand its offerings and multiply the number of women who benefit from it.

What Does Coopa Roca Do?
Coopa-Roca's mission is to provide flexible employment opportunities to women from low-income families who live in Rocinha, particularly opportunities for single mothers to work from home.

The co-operative formed as an offshoot from a recycling project involving local children. The first group of women was organized to produce decorative craftwork made with textile remnants and using traditional Brazilian techniques such as drawstring appliqué, crochet, knot work and patchwork.

The co-op employs more than 150 women, most of whom are homemakers who had never worked before. Its office is still based in the middle of the favela. All decisions are made collectively and the women share the responsibilities of production, administration and publicity. Most women work from home, but they come to the office to bring their finished pieces and to get more fabric.

At first the co-op's biggest challenge was finding outlets for their products. As the project has grown, Tetê has been able to focus on training younger women as new leaders in the community. Although conditions in the favela are still difficult, the women say the co-op has given them a chance to improve their quality of life dramatically.

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Staying Focused--Cyber Extra Credit

Today we watched the New Heroes film about women in the collective: Rio de Janerio, Brazil, in celebration of the first woman president of Brazil, Dilma Rousseff. Here is a fun article about her: http://www.lemondrop.com/2010/11/03/dilma-rousseff-meet-brazils-first-female-president-and-former-g/

For extra credit summarize this article and post here.


SUPER WOMAN
Nov 3rd 2010 By Emily Tan

Meet Brazil's First Female President (& Ex-Guerrilla)

After winning the presidential election in Brazil, Dilma Rousseff will be the country's first female president -- and part of the ever-growing group of lady heads of state, which includes former Philippine president Corazon Aquino; Finland's current president, Tarja Halonen; and Costa Rica's newest leader, Laura Chinchilla.

Hello, America? But in the meantime, more on Rousseff.

"I want to state my first commitment after the elections: to honor Brazil's women so that today's unprecedented result becomes a normal event," 62-year-old Rousseff said in a speech soon after hearing about her win on Sunday. "I would very much like that parents look into their daughters' eyes and say, 'Yes, women can.'"

Before running for president, Rousseff held many powerful political positions, including secretary of energy, which later turned into minister of energy, where she was credited with heading up the "Luz Para Todos" ("Light for All") program -- making sure that electricity would be in over a million Brazilian homes.

She was then named chief of staff to the outgoing and extremely popular Brazilian president Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva (known to everyone as Lula). Sharing the same vision for the economic and social improvement of Brazil, Lula handpicked and fully backed Rousseff to be the presidential candidate for the Workers Party.

Keep reading for more on her flip-flopping position on abortion and super-secret past as a guerrilla fighter ...

Even though Rousseff is now seen as a role model for women, her "iron lady" persona -- as well as her conservative stances on certain issues (like abortion) -- has placed her under fire. The new president-elect defended abortion rights earlier in her campaign, then started losing the support of religious groups. After sniffing a potential loss of votes, Rousseff retracted her earlier statements. "My position is against abortion, which is violence against women," she said during a meeting with Catholic leaders. "No woman is in favor of abortion."

And there's the fact that she's a former guerrilla fighter.

Born to a school-teaching mother and Bulgarian father who was a lawyer, Rousseff went to an all-girls private school in her younger years. However, once she hit her teens, she became aware of the military regime in Brazil and traded her ballerina dreams to fight for her country's well-being. She joined the left-wing armed resistance in the '60s. Being part of a guerrilla organization forced her to go underground and take on various aliases in order to keep herself and her family safe.

A ballerina/spy president? Now that we can get behind.

Although she's owned up to her guerrilla past, Rousseff, now 62, makes it known that she didn't fire weapons because of her poor eyesight. "My involvement was just political," she said in a 2008 TV interview. "I used to have more than a ninth or 10th degree of myopia."

But being involved made her a fugitive in the military government's eyes. Rousseff was arrested in 1970 and subjected to rounds of torture that included being hung in a "parrot's perch" and, well, electrocution to make her sing. "They gave me electrical shocks, a lot of electrical shocks," she said in another interview. "I began to hemorrhage, but I withstood. I wouldn't even tell them where I lived."

After her release in 1972, Rousseff went to school for economics and jumped into a career that has led to her now being one of the world's most influential and powerful women.

Who do you think would win in an arm-wrestling competition? Her or Sarah Palin?

Monday, November 01, 2010

 

Grammar Exam 1

We completed Grammar Exam 1. They were graded in class and we had one student, Dalina to get 50/50! Congratulations! We had a few other students score 40 correct and above: Bundarin, Winnie, and Samon. If your score is under 40 go back to the section where the errors were made and review the concepts.

Many students still haven't completed the Be-Verb Essay. We reviewed the introduction in class, the conclusion and the title (using irony). The essay is due electronically ASAP. We will spend time talking about the books you have read. Bring in an outline and your book for Wednesday/Thursday.

The presentations are Monday, November 8, 2010.

Don't forget to do your Tea Party cyber-assignment. We will talk about the Possessives essay on Wednesday and take the Be-Verb Quiz (smile).

 

Cyber-Assignment Freewrite

How do your ancestors impact your life consciously and unconsciously? How are days like All Saints Day (Nov. 1) and Halloween (Oct. 31), a reminder of this?

 

Who is the Tea Party? Cyber-Assignment

Check three websites. Using critical analysis, evaluate the site via the COA library assignment re: its definition.

Is the website biased? If so, how? Who is its audience? What does the emergence of a Tea Party mean for democracy?

Do you think use of the name, "Tea Party?" a defamation of the original political action that led to the founding of this country?

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