eCollege Anonymous

Not that I'm addicted to eCollege [shudder], but I could use some group therapy about Gradebook. I've never used it before, and I'm finding it just as miserable as I feared it would be. Does anyone have tips for minimizing the pain?

In exchange, I'll swap ya for a suggestion about using the assignment sections for general feedback---I'm experimenting with posting my observations about the general trends right on the assignment page. (Then I let the class know about it via e-mail.) I'm hoping that this will be a way to better support students who want the feedback, w/o losing too much time on students who are less interested.

Graduate Student Senate

Hi everyone!

I wanted to post some of the upcoming Graduate Student Senate activities that are on our September horizon (where hopefully there will be a little less brutal heat, please!!) so that you can get them to your planners. We hope to see you there!

--Library Orientation: Thursday, September 10 from 12-1pm (held in library conference room)

--Back-to-School Social Event: Friday, September 11 from 5-7pm (Blue Mesa Grill @1600 S. University Drive)

--GSS Meeting - Thursday, September 17 from 11-12pm (Beck room on 3rd floor of BLUU)

I hope that I don't need to remind you that there will be FREE FOOD at the Blue Mesa Back to School event. No, no indeed, I do not need to remind you of that. I hope to see you there!

What's Your First-Day-of-Class MO?

After the first day of classes I asked one of my professors how she felt about her courses and students, to which she replied, "I think I scared off the requisite number of them. I tend to be stern on the first day." As an instructor, I am completely opposite (though envious of the ability to be stern enough to make students fear me!). In fact, my first class meeting recruited another student. I tend to allow my policies and syllabus to do the regulating on the first day, while my demeanor is more friendly and fun (I think--it's difficult to self-evaluate).

How do you approach the first day of class? Are you stern and "scary" or more laid back and welcoming? And, for more experienced teachers, how does the instructor's demeanor on the first day of class tend to affect students' perceptions of how serious they are expected to be about their work?

Let the surfer beware.

You've heard of "caveat emptor" of course, but buyers aren't the only ones who need to beware. A friend of mine who studied Latin for a bit suggested a phrase you might use for warning students about relying too heavily on suspicious Internet material:

Caveat Surfor - Let the surfer beware.

Note: The possibilities for bastardized (illegitimate? hybrid? cyborg?) Latin warnings abound, and The Frog Blog cannot be held liable for diseuphonious combinations---caveat illegitimor Latinus.

Fall's First Week

So tomorrow another semester begins, and your students are in capable hands with each of you. Have a wonderful first week of classes!

GI Meet & Greet Breakfast

All GIs got to meet and mingle and hear from campus resources while enjoying burritos from Tres Joses, though they sadly forgot to label the different flavors. Oops.

Three new GIs--Kristi, Meghan, and Marie, with now-veteran GI Sarah, who graciously lent her camera at the last minute.

Alyssa, Laura, and Joel are smiling--perhaps forced to by photog Amanda, or thrilled by their mystery burritos?

Putting your blog on eCollege

During one of those brilliant Koehler workshops on eCollege, I learned how to put my blog on eCollege. I wish I knew this during my summer course. For those who are interested, I've included some directions.
From whatever unit you please (like "Course Home"), click on "Author view," then "Course Items" and then "Add Items." From there you will create a name (i.e. "Class Blog") and the "Item Type" should be "Text, Multimedia." Click the "Add Item" box at the bottom, and click on the item (to the left). Type your hyperlink phrase in the new screen (you should still be in "author" mode); for example, "Click to view class blog" or whatever. Highlight it and click the hyperlink icon on the tool bar (next to the "redo" icon--hover the cursor over it and it should read "add a link"). Link it to website and type in the phrase you chose and post the web address and "add link." Now right click on the link, select "Properties," and under "Target," select "Same window." Click "OK" and be sure and click "Save Changes" on the eCollege window (bottom right). Go to "Course" view and click the link--the blog should appear in the shell.
In reflection, I think I might like this better than Google Reader (www.google.com/reader) because you can leave comments and you cannot on Google Reader. It is a lot easier than it sounds. Hope this works for you! LD

Steppin' Out

All,

We are public! So set this blog and other faves up on your own Google Reader account, and subscribe to this blog; every time you check the site it will let you know if there's a new entry and you can read it from the Reader page, too.

So delightful to see you all today!

To doodle or not to doodle, that is the question!

I have been decidedly anti-doodle as a teacher. Whenever I look out on my class and fingers are flying I assume that at least 25% of the time, students are not taking notes (I am not that interesting). Between facebook, twitter, texting, and old-school doodles, it is hard to compete. My recourse has been to impose a "no doodling" policy, which basically consists of the "Please pay attention" teacher glare to the "OMG if you go another entire class period without even making eye contact with me I'll lose it" inner-rant.

However, oh happy day, recent research has proved me wrong. I will now not only NOT be offended if I catch students doodling, I may require it. I am now decidedly pro-doodle.

http://jezebel.com/5161407/doodling-improves-memory-reduces-daydreaming

Entire MIT Course Catalog Free Online.

Am I the only one who didn't know this? It's all there: syllabi, assignment sheets, supplemental materials for every course offered at MIT. They even have videos of lectures for many courses.

One can see everything from the Writing and Humanistic Studies program they offer. Very cool.

MLA Updates 2009

Did you know that in April 2009 new MLA formatting and citation changes went into effect?

You can get some good information about that here. This will no doubt confuse your students and perhaps us, too, as these guidelines are newer than any textbook or handbook you likely have.

Annual Beloit Mindset List

The annual Beloit College Mindset List came out today, and you can find it here. It helps remind those of us teaching first-year students about the context they are coming from, having been born in 1991. (Gulp.)

I think this year's list is a bit disappointing, frankly, in terms of what they selected.

The Blog Blog

I'm getting sick of that title already. It sounds a bit too much like Bob Loblaw, for you Arrested Development fans :)...any suggestions?

I enjoyed coming to the pre-semester workshop. The link to the resource/discussion blog is bloggingfyc.wordpress.com. Please let me know if you'd like to be an author and let me know what you think would be helpful to add (send me an email to a.sowa@tcu.edu)!

YouTube Posts to Complement Assignments.

I learned today in the "Beyond the Basics" eCollege workshop that we should not have blank pages on our eCollege unit tabs. I confess I was guilty of having a blank page on each unit tab, which I labeled "Portfolio One," etc. Therefore, I decided to post YouTube videos on each of those units (listed below). I chose to embed my videos within the page. To do this, you simply click on the "Author" view of the unit, post your heading, then scroll down and change the view to "html" and paste the Youtube embed code and "save." The YouTube code is to the right of the video. If you click the star next to the code, you can choose the color of border--make sure you unclick "Include related videos," as you cannot be sure what will pop up afterwards.

Personal essay
Discovery essay
Profile essay
Argument essay

The Personal Essay video--make sure to watch it until the end.

Texting in Class

I've been hemming and hawing about how best to deal with the now-epidemic texting and Facebook phone and laptop issues in class. We don't have an official program policy (and likely won't, as this is up to folks' discretion), but I'm going to try a new one this year and wonder what y'all think or if you'd be willing to share what you have in your syllabus (either in the comments here or in your own post).

Here's what I think I'm going to try this year:

"Technologies: Please turn cell phones and any other electronics off during class. You’ll be notified in advance if you should bring laptops to class for work; otherwise, assume you won’t need them. Texting, checking Facebook, etc. from your phone or computer means you’re not engaging in the daily activities of our course. If you are using your electronics during class, it will be marked in the gradebook and I’ll notify you after class or via email; two violations will equal an absence for the course, and each additional violation will accrue another absence. Thus, failure to adhere to the technology policies can impact your final grade."

Here's my thinking: I had sometimes been calling students out, even making them put their phones on my desk if it got bad or after a warning or two, but that felt too much like policing. What I like about this policy is that it's not about disrupting class, and since I'll notify students, it's not something that would shock them at the end of the semester. It also seems a policy one could use at their discretion (for example, my husband asked if I meant if I ever see their phone, and I meant more when I observe prolonged use [meaning, to my mind, more than the cursory check of who just made one's phone vibrate--as they never do really turn them off]).

I don't think this policy is without drawbacks, it's something to work with. What have you tried that works well? How might you tinker with this one and why? Or should there be no policy in our syllabi at all on this?

First Week of College

So I found this link giving advice to students for their first week of college. Might it be something you'd want to post to your eCollege course? Check it out and see; there are some good ideas there.

Stop! GrammarTime!

My husband sent me this link today called "10 Easy Secrets of Good Grammar" (which I think should be entitled "Ten Easy...," but let's not quibble). Some of you might find it a bit loosey-goosey for your tastes (she says at the outset you can split an infinitive), but it's a conversational, laid-back approach to some common grammar issues students might find less daunting. Thought it might be something you'd want to post to your webliographies if you don't find anything in here too disagreeable.

Distracted!

Did y'all see the article in the LA Times by an avid reader who confesses how hard it is to simply sit and read these days? Might be good fodder for discussion with students.

Check it out here.

Web Star

Have you seen the new AddRan webpage? It's been spruced up, and our very own GI Peter is featured on the site. Check it out here.