A place to keep track of info, links, and my thoughts on composition and rhetoric, teaching and learning, and life in general, while I work on my PhD at the University of South Florida.
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I just found a tool to put a chat box in my web page. I'm not sure I really care all that much for it, but it will suffice for now.http://chatter.flooble.com/ I really like the idea of people being able to chat at my site. It makes it friendlier. I'm also considering setting up a teaching moo or something. I'm not really sure yet, I just want my students to be able to go to my site and find the stuff they need. Plus, I'm considering putting up some sort of area for good student papers.
I was on my way to school and heard Smashing Pumpkins song, "Bullet with Butterfly Wings." Everytime I hear that song now I think of AJ's ratblog http://ratblog.motime.com/.
The readings in Passions, Pedagogies, and 21st Century Technologies were pretty interesting this week. The first article by Lester Faigley's article, "Beyond Imagination: The Internet and Global digital Literacy," mentions state governments moving for online universities because teaching software can replace professors and the like. It kind of hit me while reading this that academics are really bad at PR. We have students, who grow up to become governing officials, for four or more years of their life, but when they graduate they still don't really understand what it is that academics do and so can consider us unnecessary. I think academics as a whole need to work on making their students understand their importance to education. We've got to try and sell our selves a little better to our captive audiences.
Oh yeah I posted to my first list serv yesterday- ATTW-L, and everyone was very friendly and helpful. So I guess I've taken care of that part of this class Doc Mox.
I started looking at the online dissertation, "The Ballad of the Internet Nutball" http://www.nutball.com/dissertation/index.htm. I remember looking at this one last Spring. It was one of my favorites. In a way though it's much more fun than what most people think a dissertation will be. Perhaps the nature of the web begs a looser and more playful format. This dissertation certainly does that. I like the way Christine Boese uses a pop up table of contents to help navigate the dissertation. It's much more useful the total lack of navigation that that dissertation "Flight of the Ducks" http://www.acmi.net.au/FOD/ had, which we looked at last year. There's a list of etd's in progress at http://etext.lib.virginia.edu/ETD/directory/browse.html. I really like the idea of etd's in music. I was originally interested in getting my masters in musicology (my undergraduate thesis was on Manuel de Falla and the development of Spanish Musical Nationalism) and it's wonderful to see a format that allows music examples to be embedded in the text. Finally, you can write about music with the music actually there.
I've talked out my proposal for ATTW with James Inman and I'm feeling pretty good about it. I'm going to examine technical communication curriculum issues and discuss solutions.
I'm a pretty happy camper here at the dump. I'm loving this site more and more. Anyways, if anyone is curious why I'm a Tonka Dump Truck and this is a dump, I thought I might explain. I'm using the idea of a dump as a metaphor for my blog and the online creation of myself. See dumps is where we throw things out, where we unload ourself of baggage and information. The website I'm working on is going to be focused around construction and so I need a dump to keep my construction site neat.
But why am I a Tonka dump truck? To be honest one of my favorite toys as a little girl was a green and yellow dump truck. That was the best toy. Plus the dump truck is the vehicle responsible for carrying stuff and dumping stuff and that's what I do here.
I've had to redo some of my template so the dump has a slightly different look now. Anyone who is interested in having a message board should check out tag boards - http://www.tag-board.com. The basic style is free so it's very easy to put it in your template.
For some reason I'm really liking this guy's blog. http://www.members.dca.net/slawski/ Check it out
I just found this site that searches for blogs by subject area - http://www.blogsearchengine.com/ I had forgotten about this site, but anybody who's in lit. or has read a lot of books should read the books at books a minute http://rinkworks.com/bookaminute/classics.shtml. It'd be a fun site to do with a class.
Here's a little sample of what you might find and everyone about to do Of Mice and Men with their class could certainly use this.
Of Mice and Men by John Steinbeck
Ultra-Condensed by Samuel Stoddard and David J. Parker
Lennie, this is our big chance. Don't be stupid.
I love petting purdy things.
(Lennie kills stuff by accident. George shoots his dog.)
I was looking for some images of the schools I went to for the website I'm putting up and found out that my alma mater, NSU, is now using Blackboard http://my.nsula.edu/. Unlike, USF's blackboard site, NSU includes local movie listings, concerts around the area, and other local things that students might want to go and do. Their blackboard site is a little more laid back and fun than USF's.
I'm interested in all sorts of tools and accidentally found this really cool site that creates audio magazines http://www.champs-elysees.com/products/spanish/default.aspx to help people maintain their second language skills. I tried out the Spanish magazine and it was very good. Unfortunately, the price of a subscription is a little too high for me right now, but if I get the dough I'd definitely consider subscribing.
I really want to get my students to blog their planning and stuff and hit me today that both Tricia and Daisy have mentioned a similar interest. Perhaps we should come up with a gameplan together on how to implement blogs in the classroom and then we might be able to do some cross-classroom work. Just a thought. It'd be fun to come up with some criteria and some way to do the planning that I actually liked.
Oh I forgot to talk about one of the tools I've been using for writing. It's only applicable if you want to format a document, but I use Final Draft 6.0 for writing screenplays. It's pretty cool and it has an online collaborative feature I love and will also read your text to you in different voices. Of course MS word will also read your text to you and can do dictation to some extent, although the mistakes it often makes are pretty funny.
You know I was looking at the article on blackboard - http://www.bgsu.edu/cconline/DavisHardy/index.html and it hit me that our names for these content managment systems are kind of funny and not very cool. It's hard to get students fired up about using something called webCT, Blackboard, or the best one nicenet. This names seem to only really appeal to making the professor comfortable, but does very little for the student. Like AJ was saying in her blog, http://ratblog.motime.com, the name does little to make the student more comfortable. I think if they'd called it Blackbeard the students might actually think it was more interesting. Plus the graphics and interface could be more fun and interesting than the dry and dull Blackboard.
I was receiving all of my student papers electronically via email, but now I've put up a discussion board on Blackboard for the second project and am having them post all their .doc's there. I think that this will actually work out better than email, because everytime I opened my inbox I was getting depressed looking at 40+ emails with attachments. Although, it was way less depressing than looking at stacks of paper. I've been looking at how to use more of the features on Blackboard and I think there's a lot of stuff I can do there for the classroom.
My website is coming along. I've found a site that does the code for mouseover effects and have put in a few of those. I'm also trying to figure out what kind of content I actually want on the site. I'm letting my students have the option to write web pages for their next writing project and I think I'll probably link their pages to my teaching page and all that.
Monday the electricity was out in the building I teach in. I entered the staircase, fumbled through the hallways, and tripped back down the dark stairs never once remembering that I could have turned on my cell phone and use the display to light my way or better used the little flashlight on my keychain. It times like this that I think, "God, what kind of idiot am I?" 
I'm working on an electronic portfolio, but am a little unsure how I really want to set it up. I know I want a unifying visual idea like I have here. Perhaps, I'll just continue using dumptrucks and stuff.
None of my students have taken me up on blogging. I don't know how to present this option in such a way as to make it more palatable to them. Their next writing project is on place, and I am letting one of the genres they can choose be a web page. We'll see if any will experiment with that. I doubt it. I just think they're afraid of their computers. Perhaps I should write up the criteria for it all and then see if I got any takers. I don't know. I'm toying with the idea of extra-credit if they try out blogging, but I'm not sure if that's very fair. Oh yeah, the Association of Teachers of Technical Writing has put out a call for proposals for presentations at their conference. The proposals are due Oct. 15th and the conference is the day before 4 C's in San Antonio. I'm trying to figure something out to propose.
I'm trying to figure out a way to use blogging in the classroom. I asked if any of my students would be interested in blogging they're prewriting. No one took me up on it. I guess I'll try and set up a little blogging community and put it out there for them and then see if there's any takers. I was a little disappointed in my technophobic students. No interest in experimentation.
All right, actually I found his name, Spencer Schaffner, but only after I clicked on his article on the visual rhetoric of bird books. I really like how he uses birdbook illustrations all over his site to give it continuity and cohesion. Read his article on blogging - http://students.washington.edu/spiegel/blogs.html. Very interesting points he brings up. I think I've also found this weirdest blogs I've ever seen. Visit these linked blogs here - http://simulations.discovermultiage.com/colonists.htm. Definitely different.
I don't really have much to say today. The lights were out this morning at the university I'm at and it really threw off my teaching. It's always odd when these things happen. I found this very cool site from another Eng. graduate student. I love his set up, but there is no name clearly marked and that really is bugging me. Check it out though - http://students.washington.edu/spiegel/schoolside.html. He has interesting discussion on blogging and also interest in visual rhetoric. Of course what cracks me up is that this guy complains about blogs and yet has a blog.
A little picture on the temporary nature of graffiti.
I was riding my bike today and sort of thinking about the screenplay I’ve been working on sporadically, when my mind swerved in another direction concerning scholarly areas I might want to write about. Ever since I took a folklore class as an undergrad I’ve wanted to write something about graffiti. Not the side of the building artistry of the street, but the public restroom writings of the mundane. I don’t quite understand the point of these notes written in marker or ballpoint, but I think that some how they might be connected to the popularity of blogging, discussion boards, and maybe even chat rooms (after all some of the shorthand is the same in both).
Restroom graffiti is semi-permanent, but not exactly since there is always the very real possibility that someone will come and work for hours to scour it out or paint over it. Yet, some people have this compelling need to write in someplace public “Barbie + Ken 4 ever,” or my personal favorite “Jesus Saves,” which leads to comments from others like “F*** U!” In much the same way I like blogging because I’m posting some thought in a public area for others to comment on. Of course blogs have the potential for much longer posts, but it’s not exactly permanent either. Ethical or not I can completely rewrite a post or remove a post. I’m not sure where I’m going with this, but I feel like there is some connection between graffiti and the explosion of electronic places to post.
I think I'm going to find nothing items to dump at least once a week, just as a lark.
Disclaimer: The following is another post about nothing. Feel free to discard, ignore, and overlook the following; I'm just dumping.
I was teaching class the other day, when one of my students approached me near the end to ask if she could leave early. Before I could tell her "Hell No! Are you kidding me? Nobody leaves early." She explained that she wasn't feeling well. She had strep throat. Why do people show up to class whent they're contagious? I mean I like this student; I'm honored that she showed up to my class, but please don't endanger my health or the health of the other students in the class. I find it a little funny, though, that students will oversleep and not make an effort to arrive, but then other students with contagious illnesses will drag themselves from bed thinking it's what I expect from them. I know tomorrow in class I plan to gently remind them to show up, but if they're contagious please stay home.
This article on the bbc about a new website to locate stolen nazi art is pretty interesting - http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/entertainment/3089384.stm. It's an example of technology being put to good use to correct an injustice. Happy belated 5th birthday Google.com. I'm glad you came along to help me search. Also, the BBC has published an article about document controls being placed in upcoming versions of MS office - http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/technology/3089746.stm. If this happens, things might become very difficult in the classroom when I want to comment in student papers written in other word processing programs. I hope that Microsoft remembers that people need to be able to collaborate on documents written in multiple word processing programs.
By the way The Onion's horoscopes are very funny today - http://www.theonion.com/current_horoscopes.html.
I was checking an email account and saw this article in the NCTE newsletter - http://www.nj.com/news/ledger/index.ssf?/base/news-10/1062047712138030.xml The article is about rise of plagiarism. If the statistics are correct, I wonder if ethics should not be required as part of our education system. This article on the BBC is also interesting - http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/technology/3037760.stm. It discusses how collaborative writing features on Word can be examined and then others can reconstruct who wrote which section of a document. I haven't found much on visual rhetoric and blogging, but I did find some summaries of old conference presentations at the Electronic Commons - http://www.ecommons.net/aoir/aoir2003/index.php?p=30. The third summary was most appealing to me, but the statistics discussed in the first summary were really interesting. The authors looked at 400 blogs and discovered that majority of them were written by adult males residing in the United States. I guess I'm doing my part to increase the minority.
Finally, my images are in place, much more appropriate for a dump. As I work on this blog, I really begin to see how important it is to have tools that make it comfortable to blog. This is way better than my previous experience with blogs, because I feel I can better control my content and more importantly the overall look of my blog. Visual rhetoric is so incredibly important in web based documents. As I blog this becomes more and more clear to me. Perhaps that should be my proposal for the Computers and Writing conference – An examination of the need for visuals in the development of a blog in order to create an organic and writing area. Since I’ve been able to upload images and really personalize my blog, I have a much higher stake in my writing environment. I suppose the next step would be to find some articles. I will begin a search and post links shortly.
Disclaimer: The following is a post about nothing. Feel free to discard, ignore, and overlook the following; I'm just dumping.
Maybe it's just me, but people on cell phones crack me up. I love to listen as people in supermarkets / buses / theaters speak to their friends / family / lovers loud enough to drown out the normal levels of polite conversation. Their "Hey! look at me" voices privilege those around them with private information better left in the bedroom. Or even better they will share the wonders of their conversation skill with all around them, making me weep with joy as the words "Dude, what are you doing tonight?...Word...Alright, word...Ha, ha, ha, so awesome...See ya man, word, peace...dude" spew from their lips.
What can I say, I had to listen to some frat boy on the shuttle shout his weekend plans to his man.
I was thinking about what I'd like to propose for the Computers and Writing conference. I guess I'm most interested and able to write in the area of Computers,Writing, and the Future of Work. Currently, I'm having my students in 1101 submit all their documents electronically and then commenting on them in Word. I'm trying to bring them into the technology gradually, so right now I'm sending comments in email on their texts. By the end of the semester I want them comfortable using Word and to know what track changes is and all that. Part of my reason for doing this is because I believe that students 1)Need to get use to typing, 2)Need to learn how to use features of email (ie attachments) 3) should learn about other features in Word. Once they enter the workforce they need to be aware of these ways of writing and the longer they do it, the better they should get. I guess after I've figured out Blackboard, I should try and set up a day for my classes to meet in the computer lab. I almost feel that the first day of any freshman english class should be in the computer lab, so that I as instructor can figure out what they do and do not know how to do. Unfortunately, many assume that incoming freshman are very familiar with the internet, email, word, etc. I've found that this often a gross assumption, since there is still limited access to computers and the internet due to cost. Also students tend not to explore all the features that are offered in the technology that they already own and so do not realize all the options available to them.
I was publishing on blogspot.com but I really like the tools better on this blog. I think this will be my new home.
I meant to blog yesterday, but got stuck looking over student papers instead. I've been trying to come up with ideas for papers. I think I'd like to see how many schools have internships available for technical writing/communication. It seems that partnering with local businesses in order to give students experience should be an important part of learning technical communication, but I don't think many schools make effort to get something like this together.
I'm also not sure that I really enjoy blogging. I think most of the blogs I've read are kind of boring. It makes me realize that many people in the world have very little to say of interest.
I went to kairos news today and started reading the recent posts. From there I was led to a site on Education blogging praxis. The site is connected to blogs in education from all different age levels. I went to an 1101 class blog from Georgia Tech, Georgia Tech 1101 classroom blog. This blog is pretty interesting. There are some really good links to other blogs. I found a site on blogging and ethics. Basically, Rebecca Blood argues that the fact that weblogs are sort of a free media is both the strength and weakness of the media. She develops a set of six rules for the ethical behavior of webloggers. Her fourth rule asks that people consider each entry on their blog as the final product and not go and edit or delete an entry, but instead make a new entry if a correction must be made. I can understand why she asks that bloggers do this. If you type an entry that you believe to be true, but later is proven false then an edit of that entry does not help the reader see the change. In fact the reader may not even notice the change unless there is a new entry. This is an interesting note in how to effectively communicate with the audience of blogs.
I've found a team blog about using blogs in the classroom. blogproject The color choices make it a little difficult to read in some places. On this site is a link to another private blog Kevin's blog. His blog is interesting, especially since he is teaching his comp 1 course on writing about music and writing with music. I found a link on this site to this guy, David Pollard, who has put together a guide to his blogging process. Check out How to save the world. Pollard makes an interesting stab at improving methods of commenting in a blog. This was a problem with last semester blog in the methodologies course. I never felt that the comment feature was useful, because it didn't show if an entry had a comment or not. I also thought it was unfortunate that when an interesting conversation got started in the comment section of the blog, it wasn't immediately available for everyone to see and write more comments.
I'm not sure what I want to write, but I suppose it will become more clear as I go along. I found the longest running blog at www.scripting.com. I'm teaching two composition I courses this semester. So far I have already had a communication break down in one class. I requested that they email me the relationship lists for the first writing project and I've only received a handful. Only one of them actually chose a relationship to look at and none of them seemed to apply what was done in the book to the assignment. I guess I didn't make the assignment clear enough for them.
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