The 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) begun working on social action projects 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 (04/21) and 100 word response up by Sunday night (04/24).

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/

Favorite Hobby

I'm giving you an easy one this week, talk about a favorite hobby of yours and argue for why someone who hasn't tried it before would want to try it out.  Make sure your grandmother would approve.  As usual, 250 word post up by Thursday night (04/07) and 100 word response up by Sunday night (04/10).

Real Arguments

By the time you read this I will have introduced the Social Action portion of the MIOP to you - which requires you to go out into the real world and do something in regards to your topic.  So this week I want to ask you to give an example of something you have done in the past to try to make a difference in the world and tell us about it.  It could be volunteer services, participating in a demonstration, trying to change something in your school or community, etc.  As usual, 250 word post up by Thursday night and 100 word response up by Sunday night.

55 word stories

This is an old favorite of mine. 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 followed by a 100 word response 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.  For the response, you have the option of responding to someone's story or writing a second 55 word story.

However you choose to go about it, have the first post up by Thursday night (03/24) and the response up by Sunday night (03/27).

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

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 (03/17) and 100 word response up by Sunday night (03/20).

Multitasking

I hated to cut off our debate on multitasking, as it was getting quite interesting (but we had to move on to other things), so I am going to let you pick it up here.  Which side are you on, is multitasking really possible, or do we only trick ourselves into thinking we're multitasking?  Or (because we're going to talk about false dichotomies this week) is it a more complicated issue than that?  Remember that arguments are rarely black and white.  As usual, 250 word post up by Thursday night (03/03) and 100 word response up by Sunday night (03/07).

Staying Sane

The semester is starting to heat up and we're just a couple of weeks away from midterms.  How do you folks keep yourselves sane in the midst of everything there is to do?  Pass some advice along to your fellow classmates here.  As usual, 250 word post up by Thursday night (02/24) and 100 word response up by Sunday night (02/27).

your topic

We took some time in class for you to announce your topic for the rhetorical analysis, but I didn't give you a chance to state why you chose this particular topic.  My question to you for this week is, well, why did you choose your particular topic?  What appeal does it hold for you?  As usual, 250 word post up by Thursday night and 100 word response up by Sunday night.

Respond to this video

Here's the video: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cL9Wu2kWwSY

Now respond to it.  Did you love it, hate it, didn't care, was it stupid, fascinating, boring, etc.  250 word post up by Thursday night and 100 word response up by Sunday night.

New Semester

Let's start by discussing what it is you hope to get out of the coming semester; not just in terms of this class but overall throughout the semester both in your education and for yourself.  Don't forget, 250 word post up by Thursday night and 100 word response up by Sunday night.