As mentioned, I'd like your blogs to be a place where you exercise your intellectual freedom, where you keep writing for the sake of writing, in a forum that is not limited to a single audience member (or just you and your teacher). In my experience, some students love this and really run with it, and I'm happy to compensate your participation score and see your writing improve. Other students may not enjoy it as much, but will still need to fulfill the mandatory fully-graded requirements of the course. You are welcome to post work from other classes (as long as it's in English and something you are proud of), and this includes history, reading, or even creative writing you may have done for clubs etc. You should be proud of your work and put it up for others to read. However, please let me know what it is in the title, or briefly introduce it. If it's something you wrote just for fun yesterday, make sure that's clear.
So basically, I want to keep you writing - just like a coach wants to keep athletes in the gym. You only develop muscle by exercising, and if some of you enjoy the gym I don't want you to wait for me to say "This is what you are supposed to write, and this is when I want it on my desk." As I said before, towards the end of the semester I am going to holistically grade your blogs, which will be based on some of the following considerations:
- Class Participation: Did the student stay active and fulfill the goals of assigned class work? Did they visit other blogs and leave comments? Did they get things done on time? Did they take pride in their work?
- Attention to Detail: Did the student make things look nice? Did they embed videos, include pictures, and use links within their writing to show sources? Did they keep a close eye on spelling and grammar?
- Creativity: Did the student try to produce original content, showing original thought and personality through a desire to write?
1) Quantity over Quality - Some students copy and paste - thinking only about quantity rather than quality. Do you really need to share your middle school book reports? Probably not. I'd rather see three quality essays written in KMLA than 15 things that I don't have time to read that seem outdated and irrelevant.
2) Plagiarism - Some students plagiarize - and basically ruin their reputations. They copy and paste from somewhere on the internet, and think teachers either won't notice or find out. This might be a book review, or something slightly altered with bits and pieces copied and pasted. In any case - teachers know, and use programs developed by Stanford that determine if something is genuine or not. Generally, it goes against the honor code at KMLA to plagiarize, even a little bit, so don't risk it. American colleges have zero tolerance for this, and you can be expelled.
So - if you are a person who wants to write, here are some things I wouldn't mind seeing on your blogs. You can work at your own pace, and most of these won't have due dates, but they are set in order to some extent. You can jump ahead if you want. From time to time, we will "workshop" what you write in class, where your work will be read with feedback given. In some cases I will ask what work you want reviewed, in others I may just choose in a way the benefits the class the most.
Most of our classes will be discussion based, and I want you guys to learn from each other to some extent - sharing your writing styles and approaches etc.
Assignments
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Degree of Requirement
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1. Personal Review of "Nosedive" - mixed with some academic reference. More on that later.
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Required
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2. What's the best book you ever read? Why? How did this book impact your life at the time of reading, and where did you read it? What was the process? Do you remember any moments while reading? Notice I am not asking for a "book report," but more so a narrative on "the reading experience." Don't think this has to be an analysis of War and Peace by Tolstoy. If it's a Roald Dahl book you read in first grade, write about that instead. Did you read it at home? In a library? All in one shot? What memories or learning experiences do you associate with this work?
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Optional
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3. A Review. You are allowed to review anything you want – a book, movie, video, album, game, restaurant, hotel…. Just about anything. You should have personal experience with that thing, and supply factual data to dress up your writing (Rotten Tomatoes, Amazon, IMDB, and Metacritic etc). React to opposing or supporting reviews that might add to your response. You must include a rating system. Stars, thumbs, out of ten or our of five, A- or C+ etc.
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Required
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4. Additional Reviews. Is there an album you like? Film you saw on the weekend? Write about it. Post a video. Give it a score.
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Optional
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5. Review a TED video of your choice, and include a minimum of 20 SAT words within your writing. Underline them in bold. If you want to use more without sounding ridiculous, you are welcome to try. Select them carefully before you write. I assume you guys have a Word Smart book? Discuss your interpretation of the video, include an embedded video, and discuss points you may or may not agree with, and why.
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Required
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6. Reflective Essay about an experience you’ve had at KMLA. You should weave in the theme of a “learning experience” and come to a resolution by the end. Club activities, home mate experiences, how to deal with rules that are made to be broken etc. are all themes you might consider. Be very aware that most of these essays are in danger of being cliche - so think carefully and compensate that somehow.
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Required
Writer’s Choice: Option 1.
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7. Creative Essay about where you’ll be in life in either 10, 15, or 20 years from now. Must be written in First Person narrative as if you are experiencing a particular day at that time.
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Required
Writer’s Choice
Option 2.
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8. Visit the University of Chicago's website, and find the "UChicago essay prompts." Choose one from any year, and write an essay.
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Required
Writer's Choice Option 3. |
9. “Stuff Korean People Like” or “Stuff KMLA Students Like.” You’ve seen the book in my classroom, and if you haven’t you can read the original source here. This is your chance to write satirically in a comical mode about something you should be familiar with. Stuff KMLA Students like? Quizzes. Morning Exercise. Elevators. Pen twirling.
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Optional
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10. “A Book I’d Write If I Had The Time.” Referencing the Hero’s Journey, shape the plot of a book you’d love to write if you had the time. Introduce us to the story, the characters, and then take us through what would happen. I think we all have a story we’d love to write. If only we had the time! Maybe you will find the time. Now is your chance to discuss it.
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Optional
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11. What if.... Write a reflective essay that uses the phrase "What if" 5 times. Think about how and where you will use "what if." There are no rules about what to write or how to write it.
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