assignments ENGL489 advanced portfolio workshop: BLOG INFORMATION
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Preamble, Part I: Three summers ago I had the privilege of working with some students on an Undergraduate Research Abroad trip to Israel. Students researched and wrote pieces about culture and life in Israel through a blend of ethnographic methodology and creative non-fiction. One thing we did while we were on our trip is take turns posting to a blog about our journey. I think that for the most part we did a pretty good job and the feedback from readers (albeit readers who were on our side to begin with) would seem to back up that claim. It was the first time I ever participated in a blog. Here is the link: bsuinisrael.tumblr.com.
So of course my first instinct was to inflict the practice on future students.
Preamble, Part II: One of the challenges of teaching writing in a classroom to students who want to write outside of the classroom is mirroring the way people write in the real world. One of the most difficult and somehow fraught aspects of writing in the real world is that real readers read you—not for a grade, but because they like what you are writing. As a monumental testament to how little grades actually matter, students are much less nervous about having their teacher read and grade their writing than they are about having regular people read and not grade their writing. A blog is public. It’s not as public as Time, but it’s still out there, Harrry, it’s out there. And there is the possibility for other people to read what you wrote. And that is why I am, in fact, inflicting this project on all of you: I want to raise the stakes a little.
Preamble, Part III: Lots of blogs suck. I would like ours not to suck. I do not want it to be about our class or cutesy stuff about writing—bad clichés that there is plenty of and more on the internet already. It’s asking a lot, I know, but I’d like to come up with an idea for a blog that was general enough to allow all of us to have something to say, but, at the same time, not be so general that it’s about nothing at all.
Finally, the actual assignment: Before the second half of the semester we will, as a class, decide on a blog—based on personal expertise and interest as well as collective expertise and interest. Once we’ve made some decisions. I will set up the blog, and invite the rest of you to give feedback and suggestions to the look and feel of the thing. Then we’ll start, posting, two entries a day by two different people, every day, until the end of the semester. That means 3 or 4 posts over the course of the semester per student. Posts don't need to be superlatively long. And you can use images and videos and whatever else you think is appropriate--because that's what blogs do. I don't want to be too heavy handed with oversight, but, keep in mind, we are still in a classroom and foolish content will reflect badly not just on me but on the University. I don't want to pull content, but I reserve the right to (just in case).
Let's get blogging.
So of course my first instinct was to inflict the practice on future students.
Preamble, Part II: One of the challenges of teaching writing in a classroom to students who want to write outside of the classroom is mirroring the way people write in the real world. One of the most difficult and somehow fraught aspects of writing in the real world is that real readers read you—not for a grade, but because they like what you are writing. As a monumental testament to how little grades actually matter, students are much less nervous about having their teacher read and grade their writing than they are about having regular people read and not grade their writing. A blog is public. It’s not as public as Time, but it’s still out there, Harrry, it’s out there. And there is the possibility for other people to read what you wrote. And that is why I am, in fact, inflicting this project on all of you: I want to raise the stakes a little.
Preamble, Part III: Lots of blogs suck. I would like ours not to suck. I do not want it to be about our class or cutesy stuff about writing—bad clichés that there is plenty of and more on the internet already. It’s asking a lot, I know, but I’d like to come up with an idea for a blog that was general enough to allow all of us to have something to say, but, at the same time, not be so general that it’s about nothing at all.
Finally, the actual assignment: Before the second half of the semester we will, as a class, decide on a blog—based on personal expertise and interest as well as collective expertise and interest. Once we’ve made some decisions. I will set up the blog, and invite the rest of you to give feedback and suggestions to the look and feel of the thing. Then we’ll start, posting, two entries a day by two different people, every day, until the end of the semester. That means 3 or 4 posts over the course of the semester per student. Posts don't need to be superlatively long. And you can use images and videos and whatever else you think is appropriate--because that's what blogs do. I don't want to be too heavy handed with oversight, but, keep in mind, we are still in a classroom and foolish content will reflect badly not just on me but on the University. I don't want to pull content, but I reserve the right to (just in case).
Let's get blogging.