Thinking Aloud

29 Oct 2012

How Do I Loathe Thee…

Word counts help in very specific — notably limited — ways. How we use them in classes should be beneficial, not punitive. What makes the difference?

Take your positions. The race is about to begin.

28 Oct 2012

Bracing for Insanity

Why did I sign up to participate in NaNoWriMo? To help prep for my comp exams. Here are 3 ways it'll help and 4 tools I'll use to meet the 50k-word goal.

Butterfly clings to empty chrysalis that glows in the evening sun.

15 Sep 2012

Computers in Class: This Changes Nothing…or Everything?

If we can’t continue teaching when the power fails, we’re doing it wrong. If our teaching has to fundamentally change when our classes get plugged in, we’ve been doing it wrong.

Photo of desert field, rocky plateau and endless, cloud-filled sky so gorgeous it looks painted

13 Sep 2012

The Writing Plateau

Students believe our expectations of their writing have not changed since they were in elementary school. Assessment created, and can repair, this problem.

The Darth Lord has completed his assessment of your performance. It says, “You have failed me for the last time.” Well. We didn't see *that* coming, did we?

05 Sep 2012

The Meaning of an A

We owe our students the respect, credibility, and feedback that comes with proper assessment. That often looks different in a writing classroom.

starfish, viewed from below at close range, with false color to make it appear light blue

28 Aug 2012

Everting Our Classes: Redirecting Focus

The student/teacher dynamic in computer-enhanced classes should be "everted," turning traditional power hierarchies and content relations inside-out.

Can a spider web every get too big for its creator?

18 Aug 2012

The Incessant March Need Not Be Outward

The oft-repeated refrain, “I’ll need to reflect more on this,” illustrated an impressive and unexpected characteristic of our Massive Open Online Course: the course moved very quickly. There hasn’t been enough time to digest everything we’ve done and discussed. We who participated were given only seven days to work with/on/through the nature and implications of...

a child holds a notecard in front of her face; the notecard reads “I’m smart” in black marker. “Smart” was written once, scratched out, written again.

17 Aug 2012

Redefining “Grading”

How much can we allow students to take control of things that ultimately go in our grade book? How much can we abdicate the responsibility for evaluation?

Sliced veggies on a cutting board. What shall we cook up?

15 Aug 2012

Students Are Not Chefs

In a discussion prompt for the course, Jesse Stommel related creative, participation-driven learning with the time-limited, arbitrary challenges of reality cooking shows. According to Stommel, the shows are a microcosm of what effective assignments and assessment could be if we relaxed the institutionalization of education. He makes excellent points, most relating to the authenticity of...