Comments on: Blurred Boundaries: Some recent moments on blog and off

By: Sue

Sue — Thu, 13 Dec 2007 08:28:48 +0000

Thank you for a well-developed blog that incorporates important educational articles, student comments, teacher reflection, and an attention to grammar and good writing. As high school teachers begin “getting their feet wet” with blogs, this blog becomes an important model. Thank you for your adventurous spirit and efforts with this technology. You inspire the rest of us.

By: Barbara

Barbara — Sat, 27 Oct 2007 12:59:58 +0000

Thanks, Valerie and Shannon, for your comments. I'm glad to hear that a recent graduate is so interested in thinking about how the read/write Web differs from other kinds of writing. My students are really extending their sense of how image and sound can be a part of their scholarly and creative expression. It is proving to be quite a wonderful revelation, though a bit overwhelming, too, as very few of them have had any experience with multimedia writing. And unfortunately, few will have much opportunity to write with images and sound across their formal learning experience. Thanks, Valerie, for the link to your edc blog. I'll follow along with interest. Shannon, it's a pleasure to have you back on bgblogging. I'm not at all surprised to hear that you, too, have little use for grading or confining learning. From what I read on your blog and on Twitter, you are struggling to stay true to your own vision of your learning journey while being open to the gifts of the classroom, whatever classroom that may be. That's brave. Yesterday I sent one of my students to your blog because she's really noticing the bubble of college and wants to keep the windows and doors open to the outside world, something you seem to do very well indeed, . You might be interested in her post: http://mt.middlebury.edu/middblogs/michaels/blog/2007/10/looking_beyond_the_bubble_west.html

By: Shannon

Shannon — Fri, 26 Oct 2007 16:34:15 +0000

I’ve never been a huge fan of grades and even more so recently I have become annoyed with the whole grading, you say it so well
“I find myself so resenting the entire notion of grading and what it so often does to learning and growth, to learners taking risks and daring to go beyond the safe, known routes they’ve been treading for years upon years…”
I know for a fact I have become a better and more dedicated learner in the past couple months. My whole view of learning has shifted drastically, but somehow my grades don’t necessarily reflect that. I still go to some classes feeling I am stuck in a box.
Personally, I’ve always had problems with structured environments and if I had more control over my education I would not be sitting in class as much as I do, I learn best when I’m actively involved. More and more I am convinced I am not a student for the current structure of higher education, but I know I am student. Pardon my ranting, your posts tend to rile me up (in a good way of course).

By: Valerie

Valerie — Fri, 26 Oct 2007 10:50:44 +0000

I am an Educational Technology assistant at Carleton University in Canada – we just started a blog (http://edc.carleton.ca/blog). I recently graduated from an undergraduate degree in Art History. In my various wanderings in research across the web, I came across your work. I really admire the conscious thought you put into the grading process, and getting students involved with this. I think it makes a lot of sense. But I was most impressed with the course concept behind Multimedia Creative Non-Fiction. I have just started blogging myself and am noticing how different it is from other writing that I do in my daily life (I am a poet and writer as well). Anyway, just a little note to say that I’m reading and keep up the great work! I look forward to continuing to read.

By: Barbara

Barbara — Tue, 23 Oct 2007 20:10:25 +0000

Lanny,

If they can come up with an effective rubric, then I know that they are on the road to understanding, really understanding the elements of writing: narrative distance and arc, voice, structure, diction, etc. and that they paying attention to them in their own writing and in the writing of their peers. Yes, the feedback they give one another becomes much more useful once they really understand the role of narrative distance, for instance. They can put their finger on what is or isn’t working instead of making vague generalizations.

We try to make room for the unexpected to occur–which is why they wanted to include “creativity” as one of the elements to evaluate, as well as “risk-taking.” It will be interesting to see how they grade themselves…

I agree, letting a piece lie fallow–both as writer and as reader–is indeed essential, especially for the writer, which is why we will return to revise two pieces at the end of the semester, pieces they have put on the shelf for a few weeks. They will also come back and reread their peers’ work after all the weeks of learning. Workshopping their writing in small groups of 3-5 also gives them the opportunity to hear how others have read the writing—and often they change one another’s minds… We’ve talked a lot about taste versus admiration.

By: Lanny Arvan

Lanny Arvan — Tue, 23 Oct 2007 18:19:09 +0000

Barbara – does the rubric help them to read the writing of the other students? The pro argument is that it could instill a discipline that aids in their own analysis. The con is that it can block reception of interesting ideas but that don’t fit the rubric.

And what about re-reading a piece, with a certain delay betwen those? I know for my own processing I’ve got to let things simmer for a while, so they reveal themselves while they cook.