Things to do on our last class!

Dear all,

Your "purgatory" is going to end soon, XD! But I also hope that you have learned something practical, helpful, and, overall speaking, worthwhile, with some joy and a sense of achievement. If you don't, I will keep researching the why and how to improve this curriculum. 

Now here are some reminders:

1. I forgot to include "work process" and "work progress" when listing the required elements of your portfolio. Please do include it. 

2. Please create a content table to show the page numbers for all the parts in your portfolio. 

3. You know that you will be interviewed later after the curriculum, which will come in next semester during the noontime or any schedule that suits both you and me. Please wait for the notice. Thank you so much.

4. From 1/19 to 1/21, I'll also send out one link to a survey that might take you less than 15 min. 

If you have further questions, you can ask here, send me email messages, or ask via our dear class TA, Emily. 

I am excitedly longing for your final presentations! 

A final class photo shall be taken at the end of our class! See you all tomorrow morning!

In addition to your video rehearsal

Dear all,

We'll meet at the reading lab in 602, group by group, following the schedule posted last week. You can certainly still work in our usual classroom 302. But, please do come to the lab a bit earlier before your scheduled time; do not let us (業師）wait.

For tomorrow, it's all very simple: we will just play your video (which is supposed to be submitted already) and give you comments and suggestions for your revision. You will have to note down all of them while revising your video. 

From tomorrow to the final presentation day (1/19), you can work on the following:

1. Revise your video according to the feedback you receive.

2. Create PPT slides for your final presentation, which should include: 

    a. The rationale of your design/idea, e.g., the problem you have observed. Please support your descriptions with numbers and facts. (Narration).

    b. The solution to the problem, e.g., step-by-step explanations with images and descriptions of how your ideas or products are created and built. (Description/Process). 

    c. How to use the product you invented or apply the system/concept you build.

    d. How different or newer your invention is (comparison/contrast/argumentation).

    e. Questions you predict to have while presenting your ideas. 

3. Prepare your final process report (I have given the format).

4. Prepare your electronic portfolio (to be due on 1/21), which include:

    a. blog posts (6)

    b. essay drafts (9): for the drafts with my handwritten comments, please photograph those drafts.

    c. individual storyboard drafts and links to the videos (version 1 & 2).

    d. group storyboard drafts and links to the videos (version 1 & 2).

    e. a one-page reflection paper that describes what you have learned in this course and gives suggestions for this course to be better conducted.

Note: Our TAs will open a drive for you to submit all materials for your portfolio.

Things to do on 12/29

 Dear all,

I have browsed through our blog and seen you post your log 6s, and some posted the book covers as your log 7s. This is a hectic semester, I know, but I do see your progress and feel so happy about it!

In order to give you more time to work on the final project, prepare your final presentation, and write up the process report, I have slowed down my teaching pace and reduced some of the materials I had planned to discuss in class.  Tomorrow, I'll talk about one last approach to writing, Writing Essays Using Multiple Strategies, to make up the part that we missed due to the limited time. Secondly, I'll share one more comparing/contrasting essay that may help you with your final project (how to describe your inventive product and how it is different from other similar ones). More videos to share in the first hour that can expand your views toward using digital storytelling for more purposes.

Another thing that we may need to negotiate is the schedule for the last three weeks:

First, will it be too hasty if I ask you to present your first video as a rehearsal on 1/5? Cathy and Louis will be present giving feedback and suggestions.

If not, I'll leave 1/12 a buffer week, meaning no class, but we'll gather in the classroom for you to work together on revising your videos. I shall make sure that your scripts are errorless. Louis will be around giving help, too. And then we do final presentations on 1/19,

Or, will you prefer to give your rehearsal on 1/12? Then I'll make 1/5 our buffer week. 

We'll decide tomorrow morning.

See you!

Things to do on 12/22

 Dear all,

We are moving to the last one-third of the semester. You are almost there (, so am I). We'll be focusing on the creative projects, and I strongly encourage you to revise your individual videos according to the comments that Louis gave.

Essay 3 is the last written work you are required of. You'll get my comments on your draft 2 to be returned tomorrow. I have to say: you finally have a clear concept of structure! But here are some overall comments:

1. When you choose to elaborate on 3 or several aspects, please explain why these aspects? Why are they the most important factors in your arguments? 

2. How are these factors/aspects related to one another? Please note this will make it easier to have proper transitions among paragraphs.

3. Once you have structured your points logically, what's left is the depth of your arguments and the power of words you show in your writing. Your sentence structure also determines the flow of your writing, fluent or awkward, empty or solid with viewpoints.

For tomorrow, a young, beautiful, but senior CEO from a high (digital) tech company will come into class to give a talk on the making of promotional videos. 

Reminder: Please save your first progress report and prepare the second one this week. I am expecting that you increase material in the report every week. From last week on, your minutes for the workshop hours can be done as a group.

Time slots for your essay conferencing will be posted after class. 

See you!

ps. If you find any break time, I'll hope you continue reading~ That can include the material you read for your projects. 

Things to do on 12/15

Dear all,

One more month to go! Yeah! This is for both you and me, ha!

Sorry to keep you busy by bombarding you with essays, reading and blogging, and video projects.  You probably don't know that this course used to contain two different subjects: Advanced Reading and Composition II. Think it this way: if it were three years ago, you would have to work for two "insane" courses taught by me, the reading teacher, and Gloria the writing teacher, at the same time! Or, it was actually two "insane teachers!" XDDD! But, once again, I have seen that you keep making progress, and that really makes me happy!

Ok, from this week, we'll focus more on the video projects, giving you time discussing and critiquing video examples and working on your projects supported by our comments, suggestions, and technical support. So please bring your laptop to class.

For the final creative/group project, I'll show you the videos made by your seniors to give you some ideas to begin with. Certainly, I'd like to give you more flexibility on topic selection, but, with some conditions. I'll explain in class.

Louis will come into class for the third hour bringing his comments and suggestions for your individual videos. We do not want to overwhelm you with lots of revision works,  only to help you make a video that you'll be proud of. 

Then I'll leave for an activity that starts at 11:30. While Louis is helping with your videos, others shall begin to brainstorm ideas for your group project.

See you, eh, in the morning~

Please bring two handouts to class

 Dear all,

This post is to remind you that we'll discuss in class:

1. JK Rowling's "The Fringe Benefits of Failure, and the Importance of Imagination." We have talked about the importance of Failure; tomorrow we'll continue the second part-- "imagination."

2. Samuel Clements' "Two Ways of Viewing the River." A block patter of comparing and contrasting things. 

I'll help print out your draft 1 of essay 3 and storyboards if they are submitted by tonight. 

Confusion~~

Dear all, 

Some are confused about if log 6 is required or not.

"Log 6 is the last log" has been said last week, so I didn't include it in my previous post.

But I have noted that some may have problems producing log 6 (or essay). 

I'll suggest that you focus on essay draft, for we are going to exchange drafts and get feedback from your friends. I can be flexible on the deadline for log 6. 

The second half of our class and things to do on 12/8

Dear all,

I have attached the plan for the rest of the semester, and two report formats for the final creative projects on Moodle. Please check, especially for the important dates!  

This means you are about to finish this class! 

I  encourage that you keep reading, but you don't have to write any log anymore.

After Essay 3, we'll focus on the personal video and the group video and I will try to provide any support you need.

Including our 業師, TAs, the whole team will focus on helping you with the video projects, and essays, if you want to do further revisions and have your scores upgraded. 

All the lectures , readings, and discussions to be done in the following classes are my plan to continue to provide you with necessary input for your inspiration and improvement, but no extra works will follow. No catch. Don't worry!

I have seen your sincerity, hard work, and improvement in the first 12 weeks. I am impressed with your willingness to follow my plan! So hang on! The glory will be yours (and mine) soon!

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

For 12/8, please bring the JK Rowlings speech transcript to class. We'll finish the second part together. I found in one of your's log or feedback that empathy and sympathy may be a bit confusing, so I'll use Rowling's speech as the base to discuss the differences. 

Please bring your storyboard to class for peer review. That means you should be ready with your script and images (moving or static) to be used in your video. This video is due on 12/13 (Monday), then Louis will come on 12/15 to give you comments for improvements.

For Essay 3, we read another pro essay by Mark Twain, which I planned to do but didn't. Then time will be given for you to exchange your draft 1. Once again, you will be helping your friends check if all required elements are included (e.g., thesis statement, topic sentences, logic, effective sentences, etc.)

If time allows, I'll show some more video examples and a video that won the second place of an international contest, Be Change Maker 2020. 

Ps. Begin to bring your laptop to class so that you can work with better efficiency.

As I Began to Love Myself (things to do on 12/1)

Dear all,

I shared this video for a reason, for we are going to begin our next project: transforming your narrative essay into a video narrative about yourself. I also shared it because the poem, by Charlie Chaplin (do you know who he was?), speaks to my heart deeply. I  like you to hold this wisdom when you are young. 

Then I'll give a brief presentation on digital storytelling about 'self' and why it is a valuable practice for our class, for you. Several examples from YouTube and from your seniors will be shown again for a practice to critique. Please remember to bring your 300-500 word script for your story to the class for peer review and suggestions. Storyboarding is a very helpful planning process for a digital story. I'll introduce the use of it in this hour. 

Next, we'll read a pro essay on comparing and contrasting: Mark Twain's two views of seeing a river using the Block Pattern. It's a nice read with very neat descriptions of the river at different times. From the sample essays we read together, you can definitely compare anything. Also, remember to bring your outline for an in-class discussion. 

See you!

Things to do on 11/24

Dear all,

I feel I haven't seen you for a long time! I hope you survived well through the midterm week! Well, life goes on!

After reading your draft 2 of Essay 2, I decide that more lessons on thesis statement and topic sentence are required. So we'll begin with some examples from your seniors' essays followed by a little practice on turning simple statements into thesis statements.

From your two essays I also observe problems in your sentence style which has room for improvement. So, I'll walk you through some examples and talk about how we can improve those broken sentences to ones that are loaded with meanings.

For our essay 3, comparing and contrasting, you are going to write an essay that compares or contrasts two things, e.g., objects, ads, or situations. As your essay 2 is a preparation for your individual video making, your essay 3 may be a preparation for your group video. Please note that the essay should be completed individually, but the second video project (the creative project) will be conducted with your team members. More explanations will be given later. Let's not worry about that now.

In the third hour, Louis will come to our class to give a short presentation on how to create your personal video. Some tips of using free apps or other strategies will be given to help you with your video making.

See you in the morning. Keep warm!

Things to do from 11/18~11/23

Dear all,

I was told that most of you gave nice presentations while I was not with you! Sorry, but I will have to spend probably 6 hours to review your presentations. 

But, here are a couple of announcements for the class:

1. Please submit your draft 3 of essay 1 by 00:00, 11/18 (Thursday).

2. I'll return your draft 2 of essay 2 by the same time. Please check  on MOODLE and start revising it. The deadline is still 11/24, for we'll begin the video project based on this draft. 

3. Log 5 is due on 11/23, 00:00.

要準備的問題我們的角度去問觀眾，還是觀眾的角度問我們？

 Someone asked a very good question: 

要準備的問題我們的角度去問觀眾，還是觀眾的角度問我們？

The preparation for the whole presentation includes two parts:

1. The questions you ask to arouse the audience's interest and make connection with your audience.  It often happens at the beginning of your presentation.

2. The questions you presume you may be asked (from the perspectives of your target audience, in case you may be asked and in case no one asks any question. 

Without any questions prepared, you will very likely be asked with the questions that might shock you on stage!

Good luck!

Things to do on 11/10

Dear all,

For tomorrow's class, we'll still begin with your sharing. So, are you ready?

Then we'll listen to and read together one speech given by J.K. Rowling, which I always use as a long example of Narration. It is a type of storytelling in which several issues are coherently delivered with your personal stories and your own voice.  Prepare to discuss actively. 

Then we'll view several video examples, from YouTube, StoryCorps, and your seniors' works. We'll appreciate their efforts (including the sound, images, voice expressions, and the overall style) and comment on the aspects you like and the aspects you might want to change. Then you'll brainstorm how  you'll create your own video narrative once your narration essay is done. 

Third third hour will be used to do some practices on how sentences are placed in a paragraph. I hope we also have time to talk more about sentences.

Finally, I need to talk to some of you about your draft 2 of essay 1. 

One more note about your draft 2 of essay 2: A thesis statement and topic sentences for all body paragraphs. Thank you!

See you!

ADHD As A Difference In Cognition, Not A Disorder: Stephen Tonti at TEDxCMU

An inspiring talk that's related to my presentation tomorrow. 

For what we are going to do on 11/3:

1. We will gradually move into the realm of image and sound, in addition to text. So a couple of sharings that I will do shall serve as examples or models for you when you are designing your own projects. They also supply the 'juice' for our in-class discussion.

2. If you have time to have a view of the talk I inserted here, that'll be good; if not, that's ok, too. We'll view and discuss in class.

3. Following the talk, I'll begin my model presentation on ADHD using a mind map, which may be one way for you to organize your ideas for your mid-term presentation. 

4. I plan to give you time to exchange your draft 1 for essay 2 during the 3rd hour, but before that, we'll have some very basic but fundamental practices on sentences and controlling ideas. 

See you all tomorrow morning! 

Things to do on 10/27

 Dear all,

I am done reading your draft 1 for essay 1. I'll return them to you, and our individual conferencing will begin soon after appointments are made. My work schedule is extremely tight this week, so some appointments may have to proceed during the evening or even the weekend. That could be counted as your workshop hour. 

Tomorrow, after your sharing, we'll read another narrative essay that the writing style is not only fluent with a nice flow of narration, but captivating in the plot arrangement. 

Then I'll use one of your senior's midterm projects and my own presentation as examples for your midterm presentation. 

The following part will be about your writing: 1. I'll return your draft 1 for essay 1 with my comments. 2. Then we'll review quickly "how to write effective descriptions," "topic sentence" and "thesis statement," because I don't mind reminding you again and again until you know how to produce them in your essay, :)!

Because I will have to attend an international conference right on 12:00. I may have to leave a bit earlier. But, I will post a table of appointment time slots for you to fill in, OK?

PS. Starting from your draft 2, please submit all works (in WORD, not PDF) via MOODLE. I'll do the printing.

See you in the morning!

An important reminder!

 Dear all,

You were surprised that there seems no work to do for this week! 

Sorry, I was wrong!

Please check our syllabus: you shall be working on your outline for your Narrative Essay. As we read Helen Keller's writing, one student sample essay, and my short reminders on the principles for a narrative essay, please do prepare to share your first outline for Essay 2!

Thank you! 

Happy reading, thinking, and planning!

A Piece of Home: An Ethiopian Refugee Remembers the Home She Left Behind

An example of video narrative. But, I think you can do better!

Things to do on 10/18

Dear all, 

One-fourth of the semester is gone, and I am expecting to see any type of progress from you. Too quick? Well, time waits for no one!

For tomorrow, one of your peers will be sharing something. I expect that you share not only your selected passage or quote, but your deliberate thoughts and insights after reading it. 

Second, I'll begin talking about our next chapter on writing: Narration. Reading together is always a must. I found you keen on discussing the structure of essays, which is very good! I hope you'll be even more expressive during the discussion. Again, we'll have one student sample essay and one professional essay. A good grasp of the structure of the reading materials definitely impacts your own way of organization. And, also, please note how language and word choice are practiced in these essays to enrich the description and enhance the storytelling.

Therefore, let's see your draft 1 and see for each other how we can improve on our own writing. Remember, I hope we can help each other check if a sound thesis statement and proper topic sentences exist. If needed, a quick review of  thesis statement and body paragraph will be conducted (we skipped it as some said there is no need to repeat the lesson, remember?). 

I'll also deliver my own sharing at the end. 

ps. From today on, you'll have two weeks to give feedback to three of your friends' reading logs. 

See you all tomorrow!

Things to do on 10/13

 Good evening all!

I have read many interesting posts and, likewise, many lovely and sincere feedback.

I hope you all get my idea of asking you to give each other feedback. Sincere and in-depth interactions among readers are most oftentimes the drive for more reading and sharing. It is said, "reading is a social act!"But, as a reading teacher, seeing some of you keeping identifying yourself as "not good at reading, nor interested in reading" makes me feel funny and sad. I do hope to change this situation for the better so that you don't suffer too much in this class, but consider this class fulfilling (definitely not making it easier!). 

So, for our class tomorrow:

1. We'll begin by browsing some of the logs you wrote and feedback to your log 2. I'll also show one of your senior's personal blog for an example. 

2. Then, we'll do student sharing as we did last week. Please be prepared to share and prepared to join the discussion.

3. After reading two professional essays (e.g., Snake and Still learning from my mother), one student sample essay will be given to show clearer structures for essay writing. I'll use this sample to talk about thesis statement and topic sentence as a review of your learning last year. You can also click the materials I uploaded (e.g., thesis statement, body paragraph) for references and self-learning. If needed, we can dig into those slides for more examples. 

4. Do not forget to bring your draft 1 of Essay 1 for peer review. You'll read your draft to a peer who will help you clarify if you do have a thesis statement and topic sentences for your essay.

5. If time allows, I'll move forward to video making examples.

ps. I have seen two log 3 uploaded. Please check the 'gradesheet' I uploaded, on which there are deadlines (due days) for all logs. Log 3 is not due until 10/19!

See you all in class tomorrow! 

Things to do on 10/06

Good evening,

Browsing through your first reading log posts, I am curious about how you feel about blogging what you just read. Have you done this before? Let's chat a little bit when we meet in class tomorrow!

Also, remember that it will be your turn to share some thing in class. It can be a short prose or a quote that contains a meaningful message of life, a piece of news you read online that arouses your eagerness to express your thoughts and ideas, or one statement of your book reading that really resonates with your mind. 

Then I'll give a presentation on why story reading is so important that it benefits our life and learning to a very broad and deep extent. 

Since your first essay will be a descriptive essay, we'll read another sample (this time a description of a person) together, which may give you more ideas about what to describe about. And this won't bother your first outline, for ideas evolve and change very often.

Then we will begin our lessons on thesis statement, topic sentence, essay map, all necessary ingredients in your essay and body paragraphs. Please bear with me, for the practice list is a bit long. 

Finally, I hope you don't sit up too late to blog your post!

ps. 1. Please bring the book you are reading to class. 2. Since you'll have to have a fixed seat, I am thinking having you sit with your potential group members (with 1.5m from each other). 3. According to our syllabus, we'll discuss your outline for your descriptive essay with your peers if time allows.

See you all soon!