Thursday, October 30, 2008

Links to my Comp II students' blogs

Here they are, in no particular order, with brief descriptions of their general subjects. It's early in the game, so don't expect to find much there right now; still, as you'll see, some are (impressively) far along already. I hope that as they post material and comment on it, you'll find yourself wanting to follow one/some of them and throw in your virtual two cents' worth. Hey! That sounds a whole lot like the way we find ourselves following and reading blogs, doesn't it? More seriously, they need readers--an audience--so as to benefit their writing by heightening their awareness that people other than their prof are out there, reading their work.

Keep in mind that their research papers are intended not just to be information-dumps but to make some sort of argument based on their understanding of what they learn. Their posts, ideally, should reflect that they are asking questions of what they're reading. So, you would be doing them a huge favor pedagogically if in your comments you ask them questions, too--even if of the "Have you ever thought about . . . ?" variety.

Not all my students have yet set up or sent me links to their blogs (they were due yesterday: tsk, tsk), but as they do I will post the links here. So, be sure to check back a few days later.

Ronda's Vermeer Blog. About Vermeer, as it turns out.

Rainbows in the Dark. On euthanasia and related end-of-life issues.

Victoria's Fight for a Cure. On polycystic kidney disease and issues related to organ transplants.

Citizenship of Non-Indians: Freedmen. On issues pertaining to tribal membership, with special emphasis on the status of Freedmen.

Servinu4him's Blog. A blog still in search of a subject.

Breaking the Silence. On the field of speech/language/communication disorders, in particular (guessing here) ethical questions pertaining to the field and the people who have these disorders.

My Gastric Bypass blog... a lil after the fact. Specifically, the writer wants to make the case that this procedure should be covered by insurance companies.

Religion in Real Life. Based on a conversation this student and I had yesterday, I think "real life" here means "the public square."

The Dangers of Flames. On the psychology of arsonists.

Is Tanning Harmful. Specifically, on the possible risks posed by using tanning beds and what to do to lessen them.

Wednesday, October 22, 2008

Howdy!

This is my demo blog, which I've created so as to reassure my Comp II students that it really is easy to create a blog!