Missives from the teacher

There's a piece in the New York Times last week that focuses on the classroom uses of the (we)blog. Teachers have been appropriating blogs, which are easily published via platforms like blogger and moveabletype.org, to complement and even augment classroom discussion. Kids who tend to be quiet in the classroom turn out to be more verbose and confident in posting their responses to blog discussions.

What I'm interested in is to find out how this affects us in the real world. While blogging and the web in general have been upheld to empower students, not all students are online, especially in a set up like ours--third world and several years behind in terms technology and per capita income.

For my classes, we have this blog and individual class egroups. Not everyone posts, and still some kids are a bit shy in questioning authority and in speaking out.

If we are to fully utilize the web for classroom purposes, everyone must speak out. Do you think blogs will eventually be better for the people in the classroom?

Speak out or else. :)

Found through saturated text machine.

Text message received:

Chancellor EMERLINDA ROMAN suspends UPD classes and offices today, 26 August, due to inclement weather. Please pass. --AVP PPLegasto.

There you go, folks. So no classes, no ACLE, no paper. Regular classes resume tomorrow for the TF people, and next week for the MTh folks.

regular classes starting 1130 am are suspended until 5pm to give way to the ACLE scheduled on Thursday afternoon, 26 august. you are strongly encouraged to attend a session of your your choosing. please pick interactive lectures and seminars where you will be given the chance to interact.
try to avoid film showings. you will be expected to write an entry about it in your respective journals.

by now, you should have received notices about your assigned pseudonyms. the ammended workshop schedule with the text title/author/critic chart will be put up in the afternoon.

to the person who got the reader's copy of "aubrey miles"'s draft, please return it. we have a case of several aubrey miles and unless i have officially notified you that you are indeed aubrey miles, then it's not for you. contact
me if you have doubts as to your workshop identity. thanks.


because we are missing our workshop schedule, i am scheduling a MAKE UP class/ workshop for 1 september, wednesday, 1id-i4pm. we need to finish all the drafts within that week. attendance in the makeup workshop is COMPULSORY. those due to be workshopped on 26 august will be moved to monday next week, 30 august. all those after that we will take up on wednesday and thursday. we really need to start on the poetry module by the week after that. the wednesday workshop will be held in a venue to be announced later. we're gunning for someplace that's comfy and still within university grounds. if it doesn't rain, we can have a picnic or something. but given the weather, maybe not. but we'll bring food and drinks for everyone, so think up of
something you can bring along, ok?

anyone with sched conflict please notify me immediately. thanks.

note: this is already sort of moot. classes ARE SUSPENDED. no more ACLE, at least for now, but the provisions for the wednesday workshop still holds.

Okay people, it's that time of the sem again, and you have a one day break from regular classes to give way for the Alternative Classroom Learning Experience.

So for eng10 pips:

you are all strongly encouraged to attend the ACLE scheduled for tomorrow, 26 august, thursday. you may choose a seminar/lecture of your own choosing. please try to avoid film showings, as they usually just screen the movie, and
don't have interactions after. go for those classes which have speakers and dialogues with the attendees.

people from the eng10 mth class, we will not meet anymore as regular classes are suspended to give way to the ACLE. those in the tf class, we'll still have regular classes on friday. but you are all required to submit a reaction paper on the ACLE session you will attend. you will write a 2-3 page reaction paper where you will give your hopefully strong
opinions, and focus on a particular impression and display amazing insights. this will due next week, monday or tuesday, depending on your section.

the handout for the reaction paper will be ready by friday, so please do check with the xerox girl for it. thanks.

Ammended note: Since Chancellor Roman already suspended classes in UP Diliman, I suppose ACLE has also been cancelled--at least for the meantime. No ACLE, no paper. But we'll keep an eye out for other possible events which you can write about. That's all folks. Stay indoors and keep warm.

This is for Eng10 people, you have 3 ways to boost your grades in class. Go out and watch any of these, then write a 2-3 page mini-review or reaction paper for 10pts each:

I-Witness documentaries. To be screened at the UP Film
Center on Tuesday, 10 August. You have 2 sets of docus to choose from. Watch one
or both, if you have time. 10pts.

Insiang. Also at the UP Film Center on Wednesday, 11 August.
10pts.

Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind. Any commercial
theater out there. Catch it while you can because we are studying a review by
David Edelstein really soon. You'd appreciate it more if you watched it, and
then you can write a mini-review on it. 10 pts.

Any questions? Email me. Thanks.

For CW 10 people:

We are taking up Haruki Murakami's "On Seeing the 100% Perfect Girl One Beautiful April Morning."

Here's a link to a facsimile of the pages from The Elephant Vanishes. It's gif-animated. You have to repeatedly click to see the succeeding pages.

And here is another version that features illustrations.

I think the Murakami story even inspired this film.

You know what they say: All yak and no work makes Jack a very dull boy poseur. So in order to be NOT like Jack, here are some tips on how to be creative. The last one is especially interesting.

Excerpts:

3. Put the hours in.
Doing anything worthwhile takes forever. 90% of
what seperates successful people and failed people is time, effort and stamina.

7. Keep your day job.
I’m not just saying that for the usual reason i.e. because I think your idea will fail. I’m saying it because to suddenly quit one’s job in a big ol' creative drama-queen moment is always, always, always in direct conflict with what I call “The Sex & Cash Theory”.

10. The more talented somebody is, the less they need the props.
Meeting a person who wrote a masterpiece on the back of a deli menu would not surprise me. Meeting a person who wrote a masterpiece with a silver Cartier fountain pen on an antique writing table in an airy SoHo loft would SERIOUSLY surprise me.

This is for Eng10 people. Here's a number of online resources for those trying to make heads and tails of writing thesis statements and such.

Purdue University's OWL (Online Writing Lab) is a great resource material on how about your research. You can get material on--

• How to write a thesis statement
• How to develop an outline
• How to use the MLA style of documentation

I will leave copies of the handouts at the 2nd floor photocopying place at the Faculty Center. But you may also check it out online. We will be discussing those in the next few weeks.

Reminder: I am expecting outlines from people whose topics have already been approved.
Please check your class' respective envelopes posted right outside FC 1080. Thanks.