Final Reflections

I am your teacher, as you well know, and not a student, so I approach the great WRIT 101 blog experiment of Spring 2010 from a different perspective. For me, the questions are: how successful was this? What did my students get out of it? What have we learned together as a class, and ultimately, was the experiment a success or failure? The truth is I don’t know, and I plan to reserve judgment once I read all of your reflections.

What I hoped would come out of this is that you would become better writers. I wanted to take the writing experience out of the cold dead hands of the classroom and into the “real world” or at least “the real world of the Internet” which of course is not real. I digress. I also wanted to teach you a little bit about publishing work on the web and creating an Internet persona. I definitely think there was some wavering interest in that. Students are not necessarily as Tech obsessed as the media would have you believe, but I hope that you at least learned some new skills about the world of blogging and web writing.

I know that for me, maintaining a blog was a major contributing factor in my becoming a writer. I started a website when I was 15 and in high school. Remember, this was 1997. The Internet was in its infancy then. They didn’t have applications like “blogspot.” The word blog didn’t even exist. I wrote all my own html and every week I would post random writings about my life. (These were called “vanity sites” at the time.) It was through doing this, the constant practice of writing for an audience that I realized I might have a gift for it. When I would get feedback about my work from random strangers, it encouraged me to keep going. I wanted to entertain and impress my readers. So this was my experience. Yours obviously will vary.

I hope that at least a few of you continue to blog in whatever capacity is fun and meaningful for you. Writing on a regular basis for other people (even if it’s only a few of your friends) I find can be really therapeutic and fun. Also the practice of reading other people’s blogs can be an intriguing endeavor. From this class, my favorite blog posts were probably the “Food” posts. The posts on television and “choose your own adventure” were also particularly fun to read. I look forward to reading your reflections on the process, and thanks for joining me in the great blog experiment. I know you didn’t really have a choice, but thanks all the same J

Choose your own adventure

Choose your own blog post topic week, hooray! What a blast. This is going to be a total blast. we're going to blast it out. Okay, I'm nuts, sorry. So I collected some good ideas from you. I've just sort of condensed, nuanced and filtered the list you've given me. Please pick one to write on. I want at least two full paragraphs of good, careful writing. Please pay attention to mechanics and ease of reading. Try to engage and entertain us. We don't have a lot of blog posts left so I'd like you to make this one count. Also, additionally, in addition. If you'd like, for those of you looking for extra credit, you can choose not one but TWO of these topics and write two SEPARATE blog posts, as in two different posts on two different days. (This is just a blogger convention. Only crazy people write more than one blog post a day. That's what twitter is for.) One or both posts should be up by Monday, April 19th before class. GOT IT? Yeah, you got it. Please specify which topic you've chosen somewhere in the post so I know what I'm reading. Thanks, friends!

• Describe atmosphere/experience at griz games.
• Talk about your plans for the summer
• A day in the life of "you." (alternatively, a week in the life, a weekend in Missoula, a snapshot of some kind)
• A short story or a poem (about the short story: keep in mind short. If you have some long crazy story lying around, consider truncating it for the sake of your audience. blog posts tend to become heady any more than like 700 words so keep this in mind. And believe me, I sympathize. I write long.)
• A vacation, an interesting place you've visited. What did you learn and how did you grow richer from the experience?
• A movie, music, play, show, something review. Something you either really love or really hate, and be specific about why.
• "Two truths and a lie." I don't know what exactly this is but I'm intrigued. Make it work.
• Secret talents - what are you good at and why is it a secret? What on earth.
• Anything else you think you can justify. If you choose something not on this list you'll have to tell me in your blog post what you've chosen, why, and how the post is going to work, so probably better to just choose something on the list.

I may or may not do this blog post. I feel like compiling the list itself was a lot of work!

Real World Road Rules Challenge

Look at me! I'm doing my blog post just before midnight. This is proof that I know what it's like to be a student. So, once you're in grad school it's pretty gauche to pay for cable. The presumption is that we don't have time to watch TV, and also that we're above it. We have time to watch Hulu though! My guilty pleasure shows include but are not limited to: The Biggest Loser, America's Next Top Model, and any incarnation of The Real World/Road Rules Challenge. Some shows that I like that are actually really good are: The Daily Show/Colbert Report comedy rock block, The Sopranos, and finally, The Wire, which I consider to be the best show ever made. For this piece I think I'm going to argue for why The Real World/ Road Rules Challenge is both shallow, mindless, idiotic, AND incredibly satisfying reality television.

The basic premise of the show is this: a bunch of former reality stars (and some people who were never even on Real World or the now cancelled Road Rules) compete in a series of incredibly contrived athletic contests for cash prizes. The way the game works changes for every incarnation of the show, but the alliances, backstabbing, and otherwise despicable, slutty behavior between cast members remains comfortingly the same. One great thing about the show is that all of these people are incredibly good looking but with dubious at best characters, and there's something really satisfying about watching hot twenty somethings slide around on big blocks of ice for the chance to win a BMX bike. Also, it's sort of like sports, but again, the athletes are hot and dress really well. Finally, the inter personal drama is soap opera level epic, but since it's "reality tv," somehow you feel less ridiculous caring about their struggles. Everybody agrees that Tonya is batshit insane and that Evelyn the little lesbian who kills the challenges rules.

To review: I like Real World/Road Rules challenge because 1. I like watching good looking people do stupid shit. 2. It's sort of like sports but without boring innings and rules and the soundtrack is more hip. 3. It has all the drama of television with a "real" component that makes me feel less shallow. Although it probably shouldn't.

So anyway. I'm looking forward to seeing what compelling arguments you've come up with for the shows you like. You may or may not be informed by the Steven Johnson reading I gave you. Really it was just for entertainment and to get our heads in the right space.

Oh. And I found this article after I wrote this that I think is really great. Me and the author are pretty much on the same wave length.

Why I can't stop watching the real world/road rules challenge.

Spring break 2010!

Spring break really makes sloths of us all! I've just spent some time reading your latest blog posts, and let me just say generally that they are excellent and I am pleased with the high volume of participation. I should yell at you more often.

So I told you I'd write and give you some things to think about, but I'm not so sure if I, even I am capable of thinking about anything on this break. Still.

1. Think about what you want to write your op-eds on. We're going to need to get started on them right away on Monday so no time for lollygagging.

2. Like I mentioned in class, if you'd like to write a bonus blog post over break, that would rock. I think I'll probably be sharing some experiences I've had so far later in the week. This is a chance to just sort of have fun and write for the sake of writing. Writing is fun. It lets us know how we think and feel about things and it gives us a chance to share hilarious stories and to be understood by our friends and peers. No real requirements here, just write something fun and engaging and true to you. Please have those up by Sunday night (or Monday BEFORE class. There it is in print, no ambiguity.)

3. I feel like a list should have at least 3 items on it.

Still having a blast grading your research papers! Only have a few done but I have to say, I'm really impressed with what I've seen so far. This is that horrible time in the semester when I fall disgustingly in love with all of you, like you're a basket of puppies. I don't know if this happens to all teachers or if this is a unique to Molly problem. Anyway, thanks a lot for that. Geez.

Three Op-Eds I read in minutes flat.

Professors have a responsibility to lead by questioning

This article basically says that University teachers aren't just free to but actually should voice their opinions on controversial topics. The article elucidates a basic debate in education: should teachers attempt to be unbiased, or is that both impossible and imprudent? You can guess where I stand: I can't help but tell you what I think. Do teachers have a responsibility to share their opinions, though? I don't know.

MTV and the archetypal college spring break

This is heavy on random opinion spouting and light on researched facts, but I found the writing to be delightful and the argument convincing. I'm against any form of culturally sanctioned, scheduled drinking. I think drinking and hanging out and having fun should be undertaken with reverence and a free will. What are your plans this spring break?

The Story of Bottled Water: Fear, Manufactured Demand and a $10,000 Sandwich

Today is apparently "world water day" and so I present to you this informative and stimulating article on the destructive force that is the bottled water industry. Basically the author states that bottled water costs too much money, the plastic is toxic, and it's not safer or cleaner than most tap water anyway. Do you remember the water bottle rule I wrote into the syllabus at the beginning of the semester? This article reinforces my beliefs!

Resources for your Research Paper

Here's a ragtag collection of material I've collected for you re: your research papers. You are so welcome.

Purdue OWL - MLA guide.

This site has a lot of information regarding works cited, basic paper formatting, etc.

Duke University Library - MLA guide.

Weirdly, information on this topic varies, overlaps, etc. An alternate source.

MLA citation generator.

You can use this site to a lmited degree to automatically generate citations for you, but it can be a little nutty so you should always double check whatever it spits back at you.

Online Paper Grader.

Somebody sent me this the other day. I haven't really used it yet. Allegedly you can paste your paper into it and it will tell you all sorts of things that are wrong. Let me know how this works if you use it.

Where might we go for additional information, you might ask?

• Use the Every Day Writer pages 369-419 to look up specific citation/formatting questions. Particularly, the student essay sample, pages 410-419 is a real hoot.
• Chapters 11 and 12 of The Curious Writer are all about writing a research paper. Check it out why not.

Writing the sketch:

You will be bringing a sketch of your personal research paper to class this Wednesday. Instructions plus an example sketch are available in The Curious Writer page 459.

That's all for now. Check back throughout the week as I may add additional information/resources. Writing this paper is going to be so awesome you guys.

Class business

Hello class. As promised, here's that link to the Sustainability site put together by the library. If you go to the "sustainability" tab you can find that research log I told you to model your blog posts on.

To review, I want 5 sources that you've explored and considered for your site and some brief comments about them, their efficacy, credibility, etc.

In retrospect I feel bad for making fun of my friend Travis in class on Monday. Having said that, here's one more sentence he left on my wall last week. I think he's trying to insult me?

See you all at conferences this week.