Castle of Juana la Loca

Castle of Juana la Loca
Medina del Campo, Espana

Friday, February 6, 2009

IDEAS FOR FUTURE ENGLISH 100 COURSES

Any original thoughts on how to improve the course? Write them here.

9 comments:

Dr. Brett Schmoll said...

Here's a thought. As per your discussion with Dadha regarding the creation of a one week culminating course at the end of each school year that would draw analytical connections throughout the year, how about the final assignment in 100 being just that? Something like this...for your final essay you must find crucial connections between your coursework throughout this year. How is math related to psychology? How is anthro related to philosophy? How is anatomy related to European history? Sound like urban planning in the Sahara, comparative irrelevance? Quite the opposite, my friend! This is making your year relevant.

SkyTurtle said...

Asking questions that not necessarily make people, but want to interact. You do this already for your summer bridge class and i love it.

Dr. Brett Schmoll said...

My Crazy Neighbor.
Do not mention names in this piece.

This piece will test your powers of description. Your reader should be able to hear, see, smell, and get a real taste of your neighborhood and your crazy neighbor.
Use strong verbs. Avoid "to be" verbs when possible. Strive for descriptive depth and beauty.
You must use synethesia at least twice in this piece.
The length of this writing assignment is a couple of pages.

Dr. Brett Schmoll said...

THESE ARE MY WORDS!!! KEEP YOUR GRIMY PAWS OFF!!!

Make a list of words in the classroom. These will be words you want to try out in your writing...vicissitudes, banal, plethora, ubiquitous?

Dr. Brett Schmoll said...

Revisit the first comment on this post. In the fifth week students will have the chance to connect every class they've taken this year.
Is psychology related to math? How is math related to history? How is history related to nursing? How is nursing related to business?

First, make a list of all the classes you've take or are taking this year...obviously, that includes current courses.
Next, write down one or two key concepts from each of those classes.
Now, search your mind for some idea that ties all of these courses together.

Dr. Brett Schmoll said...

weekly reading on blog: put ten weeks of readings on here. every week students must read and write a one paragraph summary of the article

Dr. Brett Schmoll said...

Betty Awards:
Assignment #2
One story and one poem, both of which will be submitted for the Betty Writing Awards.

Assignment #1
crazy neighbor

Assignment #3
Nora

Assignment #4
Reading Due on Greg
Essay on same subject...gangs,

Assignment #5
Synthesis

Weekly: summary of reading on blog

Dr. Brett Schmoll said...

the blog different. each week there will be a post and you have that week to reply. after t hat, the discussion is over. make ten posts before the qurter, labeled weeks one through ten. have a word count.. 100 words or so

Dr. Brett Schmoll said...

for 232 next quarter, the paper should be on immigration, find at least two people to interview who came to the states...compare their stories with those of ellis or angel island...i give questions for interview, i give many of the ellis or angel stories.