Seriously Improved Comment Tool in CompClass

It looks like Bedford has really listened to our suggestions and seriously upgraded Comment (in CompClass's "Writing" tab), streamlining it and making it a private grading tool as well as a peer review space. Click the image to learn more.

Happy Holidays

That? Which? Or What?

That? Which? Or What?

By Philip B. Corbett

After Deadline examines questions of grammar, usage and style encountered by writers and editors of The Times.

It is adapted from a weekly newsroom critique overseen by Philip B. Corbett, the deputy news editor who is also in charge of The Times’s style manual. The goal is not to chastise, but to point out recurring problems and suggest solutions.

Since most writers are likely to encounter similar troubles, we think these observations might interest general readers, too.

Cool New Image Tools: Mind 42 and Jing

Being a web application, mind42 enables another interesting feature realizable on the web: collaboration. Brainstorming is no longer a single user activity

Simply select an area of your screen, capture it as an image or record it as a video, and then click Share. Jing conveniently places a URL to your content that you can paste into any of your conversations.

Here's a cool video about Jing.

DEPARTMENTAL NOTE--We should use these tools to help build the Cyberia Activity Guide.

Headlines from Around the World

A War on Words

"Verbage: The Republican War on Words"

In this election, it has increasingly been “words.” Barack Obama has been denounced again and again as a privileged wordsmith, a man of mere words who has “authored” two books (to use Sarah Palin’s verb), and done little else. Read more words by James Wood . . .

Politics Lately

Have you read the new David Sedaris piece in The New Yorker? Speaking about undecided voters, Sedaris says, "I think of being on an airplane. The flight attendant comes down the aisle with her food cart and, eventually, parks it beside my seat. 'Can I interest you in the chicken?' she asks. 'Or would you prefer the platter of . . . '"

Hey, do you need a fashionable bumper sticker?
Perhaps you need
a Daily Show recap...Care for a little Air America?

Greenblatt and Colbert: Shakespearean Campaign Analysis

NY Times Interactive Video-Transcript of the VP Debate

Analyzing the VP debate?
Counting the winks and "mavericks"?
Counting the "nuculars"?
Check out the NY Times interactive version.

Improved CompClass Page

They seem to be working out the bugs in a big way . . .

David Foster Wallace (1962-2008)

What happened?

"In Defense of Reading Badly . . ."

From Jim Sauve . . .

Let's discuss.

To download the PDF, click the image to your right or this link:
http://www.driveway.com/x2k1h1h7a8

9am-2pm on 9/9: Cyberia Workshops w/ Nick Carbone--CompClass and more

Nick Carbone of Bedford/St.Martin's loves Cyberia and will be back--with food--to help us with CompClass. He will be in Cyberia from 9am-2pm on Tuesday, 9/9. Plus, he will also help us make smarter use of the brand new (and free) Exercise Central and Teaching Central sites. I should also say that you do not have to be an experienced user of any of these resources. Come for an intro . . . and a nosh.

In fact, Nick is interested in extending the conversation into Tuesday evening. If a CompClass dinner interests you, let me know. (We're working on co-hosting a CCSF-Bedford CompClass session in Cyberia for users attending 4C's in SF this spring. Bedford would provide shuttles and food.)

Well, please let me know if you will be stopping by Cyberia, even if for just 30-40 minutes.

For more, jump to . . .

http://bcs.bedfordstmartins.com/exercisecentral/default.asp

http://bedfordstmartins.com/newcatalog.aspx?disc=English&course=TeachingCentral&show=yes

http://bedfordstmartins.com/newcatalog.aspx?search=compclass&isbn=0312540701&detail=Take+a+Tour

KLEINMAN
http://fog.ccsf.edu/~ckleinma

The Horror: 2004 . . . 2008 . . .

2004 TV Funhouse Cartoon with Real Audio

It's getting scarier. From Air America--
http://www.therandirhodesshow.com/index.php

And here's A Daily Show Update:

WEAK SPECIES: Former English 40 Student's New Film

Daniel Faltz, one of my former English 40 (1C) students, has been quite successful as a Hass scholar at Berkeley and as a filmmaker at USC. In fact his transfer and grad work has in many ways been a continuation of what he began in 40. He's looking for more support in order to complete his latest project, WEAK SPECIES.

--Kleinman

Lit Mag Par-tay

Dear Colleagues,

Please come to a fundraiser party for the newly relaunched literary magazine (Forum) and class. The party will be held Saturday, September 13 from 5 to 9 p.m. at Louise Nayer's house.
1165 Bosworth Street The cross street is Congo.
It's near BART and the 44 bus line
Phone # 415 587-4475

You don't have to bring any beverages or a dish -- food and drink will be provided. There will also be an open mike in Louise's garden for anyone who would like to read for about five minutes, and you will have a chance to meet some of the students behind the magazine, and hear them read their work as well.

The current estimate for printing the magazine is about one dollar per copy, so any donation helps. We have also partnered with the Graphic Design department, which is doing the layout of the magazine as a class project, and we are working with the Dean's office to target alumni for funding as well.

See you then!
Louise Nayer and Jen Sullivan Brych

The Encyclopedia of Educational Technology

Check out the TOC for this handy resource! It's about education, not "technology," depending, that is, on your definitions of education and technology . . .

Cyberia and the Carnegie Foundation

Digital Yeats

Free Folk Fest at CCSF 6/21-6/22--Who knew?

Wow, there will be a free folk festival at CCSF in and around the new wellness center the weekend of 6/21.

Learn about the Chemnitzer concertina as part of your solstice celebration. Ask your summer students to review Hot Kugel or Go Van Gogh for extra credit.

Here's the complete schedule of workshops and performances: http://www.sffolkfest.org/2008/schedule/index.html

In the Basement of the Ivory Tower (from the 6/08 ATLANTIC)

The venue is neither ivory nor a tower. Discuss.

Wow.

Click the title (above) or the picture to go the Atlantic online, or hit this url: http://www.theatlantic.com/doc/200806/college

by Professor X

Going to Ashland ths summer?

Shakespeare in Ashland, and Shakespeare across the country . . .

Music Reviews on Olios Online

I've been writing music reviews for a fairly new online mag that a friend of mine started in 2006. The last review is of the production of "Sonny's Blues" put on by Word for Word at the Lorraine Hansberry Threatre with an original score by local composer and bassist Marcus Shelby.

Steven Wiley, who produces the site, is eagerly looking for more contributors of articles, essays, fiction, reviews, or pretty much anything. It doesn't pay, but if you have something you'd like to publish somewhere, he's looking for submissions. Tell him I sent you.

Steven Mayers

Going Green: When the Sheet Hits the . ..

Every semester new ideas emerge about the "green sheet," the Reading Lab's assignment and attendance form. (Click a sheet image to view a larger pdf.) The comment tool in our blog could be a very productive space to gather constructive criticism for improving the form. Since there are issues with the form itself and, more importantly, there are issues with assigning specific lab resources, let's start the discussion in two different ways: 1) How might the form itself be improved? and 2) Which (two or three) activities work best with which course level? Hopefully this will help teachers target specific resources and help students work with more focus, depth, and comfort. Thanks!

Sneak a peek at the new handbook cover!

Click the cover image for a larger pdf.

Remember the CompClass workshops on 5/7 and 5/8. In case there was confusion, you do not have to attend either of Nick Carbone's 45-minutes lectures in Cyberia, but it would be great if you could. Most of the time will be loose enough for you to play around, check out the specific program, think about this type of technology in general, and, of course, eat. Remember, Nick will be available from 10-4 both days. If you'd like to meet him at your office instead of in Cyberia, let me know. See last week's blog posting--and comments. . . .

Fever!

Help, please!

I just sent an email to a student asking her not to write future homework assignments on her phone. She did it on a sidekick™ and emailed it to me, which was a formatting nightmare.
You guys know where I'm coming from on this, I'm sure.

CompClass Workshops 5/7-5/8

New--a flyer!

I just set up a pretty big block of time on 5/7 and a little on 5/8 for Nick Carbone, the director of new media for Bedford/St. Martin's, to provide CompClass training. (I'll work on food too.)

More details to follow, but in Cyberia on Wednesday, 5/7, we will have semi-formal or structured presentations between 9am-2pm, and then we'll splice the rest of the non-presentation time to help individuals with follow-up or one-on-one intros. We'll also have 5/8, 12:30-2 (maybe longer), in Cyberia. Nick could also meet with teachers elsewhere till 4pm both days. I hope that this will allow many of you to check out this cool tool, especially if you're considering using it this fall.

As you probably remember, CompClass is Bedford's course management system available with the new department handbook, RULES FOR WRITERS, for an additional $10. To see the features, which include COMMENT, e-handbook, and student blogs, jump to this site, which includes a virtual tour, as well as handouts.

CompClass can also be packaged with other Bedford texts. I might bundle it with my 1B anthology.

Please let me know if you're planning on attending, even if it's for just, say, 45 minutes.

KLEINMAN
http://fog.ccsf.edu/~ckleinma

AND HERE'S MORE FROM NICK CARBONE ON THE TEACHING/LEARNING/TECHNOLOGY LINK--

The workshops, while they will show CompClass for Rules for Writers, are not only about CompClass, but will more generally be about teaching writing with online tools. For example, CompClass offers discussion boards that are very user friendly. But the question isn't so much about what buttons to click to create a discussion board (though that will be covered) but also (and more importantly) about the role an online discussion can play in your course: what's a good way to write a discussion question to generate online discussion? what directions are useful to give students about responding to classmates' posts? in what way might a discussion replace an essay draft? what are useful strategies for bringing back to the face-to-face classroom issues raised in the online discussion? CompClass has a blog as well. What's the difference between a blog and a discussion forum? When and why might you use a blog assignment instead of a discussion forum? CompClass lets you link to any content provided in it as well as to anything on the Web or that you upload. You can link to: a specific page in Rules for Writers, a tutorial on integrating sources, a model document, a peer review game, any document or video or audio file you upload; you can even embed a YouTube video into a page that you add to the e-book. What's a good use of all that linking? How will that ability to link to content open up new assignment and teaching possibilities?

The workshops are meant not only to be an introduction to CompClass and the Rules for Writers e-book, but are also intended to be conversations about teaching, where attendees can trade ideas, learn from one another, and come away with dreams and plans for their fall courses.

___________

And if we can bring in some snacks -- juice and cookies, coffee and
donuts, etc., . . . will be provided.

Nick


Nick Carbone, Director of New Media
Bedford/St. Martin's

Chronicle Catches up with Harwood

About a week ago, the Chronicle caught up with San Francisco area authors Seth Harwood and Scott Sigler to talk about their gameplan of taking the publishing industry by the horns via their podcast approach and free books.
Then on Thursday, they published a follow-up detailing the abundant reader responses on SFGate.com

More Striking Writers (besides our students for spring break)

"We must, as a people, achieve a resolution to this strike soon," novelist David Foster Wallace [not the guy pictured to the right] said at a rally Monday at Pomona College in Claremont, CA, where he is a professor. "The thought of this country being deprived of its only source of book-length fiction is enough to give one the howling fantods." Read more . . .

Were you fooled too?

Nothing can fight the air in Batmale or Rosenberg!

Grammar Girl: Present Tense in Fiction: Jack Wakes Up

Here Grammar Girl talks about the present tense in novels, particularly in the new crime novel JACK WAKES UP by Seth Harwood. She discusses the first present tense novels, its traditions and how it works in Harwood's book.

read more | digg story

Ya Want the Whole Book?

Here you go! It's the full PDF version of my new novel, Jack Wakes Up. Browse it, print it, read it, whatever you like! Even pass the file or the link to a friend you know who likes Crime Fiction. Go ahead, pretend you're at a bookstore and browse all you like. The best thing is you can even sit down!
Oh: the reading this Tuesday night (3/11) is at 6:30PM, not 7. Still at SF Mystery Books, 4175 24th St.

Faculty author's novel: JACK WAKES UP

Randy tells the whole crew to check out Seth Harwood's new novel JACK WAKES UP. It's a crime noir book that takes place on the mean streets of... San Francisco! You can find a list of local bookstores carrying the book, a free PDF of the novel, and audio podcasts of the Seth reading that bad boy here at sethharwood.com.
Seth is even reading at the SF Mystery Bookstore on Tues March 11th at 7pm. Be there! Randy will!