Monday, January 31, 2011

Serious in Singapore

In case you were wondering, Friedman liked the SOTU, but has doubts, too.

And here's a piece on the "Infrastructure Gap" and how the broadband economy might look.

Facebook and Egypt

Here's an article.
This is an amazing graph.
Guess who else doesn't want their citizens to know about it?

Day 20

English 102 Winter 2011 Day 20

1. Complete reading of intros (we’ll skip conclusions today to move it along).
2. Topics for essay two: Links.
3. Reading for tonight: How Companies Cope TWIF
4. Bonus points in library and on February 3rd x2.
Blog comments due tomorrow. Find your comments, cut and paste your words into a document, include the date of comment, and number them.

Links for Second Essay

Here.

Here's another potential topic: Apps for Ag--or how to use mobile phone/tablet technology in agriculture and/or tourism promotion.

Friday, January 28, 2011

Topics for Second Essay

English 102, Winter Quarter
The Flat Valley

Similar to Education and the Flat World, but this time we mean Business.

What effect will _____________ have on the Yakima Valley in the new Flat World?

The Flat World Chapters of particular importance will be
The Untouchables, This is Not a Test, How Companies Cope and If It’s Not Being Done
4-6 pages.
Due Dates:
Rough Draft
Final Draft

Topics

Agriculture Cluster:

• Asparagus and South American/Andean Free Trade agreements
• Chinese Apple Concentrate dumping
• Trademarks/patents and inventions
o ROBOTS!
o Control Atmosphere on boats
• Vertical Farms
• Localvore movement.

Immigration:

Changes to H2A (and H1B)
• The lawsuits against Big Fruit.
• The idea behind Global Horizons.
• Ellensburg/Brewster sweeps.

New Niche

• Medical School
• Bi-lingual population
• Distribution Centers
• Tourism
o Wine/Agri
o Downtown/cultural
• Why Jail Beds failed as new niche.

Green People
• Wind power
• Organics
• Anarobic Digestors
• Solar collectors

Day 19

English 102 Winter 2011 Day 19

1. Bonus Points? Poetry Out Loud Sunday at Allied Arts at 1pm.
Attendance so far.
Academic Early Warning.
Abilities pilot program?

2. How to score the essay—930 class.
3. Hand in essay.
4. O/R? Y=+3pts; N=-3pts.
5. Intros and conclusions on overhead projector.
6. Essays back in about a week.
7. Homework: Read TWIF: The Untouchables

Thursday, January 27, 2011

Day 18

English 102 Winter 2011 Day 18

1. Bonus Points? Poetry Out Loud Sunday at Allied Arts at 1pm.

2. The Middle East is Flat? (Egypt, Tunisia, Yemen and earlier Iran)

3. Coming soon: Solar project in Cle Elum.

4. Hand back essays from previous class.

5. Rubric.

6. Sample essay
Outline as we go.

7. How to score the essay.

8. Friday—final essay due.
Bring print out of essay.
Bring print out of intro and conclusion.

Wednesday, January 26, 2011

Day 17

English 102 Winter 2011 Day 17

1. Bonus Points? Library workshops, Poetry reading and discussion tonight at Larson Gallery 7-8. Poetry Out Loud Sunday at Allied Arts at 1pm.

2. SOTU reaction? Loads about TWIF. For our class: DREAM Act and Community Colleges. Race to the Top.

3. Hand back essays from previous class.

4. Complete Peer Editing discussion

5. Counter Arguments

6. Revision

Thesis statements
Add support
Outline
Topic Sentences should form paragraph
Intro/Conclusion

Transitions
Counter Argument
TWIF/other definitions needed
Cut?

7. Editing

Sentence openings (esp It/There)
Capital letters/end punctuation
Signal phrases
Spelling—Spell check.
1. its/it’s
2. there/they’re/their
3. to/too/two
4. Proper names: Friedman, for ex.
Use a ruler
Read backwards
Read aloud

8. Paper format
9. Works cited page.

10. Thursday—Sample Essay Comment and Grading—ok, who’s willing?
11. Friday—final essay due.
12. Homework Peer Review, Review.

Tuesday, January 25, 2011

Does College Make You Smarter

Maybe:

First there was the news that students in American universities study a lot less than they used to. Now we hear, in a recent book titled "Academically Adrift," that 45 percent of the nation's undergraduates learn very little in their first two years of college.

The study, by two sociologists, Richard Arum of New York University and Josipa Roksa of the University of Virginia, also found that half of the students surveyed did not take any classes requiring 20 pages of writing in their prior semester, and one-third did not take any courses requiring 40 pages of reading a week.


The research has come in for some criticism. But a larger question is: Have colleges, in their efforts to keep graduation rates high and students happy, dumbed down their curriculums? If they have, who is to blame? What should parents and federal taxpayers do?

The SOTU and Talent Magnet

Here's what one writer would like to hear tonight:

First, government establishes an overall climate, with competitive tax rates and predictable regulations and fiscal balance. Tax rates don’t have to be rock bottom. Companies will pay more if there are other amenities to compensate. But everything should be structured to nurture new business formation.

Then government actively concentrates talent. City governments are used to thinking in this way, while national governments lag. For example, Robert Steel, the deputy mayor of New York City, gave an excellent speech on Dec. 16 on how to build a bioscience center in Brooklyn and how to build an engineering center on Staten Island or Roosevelt Island. The speech was about using government to build hubs.

Finally, the government has to work aggressively to reduce the human capital inequalities that open up in an innovation economy. That means early and constant interventions so everybody has a chance to participate.

President Obama exists because his father was drawn to study in the United States. Obama embodies America’s nascent role as the crossroads nation. Let’s see if he can describe the next phase of American greatness.

Day 16

English 102 Winter 2011 Day 16

1. Bonus Points? Library workshops, Poetry reading and discussion tomorrow at Larson Gallery 7-8. Poetry Out Loud Sunday at Allied Arts at 1pm.

2. Hand back essays from previous class (1030/1130).

3. Today and part of Wednesday—Peer Editing
4. Wednesday—Counter Arguments, proofreading, paper format, works cited page.
5. Thursday—Sample Essay Comment and Grading.
6. Friday—final essay due.

7. Peer Editing

8. Homework (930 class)—complete peer editing worksheet for essay from another class. Must be returned tomorrow. (10pts)
9. Homework Peer Review, Review.

SOTU

State of the Union Preview:

"Investment" vs. "Spending"

Should we compete by investing more in research, technology, education?
Or should we compete by cutting taxes and regulations on businesses?

—The spending clash. Mr. Obama’s aides have hinted for days that the president will call for a new wave of investment to spur job growth and keep the country competitive with its global competitors. But how much spending? And on what? How will he make the case in the face of Republican opposition to what they view as moving in exactly the wrong direction.

Monday, January 24, 2011

The Case for Community College

The first two years of college, at four year schools, shows little gains in academics.

And this: Community College Grads Earn More Than Four Year Grads? sort of.


And from the NYTimes: Maybe we're doing better with schools than we thought.
From the article:

But this is the paradox: Chinese themselves are far less impressed by their
school system. Almost every time I try to interview a Chinese about the system
here, I hear grousing rather than praise. Many Chinese complain scathingly that
their system kills independent thought and creativity, and they envy the
American system for nurturing self-reliance — and for trying to make learning
exciting and not just a chore.

In Xian, I visited Gaoxin Yizhong,
perhaps the city’s best high school, and the students and teachers spoke
wistfully of the American emphasis on clubs, arts and independent thought. “We
need to encourage more creativity,” explained Hua Guohong, a chemistry teacher.
“We should learn from American schools.”

Day 15

English 102 Winter 2011 Day 15

1. Today, Tuesday and part of Wednesday—Peer Editing
2. Wednesday—Counter Arguments
3. Thursday—Sample Essay Comment and Grading.
4. Friday—final essay due.

5. Peer Editing Process
1. Students learn from each other.
2. Students learn by teaching.
3. Kind honesty.
1. You have my permission to tear my paper to shreds
4. Thick skin.

6. Number the paragraphs on your essays.

7. Write two questions you'd like answered by your peers.

1. Exchange essays with another person at your table.
2. Apologize as needed
3. Read silently and comment as you go
4. Complete peer editing forms
5. Have a CONVERSATION--explain what you wrote on the Peer edit forms.
6. Finally, writer asks questions not answered.
7. Repeat

Homework—complete peer editing worksheet for essay from another class, including brief outline. Must be returned tomorrow. (10pts)

Friday, January 21, 2011

Day 14

English 102 Winter 2011 Day 14

1. Bonus Points this week—Library, Diversity Series?

2. Complete Thesis statement review

3. Homework for Monday: Rough Draft. 4-6 pages (works cited not required yet). Bring 4 copies to work with your peers. I will grade it 0-20 based on COMPLETION of FOUR PAGES. Less than four (or fake margins, huge font, massive spacing etc) will earn less than 20 points. I am NOT critiquing the essays. I will give my feedback on the essays you turn in next Friday, along with a grade for the paper. You will have a chance at the end of the quarter to revise one of your first two essays and make use of my comments.

4. Counter Argument slides.

5. Argument essay format/outline example.

I. The Student Completion Initiative will help more students learn how to learn, navigate the internet, and achieve higher education degrees. I also believe that it will force us to solve the infrastructure gap. However, there’s good reason to worry about how it will impact our funding gap, the ambition gap, the numbers gap and the gap at the bottom. So, while the initiative solves some problems we face in the globalized world, it creates larger ones and should be revised or scrapped.

II. The Student Completion Initiative defined—especially the open course library and the math section.

III. Why it’s important to learn how to learn and how the SCI will help students do this.

IV. Why it’s important to teach students how to navigate the internet and how SCI will help.

V. Why higher education is so important in globalized economy, and how the SCI will increase the number, if not the quality, of higher education degrees.

VI. How the SCI will decrease our ambition (pajamas).

VII. How the SCI might water down the math requirements, lowering the bar and decreasing the math majors.

VIII. Although on the surface, the Open Course Library is meant to help low income students, it might actually put them at a disadvantage.

IX. How the SCI is education on the cheap, when we should be spending more on it.

X. How we should fix the SCI: Keep open source text books. Don’t push “distance” education. Spend more on smaller math classes/math centers/tutoring and on math in K-12.

Alternative outline:
  • Some say SCI will increase ambition by allowing more students to access higher education. I say it will decrease ambition due to the informality of it.

  • Some say SCI will shrink the gap at the bottom by making text books cheaper and maybe classes, too. I say it will increase it due to the digital divide.

  • Some say the SCI will help us spend money on the right things. I worry we will use it as a way to cut corners and balance a hole in the budget.

Thursday, January 20, 2011

Day 13

English 102 Winter 2011 Day 13

1. Bonus Points this week—Library, Diversity Series?
2. Thesis slides.
3. Thesis statements on the board.
4. Homework for tomorrow: an outline of your essay—at the topic sentence level (not to the level of quotes/evidence)
5. Argument essay format/outline example.

Wednesday, January 19, 2011

Day 12

English 102 Winter 2011 Day 12

1. Bonus Points this week—Library, Diversity Series, MLA Workshop?

2. Basic essay structure.

3. Outline Slides (double cheeseburger anyone?)

4. Structure for an “argument” essay with variations.

5. In groups according to topic—share quotes and discussion.

6. Thesis slides.

7. Homework: A tentative thesis statement for tomorrow—this will not be collected.

8. Tomorrow in class: Your Thesis statements, Intros, conclusions.

Student Completion Initiative

Distance Ed in NYTimes

This article is the one that got me.

Cheating in Distance Education

This topic has several ways to go. I'd suggest, in order to narrow it down, to focus on the new "Student Completion Initiative"--this has two big parts we should look at:

Online course access and success: Many students never complete college because they become stuck in a web of costly remedial skills classes for which they do not earn college credit. The Student Completion Initiative will redesign 80 high-enrollment gatekeeper and pre-college courses into online classes and those offering “blended” delivery—a combination of in-person and online instruction. These redesigned courses will use open source materials, reducing textbook costs for students.

Improve success in pre-college and college math: Math is a major hurdle to completion for many of Washington’s community college students. Nearly 70 percent of all students in basic skills programs are taking remedial math to catch up. The Student Completion Initiative formed a coalition between seven colleges to make substantive changes in math curriculum, instruction, and assessment. The program aims to increase successful completion of developmental math courses by 15 percent.

Open Course Library is found in the Student Completion Initiative *(Gates site)

Student Completion Initiative (from the State Board)

An interview with Gates people

Here's another link.

Vocational Education

Vocation Nation

Here's a wikipedia summary.

Vocational Education. Try here and here: Harder to Find right away, but here's a start. And here, too.

In the Basement of the Ivory Tower

Here's a key passage:

America, ever-idealistic, seems wary of the vocational-education track. We are not comfortable limiting anyone’s options. Telling someone that college is not for him seems harsh and classist and British, as though we were sentencing him to a life in the coal mines. I sympathize with this stance; I subscribe to the American ideal. Unfortunately, it is with me and my red pen that that ideal crashes and burns.

Sending everyone under the sun to college is a noble initiative. Academia is all for it, naturally. Industry is all for it; some companies even help with tuition costs. Government is all for it; the truly needy have lots of opportunities for financial aid. The media applauds it—try to imagine someone speaking out against the idea. To oppose such a scheme of inclusion would be positively churlish. But one piece of the puzzle hasn’t been figured into the equation, to use the sort of phrase I encounter in the papers submitted by my English 101 students. The zeitgeist of academic possibility is a great inverted pyramid, and its rather sharp point is poking, uncomfortably, a spot just about midway between my shoulder blades.

For I, who teach these low-level, must-pass, no-multiple-choice-test classes, am the one who ultimately delivers the news to those unfit for college: that they lack the most-basic skills and have no sense of the volume of work required; that they are in some cases barely literate; that they are so bereft of schemata, so dispossessed of contexts in which to place newly acquired knowledge, that every bit of information simply raises more questions. They are not ready for high school, some of them, much less for college.

I am the man who has to lower the hammer.

YVCC Community Colleges

Community Colleges and the New Economy
Unemployed retraining at YVCC
Here's a great story called "Dream Catchers"

Several Presidential Speeches here.

Dream Act

Here's a recent column

Pro and Con on Dream Act

DREAM Act,
NYTimes editorial on the DREAM Act losing steam
based on this article about an undocumented student at Princeton
1) 1) video from PBS
2) NYTimes

YHRepublic Editorial on Financial Aid to Illegal Immigrants

More on Student Aid Bill

Ready By Five

30 Million Word Gap by Age 3

YHR article

Ready by Five website

Gates website

The Details at Gates on Early Learning Strategy (pdf)

Ready by Five at ESD 105

Another YHR article

Washington Learns Research

Here's the final report (pg 51 for CA)

Here's a PPT of the stats

Here's the search page from Seattle Papers

Here's an Editorial from Seattle PI

Weakest Link in WA Learns

Beyond Washington Learns

Seattle Times on WA Learns

One more on College Education and the scholarship offer

Washington Learns and funding

Teachers and Washington Learns

More on Financing

WA Learns and Math and Science

Tuesday, January 18, 2011

Chinese Shools Winning?

China's Winning Schools?
Lack freedom/creativity

Parenting Chinese Style

Here's the article that started the fury.
Readers Freak Out: Here.
NYTimes Debate here.
David Brooks: Amy Chua is a Wimp
from Tiger Mom

Here are some things my daughters, Sophia and Louisa, were never allowed to do:

- attend a sleepover
- have a playdate
- be in a school play
- complain about not being in a school play
- watch TV or play computer games
- choose their own extracurricular activities
- get any grade less than an A
- not be the #1 student in every subject except gym and drama
- play any instrument other than the piano or violin
- not play the piano or violin.

Day 11

English 102 Winter 2011 Day 11

1. Bonus Points this week—Library, Diversity Series, MLA Workshop
2. Comments on blog.

3. Tiger Mom creates a firestorm.

4. Work back: Sarah C, Rachel J and Kristy P are the last 100%ers.

5. How was making your own quiz?

6. Comments on the weekend reading.

7. Let’s put the tables on the boards again.

8. Warming Up: Exploring Ideas
a. Talking and Listening
b. Annotating Texts
c. Listing
d. Clustering
e. Freewriting—5 minutes on how you see your topic addressing the needs of Education in globalized world. 5 minutes on what points it misses.
f. Asking Journalist's Questions
g. Read/Research

9. Basic essay structure.

10. Structure for an “argument” essay with variations.

11. Homework: In any chapter, but especially the articles from this weekend, The Right Stuff and The Quiet Crisis, Find 10 quotes in Friedman that could apply to your topic.

12. Rough Draft due January 24th.

13. Tomorrow in class: Thesis statements and Intros.

Friday, January 14, 2011

Five Articles for Tuesday

USG and PTA

Teaching for America

Laughing and Crying

We're Number 1(1)!

America's Real Dream Team

Bonus Articles:

Swimming without a Suit

The New Untouchables

Day 10

English 102 Winter 2011 Day 10

1. Bonus Points? Who was on the winning team?

2. Homework: Read Five articles linked to above this lesson plan.

3. Pick a topic and begin digging for information that matches/doesn’t match up with the direction proposed in TWIF.

4. Quiz—A couple of notes/changes

5. Warming Up: Exploring Ideas

a. Talking and Listening
b. Annotating Texts
c. Listing
d. Clustering
e. Freewriting
f. Asking Journalist's Questions
g. Read/Research

6. The topics and the Right Stuff—some of this will be obvious, others might need imagination.
7. The topics and The Quiet Crisis
8. On your own, as a class.
9. Basic essay structure.

Thursday, January 13, 2011

A Vision of Students Today

Day 9

English 102 Winter 2011 Day 9

1. Bonus Points?

2. Homework: Read TWIF “This is Not a Test” section on Parenting.

3. Write quiz questions based on chapter “The Quiet Crisis” for tomorrow: Five matching, five fill in the blank.

4. Video: Students today, Changing Paradigms.

5. Community Colleges videos?

6. Warming Up: Exploring Ideas
a. Talking and Listening
b. Annotating Texts
c. Listing
d. Clustering
e. Freewriting
f. Asking Journalist's Questions
g. Read/Research

Obama on Community Colleges





Wednesday, January 12, 2011

Day 8

English 102 Winter 2011 Day 8

1. Check the blog for snow days other than school announced (very, very rare).

2. Library workshops starting.

3. Wednesday bonus points: Open Mic Allied Arts 7pm (5000 Lincoln Ave—Gilbert Park)

4. Homework: Read TWIF “The Quiet Crisis”
Write: A ten question quiz (5 True/False and 5 Multiple Choice) over "The Right Stuff" (please provide a key)

5. Debate debrief
a. Did anyone argue against what they believed?
b. What were the big points?
c. Logos, Ethos, Pathos

6. Where do good ideas come from?

7. The Writing Process—C1

a. Planning
i. Assess the situation.
ii. Exploring ideas
iii. Formulating a tentative thesis
iv. Sketching a plan

b. Drafting
i. Introductions and thesis
ii. Body
iii. Conclusion

c. Revising
i. Global
ii. Revising and editing sentences
iii. Proofreading

d. Presenting
i. Layout and format.
ii. Headings.
iii. Lists
iv. Visuals
v. Academic formatting

8. Assessing the writing situation

a. Subject
b. Sources
c. Purpose and Audience
d. Length and format
e. Reviewers and deadlines

9. Warming Up: Exploring Ideas
a. Talking and Listening
b. Annotating Texts
c. Listing
d. Clustering
e. Freewriting
f. Asking Journalist's Questions
g. Read/Research

10. Organization for a persuasive essay.

Where do good ideas come from?

The Changing Paradigms of Education

Step One in the Writing Process

Rethink Scholarship at Langara 2010 Call for Entries from Rory O'Sullivan and Simon Bruyn on Vimeo.

Start your Research Here

DREAM Act,
NYTimes editorial on the DREAM Act losing steam
based on this article about an undocumented student at Princeton
1) 1) video from PBS
2) NYTimes

And, BREAKING NEWS (ok, it was a year ago):

Bill: financial aid to illegal immigrant students
The Associated Press

OLYMPIA, Wash. Illegal immigrant students could get state financial aid for college under a bill being considered by Washington state lawmakers.

State Rep. Dave Quall, a Democrat from Mount Vernon who sponsored the bill, says many of these students are moved to the United States by their parents at an early age, are groomed in the American education system, and it wouldn't be right to deny aid to qualified illegal immigrant students.

The measure would expand current law to allow illegal immigrant students to be eligible for a state need grant program, which provided around $182 million in financial aid for 72,000 students in 2008.

The House Higher Education Committee has scheduled a Wednesday afternoon hearing on the bill.

The illegal immigrant financial aid bill is House Bill 1706.

YHRepublic Editorial on Financial Aid to Illegal Immigrants

More on Student Aid Bill


Ready By Five Yakima, and Gates Foundation for early learning. Here's a load of stuff.
And here's something that might help. It's a 30 million word gap
Universal Preschol pro/con

Community Colleges and the New Economy
Unemployed retraining at YVCC
Here's a great story called "Dream Catchers"

Vocational Education. Try here and here: Harder to Find right away, but here's a start. And here, too.

Washington Learns

More on DREAM Act and Community Colleges
Higher education and community colleges:
Video here.
Questions here.

State trying to get Latinos in college

Introduction to the Topics

DREAM Act,
Ready By Five Yakima, and Gates Foundation for early learning. Here's a load of stuff.
Community Colleges and the New Economy
Vocational Education. Try here and here: Harder to Find right away, but here's a start. And here, too.
Washington Learns

Organization

Organization

One effective way of ordering the supporting points is to rank them in order of importance and then arrange them as follows:

1. Second most important point
2. Point of lesser importance
3. Point of lesser importance
4. Most important point

Adapting the Argumentative Pattern

Except for the fact that an introduction by definition demands the first spot and a conclusion the last, other sections can be moved around in a variety of effective ways. If the traditional order--introduction, statement of case, refutation, confirmation, conclusion--doesn't suit your needs, try an alternative.

1. Open with the introduction.
2. Refute the strongest opposition point.
3. State the case.
4. Confirm your proposition.
5. Refute the weaker opposition points.
6. End with the conclusion.

1. Open with the introduction.
2. Offer your proposition as an open question.
3. State the case.
4. Examine and refute the opposition.
5. Examine and confirm your proposition.
6. Conclude that your proposition should be accepted.

1. Open with the introduction.
2. Offer a rival proposition.
3. Offer your own proposition.
4. Confirm your proposition.
5. Refute the opposition.
6. End with the conclusion.

Tuesday, January 11, 2011

Day 7

English 102 Winter 2011 Day 7

1. Check the blog for snow days other than school announced (very, very rare).
2. Library workshops starting.

3. Wednesday bonus points: Open Mic Allied Arts 7pm (5000 Lincoln Ave—Gilbert Park)

4. Homework: Read TWIF “The Right Stuff”

5. How to Read in College.

6. The Writing Process.

America and Free Trade: Cage Match

Ricardo is wrong!
Ricardo is right!

7. You will have 15 minutes to come up with your reasons why you are right, why the other side is wrong, and what you anticipate they will say against you.

8. The winning team receives 5 bonus points.

9. Team Debate Format

10. Proposition: Ricardo sez: If each nation specializes in the production of goods in which it has a comparative advantage and then trades with other nations for the goods in which they specialize, there will be an overall gain in trade and overall income levels should rise in each country.

11. Ricardo is Right – 5 minutes

A good introduction that attracts the audience’s attention and interest in the topic
Clearly state each of your contentions
support with reason and evidence
Conclude effectively

12. Cross Ex of the Ricardo is Right by one of the Ricardo is Wrong – 2 minutes
You ask questions about the reasons they give for Ricardo being right.

13. Be courteous

14. Ricardo is Wrong – 5 minutes
A good introduction that attracts the audience’s attention and interest in the topic
Clearly state the Negative’s position on the topic
Support with reason and evidence
Attack and question the Affirmative’s Contentions/evidence
Conclude effectively

15. Cross Ex of the Ricardo is Wrong by one of the Ricardo is Right – 2 minutes
You ask questions

16. Be courteous

17. Rebuttal Speeches
18. (5 minutes to prepare)

19. Yeah But Ricardo is Still Wrong – 3 minutes
Respond to latest Ricardo is Right arguments
Make your final case to the audience that the Wrong position is superior to the Right
Try and convince the audience the Right has failed to carry the burden of proof
Summarize the debate and conclude effectively and ask for the audience to agree with the Wrong position

20. Yeah But Ricardo is Still Right - 3 minutes
Respond to final Wrong arguments
Summarize the debate and show the audience how the Right position is superior –
and the Wrong has carried the burden of proof
Conclude effectively.

Monday, January 10, 2011

Day 6

English 102 Winter 2011 Day 6

1. Names Quiz

2. Ten Flatteners
a. Definition
b. Quote
c. Illustration

3. The Triple Convergence

4. How to Read in College.

5. The Writing Process.

America and Free Trade: Cage Match Tomorrow

Ricardo is wrong!

Ricardo is right!

6. You will have 15 minutes to come up with your reasons why you are right, why the other side is wrong, and what you anticipate they will say against you.
7. The winning team receives 5 bonus points.

8. Team Debate Format

9. Proposition: Ricardo sez: If each nation specializes in the production of goods in which it has a comparative advantage and then trades with other nations for the goods in which they specialize, there will be an overall gain in trade and overall income levels should rise in each country.

10. Ricardo is Right – 5 minutes
A good introduction that attracts the audience’s attention and interest in the topic
Clearly state each of your contentions
support with reason and evidence
Conclude effectively

11. Cross Ex of the Ricardo is Right by one of the Ricardo is Wrong – 2 minutes
You ask questions about the reasons they give for Ricardo being right.

12. Be courteous

13. Ricardo is Wrong – 5 minutes
A good introduction that attracts the audience’s attention and interest in the topic
Clearly state the Negative’s position on the topic
Support with reason and evidence
Attack and question the Affirmative’s Contentions/evidence
Conclude effectively

14. Cross Ex of the Ricardo is Wrong by one of the Ricardo is Right – 2 minutes
You ask questions

15. Be courteous

16. Rebuttal Speeches (5 minutes to prepare)

18. Yeah But Ricardo is Still Wrong – 3 minutes
Respond to latest Ricardo is Right arguments
Make your final case to the audience that the Wrong position is superior to the Right
Try and convince the audience the Right has failed to carry the burden of proof
Summarize the debate and conclude effectively and ask for the audience to agree with the Wrong position

19. Yeah But Ricardo is Still Right - 3 minutes
Respond to final Wrong arguments

Summarize the debate and show the audience how the Right position is superior –
and the Wrong has carried the burden of proof
Conclude effectively.

The China Delusion?

Here's a link to a more hopeful look at our position.

Here's an article from last year about the debate over will the Chinese catch up in science?

The Basics: College Essay

The Basics

Outlines

Intro paragraph—often written last
Hook
State background of the case
Lead naturally in to:
Thesis statement towards end (Arguable, Narrow, One-Three Sentences, changeable)

Body Paragraphs—

Supporting Your Thesis

Basic order, a few twists.

When you're getting started: pick your best point and write that paragraph first then your next best until you get to your least persuasive point.


Topic sentence at the top.

Anticipating your opposition

Sandwich quotes

Signal phrases.
Evidence.
Connect/Cite the evidence.
One paragraph, at least should be devoted to making the case against your ideas and then “unmaking” them. Try, Some might argue that… but I argue that…

Conclusion
Keep it short.
Reinforce main point

10 Flatteners

Ten flatteners

Friedman defines ten "flatteners" that he sees as leveling the global playing field:

#1: Collapse of Berlin Wall--11/'89: The event not only symbolized the end of the Cold war, it allowed people from other side of the wall to join the economic mainstream. (11/09/1989)

#2: Netscape: Netscape and the Web broadened the audience for the Internet from its roots as a communications medium used primarily by 'early adopters and geeks' to something that made the Internet accessible to everyone from five-year-olds to ninety-five-year olds. (8/9/1995). The digitization that took place meant that everyday occurrences such as words, files, films, music and pictures could be accessed and manipulated on a computer screen by all people across the world.

#3: Workflow software: The ability of machines to talk to other machines with no humans involved. Friedman believes these first three forces have become a "crude foundation of a whole new global platform for collaboration."

#4: Open sourcing: Communities uploading and collaborating on online projects. Examples include open source software, blogs, and Wikipedia. Friedman considers the phenomenon "the most disruptive force of all."

#5: Outsourcing: Friedman argues that outsourcing has allowed companies to split service and manufacturing activities into components which can be subcontracted and performed in the most efficient, cost-effective way.

#6: Offshoring: The internal relocation of a company's manufacturing or other processes to a foreign land in order to take advantage of less costly operations there. China's entrance in the WTO allowed for greater competition in the playing field. Now countries such as Malaysia, Mexico, Brazil must compete against China and each other to have businesses offshore to them.

#7: Supply chaining: Friedman compares the modern retail supply chain to a river, and points to Wal-Mart as the best example of a company using technology to streamline item sales, distribution, and shipping.

#8: Insourcing: Friedman uses UPS as a prime example for insourcing, in which the company's employees perform services--beyond shipping--for another company. For example, UPS repairs Toshiba computers on behalf of Toshiba. The work is done at the UPS hub, by UPS employees.

#9: In-forming: Google and other search engines are the prime example. "Never before in the history of the planet have so many people-on their own-had the ability to find so much information about so many things and about so many other people", writes Friedman. The growth of search engines is tremendous; for example take Google, in which Friedman states that it is "now processing roughly one billion searches per day, up from 150 million just three years ago".

#10: Wireless: Personal digital devices like mobile phones, iPods, personal digital assistants, instant messaging, and voice over Internet Protocol (VoIP).

Wiki For TWIF

Here's a wikisummary for TWIF.

May not be version 3.0.

Friday, January 07, 2011

Day 5

English 102 Winter 2011 Day 5
1. From the paper today: Mexico/Us trucks and tariffs.
2. Quiz Chapter 1 TWIF
3. Correct Quiz.
4. Homework: Read The Triple Convergence and America and Free Trade (we’re skipping The Great Sorting Out for now).
5. Ten Flatteners
a. Definition
b. Quote
c. Illustration
6. We’ll continue this on Monday if needed.

Trucks and Tarifs

New rules for both, increasing trade with Mexico from the Valley.

Thursday, January 06, 2011

Where are the Jobs?

Overseas

Where are the jobs? For many companies, overseas

By one estimate, 1.4 million new positions created by U.S. firms went elsewhere.

Scholarships

Mary Monroe Davis Scholarship (Rotary Clubs of Yakima)
Scholarship amount: up to $7.500 PER YEAR
Applicants must meet all of the following qualifications:
• U.S. Citizen
• Yakima County resident
• High School senior, HS graduate, GED, or current college student
• Will be enrolled full time in a two- or four-year college or university for the entire 2011-2012 academic year
• Pursuing first Associate’s or Bachelor’s degree

Application is available between Jan. 4 and Feb. 15, 2011 at:
http://sms.scholarshipamerica.org/marymonroedavis
Application deadline: February 15, 2011

Jack Kent Cooke Foundation Scholarship
Scholarship amount: up to $30,000 PER YEAR
Applicants must meet all of the following qualifications:
• 3.5 GPA
• Sophomore status by December 31, 2010
• Plan to enroll full time in a bachelor’s degree program beginning fall 2011
• Demonstrated academic excellence and significant financial need

Application is available at:
www.jkcf.org
Application deadline: January 19, 2011

YVCC Foundation Scholarships
Scholarship amount: Varies depending on specific scholarship.
Applicants must meet all of the following qualifications:
• US Citizen or alien registration number
• Plan to enroll full time beginning fall 2011
• Graduating high school student, GED, or current YVCC student
• Although it depends on the specific scholarship, a GPA of 3.0 or better is generally required to be competitive. Individual scholarships and criteria are listed in your YVCC catalog.

Application is available between January 3 and March 15, 2011 at:
www.yvcc.edu/aboutyvcc/foundation


Application deadline: March 15, 2011

How to Read in College


Here's a great site from Penn State.

Sometimes it's called "annotating"

Here's my short take on it:

Why do it?
Save time.
Better evidence.
Better comprehension.
More interesting.

1. Don't read in bed.
and don't read with TV/Music
2. Don't use a highlighter in the book.
3. Look for things going in.
4. Make assumptions.
5. Ask questions.

Here's what my book looks like.

6. At outline stage, go back through and make a list of pages and quotes.

The Other Side of Outsourcing

Day 4

English 102 Winter 2011 Day 4

1. From today’s paper: Retention up at YVCC, Governor’s Education Plan (here's her press release).
2. Names and Faces.
3. What about books?
How to Read in College

4. Chapter 1: While I Was Sleeping
a. Let’s cover the big stuff first:
i. Globalization 1, 2, 3
b. Now, what about the surprises?
c. His conclusion.

d. Quiz on this chapter tomorrow.
5. Homework: One of the 10 flatteners. We’ll put them together tomorrow.

Wednesday, January 05, 2011

The Battle for Seattle

Friedman Gets Pied

Friedman on Stewart and Colbert

The Daily Show With Jon StewartMon - Thurs 11p / 10c
Thomas Friedman
www.thedailyshow.com
Daily Show Full EpisodesPolitical Humor & Satire BlogThe Daily Show on Facebook



The Colbert ReportMon - Thurs 11:30pm / 10:30c
Thomas L. Friedman
www.colbertnation.com
Colbert Report Full EpisodesPolitical Humor & Satire BlogMarch to Keep Fear Alive

Day 3

English 102 Winter 2011 Day 3

1. Roll.
2. Hand back suggestions for English 70 students.
3. Questions about the class.
4. Ditch Your Laptop, Dump Your Boyfriend--comments, highlights.
5. Photos will have to wait one more day. Quiz will be on Monday.
6. Reading Schedule.
7. Topics for your first essay.
8. Homework: While I Was Sleeping.
9. Videos?

Tuesday, January 04, 2011

Day 2

English 102 Winter 2011 Day 2

1. Roll.
2. Hand in suggestions for English 70 students.
3. What did you say?

BP: Other Bonus Point Opportunites--Library Workshops.
Only these are options: Copyright, Plagiarism, Elibrary, Facts on File, OPAC, Primary Sources, Proquest, Topic and Thesis, Types of Information, Web Evaluation. Attend and bring a page of notes the next day for +5 BP or -1 ABS.

4. Assumptions about the class.
5. Assumptions about me.

6. In new groups—brief discussion. Whole class.
a. The Hunt
b. An argument
c. Get Lost
d. Don’t Alienate
e. Play politics
f. Go the wrong way
g. Off-campus life
h. My Crush
i. Change Course

7. Photos.
8. For tomorrow—Ditch Your Laptop, Dump Your Boyfriend.
We'll discuss tomorrow, but it will be looser.
9. Get The World is Flat 3.0.

10. Questions about the class.
11. Questions about me.

Monday, January 03, 2011

Syllabus

Yakima Valley Community College-- English Composition 102:

The Valley and The World

Dan Peters, Instructor (dpeters@yvcc.edu 574.6800.3194)

Winter 2011

Course Description:

The second of two college-level courses, English 102, will continue to require clear, unified, coherent, and well-developed essays of increasing complexity. While consideration of audience is an inherent part of the writing required in English 101, students in English 102 will learn to consider more explicitly the role that audience plays when they write. In seeking to gain credibility with their audience and to persuade others to their point of view, students will write extended arguments. Through reading, writing, and discussion, students will continue to examine their own assumptions and opinions and to consider the facts and reasoning of others. In their writing they will bring to bear a variety of texts to support their arguments as they learn basic research techniques and the documentation conventions of the Modern Language Association or comparable style sheets from other disciplines. Extended research, the province of English 203, will not be required.

Prerequisites:

English 101

Course Outcomes:

Upon completion of the course, the student will be able to

  • Write clear, unified, coherent, and well-developed extended essays that employ primary and secondary sources in writing.
  • Demonstrate an understanding of those sources and their relevance to the arguments being advanced.
  • Employ documentation conventions, as specified by the Modern Language Association or other style sheets, in support of extended arguments.
  • Conduct research using a variety of sources, such as library collections, electronic databases, and/or other sources in support of extended arguments

Abilities:

  1. Students will have the opportunity to practice the following Abilities as they meet course objectives: Analytical Reasoning (AR) and Communication (C).

Required Texts

  • Class Matters, Bill Keller, ed.
  • The World is Flat, version 3.0 Friedman
  • A copy of a reputable college dictionary
  • Recommended: A Writers Reference, Sixth Edition, Hacker
  • 3 ring binder, highlighter pens, blue & black ink pens, email address, thumb drive, computer at home with internet connection, Microsoft word

  • Required Work
  • Three complete assignment sequences. Sequences will center on Globalization and the Yakima Valley. These sequences will include various prewriting activities, a rough draft and a second draft of all three essays.
  • Preparation for class activities, often by reading outside of class.
  • Participation in class discussions and activities.
  • Attendance.
  • Quizzes over readings.
  • Various homework assignments, as needed.
  • Publish/Present your work.

End of Quarter Grade:

30% Work before Final Draft

70% Final Drafts

93= A 90= A- 87= B+ 83= B 80= B- 77= C+ 73=C 70=C- 67=D+ 60=D 59 and below= F

General Requirements for essays

  1. All essays/exercises are due on the date assigned.
    1. No late work accepted. Email, friends= fine.
  2. Essays will vary in length. They should be double-spaced, in a normal sized (10-12 point) font or type comparable to Times New Roman. Essays not meeting the minimum length requirement, and/or the use of a larger than normal font, or large margins, will have a reduced grade, depending on the amount of text missing. Works Cited pages, graphics, charts, etc. do not count toward the minimum page requirement.

  3. All essays must be typed or printed on a computer printer.

  4. Essays must be typed in MLA format.

  5. Keep a HARD COPY of your essay, so that you will have a back-up in case of loss, disk crash, etc.. Anyone working on computer should have a back-up copy of his/her essay on disk.

  6. Do not expect to receive the same grades on these papers that you have received in the past. My criteria for grading are very different and possibly more demanding than those with which you have worked previously. Moreover, while effort tends to improve the quality of the paper,

your grade will be based on the quality of your paper alone,

not the amount of effort you put into it.

There is no final exam.

Be Here, Now

If you miss 5 classes for any reason, you will lose one letter grade.

If you miss 8 classes you will lose two letter grades.

If you miss 10 classes, you will be withdrawn from the course.

An absence will be recorded if you arrive 15 minutes late or leave 15 minutes early.

Please, turn off the electronics, come on time and lean in.

Course Adaptation: If you need course adaptations or accommodations because of a disability, if you have emergency medical information to share, or if you need special arrangements in case the building must be evacuated, please talk with me as soon as possible.

Day 1

English 102 Lesson Plan Day 1

  1. Learning Begins with Questions.
  2. Three questions--to the left, about the class, about me.
  3. Three assumptions--to the right, about the class, about me.
  4. Pictures
  5. To the left: shirts--on the board.
  6. What are you going to do with your college education?
  7. Careers, current/anticipated on board.
  8. Syllabus read.
  9. There are used copies in the bookstore now, but limited supply. I'd like you to have TWIF 3.0 by Friday at the latest. This means ordering it online today. Also, libraries and bookstores will all have copies. Make sure you get the right copy: 3.0.
  10. A couple of additions: yvccenglish102.blogspot.com
  11. Office Hour 830-930
  12. Frequent BP offered, but only up to 100% of prewriting grade
  13. Homework 1: Read Advice to Students--print out your favorite and read it again with a pen/pencil and mark it as you read.
  14. Homework 2: Write a paragraph to a page of advice for English 70 students about college. Typed or handwritten ok. (5 points)
    1. BP: Post your paragraphs to the blog for one bp.
    2. All posts on the blog will be collected at the end of the month.
    3. Each comment is worth a point as long as it is on topic and over a sentence in length.
    4. If you have gmail, you can log on using that account. If not, you can easily sign up, but it's not required.