Week of March 28 - April 3

This week is Spring Break. Have a wonderful and relaxing week.

I will still be available by email on and off all week. My response time may be a bit longer this week, but I will still be around.

See you next Sunday!

Furlough Day Reminder

As a reminder, Thursday, March 25th is a furlough day for me. I will not be holding office hours. I will however, be checking my email on and off, but not consistently. I will resume checking my email consistently on Friday.

Gosh I can't wait until this furlough stuff is over......

Until Friday......

Recap of Discussion

The discussion week of Feb. 28 through March 6th was very interesting. I was hoping folks would come up with a variety of advertisements to discuss, and you did just that. I noticed quite a few diverse advertisements, and the discussion you all had about them did not disappoint.

I truly hope this weeks discussion will be equally as interesting, considering I have given you much more freedom. I'm sure you all will do great this week. But I must remark, the week of Feb. 28th through March 6th was one of the most active discussions we have had in our class. There was more participation during that week, mostly about the 'seductive' advertisements, but it was lively participation nonetheless.

Side Note: I must comment on your discussions over the course of the semester so far. Some of the concepts covered in the text have been quite difficult to grasp. Each of you have done a magnificent job of understanding the course concepts and explaining them on your respective blogs. Even when there is ambiguity in the book, you all have rallied together, read over each others blogs and understood the concepts fairly well. I keep reading comments like, "I was unclear about the concept until I read your post. You did a great job of explaining the concept". YES YES YES!!! This is exactly what this blogging thing is all about. It is about creating community, engaging in diverse ideas and helping each other out to understand difficult concepts. This is EXACTLY what I had hoped for my Comm 41 courses. Both of my Comm 41 classes has impressed me. Good job everyone!

Grades Updated

Hello Folks!

I have updated grades. Please log onto Blackboard and check your grade. Do this often to avoid contacting me at the very end of the semester with questions about your grade.

I will blog again later.

Until then......

Week of March 21 - 27

Hello Folks!

We are going to try something a little different this week to enhance the diversity of the ideas we are covering in the class. I am going to give you free reign to chat about whatever you would like this week as it pertains to Chapter 8 - General Claims. See the questions below for what to blog about.

*Read Chapter 8 - General Claims
*Participate in Week 9 Discussion
*REMINDER: Critical Evaluation of a Social Organization is due this Friday by 11:59pm. Please submit early to avoid late penalty.

Class Discussion: Answer one in each of your three posts, at least 12 hours apart:

1). Discuss one concept in Chapter 8 that you found useful. Please explain the concept and give a personal example or personal story.

2). Discuss the usefulness of the first or second major course assignment. Use specific examples.

3). Pick one concept from the assigned reading, that has not already been discussed during this discussion week, that you found useful or interesting, and discuss it.

Remember to post 3 responses to your colleagues blogs during this discussion week.

Week of March 14 - 20

Hello Folks! I hope you all are adjusting to the time change.

This week you have only one thing due - the MIDTERM! The midterm is available from 12:01am on March 14th and ends on March 20th at 11:59pm.

Please log on to Blackboard and go to Assessments on the left hand side of the page. You have 75 minutes to complete the midterm which consists of 50 questions.

Review the Exam Page prior to starting the midterm for the quiz and tests parameters (I am not referring to past quizzes, rather the page marked "Exam" when you first log into Blackboard from the homepage) . The Exam Page also contains the chapters that are included on the midterm. Feel free to use any notes and the book during your exam.

Please do not give out any test questions or answers. You can review the Academic Integrity Policy on the SJSU website.

It will be a bit quiet around my blog this week, but please stop by anyway in case I post something about the midterm or the class.

Good luck on the Midterm, and as always, I'm available to chat over Yahoo Messenger during office hours, to answer emails and to chat over the phone if needed.

Have a good week everyone! :)

Spring Forward!

Hello Folks!

Please remember to turn your clocks forward and hour tonight.

I will post again tomorrow morning. Have a fabulous Saturday!!! :)

Week of March 7 - 13

Here is what's on the Schedule and Participation Pages for this week:

*Read Chapter 6: Compound Claims

*Read Chapter 7: Counterarguments

*Meet with your small group to work on Assignment #2 - Critical Evaluation of a Social Organization. Since there is NO DISCUSSION this week, it is HIGHLY SUGGESTED that you meet with your groups about the second assignment. I will post tips about writing the second assignment to my blog this week.

*Complete the Argument Mapping Tutorial: CLICK HERE to go to the tutorial.

MIDTERM: As a reminder, the midterm exam is next week. It will cover chapters 1-7, 9 & 11. Please start studying early. You are more than welcome to study in groups, but the midterm is AN INDIVIDUAL EXAM. Please do not share questions/answers with anyone - you must work alone on the exam.

REMINDER: March 11th is a furlough day. I will not hold office hours, answer emails or conduct other SJSU business on that day.

Friday

Hello Folks! I will return your first assignment by Friday night. I want to look them over one more time to make sure I'm grading fairly across the board.

Expect an email by 11:59pm tomorrow, hopefully much earlier, but probably in the evening sometime.

Until then.......

Grades Posted for 2/14-2/20

Hello Folks!

I have posted discussion grades for the week of 2/14 to 2/20. Please look over your grade and let me know if you have any questions.

As always, grades in this class should be fairly clear. Remember, clarity starts with the student. If I am not aware that you are unclear about a grade, how I can clarify it for you?

All parameters for discussion are listed on Blackboard, and of course, I'm more than happy to chat with folks about their grade in case something is unclear. I'm available during office hours on Tues-Thurs. from 9:00am to 11:00am. We can also chat through email, and of course over the phone. Again, I love chatting with students - y'all should know that by now. I must add, I have had a great time chatting with my students this semester. :)

I hope you all have a wonderful evening.