kudos: february

Congratulations to the following students on their college admissions, scholarship wins, and amazing accomplishments!

Paige Logan (Admitted to Cal Poly SLO/Political Science, San Diego State, CSULB)
Alex Hunter (Admitted to CSULA, Cal Poly Pomona, Fresno State)
Malik Pope (Admitted to San Jose State)
Erica Marquez (Admitted to San Jose State)
Summer Morgan (Admitted to CSULB)
Daniel Rucker (Santa Maria Elks' Club Scholarship)
Gabi Pereverziev (Admitted to Sonoma State)
Amanda Cagle (Admitted to Arizona State University)
Jake Hoffman (Admitted to CSULB, Stanislaus State, CSUN)
Ashley Hong (Admitted to CSULB)
Miranda Nillo (Admitted to St. John's University with $18k/year scholarship; admitted to CSULB; admitted to San Diego State University; admitted to University of Pacific with $6k scholarship)
Becky Aldrich (Admitted to UC Irvine)
Serena Nichols (Admitted to SDSU, Arizona State University with $12k/year scholarship)
Sarah Stevens (Admitted to CSULB)
Kendall Villa (Admitted to Cal State Monterey Bay)
Micaela Hellman (Admitted to CSULB and CSUSM)
Marisol Duarte (Admitted to San Diego State, UC Riverside, CSULA; Dell Scholarship semifinalist)
Taylor Duguran (Admitted to Cal Poly SLO)
Bailey Wineman (Admitted to Cal Poly SLO)
Izamar Diaz (Admitted to UC Riverside)
Annette Sousa (Admitted to University of La Verne, Cal Poly SLO)
Kristen Crockett (Admitted to Cal State Monterey Bay)
Elisia Estrada (Admitted to San Diego State, Sonoma State, CSULB) 
Becky Aldrich (Santa Maria Chamber of Commerce Scholarship)
Meghan Martella (Admitted to Cal Poly SLO/Civil Engineering)
Sarah Stevens (Admitted to San Diego State)
Micaela Hellman (Admitted to San Diego State)
Jenna Noce (Admitted to Cal Poly SLO)
Allyson Brown (Awarded Full Tuition Scholarship at Ohio Wesleyan University)

If I missed anyone, or if you've done something amazing since I posted this, please let me/us know in class or comment below.

february 28

JOURNAL TOPIC: [today's tunes: "Non, Je Ne Regrette Rien" by Edith Piaf; "No Regrets" by Tom Rush]

As Alexander Graham Bell observed, "When one door closes another door opens; but we so often look so long and so regretfully upon the closed door, that we do not see the ones which open for us."  What doors are open for you right now?  What opportunities do you have to take a positive step in the world that leaves a valuable footprint in this community?

AGENDA:
1. Journal
2. ...

novelist wants feedback

This just in:

If you're interested, you can visit Jon's blog by clicking HERE.

february 27

JOURNAL TOPIC: [today's tunes: "Pick Up Sticks" by Dave Brubeck; "Nosey Joe" by The Brian Setzer Orchestra]

"You can pick your friends, and you can pick your nose, but you can't pick your friend's nose."  What is the point of this saying?  How might it apply to your collaborations?  What can you/we do for each other, and what do you have to do for yourself?

AGENDA:
1. Journal
2. Blaudit
3. Growing your network
4. MGOTM 

HW:
1. Resource/vocab
2. Recruit 20 peer followers to your network (faces/avatars should be on your blogs by Monday 3.3)
3. Identify 5 potential experts who can serve as role models and/or endorse your work (post under title SUPER 5)
4. Reminder: Literature Analysis #2 due TOMORROW

february 26

JOURNAL TOPIC:

Tomorrow morning you wake up to discover that you are utterly alone.  (This is a familiar premise that narratives from "Twilight Zone" to "28 Days Later" have used.)  There are no neighbors, relatives, passersby, zombies-- absolutely no one.  What will you have to learn to survive?  How will you determine the value of what you learn without someone saying "good job" or giving you a grade?  Assume nothing and take nothing for granted: explain your next moves in detail.

AGENDA:
1. Journal
2. MGOTM: "Team [Your Name Here]"

• Get to know everyone in the room and discover what they're working on.
• Find ways to share content, experiences, contacts, and skills.
• Identify five people as your "go to" support system (Note: you will eventually include Members in all 608 classes, but start with people in your class today)-- this will become the core of your peer network.  Besides providing immediate help and reinforcement, it will give you a foundation to work with as you expand.
• Consider what/who else you need in your network
• Take notes on it all so you can do the HW easily (or simply write your notes on a device and upload in a post to your course blog)

HW:
1. Resource/vocab
2. In a post entitled MY TEAM, publish your thoughts from class today.
3. Literature Analysis #2 due this Friday, 2.28

february 25

JOURNAL TOPIC: ["People in Your Neighborhood" by the cast of Sesame Street; "That's Cooperation" by the cast of Sesame Street]

Report on your findings from last night's homework.  Who are the people that can help you?  Who is doing work that you find interesting?  What are you seeking that you will have to find outside our immediate network?  Important: how can you leverage these relationships to everyone's benefit?

AGENDA:
1. Journal
2. MGOTM: network viability & strategies
3. MGOTM: what's next?

HW:
1. The thing that's next

february 24

JOURNAL TOPIC:

Choose your own.

AGENDA:
1. Journal
2. Vocab quiz

HW:
1. Resource/vocab
2. Build your network; consult the "Masterpiece Gallery" and choose 5-10 classmates you want in your network.  Post to your blog (title: WELCOME TO MY NETWORK) and invite people to join your network.  Visit the blogs of those 5-10 people and tell them you'd like to collaborate.
3. Reminder: Literature Analysis #2 due this Friday, Feb 28

masterpiece gallery

Here, in your own words, are the projects you've embarked upon.  This list is a pile of unopened presents; each person and topic represents a world of skills and ideas that can enrich the rest of us.  As you read the list, consider who is working in your field and who is working on something that requires talents that can help you.  This is your most immediate network; if nothing else, everyone here understands what you're beginning to accomplish. 

Note: I'm aware that some of you have already pursued new directions, so please feel free to expand your thinking in the comments.

Also Note:  If you have any trouble with the document through docstoc, please email and I will send you the .pdf.


masterpiece gallery periods 0 and 1.pdf

february 21

JOURNAL TOPIC: [today's tunes: "We Run This" by Missy Elliot; "Upside Down" by Jack Johnson]

Everything you know about school is being reversed in this course.  The student is at the top of the organizational chart; the teacher, the community, and the tools of the Information Age all work for you now.  As the CEO of your personal learning organization, you recognize that power brings responsibility-- most importantly, the responsibility to evaluate your performance and set a course that leads to success.  So, today's journal topic is this: how are you doing on your masterpiece so far and where do you see it heading?  Are you satisfied with the work you've done so far?  Do you see opportunities we haven't discussed?

AGENDA:
1. Journal
2. Evaluations and essay topics

HW:
1. Continue finding resources (one per day)
2. Study this week's vocabulary for quiz on Monday (2.24)
3. Post MASTERPIECE ESSAY #1
4. Reminder: Literature Analysis #2 due next Friday (2.28)

february 20

JOURNAL TOPIC:

Winston Churchill once said, "Personally I'm always ready to learn, although I do not always like being taught."  To what extent is this true for you?  Please explain your answer.

AGENDA:
1. Journal
2. Blogs: Peer Review

• Determine "best of show" by table--rank every Member Blog in your class period from top to bottom based on yesterday's criteria (no one sent in pics of the board, so you'll have to rely on your notes/classmates for the list);
• Ask someone to stand at the front, ask each table for results based on yesterday's criteria, and compare lists to identify the Top 5;
• Please leave the group lists and the class's Top 5 on my desk.

HW:
1. Resource/vocab
2. List five topics or prompts that you think would make a good topic for your first "masterpiece" essay this weekend.
3. Reminder: Literature Analysis #2 due Friday, Feb 28

february 19

JOURNAL TOPIC:

Describe three qualities that make you want to view a website/blog.  Describe three qualities that make you want to avoid/click away from a website/blog.

AGENDA:
1. Journal
2. Vocab tests
3. P2P blog evaluations

HW:
1. Resource/vocab
2. Evaluate, comment, and report on five Member Blogs in a post entitled PEER REVIEW

csf

the facebook comment that ruined a life

"Approximately one hour after Justin Carter posted a sarcastic comment on a Facebook thread, his life began to ­unravel."  Read the full article here.

february 18

JOURNAL TOPIC: [today's tunes: Vote on a song to sing as a class. If you can come to consensus (everyone agrees with enthusiasm) in less than three minutes, organize yourself as a choir, get someone to point a phone camera at it, and belt the song out at the top of your lungs. If you can't come to consensus in less than three minutes, today's tunes will not be vocalized.]

Reflect on the experience above. What factors facilitated and/or challenged the group's ability to come to agreement? Did leadership emerge? In what form-- was it an individual who took charge, a small group, or the power of an idea? Did you see any lessons for America's democracy in the process?

AGENDA:
1. Journal
2. MGOTM: share your resources, prep for vocab quiz Wednesday, and work on Literature Analysis #2

HW:
1. Study vocab for quiz Wednesday
2. Resource + five new vocab words
3. Work on Literature Analysis #2 (due Feb 28)

driving fish

february 14

JOURNAL TOPIC: [today's tunes: "My Funny Valentine" by Gerry Mulligan & Chet Baker; "California Love" by 2Pac]

How will the love you express today be remembered tomorrow?

(P.S. Help those poor people who paid 3x the price for roses this week by being a role model for love the other 364 days.)

AGENDA:
1. Journal
2. MGOTM: vocab/resources, collaboration, finalize marketplace list of people/masterpieces

HW:
1. Study current vocab for quiz next week
2. Find 3 more resources (next week is a short week) and vocab
3. Work on Literature Analysis #2 (due 2.28)

georgia senior launches m.i.t. acceptance letter into space

[Originally posted 2.7.12]


Erin King recently received her admission letter from MIT. Then she sent it into space.

The story (originally posted on BoingBoing) is below the video.




"My name is Chris Peterson. I run web communications for MIT Admissions and have been a loyal BB reader for years. For the last several years we have been sending our admitted students their acceptance letters in cardboard tubes. First because we sent a poster, but now it's its own thing. 2012 is the anniversary of an old MIT balloon hack, so we put a letter in all of the Early Action admit tubes telling them we wanted them to hack the tubes somehow, and set up http://hackthetubes.mitadmissions.org to collect responses. Lots of them are great, but this one, from Erin King (MIT '16) in Georgia, is the best."

february 13

JOURNAL TOPIC: ["Join Together" by The Who; "Come Together" by The Beatles; "With a Little Help From My Friends" by The Beatles]

Today the focus is on collaboration.  As you think about the direction your masterpiece is headed, what additional skills/talents/resources would help you?  What skills/talents/resources do you have that might help someone else?

AGENDA:
1. Journal
2. Interdependence
3. MGOTM: help & get help; resources/vocab

HW:
1. Post WITH A LITTLE HELP FROM MY FRIENDS
2. Resource/vocab
3. Reminder: Literature Analysis #2 due 2.28

12 year-old launches hello kitty into space

Cory Doctorow posted this story over at boingboing:

february 12

JOURNAL TOPIC: [today's tunes: "(What A) Wonderful World" by Sam Cooke; "The Seeker" by The Who; "Redemption Song" by Bob Marley & The Wailers]

Think of any object or event in your life.  Now imagine all the academic subjects that might have something to say about it.  Driving a car becomes a study in physics, computer programming, psychology, energy... Falling in love becomes a meditation on poetry/song, (more) psychology, probability, biology... Describe something in your life that can be enriched by a deeper awareness of the leading edges of human understanding. 

AGENDA:
1. Journal
2. Interdisciplinarity (continued)
3. MGOTM

HW:
1. Revisit your WELCOME TO THE INTERDISCIPLINARITY post
2. Resource + vocab (Note: this is a short week, so plan ahead and make sure you have 20 vocab words to post/define/use by COB Friday)

february 11

JOURNAL TOPIC: [today's tunes: "There Was an Old Lady" Nursery Rhyme by British Council

There was an old lady/who swallowed a fly/I don't know why/she swallowed a fly/I guess she'll die.  How does this qualify as a nursery rhyme worth passing down from generation to generation?  Seriously?  I've been wondering about this my whole life.

AGENDA:
1. Journal
2. Launch party/blog audit
3. Vocabulary quizzes
4. Singularity v. Interdisciplinarity

HW:
1. Find a resource (and five vocab words)
2. If you know someone who hasn't launched please help him/her off the ground
3. Brainstorm the disciplines included in your chosen field/s and post to your blog (title: WELCOME TO THE INTERDISCIPLINARITY)

strategy guide for life

Check out Oliver Emberton's strategy guide for life.

please watch this

A former student of mine just sent this to me. Watching it was eerily familiar & super inspiring, and I'm going to see if Chase has a few moments to talk with us. In the meantime, in the best traditions of critical thinking/"don't take my word for it"/"If you meet the Buddha in the road..." etc., please have a look this weekend. If your time is limited don't miss 17:00-24:00.


Chase Jarvis from Chris Guillebeau on Vimeo.

february 7

JOURNAL TOPIC: [today's tunes: "We Are Young" by Fun; "Psychedelic Sally" by Lionel Hampton, from the album "Fun"]

Describe a time when you got so interested in a school assignment that you forgot it was for credit.  If you haven't had this experience, describe a time when you got so "into" what you were doing that you lost track of time.  If you haven't had that experience either, think back on your childhood and describe the last awesomely creative thing you did that was so cool it still puts a smile on your face.


AGENDA:
1. Journal
2.  "Request for Response"
3. MGOTM: vocabulary audits, blog audits, writing your LAUNCH post, planning for next week
4. 1-1 mtgs

HW:
1. Post your LAUNCH [Your Launch is the formal, polished version of the thinking you've been doing for the last 2 weeks.  Recipe: start with your answers to those six questions; stir in the feedback you've gotten in class and on your blog; cook until the idea is complete enough for you to commit to; check in with peers and/or Preston if you need to; write.]
2. Study your vocabulary
3. Bring your resource total to 12 (find one more and/or catch up) and post [RESOURCES: 1], in which you explain where you looked, what you found (please list the resources and summarize the ideas you got out of them), and where your research suggests you look next.

request for response: powerful commentary on the death of philip seymour hoffman

Introducing a new feature of the course:

Request for Response

Every once in a while I will share an essay that is, IMHO, well-written and thought-provoking.  I will ask you to comment with an observation on each of those perspectives.  Both are designed for you to demonstrate your abilities in the core skill areas associated with Expository Composition.  Offering your views on the writing and reasoning will show your ability to analyze a nonfiction text.  Responding to strong perspectives with articulate, well-organized arguments will show your critical thinking skills and your ability to collaborate through dis/agreement.  The way you write about both topics will show your ability to communicate effectively.

The reason I am calling this feature "Request for Response" instead of making it mandatory is that you are all working independently now, which makes you seem more like colleagues.  And when I want a colleague to do something I ask.  Nicely.  Please share your thoughts.  I look forward to reading them. 

Please Note: The texts do contain some mature subject matter.  The first is an article by Russell Brand in The Guardian discussing the death of Philip Seymour Hoffman and drug policy.  The link is after the jump; clicking "Read More" indicates you've previewed the topic and want to read the text.

february 6

JOURNAL TOPIC: [today's tunes: "Man in the Mirror" by Michael Jackson {axed by request in favor of "Seven Nation Army" by The White Stripes}; "Deep Dark Truthful Mirror" by Elvis Costello; "Mirror in the Bathroom" by The English Beat]

As of this moment, how does your blog reflect who you are and how you think?  How can you make it a more accurate portrayal?

AGENDA:
1. Journal
2. MGOTM: resources, vocabulary, blog audits
3. 1-1 mtgs

HW:
1. Find a/nother resource and publish your first vocab list to your blog (MY VOCABULARY #1)-- NOTE: the words are your choice, the process is old-school: words, definitions, sentences/remixes.

kansas teen uses 3-D printer to make hand for boy

Read the story here.  Then think of something amazing to do today.

february 5

JOURNAL TOPICS: [today's tunes: "You're Nobody 'Til Somebody Loves You" by Frank Sinatra; "Zip A Dee Doo Dah" by Rosemary Clooney]

Why do we get such a cheap thrill when we get a text or an email?  Why do people feel "phantom vibrations" even when their phones aren't on?  Why do you give a crap about what anyone else thinks of you?  Why does it matter how many likes/followers/comments show up online?

AGENDA:
1. Journal
2. Building your personal learning networks
3. MGOTM (= table conversations + 1/1 mtgs)

HW:
1. Resource
2. Make your (network list), check it twice, & bring to class tomorrow (Thursday)

february 4

JOURNAL TOPIC: ["Today" by Smashing Pumpkins; "Days Like This" by Van Morrison]

Today is February 4.  Charles Lindbergh's birthday (and my childhood friend Adam's), and probably the anniversary of a bunch of other stuff.  Why do we attach importance to dates?  Why not celebrate Valentine's Day or any other observation of love & kindness today?  Why does the Super Bowl have to be on a Sunday?  Is this indicative of ritual and routine, culture/belonging, or does it matter?

AGENDA:
1. Journal
2. Welcome to the launchpad

HW:
1. Draft your LAUNCH: [YOUR TITLE HERE]

• What am I passionate about?  What do I want to do?
• How can I use the tools from last semester (and the Internet in general)?
• What will I need to do in order to "feel the awesomeness with no regrets" by June?
• What will impress/convince others (both in my life and in my field)?
• How will I move beyond 'What If' and take this from idea --> reality?
• Who will be the peers, public, and experts in my personal learning network?

2. Find a resource/vocabulary

february 3

JOURNAL TOPIC: (today's tunes: "Monday Night Football" ("Superstar" A.K.A. "Heavy Action") by Johnny Pearson; "ABC's Wide World of Sports" by Jack Shaindlin & Irving Robbins; "TV Party" by Black Flag)

Yesterday Americans celebrated an unofficial national holiday by eating 30 million pounds of snacks and sitting around the house.  Why?  What is it about the Superb Owl that everyone finds so compelling?  Do we watch because everyone else is, or because we all did it last year, or because...?  Choose an author who wrote about the (dystopian or utopian) future and imagine how s/he would answer the question.

AGENDA:
1. Journal
2. Vocabulary quiz

HW:
1. Find one resource in your masterpiece field; read it, take notes (including vocabulary words), & bring to class tomorrow (Tuesday, 2.4)