Hi everyone, and happy (sunny!) Tuesday. I hope you all had lovely (long) weekends!
I know the past few weeks’ Schedule changes have been hard to keep up with, but the good news is that yesterday was the last one for a while. From now until Thanksgiving, the college calendar runs as normal (whew!). I’m certainly glad to return to a more regular schedule, though I’m sure we’ll all be looking forward to that time off by the time the end of November rolls around 🙂
Thanks all for your work last week: the reading annotations in Perusall, your participation in Class Discussions, and your individual blog posts about what makes you curious. This week, we’re getting deeper into research (and Unit 2), drafting more fully formed research questions, and starting the research process itself. As promised, we’re also going to take a deep-dive into the Unit 2 assignment itself through a Writing Workshop.
Because we missed Monday classes this week due to the holiday, I’ve extended the Wednesday/Friday deadlines for this week to 11:59pm. This is something many of you had asked for in your Check-In Student Surveys recently, so I’m glad that I can offer you these extensions this week 🙂
All details about this week’s work are, as always, are posted on the Schedule page. Please do keep up with the deadlines, especially the one for the Research Question blog post (W 10/12 by 11:59pm). I will be providing feedback on Thursday to each student on their topic/question, provided that they submitted their post on time.
Remember that research topics have to be approved by me, and it is likely you will have to go through a number of iterations of refining (or perhaps even changing) your topic before you get to one that will be appropriate for this assignment. Having a clear, focused question is the key to a successful outcome for Unit 2!
Friendly reminder that my next Office Hours are on Thursday (10/13) from 11:30am-12:30pm. Feel free to pop by to discuss your research project (narrowing down your topic, finding / evaluating / annotating sources), get feedback on your work / progress in the course more generally, or just to say hi! It’s always lovely to see your faces and get to talk with my students 🙂
We’ll also continue to use this space to address any questions you might have for this week’s work, so comment below for that as you see fit.
*Later this week I’ll also be posting updates on grades / course progress, so stay tuned on that front!
Finally, we’re going to continue with what we started last week: using this space to have low-key conversations to support one another and to build community.
Therefore, the first thing you should do for this week (after reading this post and the Week 8 Schedule) is to comment below to say hi & tell us something about how things are going for you. Last week a handful of you participated (thanks!), but this week we’re aiming to get everyone’s voice in the mix.
Again, you can share something interesting you did recently, something you’re excited about, how your semester is going, post a photo you took and tell us why you like it … anything really. It would be super-awesome if you would also ask a question in your comment to engage the other students (and on the flip side, if you would respond to other students’ questions). It’s all fair game — just show some signs of life, engage, maybe even have some fun! It can be SO easy to feel isolated and lost in college, especially around this time of the semester, and especially in an asynchronous course. So let’s motivate and support one another through the process — we’re all in this together
Looking forward to continuing the conversation below. Thanks everyone, and have a wonderful week!
i guess i question i have is can our research project be any topic or does it have to be specific, and also how will we conduct the research like an essay? or just writing as if were teaching the class on our topic?
Hi Brianna! You can choose any topic you’d like, but it does have to be focused/specific and approved by me (I want to make sure that you are setting yourself up to be successful for this assignment). As for the research / product, that is all explained in the Unit 2 assignment given to students back in Week 6: https://openlab.citytech.cuny.edu/belli-fa2022-eng1101-ol05/unit-2-reflective-annotated-bibliography/
I encourage you to re-read that now — even more details coming in the Unit 2 Writing Workshop going live later today.
Hello, I hope everyone is well and enjoying the sunny day! I would like to research about Creation vs Evolution. My question is: When the topic will be approved?
Hi Indira! Topics are approved on an individual basis, after I read through / provide feedback on student topic blogs (they are not due until tonight). As I mentioned, I’ll be providing feedback on those on Thursday (in comments on the posts), and topics will either be approved then or I’ll ask for some revisions and we can take it from there. It’s a process 🙂
Good morning!
Noted, thank you.
hey everyone, hope everyone is doing well.
my question is: what is your favorite motivational quote? Not to get personal but I’ve been feeling down lately. college is getting hard to balance but I’m still trying to do my best.
Hello Lizbeth, sorry to hear that, we all at some point are feeling down, but the good thing is that you can reach for some help. You are not alone!! I like a quote of Martin Luther King Jr. “The ultimate measure of a man is not where he stands in moments of convenience and comfort, but where he stands at times of challenge and controversy,”
And what is giving me a lot of strength are these words: (not trying to disrespect, IDK your beliefs) but I will share.
John 16:33
“In the world you will have tribulation. But take heart; I have overcome the world.”
Isaiah 41:10 (NIV)
“So do not fear, for I am with you; do not be dismayed, for I am your God. I will strengthen you and help you; I will uphold you with my righteous right hand.”
Philippians 4:6–7 (NIV)
Do not be anxious about anything, but in every situation, by prayer and petition, with thanksgiving, present your requests to God. And the peace of God, which transcends all understanding, will guard your hearts and your minds in Christ Jesus.