Blended Instruction: The Roaring Twenties Meets Coursesites

Prepared by Diane Waldron

For EDU 699

Professor Waters

What is Coursesites.com?

Entering “AmericanLit 2013: Junior English”

What students see when they enter “Junior English”

Resources

Resources, continued

“The Great Gatsby” Course Folders

Contents of the Pre-reading Folder

What the Survey Looks Like

The Pre-Reading Discussion Forum

At the discussion forum, students click on “Create Thread”

An example initial post…

Is it okay to stay with someone who you simply stopped loving for the rest of your life? No it is not okay! I strongly disagree that "when two people get married they should stay together no matter what". If you stay with that person I can guarantee you that you will live a miserable life. You will be subjected to lack of love and affection. We are humans and having someone else's love is vital to us as an individual. Yes, I know that there are some circumstances where there are children involve in the relationship, but it does not define whether staying together or getting a divorce would be the best solution. Just to let you know there have different options. For example sharing the custody of the child but living separately is one. What do you think?Today society plays a major role in "brainwashing" humans mind. There is a dilema on whether a male has the right to physically abuse a women. In this case I certainly agree that "It's never all right for a man to hit a women." First of all, on the minute a male puts his hands on a women he his envading her personal space as well as her unalienable freedoms. Why would you personally hit a women? Just to shut her mouth when you are mad? It is not worth! you are better off by leaving the setting. Sit down and think about your action, what would be the consequences. It is proven that women are much smaller and weaker than guys. And how can a women defend herself? By kicking a guy on his testicles? Trust me my fellow guys, you better respect a woman! Show them that your mother and father tuaght you how to treat a women.

Two Replies…

I absolutely agree with your statement that it doesnt matter if two people are married, they should totally have the option of not being together anymore. Alot of times, people who have been married just stop loving each other for whatever reason. Or even in some situations, they feel that they should end it because it will avoid bigger issues in the future. There are many different scenarios of this touchy subject but overall i feel that even if two people are married, they should have the right to seperate if thats what they wish.

I would also have to agree with you and *****, if two people decde to not be together so be it. Communication is the key to LOVE without if its just two people and thier feelings not really a relationship. As i witness to my parents reunion i can honestly say that thier is more communication and that was the reason for the break up. ten years later they have repaired the love with communication and the skills nessasary to keep a relatonship.

Setting Assignment

“View Rubric”, a handy feature

Discussion Forum Rubric 1

The Discussion Forum RubricThe Discussion Forum Rubric assesses students in five areas:

Analysis of Question/Topic

Responses to Classmates

Respect

Mechanics

Length

Analysis of Question or Topic• Novice 1 (5%) points

• Posting is inaccurate or does not address question or topic.

• Competent 2 (10%) points

• Initial discussion board lacks accuracy and detail

• Proficient 3 (15%) points

• Initial discussion board post lacks some accuracy or detail

• Advanced 4 (20%) points

• Initial discussion board post is written accurately and with detail

Discussion Forum Rubric 2

Responses to Classmates

• Novice 1 (5%) points• Responds to 1 classmate; demonstrates

little awareness of initial post• Competent 2 (10%) points• Responds thoughtfully to 1 classmate• Proficient 3 (15%) points• Responses (2 or more) are thoughtful

and on topic but do not advance the discussion

• Advanced 4 (20%) points• Responses (2or more) are thoughtful,

on topic, and advance the discussion

Respect• Novice 1 (5%) points

• Postings and responses are disrespectful in tone

• Competent 2 (10%) points

• Postings and responses are somewhat disrespectful or sarcastic

• Proficient 3 (15%) points

• Most postings and responses are respectful in tone

• Advanced 4 (20%) points

• All postings and responses are respectful in tone

Discussion Forum Rubric 3

Mechanics

• Novice 1 (5%) points• Postings contain more than 6

spelling, punctuation, or grammar errors

• Competent 2 (10%) points• Postings contain 4-6 spelling,

punctuation, or grammar errors• Proficient 3 (15%) points• Postings contain 1-3 spelling,

punctuation, or grammar errors• Advanced 4 (20%) points• All postings are mechanically and

grammatically correct

Length• Novice 1 (5%) points• Initial postings are fewer than 75 words

and responses are fewer than 30 words• Competent 2 (10%) points• Initial postings are fewer than 100 but

more than 75 words in length and responses are fewer than 50 but at least 30 words in length

• Proficient 3 (15%) points• Initial postings are at least 100 words in

length and responses are fewer than 50 but at least 30 words in length

• Advanced 4 (20%) points• Initial postings are at least 100 words in

length and responses are at least 50 words in length

Chapter One Folder

Chapter Two Folder

Chapter Two Blog Entries

• The best type of narrator is the third person omnicent, there are multiple reasons why this is the best type of narrator. For one this narrator tells you about the story without being involved, while the third person limited is told by someone who has some type of involvement with the story and their version could be biased of, wrong because they can become inebriated. The third person omnicent compared to the first person point of view is the same as the third person limited, but the first person also dosn't have as much info as the third persons. Though overall the Third person omnicent is the best as it is told by a narrator that has nothing to do with the story, and probably has all the information already.

Blog Entry #2

• I believe that the third person omniscient point of view is the most reliable because they may know the thoughts and feelings of two or more characters. Unlike first person point of view and third person limited point of view, the third person omniscient ideas are not based just on one character perspective. On the contrary, ideas are based on the combination of many characters perspectives. Here the narrator’s reliability might help us understand the theme better than the first person point of view or third person limited point of view could have. I think including more than one type of point of view will help us understand a character with more depth as well.

Blog Entry #3

• I believe the best narrator is first person. Although, compared to third person omniscient who may know more character's thoughts and feelings, when its coming from within that ONE person you get more reliable information. With third person omniscient they can be possibly hiding certain key points from us, thus making it harder to believe in them because what would be their reasoning as to keeping something away from the reader ? Would they be so reliable then ? The information being hidden may be exactly what's needed to further understand a situation or character. When you tell a story first-hand, some may believe its bias, but technically whether the narrator is talking about his own thoughts or someone else's its based on his/her perspective. We will never be able to know what the third person omniscient narrator is hiding or how much they know that they are not willingly sharing with the readers. Some people may not have the gift of being able to CORRECTLY read a person and determine how they think so i don't think it makes them RELIABLE. If i'm asking you personal questions about YOU i have a bigger chance of finding out the truth rather than you guessing what someone else's answer might be since they're on the outside.

Chapter Three Folder

Chapter Three: Introducing the Group Project

Chapter Four

Chapter Five

Chapter Six

Chapter Seven

Chapter Eight

Chapter Nine

Post-Reading Folder

Completed with many thanks to Professor Waters and the

students in Honors English.