“Joy is of the will which labours, which overcomes obstacles, which knows triumph.” -- William Butler Yeats

photo © 2007 Brandon Fick | more info (via: Wylio)


Congratulations on a successful completion of the first semester!

Take time over the break to relax, reflect, and rejuvenate.

Take stock of all your growth and accomplishments, and make a plan to push yourself even further next semester. This semester is just the start of something much bigger.

Watch the videos that are (and will be) posted -- they are all unique and impressive, and I think we learn something from watching each one.

Thanks to Lee and Kaitlyn for making videos to share with us; I continue to be inspired by our SCSU peer mentors (especially Kaitlyn's leadership, dedication, perserverance, and intensity and Lee's energy, profundity, honesty, and intensity)!

Come find me next semester if you need me...but also go and do your own thing -- you're ready for what comes next!

Creative Inspiration

In another post, I referenced creativity guru Keri Smith who always inspires me. She has a great post on her blog that everyone should read; it's called "Secrets of the Self Employed (or How to be an Amazing [insert profession here])" and it lays out some basic guidelines that are applicable to many professions and pursuits. Some of my favorites from this post are:

-- You are always working for yourself, even when you work for others.

-- There are no actual rules for how to become a successful [insert profession here]. Make your own path.

-- What you think becomes your reality.

-- Take some small risks on a regular basis.

-- Always come back to work that excites you. Even if you get off track for a while.

-- You can reinvent yourself at any time.

Sometimes in the midst of stress (like finals week), it's hard to see these truths, but I believe they are truths that can help us focus on the bigger picture. Read the rest of her post -- there's a lot of food for thought there.

photo © 2010 Ganesha Balunsat | more info (via: Wylio)

INQ Experiments and Results

photo © 2006 Anna | more info (via: Wylio)


Each INQ class is an experiment: how can we aid the transition from high school? how can we prepare students for the academic challenges that await them beyond the first semester? how can we not just teach them the tools of success but let them experience success? This last one is so important to me. For example, I can tell students how to manage time or ask them to read articles on it or have them fill out worksheets on it, but until they truly experience juggling lots of tasks for a specific deadline, then they don't know how they personally react or how best to manage it themselves. And all students are different and have to figure out what works on their own. INQ is all about whatever the student puts into the experiment and whatever the student gets out of the experiment.

Here, at the end of the semester, I am proud of my students' many accomplishments, but I know that I can't take credit for them. They are not my accomplishments; like everything else in INQ, they belong to the students.

But I do want to acknowledge those accomplishments:

I have seen students gain confidence in blogging, writing entries that were fluid, fun to read, and creative, not just fulfilling assignments. I have seen students come up with creative titles, themes that carry through the semester of blogging, and openers and closers that make the writing professional.

I have also seen students master lots of technology, from embedding videos in blogs to using iMovie and Windows Movie Maker to converting files into various formats. In the videos, I have also seen creativity, humor, professionality, engaging openers and thoughtful closers.

I have seen students become engaged in classroom discussion, even some who didn't want to talk or felt shy in the beginning of the semester. I saw students go from not understanding what "college level thinking" was to becoming the questioners, the ones who pushed the envelope in class discussion.

I have seen students distinguish themselves, capitalize on their strengths and present their work and ideas with pride and confidence. But this skill didn't come at the expense of others, since I saw much support and camaraderie among students instead of competition. I saw students give feedback because they knew what they were talking about but gave it in constructive, helpful ways.

The first semester is not an easy semester, and INQ is not an easy class (in some ways), but at the end of it all, I see many students showing me that they're prepared for the coming semesters, that they know what to expect and how to achieve their goals. All I can say is, "Good for you. You worked hard at this experiment and deserve all the positive results that have come out of it."

The Ongoing Process of Becoming a College Student; Cultivating Habits of Mind

As the semester winds down, I've asked everyone to do some reflecting over what has been achieved, and I want to add a few thoughts. Transitioning from high school to college is a long process, one that takes more than just one semester to completely achieve. However, I have seen much transition already. Many of my students have made significant progress in replacing college-level habits of mind with high school habits. Let me clarify:

High School Habits

Lack of Confidence and Independence
Complaining
Panicking when faced with something new, difficult, confusing
Not Doing an Assignment if it's hard
Slacking
Waiting for the teacher to tell you what to do
Procrastination
Completing the Minimum Requirements and Expecting an A
Thinking that the Teacher is in charge of the Learning Experience
Memorization

College-Level Habits

Confidence, Independence
Buckling Down to do the Hard Work
Relishing a Challenge
Starting an Assignment as soon as you get it
Making a Plan for finishing assignments in a timely manner
Taking Responsibility to Figure Things out
Taking Risks
Going Beyond the Minimum Requirements
Knowing that the Student is in charge of the Learning Experience
Critical and Creative Thinking

This all doesn't happen in the first semester; it is a process that is ongoing throughout college, but does happen gradually with continuous commitment and reflection. The gains you have made so far will hopefully continue throughout your college career. By the time you graduate, the university expects that you will acquire a basic level of general education, specific tools and training for your major, and these intangible skills and habits that prepare you in important ways for the careers that await you after college.

photo © 2007 Beverly | more info (via: Wylio)


**Update: Congratulations to Shekira who exemplified College Habits of Mind by finishing all of her blog posts and her final self-assessment two weeks early! (Kudos also to Lyndsay who completed her self-assessment already!)

Wrapping Up the Semester's Work

A few students asked about events on campus that could help finish their Campus Safari Assignment. This week, the University Choir has its concert today, the Creative Music Orchestra has a concert tomorrow, there are a couple of small ensemble performances Wednesday, and the University Concert Band has their semester-end performance Thursday. There are also a number of other events happening as always. See the university's Events Calendar for more details.

Our "Blogging the University" Assignment is also coming to an end. Here is what the last few weeks look like:

This week: 1) Write a post that describes what your ideal life after college would be like (this idea was inspired by Creativity Guru Keri Smith who has a similar prompt here.) 2) Reflect on your experience in a learning community (the same group of students placed in two classes) and tell us what you'll miss most about this group next semester.

Next week: 1) Discuss your greatest successes and failures/weaknesses from this first semester. 2) Discuss your personal, social, and academic goals for next semester.

Finals week: Post your Final Self-Assessment.

photo © 2009 Jeff Golden | more info (via: Wylio)

Final Self-Assessment Assignment

All semester we have talked about how necessary it is to be able to know how to assess college-level work and to be able to self-critique. The tools for improvement and assessment should not be a secret held by the professor, but instead a regular part of the learning process for students. A self-assessment assignment is a common way for professors to see not just what students have learned but how well students understand where they are in the learning process and where they need to improve.

Today in class I asked students to go one step further and design the self-assessment assignment, literally defining the criteria for assessment. The students did an excellent job of crafting the assignment, noting the specific requirements and grading criteria, while also leaving a lot of room for personal interpretation within the assignment so that each final product would not need to be a cookie cutter piece of writing. These self-assessments will be the last blog posts for the semester, and, in my opinion, provide a perfect closure to our collective blogging.

As always, I can't wait to read them! (If you are an INQ student, check email for the assignment created by today's class members.)

Drafts of Final Video Projects are due!

Check out these four video drafts which have been posted already:

1) Victoria's video on studying abroad in Hungary to find out more about her roots

2) Alexis' video on her dream to become a singer in NYC

3) Lyndsay's video on what inspires her

4) Kristen's video detailing her plan to become a nurse

Update: A few more have been uploaded since I posted this, and I reconfigured my list of blogs on the sidebar so it shows most recently updated first. Also, just about everyone who posted drafts is asking for feedback, so leave a comment or question to help them think about where to go with their projects.

“Downtime is to the brain what sleep is to the body” -- Dr. Rich, Harvard Medical School.

This article, the next in the technology series from The New York Times that we have been reading, might interest some of you: "Growing Up Digital, Wired for Distraction."

One part of this article (page 3) reminded me of the conversations about the importance of downtime that we've had in class; researchers found in rats that the brain does not do the important work of learning from a new experience until it has time to stop and reflect and process that experience:

In that vein, recent imaging studies of people have found that major
cross sections of the brain become surprisingly active during downtime.
These brain studies suggest to researchers that periods of rest are
critical in allowing the brain to synthesize information, make connections
between ideas and even develop the sense of self.

There are many connections here to the everyday lives of college students, but I was also thinking that this article raises a good argument for not taking a winter session class, at least in your first year, since your brain needs a little downtime to process all the work you've been doing this semester. Instead of taking another class, maybe relax, or go skiing and give your body some rejuvenation as well.

photo © 2008 vuorikari | more info (via: Wylio)

Perfectionism and Procrastination and Charlie Brown

Today's discussions of perfectionism and procrastination reminded me of this video from the show "You're a Good Man Charlie Brown." Enjoy!

Photo Ops

I love all the pictures from today's activity. Here are a few:

"Imagine life as a game in which you are juggling five balls in the air..." Brian Dyson, CEO of Coca Cola, 1959-1994

photo © 2008 Ted Ollikkala | more info (via: Wylio)


Today's in-class assignment, the problem-solving scavenger hunt, was an exercise in taking initiative, responding well to unanticipated demands and deadlines, tackling a big assignment with creativity and a positive attitude. It was not, I promise, an attempt to make you crazy, but instead an attempt to give you a simulation of a real-world workplace situation, in order to have some concrete experience to tie into this week's readings about employer expectations. Instead of simply sitting in class and discussing the readings, I was hoping to give you a feel for the types of problem-solving and critical thinking skills potential employers look for in hiring. Sample assignments are used regularly in hiring as well as in competition for assignments within the workplace. Your performance on a sample assignment communicates a number of things about your skills based on how well you could cope under the stress of a deadline, how well you were able to handle the time constraints and group dynamics, how well you used the resources available to you and/or looked to outside sources to problem-solve, and finally, how well you interpreted and completed your final product.

Today's assignment contained a number of similar challenges, by design. Each group didn't really have quite enough time to complete all of the tasks well (even if time wasn't wasted in figuring out what was going on). Therefore, you needed to think strategically about how to obtain the most items in the shortest time and simultaneously manage your time to leave enough space at the end to collect everything and send it to me. You needed to assess your group's strength's and weaknesses and figure out the best game plan. You needed to work quickly and efficiently on the process of the assignment, but still manage to put together a convincing product as well. It was a challenge.

Reactions were mixed, based on the few students I talked to along the way, and some students ended this activity not impressed by the learning experience, but instead simply reaffirmed in their assessment that I am a jerk, or perhaps crazy. Some groups, though, relished a chance to get out of the classroom and move around, and some even had fun. In terms of the actual assignment, some groups did complete all the items and got them to me on time, but many did not. On Thursday, I want to return to the discussion of the readings but also revisit the ways in which this activity connects to the readings; I want to talk more about what we did, why we did it, what the results were, and how it relates to our overall learning project.

Photo Blogging Solutions

Including photos that you've taken yourself is always a bonus in a blog post, but sometimes you don't have an appropriate one and don't have time to snap one right then. Early on in the semester, we discussed how to find legal photos to post, and in experimenting with the process, discovered that it can also be time consuming. Check out this article which offers some solutions:

Find Photos For Your Blog In Three Easy Steps

photo © 2008 George Eastman House | more info (via: Wylio)


The article suggests a service called Wylio. I tried it, and it was great -- finding this picture took under a minute from start to finish!

Maintaining an Uphill Motion in the 2nd Half of the Semester

Disclaimer: This blog post is going in a few different directions and has multiple purposes instead of one unified and tight structure. Try to bear with me; I think it's just that time of the semester, but I've added internal titling to help organize it a little.

Mini-recap: I love reading the blogs. Your writing has progressed and become distinctive. I feel like I'm reading bloggers, not just students.

Mini-pep talk: As the end of November approaches, it is important to hunker down -- work hard and work steadily -- through these last weeks of the semester in order to maintain the average you worked for in the first half of the semester. Also, you want to go into finals week feeling prepared, haveing done the work, ready to end the semester on a positive note. No one wants to be extra-stressed, trying to cram in all that information you should have gotten all semester into one hectic week, so just do the work over these next few weeks so you can ensure your sanity (and good grades).

Mini-lecture: This week, ten students (that's 1/4) didn't complete one or more blog posts, and a few students still need to resolve what week's blog posts they're writing (most have this cleared up, but a few problems linger). Some students have stopped including pictures or links. Reminder: blogging is 40% of the final grade. Some students are missing campus safari assignments as well. I am hoping that everyone is using these light-reading weeks to work on the final projects; second drafts are due next week uploaded to the internet for easy screening. Hold it together and don't engage in self-defeating behavior (very common at this point in the semester).

Mini-assignment: You already have your blogging assignments for this week, and you already have work to do in the form of your final project. In addition, for this week, I'd like you to read the following pieces:

1. Job Skills that Every College Student Needs: Writing, Speaking, Professionalism, and Other Important Knowledge

2. Going pro: Transforming college students into professionals

3. What Do Employers Really Want? Top Skills and Values Employers Seek from Job-Seekers

We will discuss these in class this week and maybe have an in-class writing (mini-hint ).

Distinguishing Yourself through Leadership and Service

This week, in the context of work on our final projects, we have been talking a lot about distinguishing yourself on campus. See the following announcements for ways to be a leader and/or to help with community service initiatives planned by other INQ classes:

FRESHMEN CLASS OFFICER POSITIONS NOW OPEN!
Freshmen elections are taking place. Any student who is interested in running for a freshmen class officer position may pick up a candidate information packet in the Office of Student Life, ASC, 212. Completed candidate forms are due back to the Office of Student Life by Friday, Nov. 12 at 12:00 PM. Online elections will take place Nov. 18-23.

SNEAKER MOUNTAIN Nov 15-19, 2010
NIKE is sponsoring SCSU’s Sneaker Mountain. Donated shoes will be provided to communities in need, or recycled into playground and athletic surfacing. Donate your unwanted shoes all week under the tent in the Academic Quad. OR get a free shirt from NIKE at the men’s basketball game on Wed. Nov 17th at 7:30 pm (for the first 100people who donate a pair of shoes at the door).

ADOPT-A-FAMILY
Students from one INQ class would like to unite all inquiry classes in a combined effort to serve our community. The goal is to help those in need by donating non-perisable food items to the Adopt-A-Family organization, the Coordinating Council for Children in Crisis or the 4 C's. As a combined group effort we can provide enough food to brighten up a family's day and allow them to see the good in the world once again. The hope is that each class will be able to fill one box of can goods. The boxes should include baby food, canned meats, vegetables, ceral, hygiene products etc. The boxes are due at the Adanti Student Center by Thursday November 18th. You can pick up the boxes from the Student center anytime before that to get started. We encourage each class to participate since it is a great thing we will be doing.

http://www.southernct.edu/officeofstudentlife/communityserviceopportunities/adopt-a-family/

Blogging, Blogging, and more Blogging

www.nataliedee.com

The next few weeks will be busy in most of your classes as the second part of the semester kicks in, and in INQ, you will need to manage your time to work on your final video project while still completing readings, blogging, and campus safari assignments. To help with that, I've decided to give you the blogging assignments for the next 3 weeks. Here they are:

Next week:

1) Write about a cool place to study on SCSU's campus, the more unknown or off-the-beaten-path the better. Include a picture of the location.

2) Write about a class where you are feeling intellectually stimulated and explain why specifically.

The following week:

1) Write about a difficult situation you have been in this semester and how you handled it.

2) Think of an example from your life when you were a leader, and write about it. What was the situation, why did you step up to be a leader, what was the result of that, what do you think about it?

Thanksgiving week:

1) Post the second draft of your final video project online, explain where you are with it and what you would like feedback on from your peers.

2) Write a post about food.

Midterm Blog Recap and New Assignments

Last week's blog posts on "going outside your comfort zone" were interesting and entertaining to read. They produced some of the best writing of the semester. Some students went to scary, Halloween-related events, some went to college parties, one changed a diaper, and one went bowling (all potentially fright enducing depending on your personality). But most of the posts concluded that overcoming the initial fear was worth it, and sometimes even fun. This quote from Julie's blog sums up that spirit found in a lot of this week's posts:

"Dance in the rain. Never give up on yourself. Don’t be afraid to come alive. The answers are everywhere."

The midterm grade reflections were a mixed bag. I was glad to see that a significant number of students were in good shape, had been working hard, managing their time well, putting in a lot of effort, and were reaping the benefits of that hard work with good grades so far. Most noted that they planned to continue with that regimen in order to ensure that they kept up those grades through finals. A significant number of students also reported that they weren't satisfied with their midterm progress, but most planned to "buckle down" in order to try to bring those grades up by finals. I am hoping that everyone will take that seriously. Midterm is not too late to bring up grades, but only if you work even harder to compensate for a weak start to the semester. That means you have to actually follow through on all your resolutions and good intentions, not just talk about it. For example, as much as I was glad to read about every all the formidable work-habits goals set in this week's posts, I was dismayed that 14 out of 37 students did not complete one or both blog posts this week (and remember that both 0% and 50% register as an F). I recognize that Inquiry 101 is not the sum of your lives, but 14 Fs in one week is too much, especially for those trying to maintain high grades or bring up low grades.

In closing, I want to steal an image from Lyndsay's blog which captures the theme of the semester: the challenge of trying to study hard and get good grades while also adjusting to independence and leaving a little time/space to discover yourself...



This week's blogging assignments:

1) Write a post that follows up on Tuesday's discussions of the articles on grade inflation, etc. Don't just recap what was said in class; try to take the discussion further in some way and add new information or ideas.

2) Do something this week that helps relieve stress, and blog about it. Relate your own experience but also try to give your readers some good, new, ideas about stress relief.

Critical Thinking Video

I sent out (via email) the final project assignment, and I want you to spend a lot of time this week brainstorming on the what, how, why, etc. of your final video. To aid in that process, watch this video:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6OLPL5p0fMg

and check out this website on critical thinking:

http://blog.iqmatrix.com/mind-map/becoming-an-outstanding-critical-thinker-mind-map

Majors Expo!

Don't miss this great event where you can learn about all the majors available at the university: http://www.southernct.edu/news/majorsexpohelpsst_280/

The Majors Expo is on Wed., Oct. 27, 2010, from noon to 3 p.m. in the Adanti Student Center Ballroom. The Majors Expo is a unique opportunity for students to explore the majors and minors that Southern has to offer, while learning about career opportunities that relate to their majors.

Blogging (and Video Blogging) the University

“I believe the term “blog” means more than an online journal. I believe a blog is a conversation. People go to blogs to read AND write, not just consume.” (Michael Arrington)

Lots of people, both within and outside of INQ, are involved in the conversation on "blogging the university." Did you know that Southern's current president, Dr. Stanley Battle, has a blog? What an amazing way to gain access to the thoughts of someone students may never see at the university. Check it out here.

This week, our INQ classes have posted their midterm videos on their blogs (21 out of 37 successfully posted so far), and I am excited about how unique they all are, representing diverse voices throughout the university and touching on many different topics that are important to college students. I encourage everyone to watch several videos to see the range of choices made and technological expertise represented. Try to give some feedback on the videos in the blog comments, and think about which if any are in "A range" in terms of assessment and why specifically.

For next week's blogs, here are your two assignments:

1) Do something that is outside your comfort zone (not dangerous obviously, just new and different) and blog about it. Tell us what you did and why and how it turned out.

2) Reflect on your midterm grades (as a whole, not just for INQ). Are you where you want to be/expected to be? If so, why and what has been working? If not, why not and what can you do to change it? Finally, set some specific goals for yourself for the remainder of the semester.

As always, I am looking forward to reading your blog posts, and this weekend, I am looking forward to re-watching your videos.

Upcoming Assignments

To further our discussion of grading and assessment for next week, please read the following articles:

1. "Grade Inflation in American Education"

2. "Student Expectations Seen as Causing Grade Disputes"

3. "Generation Me: Are We In A Narcissism Epidemic?"

And if you haven't yet read the piece "Have College Freshmen Changed?" that I suggested in an earlier blog post, please read that as well.

One of your blog posts for next week will ask you to respond in some way to these readings.

For your second blog post, please post your midterm video project with a few words of introduction and/or reflection (can be shorter than usual).

Midterm Grades

Midterm grades present a moment to reflect on your progress so far and set goals for the rest of the semester, in all classes, not just INQ. In this class, the midterm grades are a snapshot of where you are in the class so far, but are a limited snapshot. They don't include the two video projects which make up a good portion of your grade (and are graded somewhat differently), and the midterm grades only include 6 out of 15 weeks of blogging. The blog grade really dominates the midterm grade average because overall blogging is 40% of your grade. For the midterm grade, the other things taken into account are Class Preparation and Participation, In-class Writings, and a small bit of the Campus Safari.

Again because it is only truly based on the first 6 weeks, things are a bit compressed. For example, if you got a zero on an in-class writing because you didn't watch a video, it is one of only about 6 in-class writings, instead of one in 15. Or, if you have done part of an assignment, that too, might weigh on you. I often remind students how important it is to complete the whole assignment and answer the whole question on exams, etc. If you wrote about the articles we read in your in-class writing but didn't connect them to the video, you completed 50% of the assignment, which is an F. The same holds true for blog posts: 2 are due each week, so if you do only one, the highest amount of points you could receive is 50%. There are close to 10 students in my two classes who have missed 5 or more blog posts, out of 12. That gives you an F or close to it for a significant portion of your grade so far. However, things like participation and preparation, for most of you, brought your grade up a bit.

Why am I telling you this? So you can make a plan to bring your grade up if needed or else make a plan to maintain your grade without letting it slip as the semester progresses. If you're not sure how to do that or what areas need work, or if you're confused about your midterm grade, please plan to come to office hours and talk to me about it before you let things go longer without getting clarification or help.

Here is the grade breakdown for my two classes:

Grade and #of Students:

A range: 9

B range: 17

C range: 2

D range: 5

F: 2

"Have College Freshman Changed?"

This is the question that The New York Times poses in its opinion pages this week. All first year students in INQ should read this because:

1) It talks about you and your generation

2) It connects to the stuff about identity and autonomy that we discuss in class (and Lee will be doing a bit more with)

3) It relates exactly to the stuff we'll be discussing concerning grading and grade inflation

I hope to solicit your ideas on these pieces next week in class, and I think it will prompt a good discussion.

Lightning Strikes

I just returned from the soccer tournament where our team tied for first place (we might have won, but lightning made us all leave early). Despite the fact that not too many of my students were able to participate in this event, it was somewhat of a success in that it was a cross-class and cross-year collaboration. From one class, Niko, Gaby, Oscar, and Kaitlyn all came out to play; from the other class, just Jacob; but my peer mentor Ben from last year played with us, and my former student Erin, now also a peer mentor also put on borrowed socks and shoes to play (now that's dedication!)

Thanks to all who played! Next year...water polo?



(Cindy Stretch's nicely outfitted team)

Soccer Tournament is On Tonight!

We play at 9:00 in the Field House! Come out and play or support us! Wear green!



(If not enough players come, we will have to forfeit or I will have to recruit my daughter to play and it's way past her bedtime. Also, remember, no cleats.)

Blog Recap: Building Community

One of the best things about the FYE/INQ program is the way it helps build community. The students in the FYE learning communities can rely on each other as a support network to help them integrate into the larger SCSU community. Each year in INQ, I see many students forming tight bonds, friendships that last beyond their first year. This week, in the blogs, I saw lots of connection and interaction happening through blogging. Many students acknowledged other students' writing as setting an example of what makes a "good" post. I especially liked that these "shout outs" crossed between the two classes; students often read and linked to blogs in the other class, even if they didn't personally know the writer. In this, I saw the INQ community-building widen a bit more. Be sure to check out this week's posts and see who said that your blog was cool -- thank that person and maybe introduce yourselves in the comments.

Another way the two classes can strengthen this community building is by coming to the soccer game Monday night to see about 4 or 5 students from each class (and Kaitlyn) play in the next round of the tournament. Communities are all about support -- so come and support your peers outside of the classroom!

Finally, the moment you all have been waiting for...



This week's blogging assignment:

1) Reflect on the role of the peer mentor in the INQ class: what works? what does having a PM add? what have you learned from your PM?

2) (back by popular demand) FREE CHOICE!

The Southern Fugees

I just returned from the Freshman Soccer Tournament, and we won and advanced to the next round thanks to a winning penalty kick scored by our team captain Niko. We didn't have enough players, so Kaitlyn and I both played (and I have a bruise on my knee to show for it because, of course, I fell). In fact, our team was a hodgepodge of players, including my peer mentor from last year, Ben, who played in dress clothes and shoes. Ben said we looked like The Fugees compared to the other team.

In fact, the other team were true winners because they had 11 people from their class there and they had decorated T-shirts with their names and team name on them -- and they looked awesome and showed a lot of spirit. I'm hoping our class can rally some more folks to come out for our next game (and we can better coordinate where to go -- I was told we were playing outdoors on the field but due to rain we played in the field house itstead).

Picures to come hopefully, both of the IN.CREW Team uniforms and of my bruise.

College = Freedom: Shaping your own Learning Experience

The midterm video assignment was purposely somewhat open-ended (causing some students to feel anxious or complain that it was "hard to know what you wanted"). It was designed as such not to make students feel nervous or frustrated, but because many assignments in college are purposely open, giving students a lot of choice in how to approach the question, what topics to focus on, how to craft the final product. Like many aspects of college, these assignments don't have one right answer, but instead give students the chance to explore the many strong, interesting, unique answers. That freedom can sometimes feel overwhelming or unsettling, especially if you aren't used to completing that type of assignment. Here are a few things to think about in creating a positive experience for yourself within the parameters of an open-ended assignment:

1. Choosing a Productive Topic: The topic you choose or inquiry question you pursue can immediately raise the bar of your project if it is one that will inspire a lot of creative and critical thinking, if it gives you places to go in your thinking. The natural instinct for most people is to choose the easiest topic, the one you feel you already understand and know a lot about so you will have a lot to say. However, the more interesting and exploratory your topic is, the more engaging it will be for you to complete the project and the more engaged your audience will be. Take as an example, the topic of time management, which many students chose to focus on in their projects. This is a fine topic as long as you can find something to say about it that we don't already know, that we haven't already read or talked or thought about. Conversely, imagine sitting through 7 videos that all provide the same tips about time management. If you start with a relatively simple question, you will have to work very hard to make your final product creative and engaging (you will have to raise the bar of the technology you use or the format in which you present your work.) But if you start with a more complex question or topic, you will have to add less "bells and whistles" to your final product because the concepts themselves will grab the attention of your audience.

2. Refining your Ideas and Highlighting your Voice: Once you have collected your information and done the required interviews for this project, you will need to think about how to narrow the focus of your work since the final video is only supposed to be 5-10 minutes long. Instead of simply thinking about where to cut, you should consider how to make your ideas more refined, more specific. Instead of trying to say a little about everything, think about what smaller piece you can explore in an interesting and more in-depth way. Take your audience deeper into your topic rather than giving them more general information. Why is that a better strategy? Think again about sitting in the audience watching a talk, presentation, or video. When the speaker takes time to tell us what we already know or what seems like common sense, we tend to zone out or feel as if we are wasting our time. But when the speaker can take a concept to a new level, connect it to something specific we haven't thought about before, or get us to see a new perspective, we come away from the experience feeling energized by the topic.

One way to make your ideas more specific and interesting is to foreground your own voice, your own experiences, your own ideas about the topic. That doesn't mean that you should have your life story take the place of giving good information or reporting on your research. However, the research should serve as evidence, background information, a springboard, for your own "thesis" about your topic, just like in Composition where writing works to foreground you as the writer and doesn't ask you simply to report on others' ideas. Again like many aspects of college, you need to do the research to have a basis for your ideas and to add authority to your voice, but ultimately what you have to say about that topic is more important...and having something interesting and informed to say (whether in class discussion, your writing, or this video project) is probably the main goal of college courses in general.

3. Presenting your Ideas in a Way that Stands Out: Putting the finishing touches on your project is a crucial step to making sure your ideas are clear and that the presentation of your ideas is professional as well as unique. This requires setting aside time to self-assess, get feedback from others, build on your strengths and bolster your weaknesses, get help with the technology, revise, retune, and polish. This week in class, we are going to talk more about where to go with these projects, but in the meantime, start thinking about what you can do to make your project more professional, more creative, more informative, more unique. What is it that will make your project stand out from the other 18 or 19 videos we will see?

Blog Recap and This Week's Assignments

I very much enjoyed reading this past week's posts on events attended on campus -- and I loved the pictures you took and posted (did anyone see Oscar with blue hair at the football game?!) These were some of the most interesting posts for me to read because it's a side of campus life that I don't see or know enough about. In regard to the project posts, it seems like projects are coming along, taking shape, even if some are off to a slow start. I'm going to write more about the projects and what makes a good project in my next post.

For this week, here are the two blogging assignments:

1. What makes a good blog post? Enumerate the criteria and explain why it's important and link to students' posts from our class which exemplify your ideas.

2. This one is a way to get ready for midterm advising and Spring registration. If you have chosen a major, why did you choose that major? If you haven't chosen or are thinking of switching, what are you thinking about and why?

Looking forward to seeing 1st drafts of videos tomorrow!

Peer Mentor Program at SCSU

The Peer Mentor Program is one of the best (and most effective, in my opinion) parts of the FYE/INQ experience. People in all stages of life need mentors, and certainly faculty can mentor students on one level, but peer mentors can speak to a whole set of experiences that faculty know less about. Last year I had a very positive experience -- two great peer mentors who my students liked a lot and felt comfortable enough with to ask all those questions they couldn't ask me. My peer mentors also were able to help with publicizing the "events on campus" and talking about the social aspects of college life which are two areas that I know less about and never emphasize enough in my academically-focused INQ syllabus.

This year I am again lucky to work with two great peer mentors who bring unique and interesting perspectives to my class. For example, today Kaitlyn assisted my class in participating in the Red Flag Campaign, a national campaign to raise awareness about dating violence, especially on college campuses.



In my second class, Lee facilitated a stress-reducing workshop centered around laughter. All of my students who came to conference with me afterward were smiling and feeling good about having taken time out of their hectic schedules to laugh.



My students benefit so much from their interactions with these campus leaders and role models -- but so do I. Thanks for making our classes go that one step further!

Events Update

Tonight's soccer game has been postponed until next Monday night. I will pass on more details when I get them. This gives us more time to come up with a team name and uniform!

For those of you interested in creative writing, Folio, the undergraduate literary magazine, is holding a reading on Oct. 1 at 7 p.m. in the Fireplace Lounge in the Adanti Student Center. Featured student writers are Michael Tenney and Joe Dlugos, and there will be an open mic portion of the event following the featured readers.

Blog Recap: Learning By Example

Last week's blogs were really interesting to read because, in finding and describing professional blogs to share, you all revealed such diverse interests from bowling to movies to poetry to cooking and more. The blogs you found were all different in style and appeal as well, and I liked how many of you commented on what you could learn from seeing those differences: what you could apply to your own blog creation process. We are not professional bloggers, of course, but I do think we use some of the same principles as professional bloggers do when we write/create and especially when we want to make our entries stand out. A few students have consistently striven to make their entries not just done, not just good, but excellent. As you click through the list of blogs, do you notice which ones?

Along the lines of learning from others, this week The New York Times published a multi-authored piece called "Ditch Your Laptop, Dump Your Boyfriend: Advice for freshmen from the people who actually grade their papers and lead their class discussions" which I thought might be interesting food for thought.

For this upcoming week, here are your two blog post assignments:

1. Write about an event you attended at SCSU, preferably one you haven't already blogged about. (Ex: Come to our class soccer game on Monday and cheer us on and post pictures on your blog!)

2. Explore the inquiry questions/topics you are focusing on in your digital storytelling project. Your blog post can be part of your brainstorming process for this assignment.

One final note: Lee Tripler has joined Section 32 as our peer mentor, and we are so thrilled to have her as part of our class! Check out her newly created blog and welcome her to the INQ blogging adventure.

“Vision is the art of seeing what is invisible to others.” -- Jonathan Swift

On Tuesday in class, we talked a little bit about the importance of the learning that happens outside the classroom in college, and I wanted to extend our discussion because I think it's very true. Getting involved in clubs and organizations can help you learn leadership, networking, organizing, community outreach, skills in your major or interest areas, and more. But learning outside the classroom is also very real in terms of academics and the courses you take in college. Much of your education is self-education, the kind that happens outside of class, what most students call "studying."

When people say "studying," do they mean reading, or reveiwing notes, or something else? What do professors mean when they say that they expect students to be doing 6 hours of homework per week but the syllabus doesn't show any actual assignments due on that week? What are you supposed to be "studying" for 6 hours?

I mentioned in class that, in college, there is often a lot of invisible work expected (as opposed to papers or projects which seem like visible work to me). Some of the invisible work involves not simply reading the assigned chapters to be familiar with them or even simply reading for information; instead, it is the kind of reading and annotating and processing and thinking that can bring real understanding of the concepts you're reading about to the point where you can engage with, talk back to, appply, etc.

Ok, but how do you do that? And if you've never been expected to have done that before, how do you know if you're doing it right?

As with most things in college, there is no one set formula that works for everyone, and part of your job in your first year is just figuring out what works for you. But here are a few strategies that you can try out:

1. Read assignments more than once. The first time you read it to know the gist of it, read for information. The second time, you read to begin to understand the finer points and subtleties. The third time, return to a few interesting and/or difficult passages to analyze and puzzle through.

2. In taking notes, make sure you have the different layers of thinking (higher and lower) represented in your notes. You should have some of each of the following represented: information or facts pulled out, comments and connections, and inquiry questions. If you take your notes in the margins of a reading, maybe afterward pull them out and classify them into this lower-to-higher level system. Or if you take notes in your notebook, use symbols or colored highlighters to classify them.

3. Dig deeper into the concepts by researching about the author or the context or unfamiliar terminology. This will allow for a broader understanding of what you're reading.

4. Expand yor knowledge base even more by comparing the reading material to previousle assigned texts, putting them into conversation with one another within the course but also putting your readings into conversation with other material you're studying in the university as a whole. This tactic will help you see the connectedness between the disciplines at the university, and that helps your brain make sense of all of the information you are processing.

5. Before you put a reading to bed, consider the "So what?" and "Why is this important?" and "What can I learn from this?" questions. Try to anticipate what the professor might ask aboout the reading on a quiz or exam or writing prompt. Try to think of good inquiry questions that will make class discussion about this reading interesing and productive and enhance learning.

Try these strategies (as well as your own or ones you have gained from this week's reading assignments) for reading with the goal of in-depth understanding of the material and see if it makes class discussion or lectures more meaningful or engaging. See if this helps you also have more of those "lightbulb moments" as you progress throughout the semester. Then you'll know that you are truly becoming educated rather than simply filling time or fulfilling requirements.


*image by Ramona Forcella

This Week's Recap: Pushing Ourselves Forward and Resisting the Urge to Slide Backward (even if it seems easier)

This week's blogs posts showed an interesting mix of ideas, writing styles, and creative choices. The "free choice" blogs for this this ran the gamut of topics, some fascinating (check out Oscar's blog to see the most interesting title of the week!) and some more ordinary. I enjoyed reading the wide variety of topics chosen to explore this week and encourage you to check out what others are writing about (and leave comments).

In the Outcasts United blogs, some people reverted to a "summary mode" of writing rather than an "inquiry mode" of writing. Those who engaged in inquiry moved beyond summery and instead asked questions, explored possible answers to questions, thought about the connections between the book and college, thought about what we could learn from the book and what we could apply to our own experiences. In all college writing, try to avoid simply summarizing even if what you read was boring or not to your taste. Try to avoid telling your readers how boring it was, how you didn't like it, or how you "don't really have anything to say." Readers will wonder, "then why are you writing this?" Yes, it's an assignment so that's why you're writing, but it's your choice on what to highlight in each post, your choice as to what style to write in, your choice to make your writing engaging for your readers...or not.


www.toothpastefordinner.com

For this upcoming week, one post should be on time management as I explained in more detail in my post last week. For the other post, I want you to find two professional blogs that are both interesting to you in some way but are both different from each other in some way. Write your post with the purpose of introducing your readers to these two blogs, writing a little about what the blogs are about, discussing the style of writing and/or visual peresentation of each blog, why they interest you, and what others might find interesting about them.

Also, I'd like each person to spend a little time browsing through other student posts this week. Next week I'm going to ask you to think about assessment a bit more and nominate your personal best post (and grade it) and find some examples of "A level" posts that others have written.

"Better three hours too soon, than one minute too late." -- William Shakespeare

This week's readings are all about time management, and in the past two weeks, we have been practicing time management with juggling various assignments and deadlines, multiple readings, blogging, and especially, the "Group Think" Project. Many groups lamented the lack of time members had available to meet, and many students wrote in their blogs that managing their time was one of the biggest challenges faced in the first two weeks of college.

Effective time management is one of the biggest predictors of college success, and therefore it's important that we spend a lot of time in this class discussing it, reading about it, practicing it, refining it, figuring out what works best. As many of us already know, the college student's worst enemy is...PROCRASTINATION. Let's spend a little time thinking about procrastination. I've noticed, when checking the blogs on a Saturday morning or afternoon, that a bunch of students have not yet posted even one of the two blog assignments due by midnight Saturday. Why is that? Why wait until late Saturday when you have all week to complete this assignment? Do those students have their posts already written and saved in Microsoft Word, and just have not yet uploaded them to Blogger? I tend to think "probably not" because I know, for myself, that as soon as one post is finished, I want the satisfaction of seeing it live. More questions: If you save both posts for Saturday, are both posts "your best work"? Do you have to rush to finish them? What if Blogger goes down on Saturday and you can't get your posts up on time because you haven't left yourself any wiggle room (they're still due, after all, because you've had a full week to do them)? Why not just complete them (or at least one) during the week so they don't interfere with your Saturday? These are real questions that I want you to think about, not to chastise yourself, but to get you to feel in charge of your own time management decisions.

We all know the pitfalls of procrastination, but we all often do it anyway. Why? And more importantly, what can we do about it? What do we learn from this week's readings? How can we apply those ideas to our own experiences? We are going to begin this discussion in class, but take it further in one of your blog posts for next week and try to answer some of the questions I've posed (and maybe try to complete your post before Saturday ☺).

Events Galore

As you all know, today is Convocation, The Club Fair, and the talk by the author of Outcasts United. The FYE Program has also passed along to me the announcement of the following upcoming events:


SPECTRUMS OF SEXUAL ASSAULT
Monday, September 20, 7:30pm, Lyman Center
Join us for a presentation, Spectrums of Sexual Assault, by Alex Fernandez and Beth Hamilton of the Women’s and Families Center for a discussion of what sexual assault is, why this topic is relevant to college students as well as how society contributes to the growing rates of sexual assault and lack of support for victims/survivors. Sponsored by the student group, ProCon.



FRESHMAN FITNESS NIGHT (& FIT-FEST WEEK!)
Friday, September 24, 6-8pm, Fitness Center
All freshmen are invited to come to the Fitness Center for an evening of express fitness classes, prizes and raffles, free chair massage, free t-shirts, healthy snacks, free body fat screenings and much more! In addition, all students can visit the Fitness Center during the week of September 20-24 for FALL FIT FEST, a week of FREE fitness classes and events for students during the week to give a taste of what we have to offer and how exercise can be fun, help relieve stress, and be a part of healthy campus life.

HOLOCAUST SURVIVOR TO SPEAK AT SCSU
Wednesday, September 28, 6pm, EN C112
The Programs Council Lecture Committee would like faculty to know that they will be bringing a Holocaust Survivor to speak to the SCSU community on September 28th. More details will be available soon about this event.

CAN I KISS YOU?

by michael domitrz
Monday, Oct. 4, 1:pm-2:pm, ASC Theatre October 4, 2010, Monday, 1pm - 2pm, ASC Theater, Can I Kiss You? Presented by Michael Domitrz of the Date Safe Project. Domitrz is one of the leading experts on healthy dating, consent, and sexual assault awareness. This is NOT a lecture full of statistics. You will get an interactive expert who inspires people to make powerful and life changing decisions! Sponsored by the Women's Center, Sexual Assault Response Team, First Year Experience and Student Life.

This Week's Recap: Building Our Blogging Muscles

I just finished reading this week's student blogs and want to call attention to some of the interesting stuff out there. In terms of challenges being faced in the first two weeks, many commuters are having parking issues (see Shelby's blog as one example), and many residents are having roomate issues (see Alexis' blog for an example). A lot of people also touched on issues of time management (Julie's blog is one example), and we are going to spend a lot of time with this topic in the weeks to come: readings, discussion, and developing some practical strategies. The key is to find what works best for you and then implement that: Ryan, in response to all the distractions in his dorm, was finally able to find the "sweet spot" for studying, and Jeanette realized that based on her own learning styles, it is best to do work earlier in the day rather than at night when she is too tired to do good work. Both of those examples seem to echo the concept of "Work Smart" because they capitalize on what works best. Finally, Elena reminds us in her blog that there's nothing wrong with asking questions in order to surmount some challenges, which I think is an important reminder for all of us.

In terms of the formats of the blogs, I noticed that a few people tried out a few new templates, a few people have started commenting on other people's blogs, some posts included funny comics, many included great links, and most included pictures. Many cited the articles that the post was responding to and even provided quotes (for a good example of how to format quotes in a blog post, check out Nicky's blog.)

A few important housekeeping notes:

1) Give each post an interesting title.
2) Put titles of articles in quotation marks.
3) Do not simply summarize the reading! Engage! Question! Apply! (For example, Kristen applied a concept from the reading to a specific real-world example, Melissa asked an inquiry question in her post and answered it, and a number of people weighed two concepts from two different readings against one another.)
4) Work Smart! Don't save both post assignments until Saturday!
5) This week, a number of people didn't complete one or both posts by deadline and receive zeroes for those assignments. If your post isn't long enough, doesn't answer the assigned question, or doesn't include either pictures or links, you receive a check minus. If you are worried about your blog grade, come check on it during office hours.
6) Next week's blog assignment: 1 post on Outcasts United (either respond to the author's talk on Wednesday or connect something in the book to topics we have been reading about and discussing for this class) and 1 post that is free choice.

Important Information from the FYE Office

The following information was sent to me today, and I wanted to pass it on:

CAMPUS COMMUNITY DAY
Wedensday, September 15, 2010
Due to the Hurricane Earl rescheduling, this day now includes New Student Convocation, the Student Invovlement Fair, a Dinner, and the Warren St. John, author of Outcasts United lecture, offering us an unexpected opportunity to involve new students in a whole day of campus community events. Tickets are available in the FYE office or the Office of Student Life, ASC 213. Remaining tickets will be available at the door to the event, but we are strongly encouraging you to get them ahead of time. In addition, tickets for the dinner, which will be held in Conn Hall immediately following the Involvement Fair can be picked up by faculty, staff, and commuter students at Student Government Table at the Involvement Fair.Please note that entrance into Connecticut Hall for the meet and greet requires a paid meal plan or a guest ticket.

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FRESHMEN UNITED: A SOCCER TOURNAMENT
Start date: Monday, September 27th, 7:00pm, Jess Dow Field
RSVP date - Friday, September 17th
Sign up your learning community as a "team" in the soccer tournament. The Office of Student Life, the FYE program, Athletics, and Buley Library are sponsoring a soccer tournament for freshmen, inspired by Warren St. John's Outcasts United, this year's text for OPEN BOOK: SCSU's Freshmen Read common read program. Each freshman learning community is invited and encouraged to participate! We are asking that FYE instructors and/or peer/staff mentors let us know if their students will be participating by Friday, September 17th, as the number of teams will help us determine how many additional dates we need to complete the tournament To sign up your class or for more information, please contact Eric LaCharity at lacharitye1@southernct.edu

"Self-respect is the root of discipline; the sense of dignity grows with the ability to say no to oneself." --Abraham J. Heschel

When discussing "Don't Eat the Marshmalllow Yet" in class on Tuesday, many students expressed skepticism at the validity of the findings presented by Joachim de Posada: the idea that kids who didn't eat the marshmallow at 4 years old went on to be more successful in school/career/life than kids who ate the marshmallow before the 15 required minutes had elapsed. However, most of agreed with the basic theoretical premise that self-discipline and delayed gratification were key elements to success.

I want to interrogate the term "self-discipline" a bit more, and I think it has some nice connections to Luma's formula for success in Outcasts United. It's important, in truly analyzing this term, to split it into its two parts: self and discipline. Discipline, of course, is not always self-motivated; teachers, parents, coaches, etc. can all impose discipline, but that doesn't always lead to success. In fact, some students who were overly controlled in high school seem to rebel against that discipline in college, not always to the best results unfortunately. Therefore, the idea that discipline leads to success only when it is self-imposed, or intrinsically motivated, is an idea that resonates with me in thinking about college students. You have to want it for yourself, for your own betterment, because it rewards you, or else it rings false. But that's also really difficult -- it's easier in some ways when someone else is in charge of telling you what to do. Then all you have to do is follow directions, not decide what those directions will be. This kind of freedom and responsibility that comes from being a college student is harder, but I think it's also more rewarding in the end.

What is self discipline (the kind that brings freedom, responsibility, rewards)? What does it look like? I think of Luma, standing on the sidelines, watching her team but not yelling out to them. She let them make their own decisions, their own failures, and their own successes. Of course, in her many team practices, she tried to impart to them the knowledge they needed and help them hone their skills, but when it came down to game day, they were responsible for what they produced. I think Luma also saw her job as providing critical feedback from her more experienced perspective; she told them exactly what was good and bad about how they played without sugar-coating it. That kind of feedback must have been difficult to hear at times, but it provided the players with an honest assessment of where they needed to improve. It would take a lot of self-discipline to take that criticism in the positive way it was intended and not feel defensive or discouraged.

Before coming to college, are there a lot of spaces in which students get to practice self-discipline? I asked this question in class and got a mixture of answers depending on individual experiences and background. I started to think about a book we used in orientation last year called Generation Me in which the author, Jean Twenge, argues that today's college students have had a lot of experience with self-esteem building: everybody gets a trophy for participating and no one gets one for being the best, everyone gets a pizza party for just showing up whether or not you did anything good, no one gets singled out as better than anyone else because that makes others feel bad. Twenge goes on to say that this has been detrimental to students because 1) it doesn't motivate them to try to make themselves achieve higher than anyone else, 2) they aren't used to hearing criticism and don't respond well to it, and 3) don't look at themselves with a critical eye since they aren't used to that in general.

As with all of the information I try to have my class put in conversation with one another (and then enter into that conversation ourselves), I'm left with thinking "What we can learn from all this?" Here's my personal take on it: in INQ, we need to practice self-discipline, setting our own goals and meeting them; we need to practice self-critique so we can push ourselves to the next challenge; we need to practice building our self-esteem through the rewards that come from hard work and tackling complexity. When you become the person you are answering to, you can choose to cut corners, but it seems like it only cuts out on your own achievement and self-worth; a greater sense of self-respect comes when you are able to rise and meet those expectations you set for yourself. I see my role in that process as facilitator: I'm not exactly the "Luma" in the classroom, but I do want to emulate the way she facilitates the self-discipline she instills in her players.

‘“Never be afraid to try something new. Remember that a lone amateur built the Ark. A large group of professionals built the Titanic.” - Dave Barry

This post is my official recap of last week's student postings. A lot of cool things happened last week. People who never used blogger or never blogged figured out how to do something new. Some people watched the video tutorial on Blogger, some perused the FAQs in the "Help" section, some asked their friends for help, some asked their English professor, some asked me, but everyone got something up on their blogs. Good for you!

Some people went even further and got creative with their titles: "Little Fish in New Waters" and A Day in the Life of a College Superhero" as two examples. Some blogs included lots of great pictures, and some even embedded video: check out Mike's video of riding his bike as an example and maybe ask him how he did it.

Not too many blog posts had links, but a few did. For example, Jeanette found a link to "25 Tips to Help you Succeed in your First Year of College" that I plan to assign to next year's INQ classes. If you didn't include pictures, video, or links this first week, that's okay, but it's also something for you to try out in upcoming posts.

A lot of the writing about college in these first posts interested me as well. I agree with Shekira who talks about college as a step into adulthood, and I love Katie's idea that we should accept imperfections as a way to learn and advance. Jocelyn is exactly right when she notes that commuters need to be involved on campus even though they don't live there -- being involved is a big part of the college experience that no one should miss out on.

Speaking of getting involved, be sure to be reading this blog for announcements but also Peer Mentor Kaitlyn's blog, "Dancing Through Life," where Kaitlyn will post updates about events happening on campus.

A few final notes about blogging as we go forward: be sure to proofread and check for typos since blogging is public and professional, and help each other figure out what to do if photos aren't loading or links aren't working -- we are all each other's audiences as well as tech support. Remember, too, to comment on things that are working, interest you, strike you as creative or thoughtful. I'm looking forward to reading this week's entries.

When is public use not for public use? (and how can I be a responsible public media user?)

Today in both classes we discussed the use of images in our blogs and questioned what was legal, fair, right, and appropriate to use with and/or without permission and citation. Issues of copyright are complex, especially in regard to new technologies, especially in regard to public online content. I thought some good points were raised on some guidelines of what to post and when to cite, and the conversation mostly ended with the idea that everyone should think about each case separately and use common sense to make the best judgment.

But then I wondered...if we are new to this scene and have little experience blogging, then what would that common sense or judgment be based on? Isn't that idea a little flawed and suggesting that you can know the right answer without having done any research? Certainly instinct serves us well in some contexts, but this issue seems tricky, and I wanted a few "second opinions" from people who knew more than I do.

So I did a google search and found this great interview with an expert in the field. He cites two sources for finding "fair use" images: PhotoDropper and Wikimedia Commons. Of course, as mentioned in class, you can always use images from your own camera.



I actually got this photo from ARTstor, one of the SCSU's Library Databases that allows us to use the images collected there for educational purposes like our blogging assignments. (You can get to ARTstor through the library homepage, then clicking on the databases.)

Finally, two other takes on adding images to blog posts, specifically addressing the issue of how to do the citations, can be found here and here. These may be useful in not just thinking about the criteria for citation but also the format.

One last thought seeing that many of us use Google to find everything from articles to images: does Google have an official policy about using the images it finds?

"Schooling, instead of encouraging the asking of questions, too often discourages it." – Madeleine L'Engle

A common question coming into Inquiry 101 is "What is inquiry?" and this is a question that I hope you continue to ask all semester. I'm not going to give you the one, right, simple answer to that question, but instead give you many opportunities to explore your own answers and push you to ask ever more sophisticated questions that springboard from your original exploration of that question. Inquiry is not just about the answers that I bring to the course; it won't be a very good course unless everyone brings something to it, maybe a unique way of looking at something or a different question for us to think about.

In many ways, Inquiry 101 is a mini version of the university in general. A college education can be transformative if you take advantage of the potentials it offers. But change doesn't just happen; you need to make change happen for you. Before coming to college, many students have been expected to be "learners": those who follow directions and take in the knowledge given to them by teachers. Now, however, you are expected to become "thinkers": those who frame the questions, pursue knowledge, create new ideas and new meanings. This class will be a semester-long immersion into the process of becoming a college-level thinker and knowledge-creator. That type of transformation isn't always easy and won't completely happen in one semester of course, but here we will start growing the seeds.

Our blogs will record our process of inquiry as it grows and changes in our individual and collective ways. The brain work required to focus our ideas into coherent blog posts will provide the constant practice needed to hone our skills of thinking, writing, reading, processing (The blogs are our mental push-ups, and by the end of 16 weeks, we will all have some new muscles to show off). I am hoping that the blogs will also be a place to be creative, take risks, start new ideas, weed through some ideas, get feedback, learn about failure, and learn about improvement. From a different angle, the blogs will also be a way to simply document this whole adventure.

Tonight, at just about midnight before the first day of class, I am excited about the possibilities that lie ahead for all of us. What does inquiry mean? So many things: autonomy, creativity, activity, discipline, agency, curiosity, leadership, involvement, community...and more.