Roots in the City on Thursday

Don't forget that we will be meeting at the Roots in the City garden to bring our semester to an end.  Please bring your service-learning forms, your pigeon peas (gandules), and a one-page reflection of your service activities this semester.  Here's a map to the garden:

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Writing about Osama

We will finish the film today. Here's your assignment:


Have your paragraph completed by the end of our next class. Please drop it off electronically instead of coming to class this Thursday. Here's the link to the drop box.

More on Sentence Types

Here are some resources to help you add to your own toolkit to increase sentence variety:

• Conjunctions
• Sentence Punctuation Patterns

Agreements

Class Activities

• Share photographs and essays.
• Go over subject-verb agreement rules.
• Take a short quiz.
• Book discussion.

Homework

• For those of you who are not caught up with the lab, today is your chance.  Have all lab assignments completed by our next class.  
• I also want everyone to retake the Subject-Verb Agreement portion of the lab before we see each other again on Thursday.
• Read through Chapter 14 of Three Cups of Tea.

Important Links for the Photo Contest

Here are the two links we went over in class.  Remember that you will need to print the form and also mat your photographs.

• Rules
• Form
• Pearls Art Supplies

Working with Images: Creating Stories

Today we looked at some Clyde Butcher photographs and created a one page brainstorm.  The idea is to help us warm up to the photographs we will be taking this weekend.  Pay close attention to the light and the way water, sky, and land relate to one another in the images.

Homework
--Complete the following in MyWritingLab

• Subjects and Verbs
• Subject-Verb Agreement
• Combining Sentences
• ESL Concerns--Nouns  

--Take your South Florida photograph.

--Bring at least two pages of brainstorming to class on Thursday.

--Read through Chapter 12 of Three Cups of Tea.


There is no class on Tuesday.  Use the time to catch up with your work!

Ten Times Out, Ten Times In

This week we move toward writing about what we see.  Someone has said that seeing is believing, but this statement can easily be turned on its head:  Believing is seeing. So what do we believe that allows us to see the world around us a certain way?   Essay #2 asks for a photograph of something that is non-human that somehow is related to you as the observer.  The image will be accompanied by a text, an essay that will help us better understand that connection.  But if you don't believe the connection, you may actually miss it altogether--you may not see it.
With that in mind, I want to share a short visual exercise that may help us explore the notion of relations and relationships.  It has to do with looking at the universe in powers of 10.

the powers of 10 from Bomi Lee on Vimeo.

In your blogs, go ahead and take the Powers of Ten video and embed it.  Provide a list of questions regarding the video; muse about your approach to your photographic essay.  Keep it all to around 300 words.  Have fun!

Everglades Trip (February 27)

For those of you participating in Saturday's trip to the Everglades, please fill out the travel release forms.  Have these to me by Thursday.  We will be meeting at the Coe Visitor Center at the main entrance of  Everglades National Park at 9am.

How to Get There (Click on View Larger Map for Directions)

View Larger Map

We will spend about 20 minutes in the visitor center and then entering the park by car.  We hope that we can leave as many cars behind.  Entrance to the park is $10 per car; please have change so that everyone in the car can split the cost.  

What to Bring

• Notebook and pen
• Camera
• Comfortable clothes (two pairs of shoes that can get wet; no flip flops)
• Water
• Lunch and snacks
• Sunscreen and bug repellent
• Curiosity

Thinking about Stories

Today we explored our own writing as we interacted with the short film, A Thousand Words. The tension in the film reminded us of the role of suspense in good story telling and writing. We turned our attention to an even greater story, that of our own South Florida and looked at images from our bioregion to begin to put together the story of this wonderful place we call home.

If you are planning on attending the Everglades trip, make sure to sign up. Use the following form: Visions of South Florida

Make sure to be caught up with your lab work as well as the reading.  You have a break this weekend.  Enjoy!

Inviting Space to Learn, Live, and Love

I came across the following line from a poem and I thought it had something to do with our book and also what you have been experimenting with the writing process. The line comes from the Masnavi a very long poem by the Persian poet Rumi.  I'd like for us to think about his words and use them as a way to deepen our own experience with Three Cups of Tea and also the things we have been learning about the writing process.


Tasks for the Morning

• Exploring the following line from Rumi:   "Grace comes when something is taken away."
• Sharing homework clusters in groups.
• Coming back to the idea of stepping back or taking away.
• Exploring South Florida

South Florida

View more presentations from carlosgonzalezsf.

Homework

• Freewrite one page of text using the images we looked at in class.
• Complete Subjects and Verbs in MyWritingLab.

Prewriting+

Today we explored the role of prewriting in the writing process.  We took time to freewrite and cluster.  Your homework for our next class is to bring a completed cluster based on your freewriting.  Also keep in mind that you need to complete the following lab assignments:

• Getting Started
• The Paragraph

Important Dates to Remember
Roots in the City (Service-Learning)--February 20
Everglades Trip (Optional)--February 27
Photographic Writing Assignment--March 9

Other
We now have a sign-up sheet for those participating in the Pastries for Dreams (Nicaragua Project).  Please use it to let us know ahead of time what you will be bringing.

Finally, our campus has a very active Lit Club.  Please know that everyone is invited to join and participate.  The club meets every other Wednesday from 2-3pm.

Writing about Connections

Relationships

We move into our next writing assignment by focusing on relationships. Instead of looking at this theme from a conventional perspective, I invite you to explore this topic from a more cosmic and non-personal point of view.

We are all here through a series of cause and effect relationships. All of us can trace our origins to our parents, to their grandparents, and back to the very flaring forth of the Universe 13.7 billion years ago. Our connections are many and unavoidable. Becoming aware of them is not that difficult. Our next assignment is meant to increase our sense of interbeing by encouraging us to see and name.

For this next essay, I want us to focus on our relationships to land/sky/water/air, to this particular place/home we call South Florida. Instead of starting from the written word, however, I would like for you to take a photograph of something in our local bioregion (needs to be non-human) to which you find a particular affinity. This assignment is inspired by the Earth Ethics Institute 2010 Photography Challenge, and I encourage everyone to submit their image as part of the contest.

The essay will work as a companion to the image and should be no less than 750 words long. Instead of describing the photograph, the text should help the reader better understand or feel the relationship the image symbolizes.

Resources

A Universe Story
Journal of Light

Visit to the Everglades
We will be taking a car ride to Everglades National Park on Saturday, February 27th. Please let me know if you plan on attending. The trip will be an all day affair. We will meet at the park entrance at 9:00 and spend the day traveling through time and space in this magical place.

Courage and Ardor

As I walked around the different reading circles I noticed how many of you worked hard to carry out your assigned roles. I heard from one group regarding the many attempts that have been made to summit K2 and how one in four people who attempt to climb this mountain die in the process. The first two chapters of our text set the stage for an amazing story of courage and vision. Keep reading and asking yourself what Mortenson's story has to say about your own courageous and arduous journey.

Homework

-Revise returned paragraphs. Staple the revision to the original.
-Complete the fragment section of MyWritingLab.
-Finish reading Chapter 3 of Three Cups of Tea.
-Bring a draft of your next new paragraph. Here's the theme:
*Describe a promise you have made that has changed the course of your life.

Making Meaning

Today we began our journey with Three Cups of Tea. Your task for this session was to come up with a one paragraph group summary of the first two chapters of the book using at least three of the following words:

-Expedition
-Summit
-Amber
-Allah
-Porter
-Muslim

For Next Class
Make sure to follow through with your assigned roles regarding Three Cups of Tea. If you were not in class, make sure to contact one of your group members.

Service-Learning Opportunity

We will have our first garden day this Saturday in celebration of Dr. King's work and vision. The event will run from 9 to 12 noon. If you are planning on attending, come dressed to work outside; bring a water bottle and a hat. Here's the address:

ROOTS IN THE CITY: EcoUrban Gardening
3rd Ave. & NW 9th St. (Plots are in front of Mt. Zion Baptist Church)


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Accelerate Your Learning

Please know that you can come in to Rm. 1217-17 (small room in the Computer Courtyard) from 9 to 12 noon on Wednesdays to get help with your writing. Bring a question, a paragraph, or an essay and you will get help!

Reading/Writing Circles

This Tuesday we started our work in small groups. I hope you enjoyed reading together in a small group setting and being able to ask questions of one another. I want to thank Carlos and Lourdes from my 1102 class for working as group facilitators. Your homework for this Thursday is to bring a paragraph of about five to eight sentences long describing why you have chosen to attend college. It is crucial that everyone bring their paragraph to class so we can share and begin the revision process together.

Sharing One's Fear

Someone came up to me today and mentioned how much they struggled with computers, how scared he was of not being able to keep up. This was his first class in college after a long time away. I was so impressed with the fact that this student came up to me and shared his fear. Doing so pointed to the strong determination he has of doing his best and overcoming any and all obstacles to getting the education he wants.

I hope that you realize that you are not alone in your struggles with language and school. Given the chance to keep quiet and struggle on your own, or to open up and seek help, don't hesitate to believe that wrestling on your own is the best option. We are all in this together. Sharing is not only caring but also the sure way of moving through fear.

I look forward to the coming week when you walk through the door waving your Three Cups of Tea and we begin to work on the language skills that will help you communicate with skill and ease.

Beginning

I'm looking forward to working with you this term. Expect great learning and fun. I hope to make this the very best semester of my teaching life and hope you join me in my commitment and enthusiasm.