Makes me cheerful

This video reminds me to be committed to the idea of collective action, art, and civics

I just love the energy and collaboration.

Student Writing

I've been thinking lately about the effect on a person -- me, perhaps -- that the continued reading of student writing has. I mean, what happens to expectations about coherence, fluency, style when one (me?) is inundated with novice/student/practicing writers? What does this immersion do to one's (my?) sense of the possibilities and polish of writing?

Maybe it makes me more compassionate, although I think I see a LOT more ridiculously unprofessional writing coming from my college's employees (don't ask). Maybe it makes me more pliable, able to make meaning out of discontinuity and sincere attempts at communicating. Maybe it makes me stuck, unable to recognize written prose as a communicative artifact instead of a thing to be graded. Maybe it makes me stupid. (That's truly what I worry about: that I lose a critical edge and then find any half-way coherent, innovative utterance to be impressive when it's merely pedestrian because I'm so used to seeing practice prose.)

Sometimes I think I should just quit reading all the writing my students produce (because I ask them to do so!), and indeed I don't read everything. But mostly, I want to know what they think, want to witness thinking on the page/screen, want to help them make sense of their own senses and sensations and sentience and sensibility. I really do.

4Cs

San Francisco is beautiful -- not that I've seen much of it. I'm inside the Hilton listening to thought-provoking and inspiring talks: Mike Rose, especially. I'm having good conversations, too.

That's what conferences are for, right?

For those who insist that we don't . . .

. . . need to share (AKA increase revenue AKA raise taxes): the National Center on Family Homelessness just released a study that says one in 50 children is homeless in any one year.

How can we live in a country that has allowed this fact to exist?

For those who insist that we don't . . .

. . . live in a patriarchy: consider this recent article in Slate.com.

Japanese video game that simulates rape: called RapeLay, the player/perpetrator stalks and attacks a young girl on the subway. Various endings include the player/perp being stabbed by the victim or the victim becoming impregnated.

I'm sickened. I can't even bring this obscenity into my WGST course.

Bill Holm, RIP

Bill spoke at Century -- and Lakewood -- more than once. He, like I, hated the name change, saying it sounded like something a committee of executives would make up, not a college name at all. He's right.

Here's a photographic tribute of him by the photography Jonathan Chapman, courtesy of my pal Cullen Bailey Burns.

Strong Bad writes an English Paper

This cartoon about writing a paper is probably funnier to others than it is to me -- am I right about this? Will my students think it's funny?
Received via Michael Day on <techrhet>.
P.S. Who is Strong Bad?