Blogs

Charlie has posted the paper he and Terra Williams co-authored, "Moving to the Public: Weblogs in the Writing Classroom." In it, they offer a useful and long overdue critique of Blackboard and WebCT:

Blackboard and WebCT, with their emphasis on content delivery and teacher administration functions, are classroom-only gated communities. Institution-maintained course management sites may have WWW addresses and contain links to other Internet sites, but as they move through the password-protected virtual hallways, students easily realize such online class spaces are not the information superhighway. Instead, they are only one way streets that pull content without contributing to the larger discourse which is the Web. Within password-protected classroom spaces, these student writers are safely sequestered from the discourse community of the Internet.

They argue persuasively that students engage with their peers more in weblog writing and that they take writing for their peers an audience beyond the classroom more seriously than writing only for the instructor.

Via Art McGee, an interview with Lisa Nakamura on race and cyberspace.

What I'm listening to, and singing along with, as I alternately pack boxes and knit potholders for my mother :) :

Pat Benatar - We Belong
Daryl Hall and John Oates - Private Eyes
Stevie Nicks - Stand Back
Duran Duran - New Moon On Monday
Madonna - Material Girl
Tears For Fears - Head Over Heels
Taco - Puttin' On The Ritz
Robert Palmer - Addicted To Love
Pat Benatar - Love Is A Battlefield
Hall & Oates - Say It Isn't So
Laura Branigan - Gloria
Daryl Hall & John Oates - Kiss On My List
Duran Duran - The Reflex
Lionel Richie - All Night Long
Daryl Hall & John Oates - Maneater
Madonna - Dress You Up
Europe - The Final Countdown
Scandal - Warrior
Stevie Nicks - If Anyone Falls
Olivia Newton-John - Magic
Paul McCartney & Stevie Wonder - Ebony And Ivory

Via this excellent Body and Soul post that you must not miss, I was happy to find the LJ of my old friend Ginmar from the Ms. boards. She's stationed in Iraq, and posts particularly worth reading are her description of Iraq, daily experience there, her reaction to the photos, and her reaction to the Army's rape prevention workshops. Actually, just read the whole thing. I'd forgotten how much I've missed her.

What I'm listening to, and singing along with, as I pack boxes:

Hank Williams Jr - Whiskey Bent and Hell Bound
Hank Williams Jr - All My Rowdy Friends Have Settled Down
The Judds - One Hundred And Two
Wilson Pickett - In the Midnight Hour
Tanya Tucker - Some Kind Of Trouble
Crystal Gayle - Don't It Make My Brown Eyes Blue
Doris Day - Shoe Fly Pie and Apple Pan Dowdy
Eddie Rabbitt and Crystal Gayle- Just You and I
George Strait - Baby Blue
George Strait - If I Know Me
Janis Joplin - Me And Bobby McGee
Janis Joplin - Piece Of My Heart
Johnny Cash - A Boy Named Sue
Kenny Rogers & Dolly Parton - Islands In The Stream
Lynyrd Skynyrd - Sweet Home Alabama
Marc Cohn - Walking In Memphis
Melanie - Brand New Key
Patsy Cline - Crazy
Patsy Cline - I Fall To Pieces
Patsy Cline - Walking After Midnight
Randy Travis - On the Other Hand
Rosanne Cash - Seven Year Ache
Rosanne Cash - Tennessee Flat Top Box
Van Morrison - Tupelo Honey
Wilson Pickett - I Found A Love
Reba McEntire - Fancy
Arlo Guthrie - Alice's Restaurant

Nine more days in this apartment. I've got a lot of my packing done already and should chill out and relax, but I'm restless and can't think about anything else except getting boxes and moving things from one place to another: can't think about prelims, can't think about the course I'm teaching this summer, can't think about the blog collection, can't think about any of the longer posts I want to write here and for Kairosnews. I want to do things like go grocery shopping and wash all my bedding, but not until I'm in the new place, which is driving me nuts too. When I'm moving, I get in this zone; I'm like a machine. I want to show off how freakishly strong I can be. That huge box of books my two friends are struggling to carry up the stairs? Give me that, I say, shaking my head and smiling. And put another one on top of it. I want my arms to look like Linda Hamilton's by the time I'm done :D:

I'm still going to post about GPACW and iLaw, but other things have demanded my attention lately, specifically grading and moving. I've been traipsing all over town requesting boxes, determined not to spend any money on packing materials. I'm completely focused on the new apartment, with all its window light and how great it will look with the accent wall, how good it will smell, the amenities (pool, exercise room), and the general idea of being settled for a couple of years. I don't have a balcony, but I'd still like to buy a couple of plants, probably rosemary and basil. Not many people know this, but I used to be an avid herb gardener when I lived in Tennessee. I grew lavender, lemonbalm, rosemary, dill, thyme, mint, basil, and chives. I was really good at it; I grew some of the plants from seed, and I even kept a garden journal. :) So, although right now I have only about enough intellectual prowess to read articles about the Olsen twins' latest scandalous behavior and to watch movies like Mean Girls (by the way, Krista and Amy, that was fun! Let's do it again sometime.), better blog posts are ahead.

In other news, my tax return was a cool grand, I got a 4.0, and I'm planning on buying a laptop. People are telling me I should get a ThinkPad, but I haven't made a final decision. Recommendations are appreciated.

Edited to add: I also grew sage! How could I forget about my sage? I used to wrap it in bundles using string and hang it up to dry--like the ones you pay $5-7 for in the Wiccan stores. Boy, was I ever crunchy. :)

Although I did like this show, I wanted to be "You Can't Do That on Television," "Today's Special," or "Pinwheel." I wonder if I'm a little more old school than this quiz...

You are CLARISSA EXPLAINS IT ALL. She is a rad
chick with absolutely no fashion sense. If you
are a guy and chose this... you are gay.


Which old school Nickelodeon show are you?
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