The Experiment Continues...
Many more students have sent in their blog addresses, and the first week's worth of writing will be due this weekend. Half the battle is just getting everyone set up. The other half of the battle, I fear, will be getting everyone to take the writing seriously. Those in the class who have lots of experience with online interaction, tend to write everything like it is Internet chat, i.e., no capitalization, lots of little abbreviations (LOL, BFN, etc.), and very little concern for whether or not one idea transitions smoothly into the next. In other words, I don't believe most ninth graders are accustomed to thinking of the Internet as a tool for learning. That is the obstacle students will need to overcome for this class. Chances are, by the time today's ninth graders reach college, a great portion of the learning experience will be online, so I would like this class to prepare them for that.
Another potential problem that I can already see arising for some folks in the class is the fact that some teenagers don't naturally undertake projects, especially school projects like this. Someone (usually a teacher or parent) has to badger them to make sure the work gets done. This won't be the case for this class. I will send lots of e-mail reminders and answer questions as fast as I can, but the responsibility for getting it done will ultimately rest with the students themselves. Honestly, there isn't that much work involved, but I know from 16 years experience that most ninth graders procrastinate: research papers are completed at two minutes to midnight on the day they are due; any presentation is practiced most vigorously not the night before, but the period before it is given; that last book for term reading points always seems to get read during the last two days of the term. It's the nature of the ninth-grade beast to wait until the last minute, but Honors students should be able to conquer their natural impulses and take care of business on time. I hope.
Here is an interesting article about nerds. I don't think I have any nerds in the Honors class this year, but I'm sure it is something all junior high students would have an opinion about. Go ahead! I dare ya! Click that link and read the article! What's the matter? Scared of a little intellectual reading?!
*<%^) MRT
Many more students have sent in their blog addresses, and the first week's worth of writing will be due this weekend. Half the battle is just getting everyone set up. The other half of the battle, I fear, will be getting everyone to take the writing seriously. Those in the class who have lots of experience with online interaction, tend to write everything like it is Internet chat, i.e., no capitalization, lots of little abbreviations (LOL, BFN, etc.), and very little concern for whether or not one idea transitions smoothly into the next. In other words, I don't believe most ninth graders are accustomed to thinking of the Internet as a tool for learning. That is the obstacle students will need to overcome for this class. Chances are, by the time today's ninth graders reach college, a great portion of the learning experience will be online, so I would like this class to prepare them for that.
Another potential problem that I can already see arising for some folks in the class is the fact that some teenagers don't naturally undertake projects, especially school projects like this. Someone (usually a teacher or parent) has to badger them to make sure the work gets done. This won't be the case for this class. I will send lots of e-mail reminders and answer questions as fast as I can, but the responsibility for getting it done will ultimately rest with the students themselves. Honestly, there isn't that much work involved, but I know from 16 years experience that most ninth graders procrastinate: research papers are completed at two minutes to midnight on the day they are due; any presentation is practiced most vigorously not the night before, but the period before it is given; that last book for term reading points always seems to get read during the last two days of the term. It's the nature of the ninth-grade beast to wait until the last minute, but Honors students should be able to conquer their natural impulses and take care of business on time. I hope.
Here is an interesting article about nerds. I don't think I have any nerds in the Honors class this year, but I'm sure it is something all junior high students would have an opinion about. Go ahead! I dare ya! Click that link and read the article! What's the matter? Scared of a little intellectual reading?!
*<%^) MRT
posted by MRT at 6:09 PM
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