Comments for LanguageLover's Weblog

Comment on Xmas vs Christmas by Scott Erb

Scott Erb — Fri, 25 Dec 2009 20:03:30 +0000

Sometimes it seems the lower the stakes, the more bitter and angry the fight. The same goes for people who get angry when someone says “happy holidays” instead of “Merry Christmas.” I’ve also noticed that in academia — there might be little lively discussion about some policy shift, but if the issue becomes parking on campus, well, everyone is quickly fired up to argue…

Comment on Consequences for Plagiarism by languagelover

languagelover — Fri, 11 Dec 2009 21:19:44 +0000

The really frustrating thing for me is that I had the students hand in each part of the research paper as we went through it so that I got a chance to read and critique every page of the paper before the final draft. Unfortunately, many of these students handed in the “rough draft” portions without having put much time into it because it wasn’t the final draft, so it wasn’t important. Then, we they got to the final draft, they realized that they needed to add to the paper, and that’s where plagiarism came in. Ugh.

In this respect, I don’t think there is that big of a difference between our approaches, except that our goal here is to prepare them for you. It’s less about what information they discover and synthesize, but the process of putting it all together.

As far as the grading goes, I continue to wonder if it will make a larger impression on the student if she still gets a bad grade on the final product (50%) so that she won’t do it again, or if I’m just being punitive instead of educating.

Comment on Consequences for Plagiarism by Scott Erb

Scott Erb — Fri, 11 Dec 2009 20:19:44 +0000

I’d grade the end product. I’ve started really having students hand in parts of their research papers during the semester, so that I can witness the process and hopefully catch such things in drafts. I include requiring a “final first draft” which I say I’ll grade and they can keep the grade if they wish. Some get A’s at that stage and enjoy the last couple weeks of the semester knowing they’re already done with their research project. Most have some sort of plagiarism. The reason is that so many people add cites late that they haven’t gone in and put all their cites in yet. They say so up front, and I note that it would be plagiarism on a final draft, so their “grade at this point” would be F. By the time of their final draft, only someone really trying to plagiarize will probably still do it, and at that point I won’t feel bad about failing them.

The real reason I do this is less about plagiarism and more about getting students not to do their work at the last minute. And, as you know, I teach college rather than high school, so that might make a difference.

Comment on Reflections on Philadelphia by Scott Erb

Scott Erb — Wed, 09 Dec 2009 15:49:03 +0000

Philly is a fun city to visit. The only big city I’ve been to that compares with smaller rural areas for friendliness and politeness is Minneapolis-St. Paul.

Comment on Reflections on Philadelphia by Josh

Josh — Mon, 07 Dec 2009 17:41:54 +0000

As a traveler, I have had similar experiences with people. One time I went to Quebec City, and I thought many there were sort of rude. No one held doors open for others and at one point, I think someone was actually racewalking me to the entrance of a store!!! However, one woman, who yelled at our group for some reason (I don’t know, maybe we accidentally cut in front of her in a line at some restaurant) actually apologized when she realized the whole incident was an honest mistake. That was very nice.

When I traveled to Tennessee, the people there were the exact opposite. EVERYONE was extremely kind, polite, and patient. I don’t mean to sound harsh toward the folks in Quebec City, however. I’m sure the vast majority of folks up there are great. Maybe I’m just not a city person.

Comment on Philadelphia Conference by languagelover

languagelover — Tue, 01 Dec 2009 21:03:39 +0000

Hey Mike, glad you asked. National Writing Project and National Council of Teachers of English. I should have hyper-linked them.

I enjoyed my time in Philly. If you like history, there are plenty of sites to take in for free and within easy walking distance of each other. I should post something about this soon.

Oh, and I did forget my camera. Curses!

Comment on Philadelphia Conference by Mike Lovell

Mike Lovell — Tue, 01 Dec 2009 15:40:26 +0000

For those of us that are new to reading your blog and a little uninfomred, what exactly are the NWP and NCTE?

Also, I have never been to Philadelphia, but having an old coworker out in that area now, I may take the family there for a vacation, take in the sites, cultural and historical, and maybe hit NYC and Boston while we’re out that way.

Luckily fo rme, I have a camera fanatic for a wife, so forgetting the camera is never an issue!

Comment on Philadelphia Conference by renaissanceguy

renaissanceguy — Tue, 01 Dec 2009 12:29:28 +0000

Hi, I have tagged you.

http://renaissanceguy.wordpress.com/2009/11/30/creative-writing-exercise/

Comment on The importance of letter grades by Jay Burns

Jay Burns — Thu, 12 Nov 2009 23:41:35 +0000

Who kept driving after the first two tires came off? That guy didn’t show any improvement at all.

Comment on The importance of letter grades by Scott Erb

Scott Erb — Thu, 12 Nov 2009 03:53:03 +0000

LOL! Yes….”Well, yeah, it’s too bad the tire came off while you were driving on the interstate, but the last car he fixed had three tires come off, so he’s really improving…”