CAT Practice # 4; Class Reflection: Final Project (11/22)

The Government and the Corporation
Image from The Story of Stuff

1. Watching The Story of Stuff.
2. Write Blog 18: The Story of Stuff. Instructions HERE.

• Need to watch the video again? Check the video on The Story of Stuff website HERE or on YouTube HERE.
• Also, you will find a list of facts from The Story of Stuff on pages 36-37 of your packet. 

Want to know more about who pays for our stuff?

Check out a clip about sweatshops from the film The Corporation HERE.

Blog 13: Reflection for the Food Unit

For this blog entry please look back over your work for the Food Unit. These include

1. Blogs 9-12
2. Your response to the "XXXL: Why Are We So Fat?" Google Group, 
3. Your evaluations of two CATs for other students
4. Your reading of the student responses to "Hype"
5. Your response to CAT 3
6. any revisions you have made to previous blog entries.

In your first paragraph, discuss how the content of the food unit connects to previous texts ("The Allegory of the Cave," The Truman Show, The Matrix, "Red Pill or Blue Pill?" etc.) and to the main theme of this class, as expressed in the subtitle of my blog, Brave New World: "You shall know the truth, and the truth shall make you mad."

Examples of ideas to explore for this section of the reflection: Why do you think the makers of The Meatrix films used The Matrix as the basis for their arguments? What possible connections could the food industry have to the ideas in The Matrix and, by association, the themes of this course? Or: How do the readings in "XXXL" reveal a system of control through food?

In your second paragraph, explain what tasks from the six-item list above you have done well and what needs improvement. What challenges are you facing? What do you think you need to know right now to move ahead? What can you say about your response to CAT-W #3?

Please write 400+ words reflecting on your experience and work in this third unit, giving specific evidence from your blog entries, work in Google Groups, and evaluation of two student responses to CAT #2. My feedback for the Food Unit will be a response to this reflection.

Blog 4: Reflection on Writing Skills

All work for the Introductory Unit is due Sunday, October 2 by 9:00 am. 

For details, see "Evaluation of Introductory Unit" on the top right. 

From 21st Century Learning at Martin J. Gottlieb Day School

For this blog entry, review pages 1-9 of your class packet as well as your own reflections on the four skills:

• Annotating
• Summarizing
• Thesis-based writing
• Paragraphing

Now write Blog 4: Reflection on Writing Skills. This blog entry should be 250+ words, use your impressions in the individual reflections, and answer the questions below as thoughtfully, specifically, and honestly as you can.

Please answer using SEPARATE paragraphs, one per topic.

1. What do you think you have learned in terms of writing skills?
2. What proves that you have learned what you say you have learned?
3. What of the material we have covered is still unclear or confuses you? 
4. Would you say that overall you feel more confident about your understanding of basic writing skills, less confident, or about the same as when we started class? What makes you feel this way? 
5. Anything else I should know about? 

Blog 24: Reflection on the Class

For Blog 24: Reflection on the Class
First, consider the questions that have been driving this course (from the Syllabus):

• How is contemporary reality produced?
• Who produces this reality and how do we collaborate in its creation?
• What are the ends of producing reality and who benefits and who suffers from it?
• Are there any ways in which an individual or a group can achieve agency in contemporary reality?

A. Now, go back through your blog entries for the semester and choose three (3) that you consider your best critical thinking in terms of the questions above. Write a paragraph explaining why/ how these blog entries reflect your best efforts to see the truth about the reality we live in.

B. Next, consider your online experience this semester and write a second paragraph that answers the following questions:

1. Was writing online different from other writing experiences you have had in the past? If yes, how so? If not, what was the same?
2. Did writing blog entries help improve your writing ability? Please explain why or why not.
3. Did you feel that the online work was a shared experience or an individual activity?
4. Did you read other students’ online work? (Never/ Only when Assigned/ Sometimes/ Often)
5. Did you get the impression that other members of the class or the network read your blog? (Never/ Only when Assigned/ Sometimes/ Often)

C. Finally, consider you overall experience in the class and write a third paragraph that answers the following questions:

1. What lessons will you be taking away from this class?
2. Is there something you would have liked to discuss that we did not get to? What is it and why did you want to discuss it? (Or, what did we not cover in depth that you would have liked to cover in depth and why?)
3. Do you feel that you are leaving this class with a basic understanding of writing strategies? Why or why not?
4. What was the most memorable moment, assignment, interaction, or experience you had in the class? Please explain why.
5. What recommendation(s) would you give to a student that plans to take this class next semester?

For Saturday 5/14 by 8:00 am: Blog 20--Reflection on Food Unit

For this blog entry please look back over 1) my blog entries and 2) your work for the Food Unit. These include blogs 15-19 as well as your response to the Claims, Reasons, and Evidence "quiz" on Google Docs, your reading of the student responses to "Hype," your outline for Blog 17, any comments you may have about the comments to Blog 15 by the ELA students, any progress you have made on your vocabulary page, and any revisions you have made to previous blog entries.

First, discuss how the content of the food unit connects to previous texts ("The Allegory of the Cave," The Truman Show, The Matrix, "Red Pill or Blue Pill?") and to the main theme of this class, as expressed in the subtitle of my blog, Brave New World: "You shall know the truth, and the truth shall make you mad."

Examples of ideas to explore for this section of the reflection: Why do you think the makers of The Meatrix films used The Matrix as the basis for their arguments? What possible connections could the food industry have to the ideas in The Matrix and, by association, the themes of this course? Or: What does the title of Michael Pollan's book In Defense of Food tell us about the food industry? Or: How is Terry Cole's "Where the Whale Be At?"--whose explicit audience is People of Color--a call to move out from a particular type of cave?

Now think about what you have done well and what needs improvement. What challenges are you facing? What do you think you need to know right now to move ahead? What can you say about your response to CAT-W #3?

Please write 400+ words reflecting on your experience and work in this third unit, giving specific evidence from your blog entries, work in Google Forms, and your Vocabulary page. My feedback for the Food Unit will be a response to this reflection.

For Sunday: Blog 14-Reflection on Media Unit

From ClaudiaM Publications

Blog 14: Reflection on Media Unit

For this blog entry please look back over 1) my blog entries and 2) your work for the Media Unit. These include blogs 11-13 as well as your work summarizing and discussing The Truman Show and The Matrix and practicing writing responses using claims, reasons, and evidence in Google Docs, Groups, and Forms. It also includes any progress you have made on your vocabulary page.

Now think about what you have done well and what needs improvement. What challenges are you facing? What do you think you need to know right now to move ahead? What can you say about your response to CAT-W #2?

Please write about 400+ words reflecting on your experience and work in this second unit, giving specific evidence from your blog entries, work in Google Docs, Groups, and Forms, and your Vocabulary page. My feedback for the Media Unit will be a response to this reflection.

Homework: Blog 10 (due Sat 26 at 8:00am)

For this blog entry, review pages 1-7 of your class packet as well as your own reflections in blogs 2, 3, 7, and 9 on the four skills (Annotating, Summarizing, Thesis-based writing, and Paragraphing) we covered in this first unit.

Now write Blog 10: Reflection on Skills. This blog entry should be 250+ words and answer the questions below as thoughtfully, specifically, and honestly as you can. Please answer using separate paragraphs, one per topic.

1. What do you think you have learned in terms of writing skills?
2. What proves that you have learned what you say you have learned?
3. What of the material we have covered is still unclear or confuses you? 
4. Would you say that overall you feel more confident about your understanding of basic writing skills, less confident, or about the same as when we started class? What makes you feel this way? 
5. Anything else I should know about?