GW Symposium

It was so good to see you all at the symposium. I enjoyed seeing what great work YVCC students are doing. I was so surprised with how packed it was, but I sure appreciated those of you who stayed long enough to support our class's presenters. They did a great job! We can all be proud!

P.S. If you are interested in the "Lifestyle" projects that Erin and Mario presented on (from Ms. Pearlman's class), you can find information about it on the blog. Click on "Lifestyle Project."

Grades, Make Up Work, Misc.

Hi all,

I know a number of you are curious about your grades at this point in the quarter; however, I think you should be able to estimate pretty closely where you are at right now. Three of the four largest grades are already completed: Debate, Essay #1, and Visual Argument. Basically, if you average your debate grade (total--oral, written, and annotated bib.) and Visual argument grade (the group PowerPoint and report), that's 25% of your grade the course. Your Essay #1 grade is another 30%, so that's 55% of your final grade right there.

The remainder of your grade consists of Essay #2 (30%) and Participation (15%--includes lots of "little" things: attendance, assignments, peer/teacher review, etc.). I let you know in class on Monday (2/26) if you were missing any assignments, so that you could complete make-up work, if needed. (MAKE UP WORK IS DUE BY MONDAY, 3/5/07! See syllabus.)

On a side note, I forgot to mention this in class on Monday (2/26), but I'll try to remember to mention it next week. A few students in the day ENGL 102 class, who have also been doing projects related to global warming, have expressed interest in forming an Environmental Club on campus. Their teacher asked me to see if anyone in our class was also interested. If you are, please let me know, or e-mail Gail Pearlman @ gpearlman@yvcc.edu.

See you all Monday (3/5)! (Peer review and conference sign-ups!)

Proposal Essay

Most of the links on the blog describe the problem vs. offering solutions. A few links that might help are "An Inconvenient Truth" website, "Fight Global Warming for $1 a Day," "Imagine the Earth Without People," and/or "Lifestyle Project." You might also look at current iniatives, such as Carbon Zero or Carbon Neutral communities, sustainability plans, the Kyoto Treaty, California's various efforts to control emissions (and promote alternative energies), etc. Whatever you select, remember to go beyond yourself as you propose your solution and instead suggest changes to current policies or practices on a larger scale. Also remember to focus in on ONE course of action (even though likely many things will have to be done in order to reduce global warming).

Peer response is March 5 (bring four copies of essay to class--typed!), and we will also sign up for Student-Teacher conferences for that week, so you can get teacher feedback on Essay #2 before the final draft is due (on 3/12/07).

Essay #2 and Annotated Biblio.

I forgot to mention in class (and I can't remember if I put it on blue handout): we will NOT be turning in another annotated Works Cited page this quarter. There just isn't time. (I know you'll all be disappointed :)

You should start researching for Essay #2, however. While much of what you've already read/learned will be useful in describing the problem of Global Warming, your argument will actually be to persuade readers to take a particular action; you are going to offer a viable solution. You job now is to start researching possible solutions to GW and decide on one you'd like to advocate for. (There are a few ideas, but not many on the blog reading list.)

We'll discuss this assignment more thoroughly on Monday, but start researching it NOW! Please e-mail or call if you have any questions over the weekend.

Today's Presentations/Global Warming Symposium

I enjoyed your presentations today. It's fun to see your creativity and your learning! I would have been happy with any of the presentations representing our class at the Global Warming Symposium, but the three groups that were chosen are as follows:

“Hidden Power” by David Guevara, Sofia Guevara, and Mathew Santoy

“Coral Reefs Destroyed by Global Warming” by Carol Carrillo, Emma DeLeon, and Dawn Koch

“The Effect of Global Warming on Arctic Animals” by Jessica Burgard, Kristina Hernandez, and Victoria Villanueva

(Alternate, if needed: Emissions and Global Warming by Vanessa, Kandy, and Josefina)

Those who were selected to present should plan to practice and possibly revise their presentations before presenting them at the Global Warming Symposium--I'll have suggestions for you when I return your evaluation sheets on Monday (2/26), though I'd be happy to offer you some suggestions via e-mail if you have any questions or want to work on it over the weekend.

Global warming symposium presenters will receive an added + or - (about 3%) on their lowest essay grade. ALL students who attend the symposium will receive bonus points in their participation grade (worth about one missed assignment)--be sure to check in with me, so I can record your attendance at the symposium. (NOTE: I'll probably arrive about 15 minutes late because I have a class before our class; our class's presentations will be during the last half of the symposium so that Grandview students have time to get to the Yakima campus without skipping class or work.)

What's due 2/21/07?

Your Visual Argument Project (PowerPoint and group written report) is due on Weds., 2/21/07. (I would recommend that all group members save and bring a copy of the Powerpoint and report just in case there are disk problems or a group member forgets something.)

Also due on Weds., 2/21/07, is your individual Annotated Works Cited page (6 - 8 "general" GW articles and 4 - 6 articles on your visual argument topic; cite, summarize, and type).

E-mail, call, or stop by and see me if you have any questions before then.

Have a great 3 day weekend! I look forward to seeing your projects.

Wednesday's Class (2/14/07)

Reminder: We are meeting in L135 Wednesday for a Visual Argument work day. This will be your only class day to work on this project before it's due, as there are no classes on Monday (President's Day Holiday). While you and your group are welcome to leave early for Valentine's Day, you must have a plan in place before you leave on when you will meet to finish up the project if needed. (Also, if a group member doesn't come to class Weds. and doesn't contact you about a meeting time, you can choose to remove that person from your group; that person will have to create an individual project instead.)