College Learning Strategies Fall 2017

Purpose of this exercise/ assignment instructions: One of the skills shared by all successful college students is the ability to extract meaning from a variety of sources.   This requires creativity and analytical thinking.   We are going to practice those skills today by writing a brief comparison of the lives of two cousins using their death certificates as a starting point.   Edith Doran and Margaret Allen died four years apart but their experiences leading up to the production of their death certificates were very different.   Please write an essay comparing their lives with as much detail as you can support with the available evidence.   It is impossible to do this assignment incorrectly but it is very possible to do it incompletely .   Please be sure to provide evidence for any claims you make in the essay.   There is enough information in the two death certificates to write a fairly rich and detailed story but I encourage you to use clue...

Today's Class- 9/18/17 Here is how I envision tonight: 6:00-7:00 Discussion of "Learning Styles" and how they blend with "teaching styles" 7:00-8:30 Library/Essay source scavenger hunt.  You will have the option to do with independently or with my help.  Your findings will be due (electronically) by tomorrow.  Don't worry...this is a simple task and I am going to give you plenty of time to do it well.

Happy Wednesday!  As we discussed on Monday night, I am open to using a different tool to practice our critical thinking skills on film night.  The Birth of A Nation (1915) was my original plan but I am asking all of you to post alternative suggestions in the comments under this post.  We will be critically analyze something.  I had planned for a film but it could be a poem, work of art etc.  I am leaning toward a film because we will have many other opportunities to look critically at written works.  If you have a suggestion, please leave the following in a comment: What do you propose we review/critically analyze? Why did you choose this?  Be very specific here... How will be access it?  Youtube?  You own it?  It is on campus? We will discuss your suggestions in class next week and come to a decision as a group.  Have fun!

If you haven't written about this already- how are you adjusting to the demands of college?  We are going to be working on our 168 Budgets tonight.  Have the demands of your class schedule significantly changed how you "budget" the 168 hours you get every week?  Secondly- If you don't have an idea of a paper topic yet please come to class with one.  We will work together on this so do not be afraid!  This blog can also be a place where we work together on refining topics and sharing resources.  I will continue to provide examples for you to review in the coming weeks but please share ideas with our classmates.