Writing | LindaSherwood.com

Tag-Archive for » Writing «

Student Conferencing 21st Century Style

Feb 2012

For the last two weeks I have been conferencing with my students. It means that outside of class time, I meet one-on-one with each of my students for at least a half hour to discuss their written assignments.

This isn’t unusual. Teachers have been doing it for years, but I am currently teaching three mixed-delivery classes and two online classes, so technology has put a twist to the conference.

For instance, if I want to (not saying that I am), I can conference with my students while wearing my pajamas. My students would never know because the conference is taking place online.

The benefit of an online conference? I would have to say the biggest thing is that my comments on their paper are legible, which is something I can’t say when I end up writing comments in the margin of nearly 100 papers. My comments are also more helpful because I don’t just say, “this is a run-on.” I also give the student a link to a web page that will help the student figure out why it is a run-on and how to fix it.

It has been a great way for me to connect with my online students and make the online class a bit more personal. Sometimes it is just nice to put a voice and not just an impersonal computer to learning.

This is the first time I’ve tried the online conferencing. I even have students sign up for the conference using an online scheduling system. That system is wonderful. It sends an email confirmation to both myself and the student. On the day of the conference, it even sends the student a meeting reminder. The online scheduling program I use is at www.scheduleonce.com.

I have learned a few things that I will need to do next time to improve my online conferencing experience. I realized that I need to have the conferences at home end before 4 p.m. This is because this is when my children arrive home, and they come into the house being VERY loud.

I also need to make sure that I schedule in time for a lunch. One day last week, I mistakenly made all of my time from 9 a.m. to 3 p.m. available. Students filled every single minute of it. I left myself no time to get food or go to the bathroom. I was able to squeeze both in, but it wasn’t easy.

For the actual conference, I have students meet me in an online room, which they access with a URL that I provide. Once a student has arrived, I make my computer’s desktop visible. The student can then see their paper on my computer screen.

I have the student call me on the phone, and we talk about their paper as I review it and make comments. When the conference is over, I upload the paper to allow the student to access my comments, and I record the grade.

This method allows me to make sure that students really do hear the comments I make about their paper. In the past, I know that some students receive my feedback and never even read it. But since the students are right there as I comment, they get to hear all of my comments and many times realize the problem before I can even say anything.

Another benefit to the conferences? I get my grading done so much faster. If I were left to my own devices, I would not yet have all of the papers graded. But because of the conferencing, I am right on schedule.

Category: Digital Rhetoric, Teaching, Teaching Resources Tags: digital rhetoric, Teaching, Writing Comments off

Busy Busy

Feb 2012

Linda

I am doing online grading right now. It involves using my web cam when I remember to turn it on and my cell phone. Students log into the online conference room where I am and they call me on my phone. I pull up the paper so we can discuss it. I make comments on it, save the updated paper and upload it for the student to read later. By the end, the student’s paper is graded, and the student has received a lot of one-on-one feedback.

Plus, it ends me dreading the ungraded pile of papers that I tend to lug home and back to the office and home again — sometimes a dozen times — before I actually get around to grading them.

It is part of my effort to stay on top of my grading. It wasn’t my idea. I’m following the guidelines for someone else who struggled with grading. I am loving it so far, and I really enjoy talking to the students.

Category: Teaching Tags: Teaching, Writing Comments off

Hodgepodge

Jan 2012

Linda

I am almost completely past the roller coaster!

I do not have an overriding theme to go with this post.

But first, I want to tell you that you MUST go out and buy Joshilyn Jackson’s new novel, a grown up kind of pretty. I just inhaled the book. It arrived yesterday. I tried to stay up all night reading it because I did not want to put it down, but my eyes refused to cooperate. They kept closing. So at 1 a.m. I gave up and went to bed. And then this morning, at 6 a.m., I was awake again and “working” from home. I waited until most of my family was gone to their various obligations, and I buried myself once more in the novel. I was done by 9 a.m. and ready to dive back in from the beginning. Loved. it. Absolutely.

It is so quotable. I must confess that I absolutely love the way Joshilyn’s brain works. She puts words together in ways that make me want to stare and admire them as if I was standing in an art gallery and actually knew something about the art I was staring at. Example #1: “…and Liza would know; when it came to mapping all the bad ways adolescent girls could go, Liza had been Magellan.” That quote was on page 2. By page 2, I had already read at least 3 or 4 quotes out to my family. Such as example #2 from page 1, “I like black cats about as much as I like any other color cat, and I’ll go straight under any number of ladders if you put the right kind of pie on the other side.”

You must read. The book is yummy. And I fluffy heart it.

OK, but this post isn’t all about my newfound love for Joshilyn’s latest. I also had other things to talk about.

For instance, right now, right this very minute? I have nothing to grade. Nothing. I am all caught up on grading. This is the last time I will be able to say this for the next 15 or so weeks. Enjoy. I am. I love the way it sounds — nothing to grade. Nevermind that it is because nothing is actually DUE yet. I’m taking it.

I am down another pound. I have now lost 61 pounds. And the weight continues to come off especially when I exercise. Who knew? LOL

Do you know who I love more than Betty White? Dolly Parton. I cannot wait to see her new movie, Joyful Noise.

Why did I mention Betty White? Everyone was declaring their love for her on the People’s Choice awards show. I caught White’s line about how turning 90 wasn’t an achievement. It just happens. Great line.

I have had coffee this morning. That’s it. I should probably eat something and take my vitamins. Plus, I should actually work. I need to also get dressed. And before that, I should exercise.

I have an orthodontist appointment tomorrow. I will be getting braces on my bottom teeth. I am not looking forward to it. Well, I am looking forward to the final results of my braces but not the in-between stuff. Braces hurt.

My oldest child still has her braces. She had hoped to have them off months ago. Now it looks like she will still be wearing them for months.

Her canine tooth was sideways behind her front teeth and ABOVE the roof of her mouth. Almost two years ago, she had oral surgery to expose that tooth. The process to pull it down where it belongs began almost immediately. The tooth is moving into place, but it moving slower than molasses. Once it gets to where it needs to go, it will have to be twisted into place as well. This will take a while. And her braces are paid for, and her orthodontist schedules to see her every 8 weeks. Why not sooner?

She has also managed to damage her eyeball. It is a temporary damage (hopefully) because she tended to wear her contacts too often. Her contacts were not made for that. She had an appointment to get her eyes checked earlier this month, but the appointment had to be postponed because her eyes were damaged. She has to wear her glasses until the 23rd in order to give her eyes time to heal. Silly girl.

The 12-year-old boy is playing basketball. He refuses to wear an actual winter coat, so I am kind of glad that it has been a mild winter. Still, I keep warning him that one day he will be out and about without a coat and the vehicle he is in will break down, and he will be cold without a coat. I am sort of hoping it happens, so he will learn to wear a coat!

The man child has also lost his basketball shorts and basketball shoes. He does not know how. He claims they were in his locker but admits they may have fallen onto the floor without him noticing as he carried them somewhere. How he drops something without noticing? I do not know except I do know because I know him, and he could do it.

Yesterday, I drove home with a heated massaging seat and listened to Michelle (my GPS) tell me how to get home while listening to my Kindle Fire play “The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo.” It was very relaxing. It makes me want to commute to work more often.

And that’s it for today. Thanks for playing.

Category: Choppy Thoughts Tags: Books, Fat Man's Daughter, teenagers, weight loss surgery, Writing Comments off

Thanking the Academy, Part Two

Nov 2011

Linda

It turns out, I was nominated for not just one but TWO awards by the amazing Sheila of ThisOneBody. This is my chance to thank her and to recognize some other great bloggers out there.

The rules of this nomination are:

Nominees, in order to accept this award you must:
-Thank and link back to the person who awarded you
-Write seven random things about yourself.
-Award seven other awesome and inspiring bloggers.

Without further ado, here are seven random things about me:

I have made a career out of writing and teaching writing, but English was NOT my highest ACT score (college application test).
So what did I score highest in? In fact, I scored a 29 out of 30 in this category. It was Science.
Most summers, my parents and I would load up our camper and travel around the country visiting relatives including my older siblings. We would return back home in time for me to start school in the fall.
This means I have been to almost every state in our nation by car, which is a great way to travel and see the country. Although, I probably spent more of this traveling time with my nose in a book than my mother would have liked me to.
I have two brothers and two sisters who are 11, 13, 14 and 15 years older than me. As a result, I became an aunt when I was only 5.5 years old.
When she began talking, I refused to acknowledge anything my niece said unless she called me AUNT Linda. It worked, and when I was a teenager, I couldn’t get her to undo it.
When I was a kid, my bedroom was an attic room. I would refuse to go into my room until my mom could go upstairs ~~with~~ before me and turn on a light for me. This continued until I was in my early teens (12, 13, 14). And not about me but a testament to what a great mom I have, she would do this for me EVERY night.

And the bloggers I want to award are the following:

Kiwords

Kirida

AttentionDeficitWhatever

(And yes, I realize this is 8 blogs and not 7. I’m an English major; you do the math, next time.)

Category: Life with Linda, Weblogs Tags: blogging, Writing Comments off

Thanking The Academy

Nov 2011

Linda

Versatile: ver-sa-tile [vur-suh-tl] or, especially British, [vur-suh-tahyl]: capable of, or adapted for, turning easily from one to another various tasks, fields of endeavor, etc.: a versatile writer.
Word information source: www.dictionary.com
Here is how the award works:
1. You thank the person who presented you with the award.
2. You tell 7 things about yourself.
3. You award 15 other newly discovered bloggers.

I want to thank Sheila at ThisOneBody for nominating me for this award. I first *discovered* Sheila on the discussion boards at VerticalSleeveTalk.com, and I quickly began reading her blog as well. I love her posts, and since she is a year out, she is such an inspiration to me. Plus, she has posted a couple of great recipes that I’ve enjoyed trying and sharing with all of you (like the protein-packed iced coffee).

Here are seven random things about me that you may not already know:

I am the mother of four children. Before I was able to give birth to any of them, I had the misfortune of having three miscarriages. They were blighted ovums and pretty devastating emotionally. Before miscarrying, I wasn’t even sure I wanted to be a mom let alone the mother of four. Now, I don’t know what I’d do without these four.
I started dating my husband when I was a senior in high school. He was a junior. We’ve been together since March 4, 1989. We aren’t typical high school sweethearts because we didn’t attend the same school.
I was a cheerleader for six years (sixth grade through high school), and I loved it. I also once tried coaching high school cheerleaders and didn’t love it. It made me give even more credit to my favorite coach, Wendy.
I started taking ballet, jazz and tap when I was 8 years old. I loved it, and I think it really influenced how I carry myself posture-wise.
I have driven hundreds of miles to meet in person people I previously knew only online including some of my closest friends. In fact, when I met one friend I couldn’t even prove who I was because I’d left my wallet at my brother’s house. Despite being ID-less, I still talked the hotel into letting me into her room when she wasn’t there. (I showed my car registration.)
Growing up, I was a picker like American Pickers. My dad was morbidly obese, so I was his legs. He taught me about antiques and belongings. We’d go to flea markets, auctions and yard sales. It was my job to scout the area and then report back to him. Sometimes, he would direct me to the object from the car. Other times, I’d go off on my own and find things to report back. He would then go directly to the booth that had the items I told him about. As a result, I know a lot about antiques and collectibles as well as negotiating.
Another skill I learned because of my dad’s interests was how to pack lots of stuff in a little space. We’d frequently load things up to set up at auctions and flea markets. Or we’d go out to yard sales and buy things, and it’d be my job to get it into the vehicle. When I was about 15, I made the mistake of telling my dad he couldn’t buy anything else because the car was full. He bought a trunk. It took me a half hour to unload the vehicle and load it all back in, but I did get everything in although there was only a tiny bit of space left for me to sit uncomfortably on the way home.

And the 15 blogs I nominate for this award are the following:

You Can Get There From Here

If Only She Were Thinner

MrsFatAss

My Journey to Fit

Something Something Something Fat Chick

VSGMom

Skinny Jeans Dreams