Three things no. 1

I’ve been very inconsistent writing for this blog. I tried to put a bit more regularity into things with the logbook format, but that became too much to keep up with, especially while the semester is in progress. So I’m going to try this three things format: on a more-or-less weekly basis I’ll share three things that have been on my mind since the last three things post. I think I need some sort of “plan” if I’m going to write here regularly, but writing mini reviews of everything I was reading & watching (even if only a couple sentences each) was just way too much.

Over the past couple weeks I’ve been refreshing my RSS feeds. When Google Reader was discontinued (RIP) I made the switch to Feedly, & then sometime more recently I switched to Inoreader. (I don’t remember why.) Inoreader never quite clicked with me, & so I wasn’t really reading my RSS feeds all that consistently. But as part of a larger initiative to get a handle on my digital life (especially my email inbox) I’m trying to put as much as I can—especially email newsletters—into an RSS reader. I decided to try out Feedbin & I’m glad I did. The interface is really clean & pleasant to read, & it has enough features to elevate it above a free reader but not so many features as to overwhelm.

Yesterday I had a writing lab assignment in my The Way of Francis & Clare class. (That reminds me, I need to write an update to how I’m approaching my Francis & Clare course.) By the end of the in-class writing lab, each student should have produced an outline for their first writing assignment, which they will write in class on Monday on the basis of their outlines (& only their outlines). Over the course of the writing lab students are encouraged to talk to one another & with me about whatever questions they have, whether relating to course material or the assignment instructions or whatever. I have several goals in mind with these in-class writing labs, but the main one is I hope students appreciate that writing is a process: there is a planning stage (considering the prompt; conducting research; outlining an approach; integrating various points into a single, coherent treatment; figuring out how these points relate to ideas learned in class & in research; documenting the sources of those ideas so they can be properly cited; etc.) that happens before words are even put to paper. I think this first writing lab was a success: I was able to have conversations with many students (many more than I can take in individual meetings during office hours) clarifying both course material & my expectations for the assignment, & I overheard conversations students were having among themselves about the material. I’m looking forward to reading the papers themselves next week.