I'm really pleased to see that you aren't afraid to participate and be involved. Participation and involvement are essential to learning.
It's no secret what I want you to master in this class:
- Accelerated Learning, 555's
- Memory Patterns, Tell Backs, Fast Writes
- The three primary behaviors associated with success
- Starting on time; staying on task; completing assignments
- Writing, listening, speaking, information organization, study skills
- Portfolios
- Journals
- Write furiously
- The Information Age provides so much information, so fast, you'll never get it all
- Deciphering what's important and grabbing a main idea and two or three subordinate ideas
- Focus
- Repeat, repeat repeat. Restate, restate, restate. Retell, retell, retell.
- Questions
- Daily Report cards
- Graphs
- Copying, to get the feel of how others do it
- Quality
- Never, ever, ever give up
What I'm really concerned about is "caring." I want you to care not only about what we've been learning and doing, I want you to care about what you think and feel about what we've been learning and doing. Tell me what you think. How do you feel about this experience?
As Robert Pirsig reflected in Zen and the Art of Motorcycle Maintenance, "The students were finally and completely trapped into making quality judgments for themselves. And it was exactly this, and nothing else, that taught them to write."
There are four types of writing on which we are focusing. These are the major types of writing required in college:
1. Note taking
2. The essay (tests and homework)
3. The research paper
4. Resumes
Learn how to handle these four and you will be on your way.
What is writing? What's the point? Writing is organizing your thoughts, emotions and responses in such a way that you are able to communicate with others.
We do not "know" a subject until we have written about it. We can't think a subject or problem through thoroughly until we write it down, revise it, rethink it, inspect it, rewrite it, speak it, hear it, live with it, capture it, revise it, rethink it, write it again.
I will make every effort to show you what "quality" writing looks-like. I will make every effort to help you discover an idea that will carry you beyond boredom. Just as soon as you find out how exciting and challenging writing really is, you will improve. As soon as you figure out how much you have to say, and just how creative you are, your writing will improve.
You have probably been told to write as you speak. This is why we do tell backs, to practice speaking.
You will discover that the teacher isn't here to do the work. As soon as you figure this out you will be a better writer. We were not born with the instinct to write. We were born with the instinct to communicate: "Look out! There's a saber-tooth tiger behind you!"
Writing is a skill. To continue your educations and hold jobs with a future you must master a number of skills. Essential are the behaviors of starting on time, staying on task, completing assignments. In addition, you must know how to read, write, listen, speak, organize information and study. You do all of these in this class.
The solution to developing new skills lies in the mind - a brilliant flash that allows you to grasp what you already know, "Hey, I can do that."
You gotta wanna.
You will do what you want to do. Do you want to play the piano? Then you will. Do you want to bake a pie? Then you will. Many times we say we want to do something, but in fact, often, all we really want to do is watch television.
The problem with human beings is that our sense of belief in ourselves is easily eroded. It's up to each one of us to see that this erosion is not the truth about life. The truth is that living life is intentional. It is our intentional effort that summons a feeling of "Yes! Life really is worth living." This is the challenge. and we must get up and earn it every day.
Do you really "wanna" be a better writer?
Being a better writer means stating facts and ideas and thoughts clearly and exactly. Make this effort and you will become a better writer, perhaps a real good writer.
Who am I?
I am a teacher and businessman. I have three boys, a wife, two grandchildren and a little black dog named Sam. You can find out more than you ever wanted to know about me by typing my name into Google or some other search engine.
SOME IMPORTANT SITES - www.brainsarefun.com/qualitywriting.com
REPEAT, REPEAT, REPEAT. RESTATE, RESTATE, RESTATE. RETELL, RETELL, RETELL.
WELCOME to a college level writing course. The purpose of this course is to assure you, "You really can write."
- Learn to organize little squiggly symbols on a page into well thought out and clear expressions of what you know and mean.
- What is the value of being a good writer?
- What are you trying to do when you write?
- What is "Quality?"
- What is "quality writing?"
- What is going to turn you into a quality writer?
- Are you here to be excellent, or to fulfill a requirement?
- First you have to have a reason for writing.
- What is the main point?
- Do you have a reason to strive for excellence in expression?
- Learn writing by writing by reading.
- Are there different qualities of writing? Good writing vs. bad writing?
- Are you a good writer?
- Quality is the same as excellence.
- Rhetoric is the art or study of using language effectively and persuasively.
THERE ARE MANY DIFFERENT TYPES OF WRITING
Advertising/Sales
Appreciations/Thank yous
Autobiography
Biography
Blogs
Books
Creative writing
Diaries
Documentaries
Documentation
Editorial
Educational
Emails
Essays
Expository writing
Fast Writes
Fiction
Journals
Letters
Love notes
Memos
Narrative writing
News
Nonfiction
Note taking
Outlines/Memory Patterns
Personal notes
Plays/Movies/Television scripts
Portfolios
Position papers
Poetry
Power Point presentations
Propaganda
Reflection
Reports
Research
Resumes
Rhetoric
Songs
Stories
Summaries
Technical
Tell Backs
Before you can write effectively and persuasively you must have something to say. What is your thesis, your premise, your proposition?
- A Thesis is an unproved statement put forward as truth in an argument, "My thesis is that the sun rotates around the earth, and I'm going to tell you why this is true."
- A Premise is a proposal upon which an argument is based, or from which a conclusion is drawn, "The premise of my argument is that the sun rotates around the earth."
- A Proposition is a plan suggested for acceptance; a proposal, "To grasp my argument I ask you to accept for the moment that the sun rotates around the earth."
What do you have to say? Are you going to repeat something
you have already heard, or are you going to see something on your
own and communicate about what you see? This is college writing.
All right, now that you're intent on writing with quality, how
do you do it? One tip, make sure you read all of your final drafts
out loud. Reading through your material aloud will help you enormously.
Give it a try.
We do not "know" a subject until we have written
about it. We can't think a subject or problem through thoroughly
until we write it down, revise it, rethink it, inspect it, rewrite
it, speak it, hear it, live with it, capture it, revise it, rethink
it, write it again.
There are four types of writing on which we are focusing. These four types are the major types required in college and the workplace:
Note taking
The essay
The research paper
The resume
So far we have been concentrating on note taking and the essay.
THE MID-TERM and FINAL
The mid-term and final will be similar. Make sure you answer the question that is asked.
THE RESEARCH PAPER
1. take a position
2. begin by writing an abstract (a short summary)
3. re-write
4. MLA format, 6 -10 pages (1,500 - 2,500 words)
5. reference outside sources
6. Choose your topic by 10/18
7. Due 11/22, beginning of class
SOME PROMPTS FOR GETTING STARTED
1. What is "Quality?"
2. "Thinking" is a technical term.
3. This I believe...
4. The purpose of life is happiness.
5. "Nature wears the color of the spirit." Emerson
6. The most important commandment of all is...
7. "Lord, give me chastity. But not yet." St. Augustine.
8. "People wish to be settled; Only as far as they are unsettled
is there hope for them." Emerson
9. "The whole of wisdom is that everyday life has no
fewer horrors than prison." Azar Nafisi
10. "I have tried to find a value above price for the
smallest events of our daily life." Thornton Wilder about
Our Town.
11. "History is mostly bunk." Henry Ford
12. The very act of wonder is already an emancipation.
THE RESEARCH PAPER
1. The research paper is non-fiction
2. Choose a topic that has at least two sides, pro and con
3. Which side are you going to defend
4. What is the "high concept?" Big picture? Major theme?
5. Who are the experts? What do they have to say?
6. What are your sources?
7. Where are your notes?
8. Show me a draft
9. Turn in complete work in correct format
10. Include appropriate references
HOW TO BEGIN EVERY PAPER AND ESSAY
The purpose of this paper is to...
In addition, I will discuss...
My opinion of this idea is...
In conclusion...
Advice: Stop over-challenging yourself and being so critical. Stop biting off more than you can chew. Organize your ideas into small segments that your mind can understand and build and deal with them one at a time. It is never too late to be what you want to be.
Why do we remember so little?
Why do we get so little out of reading?
What is the value of writing?
It occurs to me that the best way to sum up this class is to list some of my informal mottoes:
In this class, I will not waste your time.
Break tasks into their component parts and teach each part to mastery.
Cooperation before instruction.
Behavior maketh men.
Catch people doing the right thing, reward them immediately, stop your criticism.
Continue your education. Create a life with a future.
Do!
Answers first.
Earn.
If the student hasn't learned, the teacher hasn't taught.
Only when one knows the rules, can the game can be played.
Reading is the essential competency.
Repeat, repeat, repeat; Restate, restate, restate; Retell, retell, retell.
Save the brains!
Security, not harshness.
Share a commitment to the best possible education with your children.
Teach to the test. Make sure it's a good test.
There are definitely stupid questions.
Turn "I can't" attitudes into "I can!" behavior.
Win!
Write furiously.
Never, ever, ever give up.
And above all, Love!
a link to this page is found at www.brainsarefun.com/mxcc.html - end -