Bigger version of new pic over at the side

My small family, at Thanksgiving: Andrew, Daniel and Kathryn (the kids) and me

Why we blog

I'm anticipating complaints here, that the blog assignment is nothing but busy work.

It isn't.

In my nine years of teaching, one thing I've noticed is that modes of communication and transmission of information have changed, but that composition classes have, for the most part, remained the same. I've also noticed that many, if not most, of my students haven't really internalized the idea that writing is communication, that by writing papers that reference other works (whether visual or written), they're entering a conversation.

The blogging assignment is my attempt to update the way I teach you to write, and to help you internalize the idea that you are entering a conversation. I can and will modify the blog requirements over the course of the semester, based on your feedback (though I likely won't modify the frequency required).

I will comment on your blogs. Maybe not every day. Maybe not even every week, since I rarely say anything unless I have something substantial to say, but I will be following them.

Besides. You'll be commenting on each others' blogs, so you shouldn't lack for feedback.

Week from hell

My pixie decided, very early Monday morning, to jump out of my arms just after I'd lifted her out of her crib.  I barely caught her by her left arm, and heard a pop.  She started screaming, but didn't seem like she'd broken anything, since she settled down, nursed well, and fell back asleep.  She woke up about an hour and a half later screaming again when she tried to push up to resettle herself against my shoulder. 

We took her to the urgent care clinic, and the doctor diagnosed her as having nursemaid's elbow--a mild dislocation--but couldn't put it back.  He gave us the name and number of a specialist to call Tuesday, and put a splint on her to protect her little elbow.

She spent most of Monday in my lap, nursing and sleeping.  She wanted down to play a couple of times, but got incredibly frustrated because she couldn't crawl with the splint, which stretched from an inch or two below her shoulder to her knuckles.

We got her in to see the specialist on Tuesday, he got her elbow put back in (with much screaming and crying on her part, and flinching and nearly crying on mine), and sent her for some x-rays to make sure her tiny bones didn't take any damage.  She finally started using her arm again, but acted like it was still really sore (big surprise, there).  It was sore all day Wednesday, and much of the day yesterday, making her really cranky, and inclined to want to nurse all the time.  It was only late yesterday afternoon that she started acting like her normal, happy, active self.

So, for most of this week, I've been limited to one hand to do anything with--which really sucks when it's my retarded left hand.  And I've not had nearly enough sleep.

Sample posts for 102

Sample linked pieces:

A teachable moment: Facebook isn't private

We don't need no thought control.

Sample rants/personal pieces:

Sample rant

Firsts

Sample embedded video (e-mail me if you can't find the instructions in Blogger Help and you want to use videos):

My kids

On December 4, 2010, Kathryn Aubrey Chism decided that 36 weeks was long enough, and she wasn't going to wait those last four weeks before making her entrance into the world. She weighed six pounds, and was eighteen and a half inches long.

Frankly, after her brother's impatience, I'm surprised (though very pleased) that she waited as long as she did to make her entrance.

Her brother Daniel, who'd stayed with my husband's parents while I was in the hospital, got to meet her the day we got to bring her home. He pretty much fell in love with her right away.

It's not hard to see why. She's incredibly cute, and has been since day one. Below is her first day home.

These are more recent picture of Grandma holding Kathryn, with Daniel kissing her little head in the first, and looking up at Grandpa's camera instead of ours with the second.


Daniel adores his baby sister, but since he's only two years old, he has to be penned out of her room sometimes (no matter how adorable he is begging to come in), like when she's in her swing. He may be gentle with her, but he's a klutz, like any toddler is.



One of the funnier things is how protective he is. If she cries at all, he freaks out and runs to make sure she's okay. If I'm in the room and the gate is open, he'll run up to her and touch her to make sure everything's all right. If I'm not in the room, he'll come find me and point at my chest to tell me to go feed the baby*. It's really sweet--he takes his duties of being a big brother seriously.

*Have you seen how expensive formula is?! If we weren't breastfeeding her, we wouldn't be able to afford to eat!

So, if it sometimes seems like I'm taking forever to get back to you on the discussion board, with your blogs, or your e-mails, it's probably because I'm taking care of these two little gifts. You really wouldn't believe how many hands I need to wrangle a toddler and an infant, and do the other things that need doing on a daily basis.

It's a girl!

I know I could have, should have posted this a couple of weeks ago, but on August 20, we found out that we'll be having a girl.

Yes, we do have names picked out--her name will be Kathryn Aubrey.

Plagiarism

I recently ran across a news story that made me realize that you guys might not know what is or isn't plagiarism.

Basically, any time you go to a source outside your own head, you need to cite your source. My 101 students don't have to use research; my 102 students don't need to except for the last paper. However, if you do use any type of outside source, you have to cite your source internally, in a parenthetical reference (explained in your Hacker handbook), and in a Works Cited entry at the end of your paper.

When it comes to blogs, I expect you to link your sources, like I did above. It's explained in the textbooks I created for you, in the Course Documents section of whichever class you've signed up for. If the linking doesn't work for you, e-mail me at hollychism@hotmail.com, and we'll try to figure out what's going on.

There are consequences for not properly citing your sources. The least that will happen if I determine that you've purposely plagiarized is that you'll fail the paper (101) or the class (102), and get reported to the proper authorities for it to go into your permanent school record. If I can tell it's not on purpose, you fail the paper until you revise to cite your sources.

Let me know in the comments, in the General Questions thread on the course site, or by e-mail, if you have any questions.