The Lo Down

While I started this blog for students to try out online discussions, I’ve decided to move beyond that.  My students now have their online discussions on the class Moodle, and I wanted to write here about what it’s like to have a blended/hybrid class.

Because that’s what my 8th grade Language Arts classes have become.  Part F2F (face to face), part online.  And we are all richer for it.

Now that you’ve participated in a few online discussions, what did you think of the experience?

1) What did you like about the online discussions?

2) What didn’t you like about the online discussions?

3) What would you like more of?

4) What would you like less of?

5) Any other ideas, suggestions, thoughts?

Thanks for participating.  I enjoyed this new way of discussing very much.

We just read two articles about the N-word in class.  Some people think it’s OK to use the word if the speaker is African-American.  Some people think it’s such a hateful word that nobody should ever use it.  Some people think using the word makes them seem “cool.”

Is it OK for some people to use the N-word, but not others?  Why?  If some people are really upset by the word, is that enough of a reason to avoid the word?  Don’t just give your opinion – explain why.  (Remember – don’t use the N-word in your post or it won’t get published.)

How do I post again?  Click on Comments, on the lower right of this post.

“Simply because we’re licked a hundred years before we started is no reason for us not to try to win,” Atticus says about the trial.

Later, when talking about Mrs. Dubose, Atticus says, “I wanted you to see what real courage is, instead of getting the idea that courage is a man with a gun in his hand. It’s when you know you’re licked before you begin but you begin anyway and you see it through no matter what. You rarely win, but sometimes you do.”

Do you agree or not?  Give reasons from your own  experience and specific evidence from To Kill a Mockingbird. 

Post once, then read everybody else’s posts and respond. Don’t forget to use people’s userid’s, not their real names.

Choose one or both of these questions to answer.  Write at least 100 words.  Use evidence from your own life and from To Kill a Mockingbird.

• 1. Scout and Jem don’t share some important information with each other. When Scout accidentally rolled into the Radley’s yard, she heard somebody laughing, but she didn’t tell Jem. Then, when Jem went back to the Radley’s back yard to get the pants that were snared on the fence, he found that somebody had mended the rips in the pants; he didn’t tell Scout about this until much later. Jem and Scout talk and play all the time, so why didn’t they share what they experienced with each other?

• 2. Is Atticus effective as a dad?