MON APR 27

• went over the guidelines for the research paper

WED APR 22

• completed a course evaluation from the banner

WED APR 15

• Analyzed a number of other students posts

WED APR 8

• You can leave out a weak link in an argument and hope no one notices

MON APR 6

• attended class

WED APR 1

• There are different types of causal statements. There are immediate causes, remote causes, precipitating causes, and contributing causes.
• Correlations are not always causal. Much of the time they’re false causations.
• Received some helpful advice about my topic.

WED MAR 25

• In a rebuttal, we can’t just claim that the opposing evidence is wrong. We also have to provide our own evidence.
• We don’t research to prove a thesis, we research to form a thesis.
• Broad and general sources are actually more helpful.

MON MAR 23

• We observed how a coffee filter filter, when turned upside down in a bowl of water, won’t let any air pass through it.
• Went over several different refutal argument possibilities.

WED MAR 11

• Wrote a review on RateMyProfessor
• Remember to keep verbs active and make the subject the most important component of a sentence.
• ‘Your work is disappointing’ – Passive
• ‘Your work disappoints me’ – Active

MON MAR 9

• Leave the opening of an essay for last. Start with the conclusion to remember where to go.
• Create arguments that challenge the reader.

WED MAR 4

• We had to guess what some kid in our class looked like. I have no idea.
• Remember to come to the meeting with topics that I want to talk about.
• When analyzing the validity of claims, we only need one small claim to be false to reject the entire thing.

MON MAR 2

• Decided to order pizza in class.
• Discussed the SawStop product and how it worked. Also why many saw manufacturers  refused to buy the technology.
• The pizza got here and I kinda stopped paying attention for a little

WED FEB 25

• Went over definition essays. They can define terms using things like moral values or laws.
• Definitions can be arguments.
• Analyzed our separate definitions of rape

MON FEB 23

• Remember the specific phrases to get feedback or grades. And also remember to try and engage in conversation.
• Discussing the Paper: If possible, try not to develop a side. Don’t think of the paper as a ‘yes or no’ paper. Just try to explore the topic and maybe speculate about something in particular.
• Went over some of the Working Hypothesis posts. Predictions are always good in a hypothesis.
• Worked on the Mechanical Troubles assignment.

WED FEB 11

• Be sure to take credit for all of our posts.
• Actually try to learn about our topics and understand them instead of just finding sources that agree with our thesis’.
• It might be more beneficial to find sources that disagree with us.
• Even not finding sources is helpful because then we create new material.

MON FEB 9

• At the top of the blog are individual pages that contain assignments. There is a conference page. You can check your grades and schedule conferences from there.
• Using their is only OK when your subjects are plural.
• Most pronouns don’t serve any purpose so it’s important to get rid of them whenever possible.
• First person pronouns like our and we should be used whenever possible.

WED FEB 4

• Remember to post notes in reverse chronological order. Start a new note post at the to of MyNotes.
• Went over sample posts that earned certain grades.
• Professor went and got like 7 people coffee, which was cool.
• Student posts will be selected every now and then as examples of great essays.
• Reviewed examples of purposeful summaries, which should start with ‘it seems counterintuitive…’

MON FEB 2

• Had a former student come in and talk about the writing center and how to use it.
• Had us go through the uncategorized posts and fix them
• Talked about grade codes. And that we can learn what our numerical grades are in a conference before or after a class.
• We shouldn’t ever write in the 2nd person. We shouldn’t use words like you, your,  or yours.
• Throat clearing is equivalent to preparing the reader for a point about to made in writing. We shouldn’t ‘clear our throats’ when writing. Just get to the point
• We shouldn’t use phrases like I believe, or In my opinion because we lose credibility.
• Save most of the background information in an essay for the context where it’s needed. Don’t use too much of it in the opening.
• Purposeful summaries should only summarize the part of an article that we use for our argument.
• Choose a counterintuitive topic to learn and discuss. Make sure it’s interesting enough to talk about for 10-12 weeks.

WED JAN 28

• Professor Hodges opened with WAR by Edwin Starr.
• Remember to open My Notes before every class.
• Explained how to link webpages to notes.
• Talked about the island of Yap and their currency of big limestone rocks called fei. Also talked about how that story is similar to America’s financial situation in the early 1930s.