Writing Feedback

Choose one piece of writing that you want feedback about. Post it in the blog. Comment on three classmates' writing.

Use this format for your feedback:

Genius Hour

Blog Post Instructions: 

Read the following information about the Genius Hour Project. Make your first blog post about your project. 

The Genius Hour: Autonomy, Mastery, and Purpose

Documenting the Process

Project Pitch Presented _____

• Three-Slide Presentation

• Motivation
• Timeline and resources
• Goal

• Three minutes. Be prepared with an effective/refined script and delivery. 
• A three to five sentence typed explanation
• Q & A

Blog (Minimally Six Entries): Due by ________

• blogger.com (share your blog address with me so I can add it to the class page) 
• Do not include last names in the blog
• Measurable Goals: Must be part of your first blog

• What are your goals? 
• How will you measure your progress/achievement? 

• Document your time and your readings, which should encompass at least twenty-five percent of your time

• Include citations from specific sources
• Provide an explanation of how these have informed your project

• Discuss your discoveries and setbacks. 

• What have you learned about your project? 
• What have you learned about yourself? 
• Where do you go from here? 

• Other: pictures/graphs/charts, videos, links, etc. 
• Establish your voice … 
• Comment on three other people’s blogs. Be sure to indicate on your own blog where you left comments. 

Video Blog Due by ______

• An additional entry … 
• Use Vimeo. Embed in Blogger. 
• Two minutes 
• What/who has inspired you? 
• How have your readings/resources informed your approach? 
• Anything else? 

Ted Talk Week of ___________

• Four to five minutes 
• Visual component 

• PPT, Prezi, other? 
• Creative and supplemental. You drive the presentation, not the visual. 

• Content: 

• Inspire through your passion
• Show your product 
• Explain your process
• What is your purpose? What should your audience take away from your project? 
• Organization: hook, transitions, logical order, effective conclusion
• Delivery: refined, poised and enthusiastic

The Ted Commandments 

Dream big. Strive to create the best talk you have ever given. Make the complex plain. Don’t try to dazzle intellectually. Connect with people’s emotions. Make us laugh! Make us cry! Feel free to comment on speakers’ talks. Controversy energizes! Rehearse your talk in front of a trusted friend… for timing, for clarity, for impact. 

Show us the real you. Be vulnerable. Don’t flaunt your ego. Don’t boast. No selling from the stage! Don’t read your talk. Notes are fine. End your talk on time. 

California Dreamin'

How did your family come to California? Have they always been here? Do you go back generations here? Compare your family to the Trasks and the Hamiltons. What kinds of people come to California?

MLA Tips

Go to this link.

Answer these questions:

1. Under the section "When to Cite" it makes reference to "common knowledge." What do you think would be an example of "common knowledge?"

2. How do you cite something without an author?

3. What do you do for an online source that doesn't have a page number?

Annotated Bibliography

Write an Annotated Bibliography for five of your sources. See this link for how to make one.

Due by the end of the period. 50 points.

Starting Research

If you have a San Jose Public Library card, go to this site.

If you don't have a library account, use Google Advanced Search with .edu and .gov

Play around with the sites. You have the next two days to do research on your interview subject.

You may also find this site helpful for MLA rules

Citation Machine is good too.

Save your articles in a folder. Make sure to save all of the citation information as well. Start to read the articles and take notes on some information you can use.

American Exceptionalism

Are Americans unique? Or is it just propaganda we're fed all our lives? If you were to line up people from many different countries, could you pick out an American? What does East of Eden tell us about the experience of being an American?