tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-21165575.post555544686403482593..comments2024-03-10T20:46:19.274-04:00Comments on In the Middle: Having to Stretch, Having Room: A Voyage of Brendan LessonCord J. Whitakerhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06224143153295429986noreply@blogger.comBlogger17125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-21165575.post-83445017547417770022013-05-15T17:24:17.760-04:002013-05-15T17:24:17.760-04:00Thanks JJ. Very useful, and looking forward to try...Thanks JJ. Very useful, and looking forward to trying something like that this Fall.medievalkarlhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/12440542200843836794noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-21165575.post-45231916624236700222013-05-15T16:34:14.388-04:002013-05-15T16:34:14.388-04:00This is a set of really interesting possibilities,...This is a set of really interesting possibilities, and the in-class writing thing does sound as if it might unstick some stuck discussions, or start new ones where silence loomed. Wikpiedia is also tempting as a pedagogical resource, but exercises involving lots of access from a single IP or lots of edits to a single page tend to attract robotic redaction pretty quickly. Some experience and suggestions from people who've tried this linked <a href="http://writinghistory.trincoll.edu/crowdsourcing/" rel="nofollow">from here</a>, which I humbly recommend to all thinking about such approaches in class.Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-21165575.post-72289057610035316452013-02-26T13:51:47.035-05:002013-02-26T13:51:47.035-05:00Late to the party, Karl, but your detailed process...Late to the party, Karl, but your detailed process of classroom flipping is awesome! Though I have never had to 'do', per se, a three-hour course in one neat block, I will certainly keep your structure in mind.kjarchowhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/00388688328897202024noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-21165575.post-69915844931580747272013-02-26T13:46:20.490-05:002013-02-26T13:46:20.490-05:00This comment has been removed by the author.kjarchowhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/00388688328897202024noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-21165575.post-65614488808410214522013-02-17T09:35:18.491-05:002013-02-17T09:35:18.491-05:00It was a truly co-taught course. On each day the l...It was a truly co-taught course. On each day the lead belonged to one or the other in theory I think but it was always a conversation between the two of them and among us. The "Chevalerie" chapter from Medieval Identity Machines" derives, I'm sure, from that seminar.<br /><br />i've never co-taught a course but am itching to do so some day.Jeffrey Cohenhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/17346504393740520542noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-21165575.post-78920706660981018432013-02-17T07:59:08.738-05:002013-02-17T07:59:08.738-05:00wow! sounds amazing. now I'm immediately seein...wow! sounds amazing. now I'm immediately seeing that from a faculty perspective and thinking through the possibilities (a classicist and I have talked about doing a team-taught 'otherworlds' course for example) -- Hahn did one class, and Kaeuper the other I presume? Did they both attend the whole time though?medievalkarlhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/12440542200843836794noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-21165575.post-74920369194064228042013-02-16T22:46:38.939-05:002013-02-16T22:46:38.939-05:00I'm late to this, Karl, but wanted to say how ...I'm late to this, Karl, but wanted to say how cheering I found your post. I am used to teaching the long stretch graduate seminar, but this semester I have been experimenting with its cadence and kinetics. We move a lot more than I am used to and engage in some creative activities that are energizing.<br /><br />I was also thinking of an 8 credit, 6 hour (2 3 hour classes per week!) seminar I took on chivalry co-taught by Tom Hahn and Richard Kaeuper when I was an undergrad at U of Rochester. It was incredibly intense, dominated my life ... and was truly amazing in its depth.Jeffrey Cohenhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/17346504393740520542noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-21165575.post-64575101487479008022013-02-15T11:39:08.170-05:002013-02-15T11:39:08.170-05:00I will keep you posted on my project, Karl. Thank...I will keep you posted on my project, Karl. Thanks for your interest. And I'm glad to hear you might try the wiki-editing with your students. If they're worried about putting their edits "out there" you can tell them that Isidore justified his unique encyclopedic interventions in the face of previous authorities with this maxim: "Magnarum esse virium clavam Herculi extorquere de manu" ['to wrench the club from the hand of Hercules is to be of greater power"]. Alex Muellerhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/09704625597123918247noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-21165575.post-74660820125559273572013-02-14T21:17:50.314-05:002013-02-14T21:17:50.314-05:00Alex -- I do know the Colbert, and I love this pro...Alex -- I do know the Colbert, and I love this project you're proposing. Do keep me posted on how it develops.<br /><br />Now that you've proposed it, I think we'll do some in-class wiki editing either in one of the next classes. Hoping to be able to report back here how it turns out.medievalkarlhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/12440542200843836794noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-21165575.post-72965196533281833982013-02-14T17:09:37.970-05:002013-02-14T17:09:37.970-05:00In the spirit of St. Valentine's, I "hear...In the spirit of St. Valentine's, I "heart" the whole sequence of activities you spell out here. Directed writing, or what I call "quickwrites," are my bread and butter pedagogical technique. And like Brandon, I thoroughly enjoyed reading about the Wikipedia activity, which I think I will steal and "remix" into my own teaching. <br /><br />I'm also compelled to comment because I'm working on a project that is examining the affinities between premodern (often pre-printed, but not always) and digital reading/writing practices that I'm tentatively calling "Veni, Vidi, Wiki: A Prehistory of Digital Textuality." In particular, your connection between the incomplete/reworked translations of the Voyage of Brendan (a text I will be looking closely at soon!) and Wikipedia entries suggests that the read/write sensibility of the wiki reflects much of what we might witness in many medieval compilations, which are crafted for particular audiences or what we might call networks of readers. It might also be interesting to have your students add some edits to the Wikipedia page, but then again that might ruin this activity for future students. I'd like to believe that such a reading of these entries could be never-ending, but that's probably not the case . . .<br /><br />And if you haven't seen this classic episode of Colbert (http://www.colbertnation.com/the-colbert-report-videos/72347/july-31-2006/the-word---wikiality), then you must. The response was so overwhelming that the Wikipedia admins had to shut the "Elephants" page down until the editing fervor subsided.Alex Muellerhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/09704625597123918247noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-21165575.post-69665744910431705712013-02-14T09:25:48.407-05:002013-02-14T09:25:48.407-05:00Thanks Brandon. Expect it'll go well for you. ...Thanks Brandon. Expect it'll go well for you. And I was considering using that same video! Might as well -- in a 3-hour class, I have time.<br /><br />I'm really aiming for no more than 20 minutes going any one thing, and ideally never talking for more than 10 minutes at a time. And the larger goal is, as much as possible, to get them to figure things out themselves. The way we do this is just by reading and chatting, but we forget, or at least I do, how important writing is to thinking. And since writing is always the place where they're the weakest, the trick is just to get them to do MORE, without increasing my grading load. So! This is the trick. medievalkarlhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/12440542200843836794noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-21165575.post-26340343999628101542013-02-14T09:16:42.472-05:002013-02-14T09:16:42.472-05:00Great post; it's nice to see this all laid out...Great post; it's nice to see this all laid out. I really like the breakup of class into segments, along with various approaches to keep it fresh. I'm finding in-class writing & group work is great to generate ideas before whole-class discussions of topics, too.<br /><br />I think I'll work the Wikipedia exercise into my class soon. It seems like a very useful way to get into the materials and how we imagine them.<br /><br />Also helpful is what you said about "remix culture," which I've been thinking about and discussing with my own students this semester, regarding the Bible & medieval/early modern adaptations. I like the TV Tropes wiki, and will plan to work it into my class. I've shown a few clips from Kirby Ferguson's documentary <i>Everything Is a Remix</i>, <a href="http://www.everythingisaremix.info/" rel="nofollow">here</a>, which was great right at the start of class to help frame discussion--so we were able to jump back and forth between biblical, medieval, & modern.bwhawkhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/17909010609907741198noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-21165575.post-79943382293692241402013-02-13T09:56:26.225-05:002013-02-13T09:56:26.225-05:00As someone who, as an undergrad (back in the day),...As someone who, as an undergrad (back in the day), had a professor who frequently taught 3-hour night classes and who always started those classes with a similar kind of directed writing, I can vouch (at least from the student end) for the pedagogical usefulness of directed writing for larger classes like those Dali Clocks is teaching. It's a trick I'm planning on adopting if I ever end up teaching in a three-hour block (which are rare at my institution).Cynthia Camphttps://www.blogger.com/profile/12344216248318752886noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-21165575.post-7486992626716964702013-02-13T09:09:14.570-05:002013-02-13T09:09:14.570-05:00thanks Bruce! I have to confess that I'm now t...thanks Bruce! I have to confess that I'm now tempted to edit wikipedia pages to line them up with what I want my class to do...medievalkarlhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/12440542200843836794noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-21165575.post-19641180056459813942013-02-13T08:25:21.490-05:002013-02-13T08:25:21.490-05:00What a great post, Karl, and a fabulous example of...What a great post, Karl, and a fabulous example of how to use ubiquitous resources like Wikipedia in productive and helpful ways. I loved the natural fit between the text and the pedagogy--really nice!Bruce Holsingernoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-21165575.post-21035394935235917272013-02-13T08:20:29.083-05:002013-02-13T08:20:29.083-05:00thanks Dali, glad it's already useful. I'v...thanks Dali, glad it's already useful. I've never taught a class that big, so I don't have *great* advice to give you. I do have colleagues who teach big classes though; I'll pester them for suggestions.<br /><br />I'm guessing with 45 students you can't do individual presentations...but maybe, with 2 per class, assuming 2 classes a week and 13 weeks or so available (i.e., discounting opening week and finals), it could be done. Would the students be nervous about doing a 5-minute thing in front of the class? yes, probably, but still....<br /><br />really, I'm joined the church of the almighty directed in-class writing. I'm betting this would be the trick for you. write + discussion; write + small group discussion + reconvene for class discussion. use the out-of-class reading to introduce them to the topics you want them to learn; use the in-class writing to guide them to key topics in the reading; use discussion to get them to think critically and creatively about those topics; use small group discussion to heighten the debates. At the least this would ensure: a) they do the reading; b) you have at least 1 fewer paper to grade; c) they spend less time in class furtively looking at their phones; d) which means less discipline, which means better evals. Ideally.<br /><br />With gender studies, you can do modern-day stuff easily. Show them something and ask what [x] thinker or [y] concept would say about it. Get them to apply the concepts creatively, in other words (I'm doing the same thing this week in my grad lit theory class to introduce Horkheimer and Adorno).<br /><br />Now, I'm speaking from what's a temporary place of success. Maybe in 3 weeks I'll say IT'S TOO MUCH JUST LECTURE. But try it: a lot more in-class writing. At least they'll get a good senseof the kinds of questions they're expected to pose of the material.medievalkarlhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/12440542200843836794noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-21165575.post-20311994767107344602013-02-12T23:15:07.549-05:002013-02-12T23:15:07.549-05:00HI Karl,
This was an incredibly valuable and help...HI Karl,<br /><br />This was an incredibly valuable and helpful post. Thanks so much for sharing it. I wanted to ask if you have any advice for people stuck teaching larger classes (45 in my case....an awkward size) who feel they keep falling into too much lecture mode. <br /><br />I'm in a different discipline (gender studies) teaching a 101 course to freshman and sophomore who mostly take it for the requirement. It's only the second year of teaching for me as a grad student (we have our own classes at this program) but I already want to tweak the class format significantly. <br /><br />With a size like this, is there any way to achieve some of the lateral thinking and seminar-ish moments of intimacy while still doing the necessary concept work and managing the class? <br /><br />Thanks and keep up the great work!Dali Clockshttps://www.blogger.com/profile/13100379855286115839noreply@blogger.com