Forum 1: Research

We're currently trying to evaluate the claim that it is/is not reasonably foreseeable that the Confederate Battle Flag would create a hostile atmosphere. As part of that, we were researching the ways in which the flag has been used - which groups used it and when, what it symbolized at the time, and how it was interpreted through its history.

All of you wrote about the history of the flag's design during the Civil War in the U.S., and its use by the then Confederate States of America during that war. A few of you mentioned in passing that the flag was used since then by various hate groups like the Ku Klux Klan and other White Supremacist groups.

The flag's use has a much longer history, though, as it came to be employed again in the 1940s as a symbol of opposition to integration and civil rights. One student included that history in the assignment, and I would argue that that information contributes significantly to our development of the question at issue.

For your forum assignment, answer BOTH questions below. You should write at least one substantial paragraph for each question.

1. How does your thinking develop about the meaning of the Confederate Battle flag as a symbol, as you gain further information about its history and use?

2. What specific steps can you take next time to improve your research, so that you're more likely to learn important facts about the issue at hand? (if you included substantial history about the use of the flag in the early 20th century, please write about what steps you took that helped you find this information.)

Fighting Procrastination

Hi all,

Here are some links to tips for managing the tendency to procrastinate.

Procrastination

Priority Management

Reading for Tuesday 9/24

Here's a link to a PDF of the reading for Tuesday. I'm hoping the books will be in by next week, giving you plenty of time to get them for the next reading.

Case 2: Flag Day

Homework for Thursday 8/19

This assignment will have two parts. Please do them in order - the second part depends on your having thought carefully about the first.

Your assignment should be typed, double-spaced, and in 11- or 12-point font. Put your name, course and section number, and the date at the top.

1. Think about your goals and how this course will fit into them. And think about your goals for the course in particular - not just what grade you want to earn, but also how you hope it will help you gain skills for other course work, decision-making skills about your life, logical skills to use within your future career, and anything else you can think of that requires careful, skillful thinking. Write a few paragraphs about that, first.

2. Once you've completed that, think about what rules for yourself will most help you. We're thinking about rules for within the classroom - that is, rules about how you and your classmates will be expected to behave.

The books for the course, the order we go through materials, the assignments, the lectures, and the grades - those are all part of the pedagogy (the techniques and theories of teaching). That's all my duty to shape. If you knew how to set up a course to learn this stuff, you wouldn't need me :-)

But the etiquette - do you want everyone to be able to leave cell phones on and take calls in class? Text as much as you want? Wander in and out? - also contributes a major part to everyone's success in the course. That's what I'm asking you to think about. Remember that you have to make rules for everyone - you can't have a special set of rules for yourself, and another set for everyone else.

So think about what atmosphere for learning you want to create, and want your classmates to contribute to creating, that will most help you take in the pedagogy. Once you've given that some considered thought, write another several paragraphs explaining what rules you're proposing, and why.

Your completed paper, with parts one and two, should be at the very least one full page - more likely 2 or more.