Lately, as I read the newspaper (yes, I still read the newsPAPER as well as the online versions), I patrol for articles that my seminar students might find interesting. For example, Enrique is pursuing food, so I "dished-up" an food review by the Inquirer critic Craig Leban. Since fashion is Turquoise's passion, I adorned one of my comments responses with an article about Barbie and fashion from the magazine section of the paper. Other students have received articles related to civil engineering, smart prosthetics, cochlear implants, and rehabilitating our oceans. (If you are reading this blog gentle students, and you're wondering why Mr. Abrams hasn't sent you an article link, just you wait. I started doing this recently)
I haven't set a deadline for the research paper yet because, gasp, I want the students for now to get into the habit of blogging and journaling on a daily basis. Most of what they reflect about should have to do with their project theme, along with personal and professional development stuff.
For the next week, class, I want you to start concretizing a research paper topic that is narrow, but not too narrow, and provable, and I hope that deliberately looking at newspapers and magazines will "prime the pump." One article could be the beginning of several weeks of invigorating research. Save the articles in a folder - you may print them out or keep them in a SAFE digital place (U Drive). Make sure you have the author's name, the date of the article, and the name of the publication.
Hit the public libraries and our own library to find books related to your topic! Keep thinking, collecting, making the connections, and making yourselves smart!
I haven't set a deadline for the research paper yet because, gasp, I want the students for now to get into the habit of blogging and journaling on a daily basis. Most of what they reflect about should have to do with their project theme, along with personal and professional development stuff.
For the next week, class, I want you to start concretizing a research paper topic that is narrow, but not too narrow, and provable, and I hope that deliberately looking at newspapers and magazines will "prime the pump." One article could be the beginning of several weeks of invigorating research. Save the articles in a folder - you may print them out or keep them in a SAFE digital place (U Drive). Make sure you have the author's name, the date of the article, and the name of the publication.
Hit the public libraries and our own library to find books related to your topic! Keep thinking, collecting, making the connections, and making yourselves smart!
I am so excited about this class! Thank you so much for teaching it =] I've had so many great times at Bancroft and I know I have waaaay more to come!
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