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Discussion Board Guidelines
Here are a few ground rules and requirements:
- Keep it clean. Have fun, post information and links to the Student Lists, explore around, try to break in and hack my system, etc. But do keep the environment positive and rated PG-13. (Please e-mail Mr. Chisnell if you see someone breaking this guideline.)
- During the school year, you are required to make at least 5 substantive posts each week. What do I mean by substantive? Your comments, if they are to count for credit, must be thoughtful and related to the reading or class ideas directly. Employ the text to examine its meaning or to examine ideas which stem from it directly. For instance, you can certainly talk about Abbott’s concepts of civil disobedience (i.e. the Color Sedition) as he outlines them in the book; however, posing the question, “I wonder what color I could be if I could be any color?” won’t get you very far on its own! (Most AP comments last year were lengthy paragraphs of ideas.) Prove you are thinking! See below for more detail.
- Avoid the personal critiques. This is a forum for testing ideas. Be supportive of that philosophy. I am not denying credit for misguided thinking or risk-taking; in fact, quite the opposite. If your ideas seem too obvious and safe, are you going far enough in your thinking? STRETCH. Encounter NEW ground. And because this is risky, applaud those who do even while disagreeing. Engage the ideas, not the person who made them.
- Jokes and other non-substantive stuff are welcome!—just don’t expect it to count for credit!
- Be respectful of those who choose to post under pseudonyms; they may or may not choose to reveal who they are.
I may occasionally post as well, especially in response to direct questions to me. However, I’ve found that doing so generally ends a discussion thread (go figure—no one wants to talk to me!), so this will be rare.
Feel free to bounce around ideas for your papers—it’s not cheating to ask someone else for interpretation provocations.
Grading:
- You need 5 substantive posts each weel to score 100% on this requirement (4 substantive is 80%, etc.).
- You may earn extra credit on this grade (to use in averaging against other grades). More than 5 posts is a proportionally higher percentage. Therefore, 6 substantive posts is 120%. However, the maximum grade here is 150%. 8 or more posts are just for your own edification and discussion board glory! (Naturally I think the boards are their own reward. . . .)
- Have I miscounted? Maybe! Let me know and I will review what's here.
- Do you wonder why some of your posts weren't considered substantive? Check out my Hints below.
Hints for Doing Well:
- Biggest complaint last year was people posting in circles--ideas getting repeated, never going anywhere, etc. To avoid this and add some "substance" to your substantive game:
- I don't expect people to read every discussion thread to find out if their idea was already out there, but do read what was written in the thread where you are posting.
- Follow all questions with some speculation, sincere speculation. Vague claims like "to make us think" and "to make it interesting" really say little.
- Change from broad statements to specific ones. Some of the best posts actually begin with passages from the text, quoting them, and then speculating on what they mean. Respondents then go looking for counter-text to offer. Merely writing, "I disagree" or "No, Abbott doesn't say that" offers us nothing to engage.
- If you can't quote, then at least offer specific examples from the text.
- Bringing in outside research or ideas to add to the boards is almost always good--that is, if it adds depth to our discussion. (I suppose Dark Knight quotations are fun, but irrelevant if they don't add to the textual thread we are exploring.)
- Provide hotlinks and images to the threads, if you wish! The only way to add images right now is to link them from other websites. If you have an image you think is absolutely vital to put up, send it to me, and then I will send you a hotlink for it.
- Comments which build, raise new issues, or get us thinking in another direction are good. Comments which stop us, close down thinking, or are dismissive of others are bad.
- In short, if your post demonstrates that you've actually read the book and are thinking about it, the post should be substantive.
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- Help and clarifications/corrections of the questions/comments of others count, too.
- Fun is great and--if it helps us think about the book--substantive (GabiR's limerick lists, for instance.)
- If you change your screen name, do let me know. I can figure it out, but it's easier if you just tell me! Thanks!
- How do you change screen names and add profile pictures? Just click on your name in the upper right-hand corner and go to My Settings. Big photos that you add will likely get squished, so you may want to crop them first. The web has tons of odd photos/icons: just Google "avatars."
- Want to see everyone? Click "Student Profiles" on the left-hand menu bar of most pages, or just click here.
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