Evaluations

Hey everyone. I really enjoyed the presentations these past few weeks. Nice work. This is just a final reminder, and request, to please complete teacher evaluations. Tomorrow is the last day to do this. It's a fast and straightforward process. All you need to do is:

1. Login to UVLink using your UV ID and pin.
2. Go to the "Student" tab.
3. Go to the "Teacher/Course Evaluations" channel in the upper-left portion of the page.
4. Click on "Complete your Fall 2008 Teacher Evaluations."
5. Click on English 1010.
6. Click on the "Evaluate" link.
7. Answer the survey questions and make comments about the instructor and/or the course.
8. Make sure to click on "Submit Evaluation" at the bottom of the page.

I was in Europe when evaluations began, so we got a bit of a late start, but evaluations are important and helpful to me, and I appreciate your willingness to participate.

Have a fabulous holiday season, and thanks once again for a great semester.
-Daniel

MERRY CHRISTMAS!!!

Aren't you glad the semester is over? I am. Now we can relax and enjoy the holidays. I love having large breaks, but as much as I am going to love this break, I would give the whole break up as long as I was able to celibrate Christmas.

Christmas has always been my favorite holiday. It used to be because of the presents I would get on Christmas morning, but as I have gotten older I have realized how much better I feel when I give. I know this sounds like a cheesy little saying that children are taught, but is surely better to give than recieve. I've been so busy lately thinking about what to get people for Christmas, that I haven't had much of an oppurtunity to think about what I want. But I really do feel better thinking about others' wants rather than my own. It truely makes me happy.

No matter how generous and kind and loving you may have been in Christmases past, I hope that all of you will be a little bit kinder and more generous this Christmas! If you are I know that you will have one of the best Christmases ever, for being Christlike toward others is what Christmas is all about.

I sincerly hope all of you may have holliest jolliest Christmas ever! MERRY CHRISTMAS!!!!! 

Why won't People Just Slow Down?

Back in October I read a post on the blog about most people's disregard for the law when it comes to speeding. I posted a comment on it and after I did, I started thinking quite a bit about it. I used to speed every time I drove somewhere. It was never more than about 5 over the limit, but after reading and commenting on this blog, I realized what I was doing was against what I believe, and what I believe is that we should always follow the law. When I really thought about it I realized that speeding as I did wasn't even getting me to my destination any faster. I always got stuck behind someone going slower than me and arrived almost no sooner than if i had just obeyed the law. I was breaking the law and putting myself and others in greater danger for a reason that wasn't even worth it.

Since then I have been trying my best to go only the speed limit or slower, and I still seem to be able to get to places just as quickly as if I were going a few more miles an hour faster. It is interesting now to see when I am driving a longer distance how many will pass me seemingly going much faster than I, but 20 miles down the road at the next town I often pull up right behind them at a stop light. I find this hilarious. It is incredible how many people will risk their life and others, and also risk being ticketed, for a measly one or two minutes of decreased travel time.

I suppose that if you had many hours of driving to do, then it might get you a substantial amount of time if you were speeding. But for the driving I think most of us do, we can easily drop our speed without any major setbacks. It just makes sense. You lessen your chance of harming yourself or others, and you eliminate the possibility of getting a speeding ticket at all. And above all speeding is AGAINST THE LAW no matter how you try to justify your reasoning for speeding.

For those of you who are already obeying the law, keep up the good work! For others, please slow down! It isn't going to hurt you any, unless you're on the freeway and trying not to get run over. If you want to go faster, you'll need to change the law.

Self-Reflection

For some reason, Blackboard isn't letting me upload content today, so I am posting here the information that is contained on the Self-Reflection handout:

Self-Reflective/Assessment Letter

This letter doesn’t have rigid design or content requirements. This is intentional as I want you to see the letter as your opportunity to say what may not be apparent in your Classical Argument and Genre Translation assignments. That is, I want you to feel comfortable discussing issues about your writing and your progress that you feel will help build the rhetorical appeal (logos, pathos, ethos) of your final project. It is, in the end, what the title indicates: a self assessment of your final assignments and, more generally, your progress in the course.

Again, there are no content requirements for this letter, but you might consider the following: What issues have you wrestled with in your writing? How did you work to clarify them through peer review, reading the text, class discussion/lectures and your own writing process? Would you now define “good” writing in the same way that you did at the beginning of the course? How have the writing assignments, peer reviews, and discussions of the text impacted your view of good writing? How has the concept of visual rhetoric impacted your research and/or your writing? How have you worked through the peer feedback you have received? Have you received contradictory advice? If so how did you handle it? How has research impacted the way you write? How have the ideas of others impacted how you have made your argument in your Classical Argument and your Genre Translation? What else do you want me (your reader and the person assigning you a grade) to know about you as a writer? You might think about this in terms of logos, ethos, and pathos; that is what do you want me to know in order to strengthen the logos, pathos, and ethos of your final project and your performance this semester? Note that merely asserting that you are a much better writer will NOT build your ethos or credibility or grade. I do NOT want a bunch of empty statements like “I’ve learned so much about writing this semester” and “I’ve really improved my writing” and “you are the best English teacher in the universe” (actually, this last one is okay :P). In all seriousness, though, as with the claims in your essays you will need to demonstrate/prove what you have learned. Also, note that it is not required that you have made massive improvements—one can write well for this class and engage with the process and text without necessarily making huge improvements as a writer.

Thanks.

7 Habits of Highly Effective People

Ok, so to go with the blog just below this one I thought i could add some about some "self help" books. I took a class this semester called 7 Habits of Highly Effective People. The textbook is a book written by Stephen R. Covey. The book goes through 7 habits that you should develop in your life in order to make your life easier and increase interdependence. I have been working all semester on a mission statement for my life. As weird as it sounds this class has been so helpful and my mission statement is actually something I am going to follow. I have it framed and sitting on my desk! I highly recommend this book and even this class. It has helped me in every aspect (academically, physically, and spiritually) in my life this semester!

The Golden Book

FIRST...CONGRATS to Dr. Westover. That's awesome! Now I can start... I wanted to tell everyone about this little seven page booklet I had to read for another class and I LOVE IT!. It's from Dale Carnegie (the author of How to Win Friends and Influence People) and it is amazing! I suggest everyone go to www.dalecarnegie.com and click on the top right button that says "success secrets". You can print out a free little booklet that tells us in a nut shell, how to be a successful human. I've been reading this book and I love it. It can apply to every situation of life because we all deal with people everyday. It helps deal with all those difficult people and situations. The booklet is kind of the summary of the book and its points and everyone should look at it. The book has sold over 50 million copies so you know it's the real deal. I hope you all can read it and learn how to better deal with yourselves and others. It's awesome!

Thursday and Friday

Hi everyone. This is just a reminder that I will be in my office all day on Thursday and Friday to meet with students and answer any questions you may have regarding the Classical Argument paper or the Genre Translation assignment. My flight from England was delayed, and I am just now getting home, so I will be coming in a bit later than I had anticipated tomorrow, but I will still be there all day. I will be in my office from 10:30 AM to 8 PM. (I may be there a little earlier, but I will be there by 10:30 for sure.) On Friday I will be there from 8AM to 8PM.

Oh, and my dissertation defense went really well. Thanks to those of you who wrote me about it.

-Dr. Westover (still sounds a bit weird, but I'll get used to it)