genevieve is…

Yesterday we spent pretty much the whole day in the computer lab on photoshop. I had used photoshop intermittently when necessary since the late 90’s but have switched to Fireworks in the last few years because it was free at OU. It was nice to get formal training, but since graphics programs mostly work similarly it was quite figure-out-able. In other news, I caught a cold. Who catches a cold in August September you ask? Me, I guess. It’s just sort of a low-grade annoyance.

Today, the pre-quarter workshop for new TAs focused on the final assignment we’re to give our students: a call to submissions for an online journal called Commonplace. This assignment was originally constructed by two Ph.D. students, Michael Harker and Aaron McKain, and involves asking students to write a 750 word op-ed piece. Teachers then pick the eight best (or most interesting or whatever) and those get to go through a blind peer-review system (basically trading sets of essays with different first-year classes where they are then peer edited by other first-year students). What I think is really, really good about this: real audience, in-depth peer evaluation. What I’ve yet to be persuaded about: that first year writing should ever, ever be about giving the best students the most opportunities (the other sixteen essays only receive feedback from the instructor; now why should the best writers get the most feedback??). That the amount of time this takes in a very short 10 week quarter course is worth the benefits.

I will, however, teach it, as unbiasedly as possible, and will let you know what I think.