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Tuesday, September 20, 2011
Sep. 20th, 2011 10:18 pmSo my grandmother did have a stroke. She is doing ok. She has double vision but she is connecting words to ideas much better. She is in the hospital right now, since she was finally able to see a doctor now that they fixed the elevators in her building. We’ll know from tests tomorrow.
It was a little grey and rainy today, the fall is officially here (the equinox is on Friday, but still). By late afternoon I just wanted to take a nap – the weather pressure was affecting me.
Today we did the discussion of Gladwell’s article in my writing classes. The second class is definitely ahead in reading comprehension than the first one. They are edging out as a favorite class since they also seem more engaged and willing to joke. The first class was confused by the way Gladwell wrote because he presented opposing viewpoints so that he could dismiss them and make his point stronger. The students were confused because they felt he just went back and forth and they did not know what he really thought – they couldn’t recognize that presenting opposing arguments makes your argument stronger. This did present a teaching opportunity of reading two paragraphs and showing them how to figure out whose opinion he is talking about and why topic sentences are important. In the second class, they got his argument and went past it so they could argue with the author. So that discussion went much better.
Today is the end of Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell. I’ve been reading articles linked through Yahoo on how this will impact the servicemen and women and their partners and it is very nice to read about people’s quiet joy at not hiding. It is nice to have some good news.
One person’s blog on breaking up with Netflix . He summarizes many points.
“Hereafter” It is always hit and miss with me and Clint Eastwood movies. I hate “A Million Dollar Baby” with a passion and only sat through it because it won an Oscar and I watched every single Oscar winner. I liked “Invictus” and I loved “Bridges of Madison County” and “Flags of Our Fathers.” I’m adding this movie to ‘like’ list. I liked it very much. Its quietness and calmness and all three stories had good emotional resonance. I liked the incorporation of disasters and personal journeys. Matt Damon usually does great roles. It does evoke a melancholy mood since the topic is death but it was more about the three characters.
It was a little grey and rainy today, the fall is officially here (the equinox is on Friday, but still). By late afternoon I just wanted to take a nap – the weather pressure was affecting me.
Today we did the discussion of Gladwell’s article in my writing classes. The second class is definitely ahead in reading comprehension than the first one. They are edging out as a favorite class since they also seem more engaged and willing to joke. The first class was confused by the way Gladwell wrote because he presented opposing viewpoints so that he could dismiss them and make his point stronger. The students were confused because they felt he just went back and forth and they did not know what he really thought – they couldn’t recognize that presenting opposing arguments makes your argument stronger. This did present a teaching opportunity of reading two paragraphs and showing them how to figure out whose opinion he is talking about and why topic sentences are important. In the second class, they got his argument and went past it so they could argue with the author. So that discussion went much better.
Today is the end of Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell. I’ve been reading articles linked through Yahoo on how this will impact the servicemen and women and their partners and it is very nice to read about people’s quiet joy at not hiding. It is nice to have some good news.
One person’s blog on breaking up with Netflix . He summarizes many points.
“Hereafter” It is always hit and miss with me and Clint Eastwood movies. I hate “A Million Dollar Baby” with a passion and only sat through it because it won an Oscar and I watched every single Oscar winner. I liked “Invictus” and I loved “Bridges of Madison County” and “Flags of Our Fathers.” I’m adding this movie to ‘like’ list. I liked it very much. Its quietness and calmness and all three stories had good emotional resonance. I liked the incorporation of disasters and personal journeys. Matt Damon usually does great roles. It does evoke a melancholy mood since the topic is death but it was more about the three characters.