Composition @ USC Aiken

I tracked down the web site for the free concept mapping software. You should be able to download the software and install it on your own computer or the school computers.

As I worked a bit on my position paper on plagiarism and noted that folks are posting some creative work on this web site, I got thinking about intellectual property issues. Specifically, I got to thinking about how we want to protect our work in this site. Of course, we can simply slap a trademark and/or copyright statement in the footer of all the web pages. In the spirit of our own sharing during the Summer Institute, I suggest that we consider a Creative Commons license. Creative Commons allows folks to control how their material is copyrighted, and, as I understand the matter, has stood up in court. For example, I have created a Creative Commons license for my personal web site that allows people to use my material as long as they attribute the work to me, make it available to others, and do not make any money off of my work. Whether or not we choose to go with Creative Commons, we really should do something to protect the excellent work folks have posted here.

By the way, the folks at Creative Commons have a new initiative to provide Open Educational Resources. It should be worth a look.

Walking around Aiken and looking for things to write about for the newbies the other day opened my eyes a bit to things I normally ignore when meeting friends for lunch or whatever. (the stuff I usually do in Aiken...)
Our AWP group stopped at some gift/paper shop to look at invitations. I got bored and walked outside. A little way down (or would that be up? the street, I don't know for sure) I found an art place that offers classes during the summer. One of the classes was for basketweaving. Reading the sign elated me! I've been going to college off and one since Spring 1975, and in all that time I've been looking for the ONE PERFECT CLASS, which way back then, we used to call "UNDERWATER BASKETWEAVING. I saw the class advertised in the window of this art place...and I wondered....and I don't care how busy I am this summer, I'm TAKING that class!
So, to you, the newbie: there are lots of places to eat. There are lots of places to buy unique things. And now there is a place to take that one class you may have always (or given enough time) you will always dream of!

I guess I am now officially blogging.
The "comic" of your dog, Karl, was cute!!
Thanks for sharing the site.
Hatteras is only an hour away from my hometown of Elizabeth City.

Looking forward to reading the grammar article but not tonight.

As per our conversation today about teaching grammar, especially fragmetns, I am posting Patrick Hartwell's College English article Grammar, Grammars, and the Teaching of Grammar.

I should warn to read the article carefully. I've known folks who have read Hartwell as claiming that we shouldn't bother teaching grammar. I read the exact opposite message but that we should have enough respect for how we approach language to consider how we teach grammar.

All the talk of picture books seemed to relate to a recent conversation on a listserve to which I subscribe. Somebody on the listserve mentioned the ComicJuice web site that allows folks to create their own comics using their own photos, clip art, etc. Similarly, most new Mac computers come with software called Comic Life that allows users to create comics.

Pretty cool stuff, and I can imagine lots o' applications for writing assignments.

Edit:
Okay. I played around with the ComicJuice web suite above and found it pretty cool if a bit frustrating at first. I suggest that you and your students view the demonstration videos before playing with it. At the risk of making people come to the mistaken assumption that I am obsessed with my dog, here is what I came up with.

I am a relatively recent "transplant" from Ohio. I have been called a Yankee, a northerner, and "one of them"... all in polite humor... I think. One of the positive attractions to Aiken was the thriving downtown area of quaint shops, variety of restaurants, and lovely landscaping.

You will not be bored if you spend some time perusing the shops and businesses downtown. Eclectic items are sold everywhere. I once purchased a musical can opener at Plum Pudding. (for my hard-to-surprise brother-in-law) and I have walked through Aiken Antiques on countless trips downtown, but I have yet to find something I cannot live without. On any given weekend throughout the year some sort of festival is celebrated on one of the streets, and the theater is a wonderful (and reasonably priced) escape.

Your taste buds will be delighted in downtown Aiken. The cuisine is diverse--- my favorite suggestion is the crab bisque at New Moon, but the Stoplight Deli is great for a quick bite too. The alley of eats is a homerun if you are hungry... just walk around and explore.

The landscaped streets and circles are divine. I usually take a close look to see what annuals have been planted and then think I could plant that at my house. The fountains add a touch of yesteryear, but I am still confused by the traffic circles: circle yes, square no... or is it the other way around??? Welcome to Aiken... it will soon feel like home.

Let me write it down
Before I forget it
Before the last idea goes on spin--
And the last idea cam in on auto,
Then I forgot how my mind said it
And now I've forgotten
What I was thinking--
As if the single idea got tossed
In with a bundle of words.
Colors mixed with whites--
thoughts bleeding together--
Like Scrabble tiles thrown into a box,
My thoughts thrown
Into a clothes dryer.
Hitting the sides, soaking,
Flopping, flipping, sideways,
Up and down and around against
The drum
Tumbling, thumping, and grabbing
For something to Cling to
And taking forever to dry--
Words---hard to rinse and spin out--
Bleach, starch, and iron--
Hang on a clothes line
To become crisp and vivid.
Words, I do believe, are delicat--
Temperamental. evasive,
Confounding.
Sometimes it's best just to let them
Soak.

Ginger Dunker
AWP Summer 2007

Downtown Aiken is really neat! I love the unique shops! Tea Garden and Gifts has great gifts for anyone and for any occassion. Another interesting place is Malia's. It is a dress shop/ restaurant. Creative Program Planners is just off the main street and has wonderful bulletin board ideas for teachers. After a day of shopping at gift shops, antique shops, coffee houses etc., you can enjoy martini's at Davor's.
ENJOY AIKEN!

The experiences at the 2007 Aiken Writing Project Summer Institue are priceless. We have laughed and cried together. Shared our best practices and our worst concerns (like most teachers). Most of all we have become a unique family of teachers, a priceless group of cackling hens and one rooster (how about that, Karl?).