Tortured Artists
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This summer I’m spending a lot of time creating graphic organizers to help my students write their essays. Below I created a table to organize the main ideas of a research article. I practice with a book off my shelves here in Mexicali. I tell my students, there is no one way to write…
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This summer I'm shaping up my classroom blog site for my Fall 2021 online instruction. In a few of my classes I will encourage my students to develop mental illness research papers. This project seems to work. Students write about depression, anxiety, eating disorders, suicidal thoughts. In today's climate, the information is growing exponentially. Many…
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During the Coronavirus Shutdown, I don’t see my students, but we exchange emails and assignments daily through our Canvas technology. They don’t know it yet, but I’m reserving the last two weeks of the semester for my “Project Marilyn.” We’ll be working online in groups. I’ve created collaborative research assignments for seven different phases and/or…
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Today I encourage my students to submit some of their writing to a new classroom website: Jay’s Movie Definition Dictionary. My instructions to our Film History Research Project call for them to explain abstract concepts, but copying definitions out of the dictionary won’t cut it. I tell them to support their ideas on their own…
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It happens every semester; many of my students readily admit they don’t like to write. They take my class, for it is required of them to graduate or transfer. I do my best to get them in the right mindset to succeed. There is no reason to feel STUCK, I say. I try to convince…
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Greetings from my second day of the Coronavirus Shutdown. For each of the four campuses I work, I’ve been asked to provide online instruction. I may not be in the Classroom, but I’m with my students in Spirit. Today, I offer several of my classes a Quote Sandwich. We will learn how to effectively integrate…
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In her English 1A research paper Ruby Machado explores the tragic consequences of anorexia in young girls. She writes of the self-perpetuating pressure. The more pressure girls feel to be thin, the more pressure they will feel to be thinner. It's like they are on a "kamikaze" mission. They can't stop until they destroy themselves.…
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Without Syd Barrett there would be no Pink Floyd. According to Syd’s bandmates, with Syd Barrett there would be no Pink Floyd. Syd’s unique talent and erratic mind was the basis for a new vision and sound that would change rock music forever. At the same time, he became impossible to play with. He never…
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Many of Luis's professors may have grown up in the Sixties watching "Hogans Heroes" on television. The show's star Bob Crane was handsome, clean-cut, and very likeable. Who knew, that behind the scenes he lived a double life. Luis's extensive research for his mental illness paper exposes the world of sex addiction. Bog Crane was…
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We brought up Kurt Kobain's struggles with ADHD in class. The famous rock star implied that his prescription of Ritalin in the second grade led him down a dangerous road of hardcore drug abuse. Carlos did his research and found someone else afflicted with ADHD who went a different route.