RFT blog guidelines

To participate in the blog–a requirement for the course–you must accept an “invitation” from WordPress to be a user, at which point I can add you as an “author,” which will give you the power to write, edit, publish and delete your posts. Send me an email if you are unsure how to do this.

You are required to make at least one substantial comment, and one constructive/observational reply to another student’s posting every other week on the class forum. (A “week,” for our purposes, begins and ends at midnight on Sunday.) You will receive a grade for the quality of your postings at the end of the semester.

There are two general types of post. The first will have to do with your placement experiences; the second type with the course materials, such as the readings and the writing assignments.

Your “substantial comment” must address the course material in some way. For example, it may be a reflection on an out-of-classroom experience at Wagner, on an issue discussed in class, on something you read or saw on film, T.V, or etc. (for this class, or another class, or on your own) that relates to the class. It may simply be a comment you wanted to make in class, but did not have the opportunity to make. Your response to another student’s posting must be a thoughtful and constructive response (such as if you were having a conversation with them).

The post on your placements should be thoughtful and considered. Resist the temptation to merely complain—complaints are most often childish and always boring. Give your post some thought and write carefully.

Examples:

§ What did you do this week at the placement?

§ What did you learn from your co-workers?

§ What other work do people do there?

§ Have you encountered any special difficulties in doing your job there?

§ What are the clients of the agency like?

§ What was your assigned task? Did your Professor ask you to collect any information?

§ Explore the connections between the Political Science and Economics courses and your placement (this may not always be obvious, but there will be many interconnections, however subtle).

The second subject for posts includes a wide variety of possible topics, including but not limited to questions or comments about the readings or lectures in the LC class, and observations on your experiences at Wagner so far.

Examples:

§ Reflections on your first days and weeks at Wagner

§ Reflections on your first days and weeks in class. Is college what you thought it would be?

§ Your first impressions of your classes

§ Reflections on your reading assignments. How hard are they? What is difficult about them? Which questions do they raise in your mind?

§ Reflect on the connections between the courses in your LC (politics and economics)

§ Questions on the readings, lectures, or other issues related to the LC courses.

In short, there will likely be two main threads of discussion on the blog:

1) reflections, insights and comments on your RFT placements and their relation to the Political and Business issues raised in class; and

2) your own thoughts on college life in general questions, answers and discussion of issues relating to the substantive Government and Business courses that form the LC.

Assessment.

Posts will be evaluated at the end of the semester. An overly brief, shallow remark about the placement, for example, (“I hated it. Why do we have to do this?”) would typically receive no credit. There are 100 total points possible for the blog portion of your grade.

Netiquette

Here are some suggestions and requirements for using the blog appropriately. Read others’ posts and respond to them when possible, don’t just post your comment and then sign off. Always post using your real name—anonymous posts will be deleted. Do not criticize others personally, though you should criticize their ideas when appropriate. Don’t use any language that you wouldn’t want your Professor to read—because he will. Post substantively, but not necessarily seriously, and never slanderously.

Misuse of the blog will result in the removal of the offending user and a 0/100 points for the blog assignment.

We hope that you will want use the blog much more than you are required to! This is your forum to share ideas in a friendly atmosphere. Please don’t be afraid to make constructive criticisms of your LC courses: your Professors are always looking for ways to improve their courses, for you and future students. Your comments will be helpful to us! And if not, that’s fine, too.