Writing: Read an article from the journal that you subscribed to through your NCTM e-membership. Then follow the directions below to write a three-paragraph blog entry on this article.
Paragraph 1: Bibliographical information.
Write the bibliographical information for this paper. Follow APA formatting (for a brief overview of how to do this for a journal article, see the
Purdue APA Formatting Webpage).
Paragraph 2: Summary paragraph of a main idea.
Your article contains one or two main ideas. You can identify a main idea because usually over half of the paper is devoted to describing, justifying and explaining the idea. Choose a main idea from the paper to write about. Identify the main idea in the topic sentence. Then use the remainder of the paragraph to describe the main idea and how the author is thinking about the idea. This summary paragraph should attempt to accomplish two things:
- Accurately describe how the author is thinking about the main idea. Try to capture the important points that the author is making and remain true to the author's intent. Accurately reflect the author's points even if you disagree with them. Your summary should have at most one quote from the article, and then only if you think the author said something particularly well. All other content in the paragraph should consist of paraphrasing the author's ideas.
- Communicate the author's thinking to someone who has not read the article. The people who read your blog entry will be interested in knowing what the author said, particularly because they are unlikely to have read the article themselves. Include enough detail in your blog entry so that it is not necessary for someone to have read the article in order to understand your summary paragraph.
Paragraph 3: Evaluation paragraph of the main idea.
This paragraph is where you get to weigh in on the main idea from Paragraph 2. Start with a topic sentence that summarizes the position you will take toward the main idea. Try to take on or address a big issue. Present a substantial argument by making at least three main points in your argument. To support your argument, include evidence from the article itself, from your own experience and thinking, or from other materials you have read about mathematics education or education in general. Maintain a professional and scholarly tone.
Commenting: Visit three blogs that have less than four comments for this particular entry. Read the entire blog, and then comment on the first paragraph. In particular, consider addressing some of the following issues:
- Content: Did the (blog) author identify a main point and stick to addressing that main point throughout the paragraph? Did the summary paragraph make sense to you? Did it contain enough detail so that you understand what the main point was? What didn't make sense? What could the author have done to make the ideas clearer? Was it clear that the author proofread the entry before publishing it?
- Voice: Did the (blog) author maintain a professional tone throughout the paragraph? Was it clear that the author was paraphrasing throughout the paragraph, being careful not to insert his or her own thinking?
- Structure: Did the paragraph have a topic sentence? Did it have a logical flow? Were there ways that the (blog) author could have structured the ideas so that they might have been clearer?
- Interest: What else would you have liked to know about the main idea? What unanswered questions do you have? Based on the summary, are you interested in reading the article? Why or why not? (Note: Feedback to these questions may help the (blog) author recognize ideas from the paper that should have been included in the summary.)
Due Date: Blog entries are due at the start of class on 3/19; Comments are due at the start of class on 3/22.
