And So...

I shall dub this class the "Small World" class. In this group of students, I found contained:

- a cousin of a friend of mine
- a friend of friends of mine
- a friend of a friend of my sister
- someone who reminds me of the best man at our wedding

Again, it's been a fun experience with you guys. Thanks for the memories and the pleasant sendoff.

And you guys will have the added benefit of not running the risk of encountering me on campus in future quarters, forcing you to ask yourselves the question- 'do I acknowledge I see her, or do I pretend not to notice?' Apparently this is a troubling concern for many former students. None the less, I do hope you feel free to keep in touch, and I wish you all a wonderful summer and good luck in the rest of your college careers.

An Observation

While I was grading all of the blog essays, one thing I noticed that really stood out and made an essay work well was this- including a photo and then directly addressing it in the body of the text. Explaining what the photo meant in relation to the topic was really effective. For those that wish to revise.

Really Bloggy Blog Essays

Here's a few examples of essays that converted really well to blogs. If you're still struggling with making them less academic, check these out while working on your revision and notice what they do.

http://idontknowatimdoing.blogspot.com/2010/05/wild-children-theyre-in-your-backyard.html

Above is a link to Britainy Gober's blog on Feral Children. Her introduction is spot on, with excellent tone - it's conversational, funny, and surprising. The whole thing reads like a persuasive call to arms, written by someone really engaged in the subject- meaning, someone who cares enough to blog about it. (Sure, you guys were all forced to do this, but it's okay for your essay to read like you weren't!)

http://halpinja.blogspot.com/2010/05/mutations-in-your-backyard.html

Jenna does a great job with genetic mutations- especially in her use of photos to illustrate her points.

http://samdropsdead.blogspot.com/2010/05/samsung-3d-led-tv-full-commercial.html

Sam does a really great job with organizing his essay- breaking it into easy to read parts.