Grammarly Reports for Second Draft

Kim Jinyoung Teacher has done it again! Here are your Grammarly reports for the second draft.

Also, please, in your final draft, give your essay a title.

Good work y'all!

How to find your 1st or 2nd draft grade or feedback...

Note* These instructions are for Google Chrome. I do not know if they will work in Internet Explorer. 

To find your first and second draft grades and feedback, try this:


(1) First make sure you are on the correct page. This one.

(2) Next, make sure all the comments are loaded. 

Scroll to the bottom of the page with your mouse, 

OR with the "end" button on the keyboard, 

OR with Ctrl + Page Down.

(3) If you see a "load more" or "loading..." link click on it.

OR

(4) Repeat steps 2 and 3 until you do not see 

the "Load more" or "Loading" message 

OR until you see a message that says, "No more!"

(5) Press Ctrl + F. A search box will open in the top right of your screen. 

(6) Search the page for your number or name.

(7) Still can't see it? Ask for help!

A cool source for feedback

Have you heard of Lang8? It is a website where you can ask for help with your English from native speakers for free (In exchange, if you want, you can help foreigners who are learning Korean by correcting their work). If you're curious about any of your grammar or language, go here and see what native speakers have to say. (Don't upload your entire essay, just a few sentences you'd like help with, or maybe a paragraph).

Actually, I used to use Lang-8 to practice Korean. Friend me if you want!

3 Cool Things

1) Grammarly reports for Sam Teacher's classes are online, courtesy of Kim Jinyoung Teacher.

2) On a website, press Ctrl + F to "find" information quickly. Try it on this page to find your blog quickly. Press Ctrl + F then type in your student number. It should take you to your post, and your first draft grade, if its posted already.

3) Tired of constantly reinstalling Google Chrome? Install this program on your USB drive, and you can use Chrome from your USB drive without reinstalling it.

UPDATE Mock Grades

Myself and Agnes Teacher will be giving each of your blog's a mock grade for your research. We are doing this so you can realize if you are meeting our expectations or not. This grade is just a signal to indicate if you are doing it right nor not. If you get a low grade, don't panic, you have time to improve. If you get a high grade, congratulations, keep up the good work. Just a reminder, this is the rubric for the semester, and following is the rubric for just your research:

5 points maximum for research
You will demonstrate your research through "Research" blog posts with the label "research".

5 points

The student shows creativity and perseverance in her research. The research was clearly a process of exploration and reveals a pattern of thought, inquiry and revelation.

4 points

The research displays a clear, reasoned evolution from beginning to end. The student is committed to finding useful sources.

3 points

The research is adequate for completing the persuasive essay.

2 points

The research is inadequate.

0 points

There is no meaningful research.

I gave grades in reply to your post about your blog address, or on one of your blog posts.

Thesis! Thesis! Thesis!

If you have a bad thesis, you will have a bad essay. I have described the thesis in several places:

Part 3 in this post
Here's my example thesis and an explanation
And this is another post emphasizing the importance of the thesis

You NEED a thesis. Your thesis should be a statement, not a question. It should be debatable, not a random opinion. It should take a position.

Here's a test for your thesis. If you said it to a friend, could they argue with you? If the answer is yes, you have a good thesis. If the answer is no, then try to rework your thesis.

Consider some of these theses from your peers. Do you think they're good or bad? How could they be improved? After you decide look for my thoughts in the hidden text:

Law should not control the freedom of expression and it has to guarantee the right to express freely.

Thoughts?
- This thesis is debatable, but it is taking two positions which is too broad. "Law should not control the freedom of expression." or "Law has to guarantee the right to free expression." would be better theses. 

To prevent some disasters, Information must be regulated in the internet. 

Thoughts?
- This is a pretty good thesis. We want it to be as simple and direct as possible though. I think we can simplify it by saying, "Information must be regulated on the internet," and then in different parts of the essay, maybe the confirmation, explain that we need to regulate it to prevent disasters. 

The human behavior radically comes from emotions rather than reason.


Thoughts?
- Again, pretty good, but lets make it as simple as possible. Is the sentence different if we omit "radically"? I think here the perfect thesis is, "Human behavior comes from emotions rather than reason."

Citation and Avoiding Plagiarism

To me and any academics, plagiarism is the worst academic crime you can commit. Plagiarism is taking someone else's ideas and using them as your own. To avoid plagiarism, we have to cite our sources. This is also known as referencing sources, or providing a bibliography. Now, in our first draft, citations are not a top priority, but we can save ourselves time by providing links to our sources in our first draft. For example, look at my example confirmation.

Actually, this supposition stems from a famous scenario from philosopher John Searle in the 1980s. He proposed that an Englishman with no knowledge of Chinese, if locked in a room with an instruction manual for reading and writing Chinese characters, could successfully interpret and respond to messages passed under the door to him from a native Chinese speaker on the outside of the room.

I linked to the article (From Stanford, a reliable academic source) and provided the name of the philosopher. Now everyone knows that this Chinese Room example is not my original work, and no one will think I am trying to take credit for someone else's work. Add links like this:

(Highlight the text you want to link to (1), then click the blue link button in the formatting bar (2), then enter the URL of your source (3), then click Ok)

Later in the quarter we will use APA citations. If you want to get a head start, look here.

Account Safety

Many students are not signing out of Google. This is dangerous, because anyone else can accidentally or intentionally use your account for bad reasons. So make sure you log out, and never let the computer save your password. Here are other tips from Google for keeping your account safe (#2 and #3 are very important).

Keeping your account secure

At Google, we take account security very seriously. To ensure that your computer and account remain safe, we strongly recommend following these steps regularly:

1. Check for viruses and malware. Run a scan on your computer with a trusted anti-virus software. If the scan detects any suspicious programs or applications, remove them immediately. Read more.
2. Regularly update your account recovery options. Make sure to update your account recovery options to check that they are always up-to-date.
3. Enroll in 2-step verification. 2-step verification adds an extra layer of security to your account by requiring you to sign in with something you know (your password) and something you have (a code sent to your phone).
4. Perform regular operating system and browser updates. Whether you use Windows or Mac OS, we recommend enabling your automatic update setting, and updating when you get a notification. To check for browser updates in Internet Explorer, select the Tools tab and click Windows Update. In Firefox, just click the Help tab and select Check for Updates. Note that Google Chrome automatically updates to a newer version when one is released.
5. Never use your Google Account password on another website. If you enter your password in an external website and it's compromised, someone could try to sign in to your Google Account with the same information.
6. Protect your password. Never enter your password after following a link in an email from an untrusted site. Always go directly to mail.google.com or www.google.com/accounts/Login. Also, never send your password via email. Google will never email you to ask for your password or other sensitive information.

If you use Gmail:

• Update your recovery email address and your security question. This will help you recover your account if you ever lose access to it. Make sure that you have access to the email address listed as your recovery, and the answer to your security question is easy for you to remember, but hard for others to guess. Learn more.
• Use a secure connection when signing in. In your Gmail settings, select 'Always use HTTPS.' This setting protects your information from being stolen when you're signing in to Gmail on a public wireless network, like at a cafe or hotel.Read more.

You should also be sure to:

• Never tell anyone your password; if you do tell someone, change it as soon as possible.
• Use a strong password, and don't write it down or send it via email.
• Run scans and change your password immediately after noticing any changes in your account that you didn't initiate.
• Always sign out of your account when you're using public computers. Just click your name or email address at the top of the page, and select Sign out.
• Clear forms, passwords, cache, and cookies in your browser on a regular basis, especially on a public computer.

You should perform these steps more frequently if you begin to notice suspicious behavior in your computer, such as general slowness and pop-up advertisements. For more information on keeping your account secure, check out Google's Safety Center.

If you believe that your account has been compromised, please reset your password immediately.

For more tips about online safety, visit Google's Safety Center.

What's your thesis statement?

Pop quiz! Think about each question then highlight the answer to read it.

What's the most important part of your essay?

Answer: The thesis

What's a thesis?

Answer: The thesis is a single argument your entire essay is based on. 

What's a good thesis?

Answer: A good thesis is clear, direct and a usable argument (For example, "Red is a pretty color" is not a great thesis because nobody especially cares, and it is an opinion most people would not disagree with).

Since it is so important, I thought maybe you'd like some feedback on your thesis statement - Is it good? Is it bad? Can it better? If you want feedback please leave your thesis statement as a comment on this post. 

Questions?

Do you have any questions? Do you want me to look at your blog and give you feedback? Do you want another explanation about the difference between an introduction in a 5 paragraph essay and the introduction in a classical argument?

You can ask me here (Or in person). Just leave a comment below and I will answer you as soon as possible.

Comments and Examples

I have started to leave comments on your blogs. Check your blog posts to see if I left a comment. Go to your posts (1) and then look through your comment counter (2) - If you see a number, it means there is a comment. Read it!

I have posted examples of students who have been writing good blogs. Check them out for inspiration. They are on the right side of my blog under the heading "Good examples from your peers".

Hidden text!

I'm experimenting with hidden text. So, when I ask you a question, think about it, then look at the hidden text. To see the hidden text, highlight the following space with your mouse:

Roar!

This is to encourage you to think about the content instead of just reading what I write.

Post your blog domain, please!

Everyone in Sam Teacher's 2nd grade writing class, please reply to this blog post with your student number, name and a link to your blog URL or domain.

**If you are in Agnes Teacher's 2nd grade writing class, please go to this post instead.

First Draft Instructions or FAQ

First, label (태그) your post "first draft".

1. When is it due? September 12, 23:59 October 26 11:59 pm
2. How long should your first draft be? Long enough. Probably 3-5 pages.
3. How many sources should use? Use enough sources. Probably 3-5. 
4. Do you have to cite your sources? Yes - Just a web link or site name is sufficient for now. 
5. Is there a structure I must follow? Yes - Use the classical argument format.
6. How is the first draft graded? Mostly based on whether or not you use the classical argument format. 
7. What if I have questions? Ask Sam or Agnes teacher, ask a friend, email samlandfried@gmail.com. You can post questions on these blog posts, below, too.

Research Topic Suggestions

Choose a topic that is interesting to YOU. Also, remember that your final project will be a PERSUASIVE essay, not a research paper.

Are you still looking for your research topic? Here are some generous suggestions from 김진영 선생님:

1) Psychological (or they can look at them from other point of view) reasons why we are attracted to physical beauty. Simply put, why do we like pretty and handsome people? Is it because of biological or evolutionary reasons or is there something else?

2) How far along have we come in terms of robot technology? How much can the robots be like us human beings?

3) Where does cognitive biological approach stand in the history of psychology? What research areas are there and what have we found?

4) Is the cognitive biological approach to human mind a suitable way of looking into our mental abilities? Can biology and evolution fully and profoundly explain every aspect of the human mind?

5) If we were able to copy the exact same human beings as ours, are they able to think, function and interact with creativity and intelligent the way we do?

SOLUTION! Make a Blog

Hey guys, I'm sorry for the problems many people have been having with Blogger. I can't explain the problem, but I can explain how to fix it. Follow these steps:

1) Are you using Google Chrome? If no, first download it here and use it.

2) Next log in to blogger and try making your blog again. If it still does not work, go to step 3.

3) Go the the Chrome Web Store and download and install "Hola". When it installs, you will see a little flame icon in the top right of Chrome.

4) Return to Blogger. Click on the Hola flame icon, then click on the American flag.

5) Try making your blog again.

6) If it STILL doesn't work, clear your cookies and cache and try again. If you need help, ask me and I will help.