flaneuse.org

Some of the folks here at the retreat asked me to make a list of websites I find essential as a scholar (and some just for fun). I thought I would post it here — and while probably you know all of them, and then some, I would love it if you would post some of the sites you find essential in the comments. I’m always looking for cool stuff, especially if it improves my writing or my teaching (or my life). So here it is:

Dana’s list of absolutely essential websites

• Google Scholar: self explanatory. Remember to click on the “recent articles” link under the search bar to get your results listed chronologically.
  • http://scholar.google.com/
• Google Notebook: this is an online notebook where you can store notes and links and get to it from anywhere, as long as you have a web connection. You can keep it private, or choose to share it with someone if you want them to see your notes or add to them.
  • http://www.google.com/notebook/
• thefreedictionary.com: great online dictionary that includes medical, legal, scientific dictionaries, a pronunciation audio link, and a thesaurus.
  • http://www.thefreedictionary.com/
• LifeHacker.com: ways to hack your life and make it easier. Some of the stuff is kinda techy and esoteric, but much of it isn’t, surprisingly. Also a good place to check if you want to know how to surf more effectively and get your computer to work for instead of against you. As the site puts it, “Don’t live to geek, geek to live.”
  • http://lifehacker.com/
• Wikipedia: the best place to start finding out about something. Even though it is written by its readers, recent research found it to be as accurate as Encyclopedia Britannica on most topics, and updated much more regularly. I tell my students to start their research here, and follow the links at the bottom of the article as they are usually excellent.
  •  http://wikipedia.org
• del.icio.us: this is what is called a social bookmarking or tagging site — which means that users sign up for a free membership and then use the service to tag or label websites that they find of interest according to key words. It’s not unlike coding, and there are millions of users; all the websites and keywords go into a huge database so when I go there to check out what’s new in higher ed, for example, I have the combined search powers of tens of thousands of people interested in the same thing. (Don’t worry if this doesn’t make sense, yet. If you go on the site and click around, you’ll get it.)
  •  http://del.icio.us/

Also, if you’re interested:

Blogging — My blog is called flaneuse.org and is located at http://flaneuse.org if you want to read. If you’re interested in becoming a blogger yourself, the easiest and free way to get set up is to go to Blogger (http://blogger.com) and get a free blog once you register. It’s easy and you can keep it totally anonymous or blog as you are, and I have found it to be an excellent writing tool for students and classes.

Wikis — The easiest way to set up a wiki (shared website where you can easily create pages and/or let your students post content) is at pbwiki (http://pbwiki.com). It’s completely free and they have an excellent style/how-to guide that will get you started. If you want an example of how I have used wikis in my classroom, go to http://literacyandtech.pbwiki.com for the wiki for my graduate course in New Literacies

Podcasting –the best place to start getting a sense of what podcasting is & how it works is at iTunes U, the brand new section of iTunes dedicated to higher education (just put “iTunes U” into the search bar marked Search iTunes Store in the iTunes application, or go to http://www.apple.com/education for a link). This section of iTunes contains lectures on nearly every topic from many universities – you can search by keyword or click on the link for each school – MIT, for example.

And in the just plain cool category:

Post Secret — where millions of people mail in their secrets on a postcard and they get scanned and put up. At  http://postsecret.blogspot.com

BoingBoing — A directory of wonderful things. Just check it out. At — http://www.boingboing.net

Metafilter — A community weblog co-authored by thousands. If it’s cool and it’s on the web, it’s going to end up here. http://www.metafilter.com

And if that’s not a good sign for this week of writing, I don’t know what is. When I haven’t written in a while, I forget about how good flow feels when you’re right in the middle of it. I don’t know about writing 10 hours a day on a regular basis, but I’m on board with the regular writing practice piece of being a scholar for sure.

My goal for the end of this seven days is a complete draft of the prospectus and a first draft of a sample chapter. Gotta keep on keepin’ on!

Well, if you’re here, you’ve noticed that I changed my site look yet again. There’s two reasons, and I think each is pretty interesting in terms of the writing and thinking I am doing right now about the book.

First, I am realizing how my blog represents myself, my work, my development. This is the clearinghouse where you can find links to my class wikis and vita, as well as past posts that show my development. The other layout didn’t give access to those things, and came across as a very limited portion of what I think of my blog as being, in terms of my representative in the world. It’s important to have access to all of that information as a part of what my blog is and the work that blogging does.

Second, changing the visuals as I keep blogging and thinking and living means that I can tailor the colors and layout to where I am personally in the world. I had something that looked like snowflakes all winter and cherry blossoms come spring. Now you see a representation of the NY skyline because, even as I am gone, I feel connected to the city and the energy there, as well as my little family in Montclair.

Third (yeah, I know I said two reasons, but there you have it — me as messy, chaotic thinker), the other layout didn’t allow a space for me to put up links to other blogs. That piece is important because it helps situate me in a community of thinkers and writers, some of whom I know and some I don’t, as well as in relation to my classes. No one blogs alone.

Back to outlining and coding…

through being here at the Scholar’s Retreat:

1. Use lots of resources: print drafts, print out articles, write notes on any and everything. Writing is not a time to be stingy, and you can buy recycled materials
2. Have your own printer — so you can print drafts, webs, articles and cut and rearrange
3. So a printer/copier mix works wonders for this and HP has one Chris & I love for about $80 I think
4. Super-sticky lined Post-It Notes rock my world — they stick to the walls, windows, lampshade and me as well as other paper and are great for visually planning, reminding yourself of things (right now, on the wall in front of me, I have posted things like:
   1. “No iChat”
   2. “Don’t proselytize, dammit”
   3. Donald Murray’s quote — Writing is the most disciplined form of thinking.
5. Talking about your writing, where you’re going with it, what you’re wondering is as important as writing itself. Not only is writing inherently social, but drafting and planning start with talking through your idea to a listening ear. No one should write completely solo –Harper Lee wrote multiple drafts of Mockingbird and talked through changes closely with her editors, who became her close friends
6. When you think you can’t work anymore, or stare at the screen any longer — either take a quick nap or get up and walk around. Don’t drive yourself nuts, but do push yourself to work longer than you think you can. Giving up and screwing around online are easy, not useful

So the book is coming to be about writing, where writing pedagogy is today and where it should be, and how blogging (as an example of a powerful technology) can address some of the needs we have. While we know much more about teaching writing than we ever have, we also have new and ongoing needs we need to address: student motivation and interest, connecting intellectual understanding to lived experience, creating classroom community, allowing students space to take risks and write through uncertainty and learning, and many other things. This book takes from my experiences as a blogger for the last five years, and as a writing teacher who uses blogging to teach writing/write with her students. The good news is not only is this a book I really want to write, but there’s some interest in it, I’m getting good feedback from people, and things seem to be heading in the right direction.

That’s not to say I won’t get derailed — I’m trying to write this this summer while teaching three courses, but I feel good about the direction I’m going and the things I have to say.

So nobody better steal my idea ’cause hey — that’s mine… got it?