Struggling to write

It sounds like all of us slacked on our blogs. Just a little. Many of us said (and I agree) that I wasn't sure what to write. I know Team! might read the blog, but I don't know much about them as an audience. Anyway, for me, the problem isn't so much that I don't know what to write for this weekly blog about technology; it's more than I do can't seem to write at all this semester. It's a problem every day in every class.

Just last night, my partner who is currently a Spanish teacher was speaking wistfully of hid days of writing paper and of the pleasant, buzzing mental fatigue that comes from writing energetically and critically - when the inches of text seem to spring from the page and edits are just as exciting as the original writing and before you know it, you have produced something. Something imperfect, yes, but something of which you are (hopefully) proud.
"I never have that experience anymore," he said. "Do you?"
And I kind of went off.
Yes, I know that feeling well - it's great. But more often these days I have the feeling of knowing I have to write something but having absolutely no ideas for writing anything let alone the thousands of words per week I have to write. Instead of springing from my fingertips, it's more like each word is located at the tip of the root of my tooth and must be slowly, painfully extracted.
And it's kind of a lot of words:

1. Blog for this class
2. 1000-2000 words (alternate weeks)
3. 400-600
4. 800-1000

And that does not include any papers, summaries, presentations, digests, or critiques for the classes or my adviser. I know it's very standard for a semester of grad school, but I can't figure out why I am so uninspired when it comes to writing. I like my classes. I just can't seem to write for them.

I've tried exercising. Changing my routine. Establishing a routine (though it's admittedly not really possible to do both of those things very well in seven weeks). Writing at home. Writing some where else. Outlines. Graphic organizers. Freewrites. Voice recording. And lots of mindless kitten videos and pinning pretty and delicious things.

Anyone else have ideas for how to generate ideas when none seem to come?

Synchronous Teaching

I thought that Ashley did a great job addressing us via skype. Actually, I thought the whole group did a great job of introducing Skype and being good presenters. I don't think I would be so confident at addressing the class. How are the rules of presenting different for an online class? It seems that many are the same - eye contact (even if eye contact via webcam is more of an approximation than actual eye contacts), fluid movement, clear transitions, and well-projected voice. Lots of work to do!

Facilitating

Facillitating in a flipped classroom.

While we were leading the discussion, I kept feeling like I was forgetting something. Since we had not had the initial micro-lecture or shared experience of viewing something together, I felt as though I couldn't be sure that anyone knew what I was talking about. Perhaps if we had initiated the class with some sort of question about the viewing experience or something like that, rather than leading somewhat cold with "write one sentence on your blog..."

Overall, I think it went well. I think that undergrads, in my experience, resist reading to a ridiculous degree. I agree with Nick that it is important to practice critical reading. The only way to become adept at critical reading is to work at it. At the same time, it seems like we could meet the students half way by letting them watch videos of the topic as some of their home work or to spark discussion in class.