Reading in the Middle, Junior and Senior High Schools, Spring, 2010

Thank you Professor Moorman for teaching our class. Class was good and it looks like we will learn a lot of useful things to use in our classrooms someday. I thought that the discussion on plagiarism was interesting, and it made me think.

After having a Reading class last semester, I expected this one to be somewhat similar. However, thankfully tonight I have a strong feeling that I will really enjoy this class. I found the discussion we had on plagiarism quite interesting, as this is something I haven't thought too much about other than making sure I cited the proper sources when writing papers. I agree that the internet has given plagiarism a greater deal of attention, as access to more resources have become readily available. I also thought the "my bag" idea is a neat and engaging icebreaker activity, that I hope to use someday in my classroom! I look forward to learning more about plagiarism, as well as the other topics we will be discussing!!

The first class I found very interesting and opened up views of plagiarism I have never thought about. It has never really been discussed in classes just told that we shall not do this evil thing. It was interesting to hear peoples views on plagiarism and made me begin to think how I will deal with this issue in my classroom.

I am excited for this upcoming semester in class. The content and objectives of this class seem slightly different from what I expected, but I feel the message of this class is very important for the targeted age group and I believe in the power of reading and importance of literacy for all students. Today, talking about plagiarism I realized that I really don’t think about it as much as I did when I first entered college. I had been told over and over that if I plagiarized in college I would be reprimanded and potentially thrown out. Now, I think of plagiarism really only pertaining to research papers, which is the only time it pertains to my life as a student. So many of my classes currently require me to just tell what I think about different things. However, most of my thoughts are things that I learned due to instruction by my professors which I know has to be research-based. Therefore, somewhere down the line there should have been a citation for the idea I suppose, but that is such a fuzzy area for me as to where the citation should occur. Again, this goes back to that confusion of common knowledge we discussed in class. Part of me wonders if there even is such a thing as plagiarism because all of our classes so strongly encourage collaboration and sharing with each other. I have even been told that teachers are the greatest thieves because they steal great ideas from other teachers that they see work and do they cite every idea? If I had to sum it up, avoidance of plagiarism is just giving credit where credit is due.

I was in a Reading class last semester where we talked about young children and the process and stages of learning to write. I was expecting this class to be the same, but for older students. I'm looking forward to learning more about plagiarism and about instructional strategies for teaching reading to middle to high school students. So far the the special education classes I have taken, we have focused on younger students. I am looking forward to learning effective strategies for older students!

I honestly was dreading this class due to my reading class last semester where we covered younger readers and strategies. I think based on last night’s discussion, this class will be a lot more enjoyable and beneficial since I want to work with older students, as well as these topics are interesting to me as a young adult. I honestly have never thought about plagiarism as more than just copying and pasting someone else words and not citing them for it within a paper. I never thought about oral plagiarism, if there really is such a thing; and if I view group work, or copying homework as plagiarism. The issue and topic of copy right has never crossed my mind and it was interesting to find out that some works of literature are no longer copy righted.

After some Google searching I have indeed found out who sort of wrote the “Happy Birthday” song. The tune was written/come up with by two sisters, Mildred and Patty Hill. “Happy Birthday” first started as “Good Morning to All”:
Good morning to you,
Good morning to you,
Good morning, dear children,
Good morning to all.

From here, who changed the words is a mystery. But like we discussed in class, most of our ideas always start or come from someone else's.

I really enjoyed the first day of class. You seem to be pretty funny and definitely keep things interesting. I had not ever really discussed plagarizm in depth before and realized that it is a very gray area with quite a few fine lines. I enjoyed working in groups and actually look very forward to seeing other people's My Bags. I also am really looking forward to Unit 3 on Young Adult Literature.

Before I came to this class I was nervous about how it was going to go because of the Reading class I had last semester, but after the first class I am now excited about the discussions that are going to take place in this class. I had never really thought about Plagiarism in that perspective and it was really interesting to hear others perspectives on it. I am really looking forward to Unit 3 because I love reading and love young adult literature. I really enjoyed my first class and am looking forward to the rest of the classes.

I found the first class to be very interesting. I went into it thinking that it was going to feel incredibly long and last forever but the way the class was structured definately helped the time go by pretty fast. I also enjoyed the group discussion. It helped me to see different points of view on plagiarism which were pretty interesting since I've never thought that in depth about it before. Another thing I liked was the "My Bag" assignment. I've never heard of it and I think it's a great ice breaker, rather than just standing in front of everyone and just telling about yourself. I think that this class is going to really make us want to learn the material as opposed to being forced to learn it, which can be pretty refreshing at times.

I'm looking forward to this semester, it will be nice to have a class that has a mix of majors. I look forward to reading works of Adolescent Literature and learning new instructional practices. From our discussion on plagiarism it seems we will have some good class discussions. I enjoyed sharing and looking forward to future discussions. Plagiarism has never been much of an issue for discussion in previous courses, simply something that was addressed and assumed to be understood. Very thought provoking.

My name is Danielle Presnell. I am an English Secondary Education major as well. I want to teach 9th or 11th grade English. I am looking forward to this class. It seem like one of the few that I will be able to use when I'm in charge of my own classroom. We all know a lot of classes we take are a waist of time and this one seems like it will be useful.

Our discussion about plagiarism was interesting. I thought we started confusing copyright violations with plagiarism as the discussion went on, especially when we started talking about stealing music. Pirating music is not plagiarism. It is not taking a song and calling it your own. It's stealing a song to enjoy free of charge. I am in no way condoning the pirating of music, simply making the distinction.

I am really looking forward to this class. You seem very approachable and energetic, which is always helpful for keeping students' attention... especially in a night class. I think the topics we will be discussing throughout the semester will really be beneficial for what I will encounter in the future as a teacher. I thought the whole plagiarism discussion was very interesting, because I had never really thought about the fact that schools are really the only place in which plagiarism is really considered a major offense. I looked up the dictionary definition of plagiarism and this is what it said: "the unauthorized use or close imitation of the language and thoughts of another author and the representation of them as one's own original work." This is a very similar definition to the one we came up with in class. But what confuses me is where do we draw the line? Because everything we say and do truly is, in some form, a duplicate of a previous individual. Anyways, I look forward to the semester and the rest of the topics we will explore.

I am a little nervous about the class because I have not had a night class in about a year or two and I want to make sure I keep up with the work. I was glad that when I walked into class I knew so many people and that right off set me at ease.I felt like the whole class was more or less already at ease with everything and we all felt pretty comfortable.I enjoyed Dr. Mooreman's My Bag presentation and I am finding it hard to leave stuff out when I am trying to decide what to put in my bag to show the class.

My name is Hap and I am an English secondary ed major who is excited about teaching. I think the first class went really well. I think you are hilarious and not only do I think we are going to have a lot of fun in this class, I think we are going to learn a lot while having fun. I found our discussion about plagiarism to be very interesting. There were some ideas that were brought up that I have never though of before and it made me re-think my general definition of plagiarism. My high school had an honor society and we had an honor code every student had to write at the end of every test and every appear we turned in. If the honor code was broken, that student could pretty much assume that he/she was going to be suspended. I have never had a problem with plagiarism nor have I ever been around anyone who plagiarizes. I never thought about how people think of ideas that have been thought of before and how that could technically be thought of as plagiarism. That being said, I am excited about this class and I am ready to have some fun in this class,

Hello Everyone. My name is Rachel, and I too am one of the several English Secondary Education majors. Aside from that, from what I've glinted of the other posts, this is introductory, and thus, I should go over how excited I am to be in this class, or something like that. It seems interesting; more so then I assumed it would be. Which is always refreshing, especially at the point in my education career I'm in currently.

However, I am intrigued by the last end of the semester when one goes over the use of young adult fiction. I'm actually rather passionate about YA Lit, having participated in a Printz Book Club way back in high school. Feed by MT Anderson and House of the Scorpion by Nancy Farmer are books I would want to use in my classroom, just as an example. Aside from that, the fact that Graphic Novels were mentioned also made me somewhat giddy, being a fan of those myself. I adore nearly everything Alan Moore has done, minus the movies (other than V for Vendetta) that have come from his writing.

On a different note, I thought the discussion of plagiarism to be...entertaining, although, I would have liked to have heard what people thought in terms of fan-fiction. Perhaps another day.

I was a little worried about this class when I first realized it was a three hour night class. More often than not, night classes become extremely monotonous and make it very easy to stop listening. I feel like this class is going to be a lot different, though. Everyone seems very interested to learn and that makes all the difference.
I never thought much about plagiarism. I just knew that it was something I should avoid or I would get kicked out of the University. That reason was enough for me to not do it. I think it is very important for us as future educators to teach our students the different types of plagiarism.

I thought that the first class discussion was pretty interesting. My opinions regarding the subject, plagiarism, are about the same post-discussion as they were pre-discussion; I suppose I had just never thought about it for the extent of an hour. When we broke into groups to talk about how far we believed the subject covered, I surprised at what came out. Many of us had no problem copying (or plagiarizing as it were) others homework if it meant that the work was deemed frivolous or unnecessary. When it came to formal papers, however, we consented that we are against not giving credit where credit is due. Some of that is due to fear--I'm way to afraid of paraphrasing, so I always find a way to quote in a formal paper. Some of this idea comes from our wanting to show off our knowledge of a particular subject area. For example: if I'm writing a analytical essay on the roles of females in Shakespeare and I take something from Harold Bloom, a well known Shakespearean scholar, and pass it on as my own, that it not right. I think that naming Bloom in that setting shows the reader that you are smart enough to recognize a scholarly source and take a side on it. Overall, I thought hearing the different views really fun.

Professor Moorman,
After your first class last Wednesday, I look foward to meeting with you for the rest of the semester. Although the class is a long one, I think that you will keep it lively and interesting with all of your stories and worldly experiences!I thought your "bag" was unique and helped me understand a little bit more about you on a personal level. I am still curious as about the work load for your class, but I feel that you will be very easy to work with and explain assignments that may cause distress! I look forward to working with you the rest of the semester and getting to know you better both as a Professor and on a personal level.

I found the first class to be very enjoyable and thought provoking. I really like that there seems to be a lot of fun and interesting people in the class. Since I already know the majority of the class, I feel that I can safely assume that this class will remain lively and entertaining. However, I am a bit worried about all of the assignments, and our dependence upon the website to complete homework. However, this is just because I procrastinate and I’m easily distracted when I get online to do homework. Therefore, I guess I this is a good time to learn time management and develop some will power.

First off, I apologize for waiting so late to blog. Blogs are NOT my thing. I have a strong disenchantment with technology of all sorts, and blogs are one of my least favorite forms of communication. It's not a moral thing, it's a personal thing. With that said, I have made an effort to change my mindset because I know that as a future teacher, twenty-first century media is the most effective way to reach students. This is the first semester where I don't see a way of talking my teachers out of blog assignments, and it's about time I get used to them.

As for the first class, I am very excited and encouraged to know that our teacher is a world traveler! I have a lot of respect for people who have taught in other countries, and it's something I'd like to hear more about. I love the my bag assignment. I always appreciate teachers who open up the classroom to get to know their students. The class has a good atmosphere, to be sure.

What I liked about the first class was our focus on plagiarism and especially the teacher's view on it. I'm happy to see the nit-pickyness usually associated with the topic is being questioned in our class.
I was also glad to find that three hours passed fairly quickly and easily thanks to on going activity.
The fact that the class assignments are all online was an initial problem for me, but my fears have subsided upon realizing that this professor is quite computer/internet literate.
I'm happy to be in this class and I'm ready to learn things I didn't in this reading class.

As teachers I believe it is very important for us to set up a classroom environment that is conducive for students to not plagiarize. In class we discussed the importance of allowing students to do more abstract activities and assignments. This will help prevent students from cheating because the assignments are centered on their own personal ideas. By focusing school work on more creative outlets I believe some of the pressures of school can be alleviated thus reducing the need to cheat. It is crucial as teachers that we promote a positive learning environment that students feel that they can freely express ideas. By doing this we take away a students "need" to cheat because the grades are mainly focused on what they personally know. Cheating prevents students from learning, so reducing the student's want to cheat means that they are actually learning material.

I really enjoyed our discussion regarding plagiarism. I feel that I gained a better understanding of what plagiarism is by hearing other people’s views. Also I was surprised to see our class was made up of mixed majors. I found our first class discussion to be promising and I’m looking forward to the rest of our semester.