One last, difficult challenge for class

Cutter's Log - Stardate 9002.42.70
Current Song - In a Big Country (Big Country)

I'm taking a break from my "blog absence" to let you in on some school developments. This edition of WSN will be tweaked to be SWN to emphasize the school things.

School: I completed my PSY stuff, and just one Humanities assignment. I'm hovering somewhere around a 57%. Here's what the final project consists of:

It is a teaching unit - come up with a topic to teach people about.

Fill out an "objectives" form about the topic - the topic has to be approved beforehand
Write one lecture - 3 pages
Either write one reading, or use something already published - 8 pages
Write an outline of the reading - 2 pages
Create a 20 question multiple choice quiz on the topic
Write out a writing assignment about the topic, plus an outline - 2 pages
Write out another writing assignment (just an essay answer)
Work Cited page - minimum 7 sources
Come up with five more related links about the topic

Yikes!

The instructions include this:
"Feel free to choose a topic that you may have an interest in or some background in."

The topic has to be related to the Humanities, obviously. So, using these two thoughts, I jotted down a list of things that interested me:

Illinois High School Sports (and it's journalism form)
Asperger's Syndrome
Lost Film/Movies
Destination Shortcuts
Illinois Lottery
Blackjack
Abandoned Buildings
Histories of defunct high schools in Illinois

I sent this list to my Humanities instructor, along with a description that I can't seem to find a topic.

After a day-and-a-half of no response, I went ahead and started on "lost film," and had a good idea about what to write about.

I then get this back:

"You need to accept the fact that this is a humanities course. (This is exactly the reason the State of Illinois requires higher ed students to take different types of courses, so that you begin to appreciate what's out there in this big old world.)"

If I get a teacher to spit out "the State of Illinois requires" it must mean I did something REAL terrible.

"You're right, the only topic on the list that is even close to being appropriate is the Movies. But here's a suggestion based on your list-- how sports are portrayed in the Arts."

Okay, so I'll go with "How Sports Are Portrayed in the Arts" then.

Cody + Sports = Easy ... right?

The Mighty Ducks? The Big Green? Field of Dreams? "Centerfield" by John Fogerty? John Tesh? Ancient Olympics?

Back to square one. Sports is a topic I'm interested in, yes. Sports portrayed in the arts is a topic I'm not interested in. I guess this is the only way I can do the assignment. Time is running out.

The instructor posts a Q&A about the final, with this included:

"But how do I come up with objectives if I don't know anything about the topic?

"Obviously you need to teach yourself about the topic before you can teach it to someone else. In other words, you need to do a fair amount of the research before you begin to see ideas for the sub-topics, although what really happens is that it is sort of a back and forth process."

So I need to learn about "How Sports Are Portrayed in the Arts" before I even fill out the SECOND objective form. I was also recommended to do a Google search for "making sense of sports." Turns out that is a title of a book. A book that I cannot acquire in time for the completion of the project.

I have been given three Internet links to try to figure something out ...

http://www.asama.org/index-2.html
http://www.customsportsart.com/
http://www.edgarbrown.com/index.php

I will have no hair on my head by August.



Work: It looks as if the current scheduling arrangement is going to be the status quo. If this keeps up, the possiblilty of filling in at Route 30 seems hopeful. I get another four-day stretch next week. Plenty of time to work on the Humanities thing.

NISB: I was able to send out the many mailings this week. I have heard back from only one school thus far. Not sure what that really meant, however.

I also posted the NISB Master football schedule on the Message Board. This thing helps for the scoreboard and pick'ems, and it's also a guide for the fans. I'm holding on the photo feature for a while, until I get the Humanities thing done.


IF I GET IT DONE!