I've posted information on a wide range of restaurants near Moscone Center, the location of the CCCC conference in San Francisco beginning March 16. Those interested can find the link on my blog at http://faculty.deanza.fhda.edu/jocalo/2005/03/01

I know we're all going to get food for thought, but some of you may want the other kind too.

In light of recent discussions here regarding the consumerist impulse among students, a very different development suggests another kind of accountability we now face regarding writing assessment.

Steve Geluso, a high school student, has blogged his objections to being failed on an exit exam and posts a facsimile of his paper and of the scorer's ratings of the paper. Since he's developed an argument that online piracy of music is of a different order than stealing an actual CD, his paper contributes to other controversies often discussed here.

His blog is found at http://steve.mathcaddy.com/

Several community college comp bloggers have launched a new site, Community College English at http://twoyearcomp.blogspot.com/

We're inviting all interested to check it out, bookmark the site, and contribute your expertise and perspective. See you there.

I've been reading the 9/11 Commission Report because I will use it in two sections of FYC this fall. It's worth a careful read by every member of Kairosnews. I've explored some first responses to the first three chapters in my own blog at http://faculty.deanza.fhda.edu/jocalo/2004/08/18

I quote some brief passages, including one on the FBI's failure to use analysis to good effect and the critical importance of creating a culture of information sharing. Teaching to this report could be an effective way of making our work and values more visible.

I've drafted a "Heuristic for Teaching" at A Writing Teacher's Blog, hoping for comment, critique, and suggestions from comp colleagues. The heuristic can be found at http://faculty.deanza.fhda.edu/jocalo/stories/storyReader$836

I want to refine the heuristic in ways that comp teachers would find helpful and credible and then use it to reorganize my last year's blog entries. All responses valued.

Since I couldn't make my presentation at the Young Rhetoricians' Conference in Monterey, CA, in person, I posted it to my blog. I thought a lot of Kairosnews readers might like to see it--and I welcome comment.

A few months back, we had a flurry of discussions related to the five-paragraph essay. The profession seems even more committed to the "term paper," a genre that seems to drive many writing programs and drive out alternative kinds of writing. I develop my argument at
http://faculty.deanza.fhda.edu/jocalo/2004/02/09