Since my little Dell laptop is in the shop getting its “F” key attached, I’ve re-acquainted myself with my older, desktop computer that has OLD info and photos on it.  Fortunately, the “F” key works on this one.  I’ve been reading all my students’ research papers over a second time and noone will get an “F” grade (except the two papers I have NOT received yet!)  However, some I have caught not using their own words and taking credit for using someone else’s words. We all know what THAT is called!!!  Fancy technology can catch that sort of thing.

A direct correlation can be made with how much my Ukrainian students blogged this past semester and how good their final papers really were.  First, the purpose behind blogging was to practice informal expression and to comment on each others’ blogs if time permitted.  (I know some of my students were bogged down with other class commitments. ) Second, the purpose in learning how to write an academic paper for the final research paper was to NOT use any personal pronouns while using OTHER people’s thoughts.  The idea behind a “Works Cited” page (which is where I go to first to see if you changed anything from your rough draft) is to see what was found in the Ebscohost, Infotrac, Lexus Nexus or ProQuest to support the paper’s thesis statement.

Fancy technology in the realm of composition classes has changed everything for me as a teacher. If my Ukrainian students want to be proud of their country (note the above flags on Maidan Square) then they need to learn how to use technology wisely.  Cutting corners and plagiarizing only hurts the student and their country.  Getting a low grade in my Comp II class may not mean much now.  However, for the future advancement of each respective country (many students do not represent Ukraine) they all need to know how to write Formally.  Life is like this discipline of following what may be perceived as strict rules of MLA formatting, but there are reasons for those rules.

I will be posting grades according to MY Friday deadline (May 25th) so my students will have to wait until Ukraine’s Saturday to find out what their final grades are.