As we move more deeply into our present collaborative projects, my first move is to step back and look at what I've got in the works at the moment in terms of projects, so that I can prioritize and plan them:

* Present on Beijing topic to the faculty in faculty forum
- read through prewriting and official presentation and select some material to talk about casually, which sections to read

* JAC article with graduate students
- complete last few charts
- read all of the charts
- flag items in student charts that seem to need clarification
- note some patterns I'm seeing
- think about questions we might be able to answer through the "data" we've collected in these charts
- develop some working bib information--what would we need to cite to enter the conversation?
- predrafting--early reflections on the findings

* Plagiarism/Using Sources modules
- reread the proposal materials from Chris
- Develop the outline
- Plug already existing materials in to outline
- Develop sections

Mattress information:

eco-friendly mattresses at ecobydesign.com
Natural latex is biodegradable and nontoxic
Simmons Beatyrest World Class gets good ratings for couples
Be sure to test run lots of mattresses (15 mins)
Watch out for overly padded tops (these, unlike springs, will eventually compress
Look for good comfort guarantee

Toddler beds at Target
http://www.target.com/gp/browse.html/ref=in_se_pagelist/601-7529628-7078514?ie=UTF8&node=52048011&index=tgt-mf-mv&field-browse=52048011&rank=pmrank&size=16&page=2

The bed I want
http://www.us-mattress.com/nu-lattice-bed.html

http://www.totalbedroom.com/beds/platform-beds/mondoco-platform-bed.html?cid=ql

This one might fit better with our other bedroom furniture
http://www.totalbedroom.com/beds/wood-beds-bed/chyanne-queen-bed.html

Today, after sending a brief talk to Global Interactions for the China-US Literacy conference, I read a couple of articles in Education Week, written by a staff reporter who is visiting China. I'd been thinking that my talk for the conference in China doesn't really push any boundaries in American education, though there are probably some who don't use community-based writing who would get some insight into the process through my discussion. Yet I kept thinking about my Chinese audience (and seeing them as a sort of invented Chinese audience, given that I don't actually know them, nor do I know much about their education of writers (this is the point of my attending the conference, after all). Still, I suspect that the Chinese don't often use what we might call service learning or community engagement to teach writing. From what little I know of writing education worldwide, any explicit or rhetorical instruction of writing is unusual, so there may be layers in what I have said that will seem provocative or slightly new to this audience. From what I've seen and heard of Asian education in English, as well, it seems as though grammar and correctness rather than rhetoricity are featured.

Anyway, so I read the articles on Education Week to get me in the mood and came across the following quote:

http://www.edweek.org/ew/articles/2007/04/03/31china_web.h26.html
"Chinese education officials are, in turn, looking to the United States and what its schools do well, as part of an attempt to improve the creative and problem-solving abilities of their students"

I found this both interesting and heartening. My suggestions about putting students in community-based rhetorical situations and in many ways forcing them to solve the problems that emerge from complicated writing events may help to address this concern expressed by the officials with whom the Ed Week reporter spoke.