A message for all my E3 classmates...

So I was going through the blogs of the other sections, and let me tell you - they have really stepped it up: G5 has at least 30 more posts on their blog than ours and P4 is almost neck and neck with us. Although the substance and quality of our section's posts are slightly better (as an E3 member, I have to be loyal) than the others, we are not being consistent with our posts. Take section G5 for instance: a lot of their posts are not more than a short paragraph on food-related incidents and information, but it makes the blog look very up-to-date and casual.

It's sad for me to say this, but our blog has lost the spark it had at the beginning of the semester. We have made it way too formal. I mean, c'mon guys, reserve the formality for the assignments, and talk freely otherwise. Talk like you would in an informal class discussion session. It can be anything, anything at all food/class related... you don't have to look for a topic to post on. Look at the other blogs if you need inspiration.

Another thing that's bothering me a little is tendency of most people to put up posts at the very end of the week (i.e. on Sundays after 6 pm). This makes it look like everyone is posting just for the sake of grades, plus it does not give adequate time for peer comments and discussion before the end of the week, so even if you comment on somebody's Sunday post on a Tuesday, it is considered as posting on last week's material and is not taken into your blog participation grade.

Now, I'm not saying that you don't comment on posts for which you will not be graded. By all means, keep the conversation alive... but this is just a shout-out to anybody posting stuff here... try to put it up earlier or in the middle of the week, so the rest of us can discuss and increase our collective blog participation grades.

I know it's not easy with all the academic pressures during the week, most of you are only free during weekends... but take maybe 10-15 minutes before going to bed and write a short anecdote on anything interesting food/class/blog related. And if nothing interesting comes to your mind, go ahead and put up information on what's happening around campus, related to the course in general. And if all else fails, comment on other people's posts, including other sections. I don't want the other sections thinking we're all closeted and all that.

Now, some of you may think this is a little unfair. Very true. I know some of you do look at the blogs regularly, post and comment. If you are one of those, just overlook this. And I understand that this class may not be your favorite (though it is the most fun for me), and you may be more concerned about your CS or Chemistry grades. That's perfectly fine.

The point is, I want to know (and many of you would too) what's going around your heads concerning this class. This, being a small class, is one of the few places where we can creatively interact with our peers... I couldn't even imagine putting up a post like this in front of say, my American Government class, which consists of 180 students (only two of whose names I know). I want to be "in the mix", so bear with me if you think that I'm just trying to maximize my experience of a small classroom at Georgia Tech.

I've probably said too much for one post. See you tomorrow in class, and keep the conversation alive!