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Welcome to your first Weekly Discussion Board for LALS1!

Every week, Discussion Board posts are DUE here on Canvas by 11:59pm on Sunday night. 

The goal of these short weekly assignments is to help you stay accountable / on track with your weekly assigned materials including Profe Balloffet's Recorded Lectures, as well as Assigned Readings from your textbooks.  Make sure you read/watch the assigned materials BEFORE attempting to complete your weekly discussion board post!!

For each post, please follow the PROMPT instructions (below) carefully, or you will not receive full credit. You will have Discussion Boards in Weeks 1, 2, 3, 4, 6, 7, 9, and 10 - in other words 8 in total.  You will not have one in Week 5, since that is Midterm Week, or Week 8, since you have the Thanksgiving Holiday. Each Discussion Board is worth 3 points, and it will be graded by your Teaching Assistant. 

Once you post your response, you will be able to see the responses of your peers in LALS1. While it is not required, you are welcome to create reply threads and use the Discussion Boards as a space of dialogue about this week's materials.  Before you write or think about replying to a classmate's post, please review these essential guidelines:

First, some TIPS for writing a high quality discussion board post:

· Feel free to write in the first person!

· --> (I observed... My impression was... etc.)

· Mention specific examples!

· --> (In the iX reading, I noticed A, B, and C... This connects to ____ and ____ from Profe Balloffet's recorded lecture on ________.)

· Make sure your answer is approximately 100-150 words!

· --> A little bit over is fine, but try to keep it to about 150 words max, since you're most likely to generate interesting discussion board comments/conversation when you write concisely, and straightforwardly.

· Be sure that your post CLEARLY DEMONSTRATES that you have read/watched the assigned materials!

· If you're too vague or general, you won't get full credit because your T.A. won't be able to tell whether or not you did the assigned reading/viewing. Discussion boards are your opportunity to showcase that you have been accountable and diligent in your engagement with course materials. Since the lectures for this course are asynchronous online, this is a KEY VENUE for showing active course participation beyond your weekly synchronous Discussion Section, so take good advantage!

Here are some TIPS for Generating Productive Dialogue through COMMENTS on your peers' posts:

· Post thoughtful comments/reflections - this is more interesting and thought provoking than just writing something like  "I agree" or "I disagree".  

· Make connections to your own post, or to assigned course materials.

· Ask thoughtful, clarifying questions that have the potential to encourage your peers to consider a topic from a new angle.

· ALWAYS operate from a baseline of MUTUAL RESPECT and INCLUSIVENESS, and be intentional and thoughtful with the language that you choose. This practice is essential, and I expect it from all participants in the course.

PROMPT for WEEK 1:

Choose one of the four "Conceptual Pillars of LALS" that we learned  about this week, and describe how you think it could be a useful tool in this course. Remember that in LALS1, we seek a "hemispheric" approach to Latin American and Latino Studies as one of our main goals.