Examples of effective reflective cover essays/letters, ENG 112, Fall 2008.
As always, write with questions.
Steve
Thursday, April 22, 2010
Examples of Effective ENG 111 Course Portfolios
I have posted this link in this week's assignments, but here it is another time. Remember, suspenders and belt are best insurance.
I am looking for examples for ENG 112; but, so far, I've only found two from sections a year old.
As always, write with any questions.
Steve
I am looking for examples for ENG 112; but, so far, I've only found two from sections a year old.
As always, write with any questions.
Steve
Thursday, April 15, 2010
The link to the assignments for week fourteen is now active.
Get started on your portfolio. It's due Tuesday, 11 May, at 9:30 in my office, Massey 231.
Steve
Steve
Thursday, April 1, 2010
Assignments Links for Weeks Twelve and Thirteen Are Now Active
The assignments links for weeks twelve and thirteen are now active.
Please note, because I will be delivering a paper at and attending the VCCS New Horizons conference next Thursday, 7 April, we will have no physical class. However, I have designed the work over the next two weeks in such a way that you should learn as much or more from doing it as you would in class. More, I've designed it to allow you to practice and re-inforce the research and research paper writing skills you've learned so far this semester. I think you'll find the research paper topic more interesting and personally useful than doing a rhetorical analysis of King's "Letter."
As always, one of the tricks to success is to fully read and make sure you understand the assignment. The second trick, as always, is to start the assignment as early as possible; hence, you'll give yourself a chance to do your best work. Finally, the last trick is to, as always, write me with any questions.
Steve
Please note, because I will be delivering a paper at and attending the VCCS New Horizons conference next Thursday, 7 April, we will have no physical class. However, I have designed the work over the next two weeks in such a way that you should learn as much or more from doing it as you would in class. More, I've designed it to allow you to practice and re-inforce the research and research paper writing skills you've learned so far this semester. I think you'll find the research paper topic more interesting and personally useful than doing a rhetorical analysis of King's "Letter."
As always, one of the tricks to success is to fully read and make sure you understand the assignment. The second trick, as always, is to start the assignment as early as possible; hence, you'll give yourself a chance to do your best work. Finally, the last trick is to, as always, write me with any questions.
Steve
Thursday, March 25, 2010
Announcements for 25 March
1. Your assignments link for the week has been made active.
2. We will not meet today in 206. I gave much thought to meeting with you in class today, and I realized there was little to be gained, and you would learn more by getting started working on finishing your King research paper. The way one learns proofreading--the only new topic for this week--is by practice and trying out techniques until one finds a set which works with where one is as a writer. I've outlined the most common proofreading/editing techniques on a web page to which I've provided a link. As you finish up the revisions of your King paper and come to the stage where you are satisfied with it, then proofreading begins. Try out one or two techniques. Do try the one which involves getting someone else to proof your work, but--in addition to asking them to proof--make sure you ask them, "What's the one thing I could learn to do in terms of grammar and usage which would make my writing clearer?" This is the next thing you should work on fixing in terms of your grammar. Ask me for help when you find your answer.
3. Most of your week will be spent reading through, revising, and improving your King paper. Make sure to schedule your week with enough time to go through multiple revisions, format the paper in MLA style, create a Works Cited page, and have your printer run out of ink. One of the tricks you should be learning in terms of writing process is to start early enough that you plan for problems to crop up and be fixed. You've been working on this paper in stages all semester, just pull it out here at the end.
4. One final note, whenever I have a physical paper due, especially one folks have been working on as long as you have the King paper, the universe seems to conspire to make absences jump through the roof on the day the paper is due. Even if you don't have the paper done and ready to hand in, come to class on 1 April.
5. The 6-8 April, I will be out of town presenting at New Horizons--a Virginia Community College Conference on teaching innovations. [We won't have a physical class, but don't worry. I'll have work for you to do.] Many of you were in the "Getting a Clue" learning community last fall. Miles McCrimmon, Jena Morrison, and I will be presenting on the course design at the conference, letting the rest of the system know about survivingsarge.pbworks.com, and maybe getting a teaching award. As part of preparing for this award, we created a video presentation which stars some of your writing and the basic elements of the course design. I thought those who were involved might like to view the video, so I've included a link to it below:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TuqAzlogdo0
As always, write with questions.
Steve
2. We will not meet today in 206. I gave much thought to meeting with you in class today, and I realized there was little to be gained, and you would learn more by getting started working on finishing your King research paper. The way one learns proofreading--the only new topic for this week--is by practice and trying out techniques until one finds a set which works with where one is as a writer. I've outlined the most common proofreading/editing techniques on a web page to which I've provided a link. As you finish up the revisions of your King paper and come to the stage where you are satisfied with it, then proofreading begins. Try out one or two techniques. Do try the one which involves getting someone else to proof your work, but--in addition to asking them to proof--make sure you ask them, "What's the one thing I could learn to do in terms of grammar and usage which would make my writing clearer?" This is the next thing you should work on fixing in terms of your grammar. Ask me for help when you find your answer.
3. Most of your week will be spent reading through, revising, and improving your King paper. Make sure to schedule your week with enough time to go through multiple revisions, format the paper in MLA style, create a Works Cited page, and have your printer run out of ink. One of the tricks you should be learning in terms of writing process is to start early enough that you plan for problems to crop up and be fixed. You've been working on this paper in stages all semester, just pull it out here at the end.
4. One final note, whenever I have a physical paper due, especially one folks have been working on as long as you have the King paper, the universe seems to conspire to make absences jump through the roof on the day the paper is due. Even if you don't have the paper done and ready to hand in, come to class on 1 April.
5. The 6-8 April, I will be out of town presenting at New Horizons--a Virginia Community College Conference on teaching innovations. [We won't have a physical class, but don't worry. I'll have work for you to do.] Many of you were in the "Getting a Clue" learning community last fall. Miles McCrimmon, Jena Morrison, and I will be presenting on the course design at the conference, letting the rest of the system know about survivingsarge.pbworks.com, and maybe getting a teaching award. As part of preparing for this award, we created a video presentation which stars some of your writing and the basic elements of the course design. I thought those who were involved might like to view the video, so I've included a link to it below:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TuqAzlogdo0
As always, write with questions.
Steve
Monday, March 22, 2010
Welcome back from Spring Break
Welcome back. I hope you return rested, safe, and ready to hit the ground running.
Remember, your reflective essay must be posted to your blog or ready to hand into me by Thursday, 25 March at the beginning of class.
25 March is the last day to withdrawal from a class with a grade of "W." In doing your mid-term reflective essay, you've discovered that your learning or performance warrants a grade of a "D" or an "F," then you should consider withdrawing from the course. While a withdrawal may impact your standing as a full-time student, a "W" on your final transcript looks much better than a "D" or an "F." "D"s don't transfer, but they may count toward graduation in most AA majors. If I can answer any questions to help with this decision, write.
Remember, your reflective essay should shoot for four or five pages in which you review your performance in the class with an eye toward improvement, argue for the grade your performance and learning warrant, and--most important--use fully developed PEA paragraphs to reflect on what you have learned this semester and to provide examples, evidence, and analysis from your work which help "prove" your learning. You'll be writing a similar reflective essay at the end of term as a cover essay for your final portfolio.
Also remember that the final draft of your King research paper/rhetorical analysis is due on 1 April.
Remember, your reflective essay must be posted to your blog or ready to hand into me by Thursday, 25 March at the beginning of class.
25 March is the last day to withdrawal from a class with a grade of "W." In doing your mid-term reflective essay, you've discovered that your learning or performance warrants a grade of a "D" or an "F," then you should consider withdrawing from the course. While a withdrawal may impact your standing as a full-time student, a "W" on your final transcript looks much better than a "D" or an "F." "D"s don't transfer, but they may count toward graduation in most AA majors. If I can answer any questions to help with this decision, write.
Remember, your reflective essay should shoot for four or five pages in which you review your performance in the class with an eye toward improvement, argue for the grade your performance and learning warrant, and--most important--use fully developed PEA paragraphs to reflect on what you have learned this semester and to provide examples, evidence, and analysis from your work which help "prove" your learning. You'll be writing a similar reflective essay at the end of term as a cover essay for your final portfolio.
Also remember that the final draft of your King research paper/rhetorical analysis is due on 1 April.
Monday, March 15, 2010
It's Spring Break, but...
Remember your two upcoming deadlines, and plan your work accordingly:
1. By Thursday, 25 March, you should have completed a 4-5 page reflective essay in which you argue for the grade you've earned so far this semester, critique your performance in the class with an eye toward a plan for improvement, and--finally and with the bulk of the paper--develop a series of PEA paragraphs describing your learning (in detail) throughout the semester.
2. By Thursday, 1 April, you should have finished a final draft of your King paper, published it to your blog and handed it into me in print form. This paper should include parenthetical, MLA form citations and a work cited. Again, go for five plus pages, exclusive of the work cited page.
Steve
1. By Thursday, 25 March, you should have completed a 4-5 page reflective essay in which you argue for the grade you've earned so far this semester, critique your performance in the class with an eye toward a plan for improvement, and--finally and with the bulk of the paper--develop a series of PEA paragraphs describing your learning (in detail) throughout the semester.
2. By Thursday, 1 April, you should have finished a final draft of your King paper, published it to your blog and handed it into me in print form. This paper should include parenthetical, MLA form citations and a work cited. Again, go for five plus pages, exclusive of the work cited page.
Steve
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