Assignments and How to Find Out about Them

This post represents: 1) updated information about current assignments, 2) reminders of on-going assignments, and 3) general suggestions for inquiries about assignments, all of which I sent out recently in an occasional reply to an individual student. I want to share the information, reminders, and suggestions with everyone concerned.

1. The numbered outline in the message that I'm quoting (indented and in italics below) includes boardwork annotations from the second period class as well as further elaborations I made specifically for that individual mail reply. In general, I expect you to depend upon in-class listening, note-making, and screen capture to gather classwork and homework assignment details yourselves.
2. On-going blogging assignments are just that, on-going. So please expect few or no further reminders of those.
3. The follow-up suggestions in the message below reflect where to turn first for information about assignments, and how to focus and frame follow-up inquiries. Please use those suggestions to coach and guide one another from now on.

Hi ...,

Thank your for writing (Wed, May 19, 2010 at 11:49 PM; ...). I'm sorry to hear that you were sick [1st period] on Wednesday, May 19, 2010. 

As always in Writing III, §§ 1A and 1C, there were both classwork and homework assignments. The following outline, revised somewhat during the 1C class meeting and annotated below, should give you a rough idea of what you missed in 1A (classwork, 0-3.2; homework, 3.1-5). I suggest that you confer with classmates (1A) or near-peers (1C) for details and tips.

0. Label draft essay posts (1-02a): drafts, essays, reviews, websites, … (including a suitable topic label).

1. Comment [PQRS] on 3-5 classmates' essay posts (1-02a) [immediately] UP list from yours on class blog lists:

Writing_III-IV_10-11_1A+1C
(Writing Studio Blog sidebar, Course Links)

1.1. Praise what you find informative and interesting in their essays;
1.2. Question what is unknown or unclear after reading their essays;
1.3. Reflect on what you understand from their essays; and
1.4. Suggest other information they could add, or other ways to improve their essays.

2. Respond briefly to comments on your draft essay (1-02a) in an additional comment (or two) on your draft essay.

3. Revise your essay (1-02b) in preparation for a complete, separate post including:

3.01 Short Title (centered),

3.02 Introductory ¶,

3.03 Three (3) or more body ¶¶,

3.04 Concluding ¶, and

3.05 A list of APA-style References

3.1. Add answers and info. to existing or new ¶¶ in your essay in a word-processing program (OpenOffice, Pages, or Word [in KGU Mac labs]).
3.2. Add APA-style website references created in Recipes4Success: Citation Maker (Writing Studio Blog sidebar, Course Links) to a References section at the foot of your revised essay.
3.3. Follow other suggestions from classmates or peers to improve your essay.
3.4. Grammar and spell-check your revised essay thoroughly in in a word-processing program (OpenOffice, Pages or Word [in KGU Mac labs]).

3.5. Publish your revised essay in a separate (new) post on your blog:

By the due date (Writing Studio Calendar),

In a new post entitled:

"Essay 1-02b: [Short Title]"
(without quotation marks or square brackets), AND

With the following labels: essays, reviews, revisions, websites, … (including a suitable topic label).

Day 1-06a[-b] (2010.05.19)

There also are on-going blogging assignments for Writing III-IV, namely: 

a. Weekly book review posts with APA-style references, and 

b. Other routine blog posts on topics of your choice.

On average, you should be publishing 3-5, or more, blog posts per week. 

In addition, Mr. T... (Cc:) tracks your progress on weekly typing assignments, and came in person to remind some of your peers about typing assignments. After you mail your weekly typing trials to Mr. T, you should post _grammar and spelling checked_ versions of them on your blog, 

The next time that you're absent, I'd appreciate it if you would confer with classmates (many of whom have snapshots of the outline above), and check the Writing Studio Calendar, before sending mail. Then please focus your in-person or mail inquiries on concerns or questions above or beyond what you can learn for those nearby sources.

There is no need to reply to this message, but please do share what you learn from it with your classmates and peers. Also, please (re-)read the Mail Protocol section of the Writing Studio Wiki (Home Page, §10), and follow the instructions there, before sending any more mail messages. 

Cheers, PB

(personal correspondence, Thu, May 20, 2010 at 10:01 AM) 

As always, if you have concerns or questions about current or on-going assignments, or [about] the general reminders and suggestions reflected in the reply that I've cross-posted above, I encourage you to share them. You may share them a) in comments on this post, b) in comments on other posts to which your concerns or questions relate more closely than they do to this one, or c) at the earliest opportunity in class, rather than transmitting them through individual mail messages. I appreciate your cooperation.

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