Class Notes – Writing and Digital Media http://3844s14.tracigardner.com English 3844 @ Virginia Tech – Spring 2014 Mon, 20 Oct 2014 14:44:39 +0000 en-US hourly 1 https://wordpress.org/?v=4.5.3 Project 4 Presentations, Day Three http://3844s14.tracigardner.com/project-4-presentations-day-three/ Mon, 05 May 2014 20:38:35 +0000 http://3844s14.tracigardner.com/?p=481 Read more →

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Last day of class! You made it!Today, we will have presentations from these folks:

Remaining To-Do’s

By 11:55 PM Wednesday, May 7

  • Go to Scholar and check your grades for the in-class writing for Project 3 (your blog posts). Remember that your blog posts should have been posted by 5 PM on the day after each class session. If you posted a blog post by the deadline and have a zero, email me by Wednesday, May 7 with the date for the blog post and the link to the post on your blog.
  • Turn in your work for Project 3: (1) your Remix project itself, (2, optional) any presentation materials you want me to review (e.g., if you made slides), (3) your reflection memo. Go to the Assignments tab in Scholar, choose Project 3, and post your work by 11:55 PM Wednesday, May 7.

By 11:59 PM on Thursday, May 8

By noon on Saturday, May 10


 

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Project 4 Presentations, Day Two http://3844s14.tracigardner.com/project-4-presentations-day-2/ Thu, 01 May 2014 17:27:13 +0000 http://3844s14.tracigardner.com/?p=470 Read more →

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Today, we will have presentations from these folks:

Homework

  • Brace Yourself! Course Evaluation Reminders Are Coming!If you are presenting on Tuesday, be sure to email me the link to your presentation by 8 AM on Tuesday, 5/6. The link can simply be to the page on your WordPress site where you will post your project.
  • If you haven’t done so already, please fill out the Student Perceptions of Teaching (SPOT) survey for this course. The feedback helps the department make important decisions about teaching methods, course content, and faculty promotion. Written comments help me decide what to keep or change the next time I teach the course. In many ways, I find the written comments the most helpful part of the evaluation. I do not see the feedback until several weeks after the last day of class, and your comments are anonymous.

 

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Project 4 Presentations, Day One http://3844s14.tracigardner.com/project-4-presentations-day-one/ Tue, 29 Apr 2014 17:50:17 +0000 http://3844s14.tracigardner.com/?p=466 Read more →

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Today, we will have presentations from these folks:

Homework

  • evil-plotting-raccoon-meme-generator-course-evaluation-day-finally-i-have-my-revenge-58b26eIf you are presenting on Thursday, be sure to email me the link to your presentation by 8 AM on Thursday, 5/1. The link can simply be to the page on your WordPress site where you will post your project.
  • If you will, please fill out the Student Perceptions of Teaching (SPOT) survey for this course. The feedback helps the department make important decisions about teaching methods, course content, and faculty promotion. Written comments help me decide what to keep or change the next time I teach the course. In many ways, I find the written comments the most helpful part of the evaluation. I do not see the feedback until several weeks after the last day of class, and your comments are anonymous.

 

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Finalizing All The Things! http://3844s14.tracigardner.com/finalizing-all-the-things/ Thu, 24 Apr 2014 18:16:15 +0000 http://3844s14.tracigardner.com/?p=454 Read more →

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I can has extra creditToday is the last in-class work session for the Remix a Story project. Oral presentations start on Tuesday, April 29. Since this is our last work session, I want to take time to talk about preparing for your oral presentation, submitting your project, writing blog posts, and taking the final exam for extra credit.

Preparing for Your Presentation

We talked about the information that should go into your oral presentation last week.

There are two related deadlines:

  • The class session before you present, you need to give me any homework you want your classmates to complete. For instance, if you want your classmates to skim your project before you present, you need to give me a link to your project.
  • By 8 AM on the day you present, you need to give me the link to your presentation page so that I can set up the schedule for the class. The link can simply be to the page on your WordPress site where you will post your project.

Submitting Your Remix

You need to provide two or three texts when you submit your Remix for a grade: (1) your Remix project itself, (2, optional) any presentation materials you want me to review (e.g., if you made slides), (3) your reflection memo.

Your reflection memo is slightly different this time since part of your goal will be some self-analysis of your project and an explanation of the effort and risk you put into the work. Review the information on Assessment on the assignment page, and write a memo that does the following:

  • Provides the link to your Remix project.
  • Gives me a summary of the project’s rhetorical situation, using the questions on pp. 111–112 of Writer/Designer. Provide a SHORT explanation of your audience, purpose, and design choices.
  • Explains how you have participated and shown effort as you worked on this project. Include concrete details that help demonstrate your point.
  • Shows me how you have taken risks, stretched yourself, and otherwise applied your best effort to learn and create as you worked on this project.
  • Tells me whatever I need to know about how you have gone beyond average work and participation.

You will submit your reflection memo in Scholar. Use the Assignments link on the left sidebar in Scholar, and then choose P3: Remix a Story. You must submit your remix by 11:55 PM on Wednesday, May 7.

Writing Additional Blog Posts

Be sure to write and publish a blog post for today that talks about what you have accomplished since your last post and why you did what you did. Today, however, is the last day that you must post an entry.

If you are still working on your project after today, you may continue to track what you did and why you did it in blog posts. This information will help you write the reflection that you submit with your project.

Taking the Final Exam

The final exam assignment is available now under the Assignments tab here on the course website, and the exam is open in Scholar.

You must turn in a link to your final in Scholar (or post it in the form in Scholar) by noon on Saturday, May 10. You may turn it in earlier, but I will not look at it until the exam period is over.


 

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Presentation Sign-Up Day http://3844s14.tracigardner.com/presentation-sign-up-day/ Mon, 21 Apr 2014 20:29:49 +0000 http://3844s14.tracigardner.com/?p=439 Read more →

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Presentation Sign-Up

Sign Up for Presentation Time Slot! Go! Go! Go!Tuesday, 4/22 (Earth Day), I will open the Sign-up Tool in Scholar, where you can sign-up for a presentation time slot. In an attempt to give everyone a fair shot, the slots will all open at 3:35 PM. For more information on what you need to do during your presentation, check the blog post from last class session.

Working in Class

After you sign-up for your presentation slot you have the rest of the class period to work on your project. If you have questions, let me know. I will wander around the classroom, but I will try not to interrupt your work so that you can concentrate.

In-Class Writing for 4/22

Be sure to write and publish a blog post for today that talks about what you have accomplished since your last post and why you did what you did.


 

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Documenting & Presenting Your Remix http://3844s14.tracigardner.com/documenting-presenting-your-remix/ Wed, 16 Apr 2014 20:40:52 +0000 http://3844s14.tracigardner.com/?p=424 Read more →

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RevisionKoalaDuring today’s session, you will have most of the class time to work on implementing your revision plan. I will come around and check on your progress as well. Before we get to that part, however, I want to spend a few minutes talking about the final exam and about your oral presentations.

Presenting Your Project

Following the resources in Writer/Designer, Chapter 8, you will document and present your remixed story. You will have approximately 7-10 minutes for your class presentation. If you’d like, you can ask your classmates to preview your story on your WordPress site as homework.

In your presentation, you will focus on sharing details about how you worked and the decisions that you made. Use the information on pp. 132–135 of Writer/Designer to determine what information to include. As the book explains, your job will be to show-off your hard work, but also you will help your audience understand your major design and rhetorical choices. Look particularly at the guiding questions on pp. 132–133 for an idea of the kind of details I will be listening for.

You will create some kind of digital presentation (using Google slides, Prezi, Present.me, etc.). If you go with slides, the maximum length is 28 auto-advancing slides to ensure your presentation fits in the 7-minute time slot.

Turning In Your Project

You should aim to have your project finished by April 24. You might still tweak things or make minor proofreading changes, but you should ideally be done with all the hard work. After that class session, our class time will be devoted to oral presentations.

By the end of the day on Wednesday the 7th, you should have gone to the Assignments tab in Scholar, completed a reflection memo, and given me the link to your project and your presentation slides. You must have your work submitted by 11:55 PM on Wednesday, May 7. There is no grace period on this project.

Your reflection will be slightly different this time since part of your goal will be some self-analysis of your project and an explanation of the effort and risk you put into the work. I will open the assignment open in Scholar and talk about all this more on the 24th. (That’s next week! EEEK!)

In-Class Writing for 4/17

Be sure to write and publish a blog post for today that talks about what you have accomplished since your last post and why you did what you did.


 

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Project 3 Peer Feedback http://3844s14.tracigardner.com/project-3-peer-feedback/ Tue, 15 Apr 2014 04:31:13 +0000 http://3844s14.tracigardner.com/?p=409 Read more →

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I have my ruff draftToday is peer feedback day. The goal is to provide constructive feedback that will help one another develop the projects further. We will follow this plan for the feedback:

  • We will rearrange in the classroom so at least one person giving feedback is someone who hasn’t been sitting near you as you worked on the project.
  • Feedback groups will take turns following this process:
    • I will set the timer for 15 minutes so each person gets roughly the same amount of feedback.
       
    • The project author will introduce the project, giving a summary of the project’s rhetorical situation, using the questions on pp. 111–112 of Writer/Designer. You need to be ready to explain about your audience, purpose, and design choices.
       
    • The people giving feedback will read and explore the project, using the guidelines in the section of the book on “Providing Feedback as a Stakeholder” (pp. 112–115 of Writer/Designer) to structure their comments.
       
    • When the timer goes off, you will switch and another project author will introduce her work.
       
  • Once everyone has received feedback on her project, you will each write a first draft of your revision plan for the project as your blog post for the day. See pp. 116-118 of Writer/Designer for details on writing a revision plan. If your project is online in a place where I can see it, please be sure to include the link in your revision plan.

Homework/Class Plans

For Thursday, 04/17

  • Read Chapter 8 of Writer/Designer for details on how to set up the final version of your project. I want you to know the parameters you need to think about before you have to make your decisions.
  • Review the section of the Project 3 Assignment that talks about your oral presentation. We’ll spend time during the 04/17 session talking about your oral presentations so that you can begin thinking about what you will share and say.

For Tuesday, 04/22

  • You will have time to continue work on your project, implementing your revision plan.
  • You will sign up for an oral presentation time slot.

 

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Project 3 Progress Reports http://3844s14.tracigardner.com/project-3-progress-reports/ Thu, 10 Apr 2014 17:51:35 +0000 http://3844s14.tracigardner.com/?p=401 Read more →

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Turtle: Slow Progress Is Still ProgressToday, you should be very close to having a complete rough draft. As writers who spend lots of time writing papers in the linguistic mode, you understand rough drafts as things that are very close to finished. For this multimodal project, your rough draft may be messier than you are used to. Here are some things to keep in mind:

  • You still have THREE more class sessions to work on your project in class, in addition to the peer feedback you will get on Tuesday.
  • You should have your assets in place for the peer feedback session on Tuesday, but don’t worry if one is missing or things still need a bit more editing.
  • Remember that you need to listen to and implement the feedback you hear on Tuesday. You may end up changing a section, replacing an image, changing some words, and so forth. Don’t obsess with the idea of perfection until after Tuesday.
  • Use the checklist in Writer/Designer on page 110 to figure out what you need to have ready.
  • Realize that during peer feedback you can ask your classmates about options. For instance, perhaps you have two fonts you’re trying to decide between. Make a sample using both, and ask your classmates what they think.

In-Class Writing for 04/10: Progress Report

For your blog post today, you will create your progress report for the project. Usually a progress report has 3 parts:

  1. What you have accomplished.
    Be honest and straightforward here. Never claim to have accomplished things you haven’t.
  2. What you still need to do.
    Again, be honest and straightforward. You do not need to list things on a microscopic level, but you should provide enough information for the reader to see how much remains to be done.
  3. Any needs, questions or concerns.
    If you have concerns about completing the project on time, say so, but also talk about how you will solve the problem or what you might change to get back on schedule. Generally, this section either explains you are confident to complete the project on time, or talks about how you are going to adjust to finish on time. If you need something from your manager or client, you ask for it in this section.

For your post, create related headings, and clearly explain the information for each section. A progress report should be succinct but include enough detail for your manager or client to understand the status of the project. You can use bulleted lists, but make your report flow smoothly. Aim for something stylistically between a to do list and a narrative description.

Homework

For Tuesday, 04/15: Peer Feedback Day

  • Have a rough draft version of your text that you can share with two other people in class for feedback.
  • Prepare a summary of the project’s rhetorical situation, using the questions on pp. 111–112. You need to be ready to explain about your audience, purpose, and design choices.
  • Prepare to provide feedback on the project your classmates are sharing. Review the guidelines in the section of the book on “Providing Feedback as a Stakeholder” (pp. 112–115). Tuesday might be a good day to have your book in class.
  • After you share your project and get feedback, you will write a first draft of your revision plan for the project as your blog post for the day. See pp. 116-118 for details on writing a revision plan.

For Thursday, 04/17

  • Read Chapter 8 of Writer/Designer for details on how to set up the final version of your project. I want you to know the parameters you need to think about before you have to make your decisions.
  • Review the section of the Project 3 Assignment that talks about your oral presentation. We’ll spend time during the 04/17 session talking about your oral presentations so that you can begin thinking about what you will share and say.

For Tuesday, 04/22

  • You will have time to continue work on your project, implementing your revision plan.
  • You will sign up for an oral presentation time slot.

 

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Working on Rough Drafts http://3844s14.tracigardner.com/working-on-rough-drafts/ Tue, 08 Apr 2014 04:24:16 +0000 http://3844s14.tracigardner.com/?p=387 Read more →

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I can has remix draftThis week, you should be working on a rough version of your project, using the information in Chapter 7 of Writer/Designer to help guide your work.

Where You Should Be

By this point, your project should be beyond ideas in your head (or on paper). You should have completed your outline (or storyboard or mockup) for your project, you should have most of the assets you need to collect, and you should be in the process of making any final assets you need to create yourself and pulling the pieces into a rough cut.

Project To-Do List/Schedule

  • Today
    You can continue to work on your rough draft in class, and once again, I will check with everyone and provide whatever help I can. By the end of today’s session, you should review the “Planning Your Rough Cut” section of Chapter 7 (pp. 107–109), and check your progress against the lists of the kinds of decisions usually in place for a rough cut. In your blog post for today, I’d like to see a similar list of things you have decided for your own project. You can also list things you haven’t decided yet, but will figure out very soon.
  • Thursday, 04/10
    You should be moving toward a complete rough draft. I’ll ask you to use the checklist on p. 110 to check your progress and provide me with a progress report.
  • Tuesday, 04/15: Peer Feedback Day
    You should have a rough draft version of your text that you can share with two other people in class for feedback. You will need to be prepared to provide your classmates with a summary of the project’s rhetorical, using the questions on pp. 111–112. When you provide feedback on someone else’s project, you’ll use the guidelines in the section of the book on “Providing Feedback as a Stakeholder” (pp. 112–115). Your blog post for the 4/15 class should be a first draft of your revision plan for the project.
  • Thursday, 04/17
    Read Chapter 8 of Writer/Designer for details on how to set up the final version of your project. I want you to know the parameters you need to think about before you have to make your decisions. We’ll spend time during this session talking about your oral presentations as well.

In-Class Writing for 4/8

Be sure to write and publish a blog post for today that talks about what you have accomplished since your last post and why you did what you did.


 

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Rough Cuts and Rough Drafts http://3844s14.tracigardner.com/rough-cuts-and-rough-drafts/ Wed, 02 Apr 2014 19:20:15 +0000 http://3844s14.tracigardner.com/?p=371 Read more →

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Wolf: It's gonna be roughToday’s reading is about “Drafting and Revising Your Project”—and in particular rough cuts and rough drafts. By next week, you should be working on a rough version of your project (if you are not already there).

Chapter 7 of Writer/Designer suggests that the different phases of work on your project are separate and definite, but in truth they rarely are. During the next week or so, you may find yourself tweaking your storyboard or mock-up while you are placing assets in your rough cut and at the same time searching for more assets. Creativity can be messy. Don’t be surprised if your process is a little different from the general version in the textbook.

Project To-Do List/Schedule

  • Today
    By the end of today’s session, you should have a storyboard or mock-up for your project. You should also have a very good idea of what assets you have and what you still need to gather or create. I’m going to visit everyone in class today and ask to see what you have at this point.
  • Tuesday, 4/8
    For next session, you should review the “Planning Your Rough Cut” section of Chapter 7 (pp. 107–109), and check your progress against the lists of the kinds of decisions usually in place for a rough cut. Create a similar list of things you have decided for your own project as part of your blog post for Tuesday, 04/08.
  • Thursday, 04/10
    You should be moving to the rough draft stage. I’ll ask you to use the checklist on p. 110 to check your progress and provide me with a progress report.
  • Tuesday, 04/15: Peer Feedback Day
    You should have a rough draft version of your text that you can share with two other people in class for feedback. You will need to be prepared to provide your classmates with a summary of the project’s rhetorical, using the questions on pp. 111–112. When you provide feedback on someone else’s project, you’ll use the guidelines in the section of the book on “Providing Feedback as a Stakeholder” (pp. 112–115). Your blog post for the 4/15 class should be a first draft of your revision plan for the project.

In-Class Writing for 4/3

Be sure to write and publish a blog post for today that talks about what you have accomplished since your last post and why you did what you did.


 

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