Announcements

Final Exam Logistics

by  • 

Willy Wonka: Oh you have finals coming up? I bet you are using your time wisely.The final exam for this course will work as extra credit. I'll share more details on how it will count during the last week of class. For now, you need to know the following details:

  • The exam is an optional, extra credit assignment.
  • The exam is a take-home, online assignment due by the end of your exam period (officially due by 9:45 AM on Sat, May 10).
  • The exam will take you 15 to 30 minutes to complete. Think of it as taking the same time as an in-class writing activity,
  • The exam will open the last day of classes.

Note that the exam will open before I will post the grades for your remix projects. If you are unsure whether you want to complete the final, I suggest you go ahead and plan on doing it. It cannot hurt your grade.

Friday is the last day to for requesting rescheduling of final examinations that conflict or constitute a third exam in 24 hours. (See your Academic Dean for the form/more information.)


 
Last updated on 16th April, 2014, 4:38 PM

Class Notes

Project 3 Peer Feedback

by  • 

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.

 
Last updated on 15th April, 2014, 12:31 AM

Class Notes

Project 3 Progress Reports

by  • 

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.

 
Last updated on 10th April, 2014, 3:24 PM

Class Notes

Working on Rough Drafts

by  • 

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.


 
Last updated on 16th April, 2014, 4:40 PM

Class Notes

Rough Cuts and Rough Drafts

by  • 

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.


 
Last updated on 16th April, 2014, 4:41 PM

Class Notes

Mock-ups and Storyboards

by  • 

we have to get organizedToday’s reading is about moving to the organization and planning stage for your projects. I am not requiring any particular organization system, so you can use whatever works best for you. Don’t get hung up on this step. The goal is to produce a very rough outline of the project from beginning to end. Sketching out your plans is more important than the specific way you choose to sketch them out.

Goal for the Week

At this point, your topic, genre, and design should be solid. If you are thinking of changing something, put your name on the board, and I’ll come talk to you.

By the end of the week, you should have a strong outline of what you plan to include in your project. You don’t need to have all the piece created, and you may even change your outline as time goes on, but I would like to see everyone with a firm idea of the elements and the order they will appear in by the end of class on Thursday. If you are having particular trouble organizing your ideas, again, put your name on the board, and I’ll come talk to you.

Mock-up Tools

Mock-ups are usually used for websites, projects that are “static” (like posters or brochures), and texts that are primarily linguistic or visual in nature. Wireframes (if you’re familiar with the term) fall into this category. Be sure to use the Mock-up guidelines on p. 95 of Writer/Designer to guide your process.

You could use one of the tools that was reviewed in class: Froont (Christopher’s review) or Codepen (Jay’s review). You can also use a tool specifically designed for mock-ups like Mockflow, Invision (30-day free trial), Frame Box, or Pencil Project.

You could try a flowcharting tool (like Gliffy or Lucidchart) or mindmapping tool (like bubbl.us or Coggle).

Storyboarding Tools

Storyboarding is usually used for projects that move through a series of pieces, places, or points in time—like a video, comic book, or graphic novel. Be sure to use the storyboard guidelines on p. 97–98 of Writer/Designer to guide your process.

Storyboarding is, essentially, visual outlining your text, so you may be happy with creating a simple outline in Google Docs. For online tools I’ve made, I created storyboards with PowerPoint, because it was simple and I had a copy. If you do go this route, Google Slides would work too.

If you want to try something specifically created for storyboarding, take at look at these resources for creating and organizing storyboards:

In-Class Writing and Homework

  • Today is the close of the course request period for Fall 2014. If you haven’t made your requests, please take time to do so.
  • Check out the Awards for Professional Writing Majors & Minors. Deadline is April 18.
  • 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.
  • Keep making progress on your project. Once you have your outline in place, you should begin finding or making the assets you will use in the project. Read Chapter 7 of Writer/Designer for details on moving from mock-ups/storyboards to a rough cut.

 
Last updated on 31st March, 2014, 4:51 PM