Final assignments

You've made it! We are OFFISH at the end of the semester, and my has it been one awesome ride! But, before we leave for good, let's finish up these last few things, and then you're out of here.

1. Complete Challenge Check-In #3 on your blog. This is important for a couple of reasons. It's always good to reflect on your experiences, plus it helps me gauge your understanding of the assignment's purpose and the knowledge you created when completing the assignment. So, please post the final check-in to your blog by Monday, 12.8 by 5pm.

2.  For your Digital Portfolio (due Wednesday, 12.10 by 9:35am), you are choosing two essays to revise. Revise your essays and upload them to Turn It In. Essay #1 is going to be the essay you are resubmitting for a higher score. Essay #2 is any other essay you've written this semester that you want to return to and review/edit. After you revise the essays, you need to put them into an online medium. You can choose from a cloud storage service (like DropBox, Google Drive, or Evernote) or a website (like LiveBinder, Google Sites, or Wordpress). In addition, you can opt to utilize your blog that you've created your mystory on. To do so, you should simply create a second page to your blog (page, NOT post) and include either the full body text to your writing samples or links to your writing samples. Remember, your writing samples must include contextual information about their creation, and your portfolio must include an "about me" page.

For more information on the Digital Portfolio, please see the assignment prompt.

3. Speaking of your mystory, you still have one final prompt to complete. Blog Post #5 is due by Tuesday, 12.16 by 9:35am. (This is the date of the University-scheduled final exam, but we have no final exam, nor class after Monday, 12.8!) Still, I definitely recommend completing this final post sooner than later. The earlier you complete this, the faster you will know your final grade in the course.


Cheers!

11.21 - 11.28

1. Continue revising your drafts. Please post your proposal justification to your blog no later than Monday, November 24th by 9:35am. Your justification section connects your solution to the problem. In other words, you want to explain why your solution is the best. Identify how doing actions x, y, z as dictated by the solution will lead to consequences a, b, c -- which will help solve the issue at hand. Your justification section draws heavily on the skills learned in your evaluation essay. Use an evaluative thesis to.

Remember: we do not have class on Monday, November 24th. Instead, I will have open office hours on a drop-in basis, though it would be ideal for you to schedule a time that is convenient for you if you know you would like to meet on Monday from 9:30a-1:00p.

2. Your proposal is due on Tuesday, November 25th by 11:59PM. (And yes, I will begin grading at midnight.) Turn in your final draft to Turn It In. You do not need to turn in a hard copy or any drafts -- I've already looked at them! :)

3. There is no class on Wednesday, November 26th or Friday, November 28th, due to the holiday. 

4. By Monday, December 1 at 9:35am, you will need to post Blog #4. Please do not forget to respond to another person's blog post as well.

5. For your proposal presentation, you will come to class on either Monday (12.1) OR Wednesday (12.3). You do not need to come to class on both days. This short, informal, 5 minute presentation is included in your final grade for the proposal.

Monday Presentations: Megan, Elena, Peggy, Alexis, Shelby, Louis, Sabrina, Amanda, Christele
Wednesday Presentations: Alex, Duke, KC, Sarah, Paul, Patrick, Nick, Tom, Dave

For more information on the presentation, please review this guide.

5. Please sign up for a conference time slot.
Conferences will be held on Friday, December 5th. We will review your absences, writing skills, grade(s), completion of activities/homework, the Challenge Assignment, and Digital Porfolio. We will determine, together, the point value earned throughout the semester for your writing process points.

Conference time slots are limited, so please, if you know that you can ONLY meet during regular class time, please sign up as quickly as possible. If all available time slots are filled up, you must contact me immediately so that we can reschedule on an additional date/time.

6. Your Challenge assignment is due on Friday, December 5th. Please bring in a typed, hard copy of your assignment to your conference. Also, turn in the assignment to Turn It In.

Please complete Challenge Check-In #3 by Monday, December 8th by 9:35am.

7. Don't forget your final Writer's Help exercises (WH 7 Homework)! These are also due by Monday, December 1st by 9:35am. (These exercises were hand selected to help you write the Challenge essay, so don't wait on them!)


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Due dates at a glance:

Monday, November 24th - Justification Blog
Tuesday, November 25th - Proposal
Monday, December  1st - Blog Post #4
Monday, December 1st - Writer's Help 7
Friday, December 5th - Challenge
Monday, December 8th - Challenge Check-In #3 Blog

Class dates at a glance: 

Monday, 11.24 - no class, open office hours
Wednesday, 11.26 - no class, holiday
Friday, 11.28 - no class, holiday
Monday, 12.1 - group 1 presentations (group 2 no class)
Wednesday, 12.3 - group 2 presentations (group 1 no class)
Friday, 12.5 - no class, conferences
Monday, 12.8 - LAST DAY OF CLASS! WOOHOO! COME TO CLASS, BABIES!

11.17 & 11.19

1. Read this document.

2. Revise your problem statement.

3. Draft your solution statement. To help you, first complete this worksheet. Remember: your solution statement is simply detailing what it is you think should be done to solve or decrease the effects of the problem.

4. Email me your problem and solution statement drafts no later than Wednesday by 9:35am. You will receive feedback on both of these by Friday. Drafts that are not received by the due date will not receive feedback. You will receive a confirmation email if I have received your drafts.

5. For Friday, please review this chapter on document design as well as the example essay at the end of the chapter about proposals that was assigned for homework last week.

11.12 & 11.14

1. On your blog, draft your problem statement. This should be, roughly 600 words. Remember, your problem statement serves three purposes: 1) Define the problem, 2) Explain the causes of the problem, and 3) Explore the impacts of solving the problem. Your problem statement should follow this line of thought. Have a completed, working draft of your problem statement posted no later than Friday, November 14th by 9:35am to your blog. 

2. Read this document.

3. In another post to your blog, identify 10 different solutions to the problem you previously identified. There are three types of solutions you can propose: practical, research, or multimedia. (Try to incorporate a mix of different solution genres.) Briefly (in 2-3 sentences) explain the solution. Post this to your blog by Monday, November 17th by 9:35am. 

4. Complete Challenge Check-In #2 on your blog. Check-in by updating on the progress of your challenge on your blog in the form of a memo. Either upload the text or provide a link to the document on your blog by Monday, November 17th, 9:35am. 

5. Continue working on Writer's Help Homework 6. These exercises are due on Monday, November 17th by 9:35am. 

11.10

1. Continue working on Writer's Help Homework 6. These are not due until next Monday.

2. Read through this research report. Identify the problem being investigated and the solution being implemented. Then, list three words in the report that you didn't know/understand upon first reading and then provide a definition of those three terms. Post your responses to your blog no later than Wednesday, November 12th by 9:35am. 

3. Complete this worksheet and bring a copy to class on Wednesday. Although we don't have class on Friday, I will provide feedback on your proposal problem via email. 

11.7

1. Review the Proposal Assignment Prompt

2. Read through this document in its entirety

3. Read this essay

4. Start brainstorming problems you would like to investigate for the proposal. Come up with a list of at least 10 problems and post them to your blog by Monday, November 10th at 9:35am. Not sure about any problems going on in the world? Try here, here, here, here, here, here, here, here, and here.

4. Feel free to get a head start on Writer's Help homework (WH 6). These exercises are not due until Monday, November 17th. WH 7 Homework is also posted, but is not due until December 1st.

11.5

1. Please complete your final drafts of the Evaluation Essay. Make sure you upload to Turn It In by 9:35am on Friday. Also, bring in a hard copy of your draft in your folder on Friday morning.

2. In addition, what I would like you to take several moments to do after your final draft is complete is to evaluate your evaluation essay. To do so, please print out the Evaluation rubric. Fill in the rubric according to whether or not your final draft adheres to the criteria listed on the rubric. At the end, include a grade on your evaluation. (Be honest. Just because you give yourself an A doesn't mean your final grade will be an A.)