Week 8

Plans for today:

• Discuss Midterm Due-Date
• Review Concepts/Readings
• Work on Research Checkpoint

Note: I put in the credit for the draft write up on blackboard.

Midterm Due-Date

I'm extending the due date for the midterm from Friday March 8th at midnight to Sunday March 10th at midnight that way you will have more time to complete the assignment. If you still want to turn it in on the 8th, you certainly can. For those of you that would prefer a bit more time, you have until the 10th.

I'll be creating the submission link in blackboard tomorrow so you'll see it soon.

As the syllabus says, I grant extensions, but you must email me asking for one.

IMPORTANT: Do not wait until the night the midterm is due to ask for an extension.

Any questions?

Review Concepts/Readings (Warm Up)

Go back through the past concepts we have read so far and choose your favorite concept, write down and explain why it is your favorite, and one concept that left you confused. Write down what was/is confusing or what helped you understand. Take your time and write this on your own in your warm ups.

After writing in your warm up, write your name and the two concepts to the Google Document I created.

Research Checkpoint Peer-Review (if time permits)

Homework for Wednesday

Make sure as you are working on your final writings for the midterm that you are making sure you are following the assignment requirements. The way to do well in this class is to be aware of what you are being asked to do:

• Midterm Portfolio Assignment Description
• Midterm Portfolio Rubric
• Midterm Reflective Overview Template
• Research Checkpoint Template

Plans for today:

• Last discussion about Midterm
• Peer-Review Reflective Overview

Reminders

• Make sure your folders are organized. If you have CT’s, RR’s, RJ’s or warm ups in random folders, it will make it very hard for me to navigate your folders which may result in me not being able to find your assignments to grade them.
• As you revise your Research Checkpoint, make sure that you are using the research that you've been doing for your research journals. Don’t simply throw in everything that you know about the topic, but carefully chose what you think is appropriate for this piece of writing.
  • Remember, when I grade I will be able to tell if you've been doing research this first half of the semester because I can see what you've put in your research journals. This is why the research journals are so important.
  • Make sure to include your sources.
• Do not copy other people's work (this happened before and it did not end well for the student). I am not saying this to scare you, I'm just saying it as a reminder since it has happened before. It is okay to share sources with each other if your topics are similar, but make sure you are doing your own unique research on your sources.
• Lastly, the midterm will be due Sunday night (March 10) by midnight since I've extended the deadline. Submit the LINK to your REFLECTIVE OVERVIEW under "Assignments" and "Midterm RO" on Blackboard. This link should take me to your Google Drive folder. I will grade the RO first and then go through your folders to grade the rest of your work. The link is not yet available to you, but it will be tonight at midnight.
• If you are struggling and need to request an extension, email me as soon as possible. I am willing to help you out, but you have to ask. Don't wait until the night it's due to send me an email!

Midterm Discussion

• Briefly go over all of the components of the midterm portfolio and what is expected.
• Where to turn it in on blackboard.
• Any other questions?

Peer-Review Reflective Overview

Today is where we put our past peer-review feedback activities into practice. This is also where you earn part of your grade for the midterm (Engagement and Learning: Process / Sharing and Responding, Peer-Review Activity, worth 20% of midterm grade). This part of the grade also comes from other class activities and the write up you did on Friday last week.

Workshop for Reflective Overview

Choose a partner and read their Reflective Overview. When reading their work, make sure you have the Reflective Overview assignment description and rubric open in another window, and consider the following:

• Does the student clearly address the prompt?
• Does the student use the template and guidelines provided?
• Does the student anticipate readers’ needs and expectations?
• Does the student write enough in each section to make sure readers understand the message they are trying to get across?
• Does the student provide sufficient and appropriate evidence to support assertions? (citations, links to evidence in Google Drive)
• Does the student use the ACRL and Naming What We Know to support their points and explain concepts from class?

After you read their work, offer the student 2-3 pieces of feedback using the comment feature in Google Docs. Your feedback should be specific and actionable. Moreover, your feedback should include a “because clause,” meaning you should always offer a clear reason for your suggestions/feedback. Feedback should focus on “higher-order” issues such as structure, developing examples, etc. Your feedback should help the author expand and explain their attempts to make meaning from the texts. Avoid commenting on grammar and spelling, and avoid non-actionable comments like “make this clearer,” or “this is good/bad,” etc.

No face-to-face class today as I will be defending my thesis. Instead, today you have time to work on finishing all of your writings for the midterm.

Remember, submit the link to your Reflective Overview (the link that takes me to your Reflective Overview document in your google drive folder) on blackboard.

This assignment is due by Sunday night (March 10) at midnight. After that it will be marked as late and you will receive a ZERO unless you have contacted me and I have granted you an extension. If the blackboard link doesn't work for you, send me the link through email. As always, you know I will do everything in my power to help you out so don't hesitate to let me know if something comes up.

Also remember, if you are missing assignments in your Google Drive folder, you won't receive credit for them simply because I cannot grade them.

ENJOY YOUR SPRING BREAK!

Readings for after Spring Break...

Focus on your midterm this weekend, but if you feel like reading ahead we will be going over the following when we get back from Spring Break:

• ACRL, "Searching as Strategic Exploration"
• Naming What We Know, 4.2 “Failure can be an important part of writing development”