More Updates and Reminders

I know, I know--you don't need another instructor dogging your steps, but I want this semester, and especially our course, to get off to a good start for one and all.

Attached is a copy of the grade and points distribution matrix I created for our class. Note there are five sections:

• A1, the main assignment for each unit, excepting Unit 5 when there is no A1;
  
• Assignment, the section for much of the secondary work such as the two paragraphs I asked for regarding the VW ad essay;
  
• Journal, a place to put ideas for future assignments, to put any other comments/ideas you'd like to where I can review them, and so on;
  
• PLATO, a place where you'll be able to practice and review the mechanics of writing; and
  
• the Unit Discussion Activity, where I'll want you to comment on various readings for the course.

Excepting for the first Unit and the ninth, the A1 assignment, the main event, is due the at midnight the last day the unit is open.

The secondary assignments, the journal entries, and all else are due by midnight two days before the units end, which will usually be a Friday. HOWEVER, if you get something in sooner, I'll be sure to read and return it sooner, usually the same day if it's in by nine of an evening.

Finally, I want the U5MoreQs assignment in as soon as possible. Send it to me via email, this one assignment, but submit it into the Unit 5 Assignment drop box.

Finally, finally, remember how the assignments need to be named: Ure-U1A1.rtf. I really need to see your name leading off each file name.

All for now,


David



August 28th update

I believe I’ve caught up with all of the assignments turned in thus far and with the discussion items placed online. My responses haven’t been as quick as I hope to make them day-by-day and week-by-week due to some illness on my part and the weather. When it rains, especially a hard rain as we’ve had a lot of lately, my satellite Internet is gone, lost in the ether. Ms. Harman, whose ISP is also Wild Blue, can, I’m sure, concur.

Usually, I’d do some catching up with the much faster and steadier Internet connection at the college, but I’ve only been there one full day this week.

Looking forward, I have some comments and further explanations to offer:

1. Keep checking our class blog, http://comp1talk.blogspot.com. I haven’t added much there this week other than some syllabus updates, but I intend to.
2. Today is the due date for U1A1, the first ten questions. This assignment is to be turned in by midnight.
3. I’m getting better with the drop boxes that are built into our course shell. So much so that I can say that, from here on, please put your assignments into the appropriate box and do not email them to me. However, I would appreciate a very brief email telling me you’ve done so.
4. Also, please read the following and commit it to memory as if it were holy writ. ADD YOUR LAST NAME TO EACH ASSIGNMENT BEFORE YOU PLOP IT INTO THE DROP BOX. The U1A1 should be turned in as “Your name U1A1.rtf,” not simply “U1A1.rtf.” I’ve let it slide this first time but will be ornerier in the future.
5. The U5MoreQs assignment is something I do want you to do a.s.a.p., but because it is a late add-on by me, you need to submit it into the Unit 5 drop box as one of two assignments that fill out our U5 Assignment. If you’ve submitted it already into the U1A1 drop box, simply resubmit it in Unit 5.
6. If I don’t say something like “Please tell me more about this in your Unit 2 A1 assignment,” what you’ll want to do for U2A1 is tell me a story about yourself. Make it about some incident that helped you become who you are today.
7. The discussion pieces I ask for in some of the units are a kind of substitute for the classroom discussions we’d be having in a traditional setting and seeing each other 3-5 hours per week. I haven’t yet made any responses to your efforts for Unit 1, but I do intend that each of us reads all of the responses made in the discussion area.
8. Feel free yourselves to respond to what another class member posts, always being polite. That doesn’t mean you can’t make suggestions or comments that are constructive, but do keep “Do unto others” uppermost in your minds.
9. Thinking of the discussion activity, I’ve been pleased with the comments already placed there. Please realize that, this being a writing class, I will be making notes on problems I see with the efforts made here. Make your responses as well developed as I know you’ll want the 100-point final essay to be. Use complete sentences, proper wording, correct punctuation, and all the rest that goes into good writing.
10. There is a link under the Home button in our shell called the “Critical Thinking Worksheet.” It’s one of the many items I inherited when I took over this course and its original syllabus. I placed it in the Home section because I wanted it available to you throughout the course. As I say somewhere, what it has you consider about thinking critically applies equally to reading and writing—and to all manner of life experiences.
11. You’ll see in the Dropbox area something called Unit 1: Critical Thinking Worksheet. It’s an artifact of the previous versions of this course, and so far, I can’t get rid of it. Be assured there is no specific assignment, discussion, or what-have-you that is required of you regarding this worksheet. I will refer to it repeatedly, but there’s no specific work I’m expecting you to turn in.
12. Finally, besides using the drop boxes from here on in for turning in the various assignments, and being sure the first word in the file’s name is your last name, make sure your creations are saved in the Rich Text Format, .rtf.

Unit 6 Update

The update for this unit, the cause and effect essay, is available in the Unit Update area of the Doc Sharing tab. Please remember that these updates are what you need to use for Units 3-9. The syllabus only covers in full the first two units, and I will not be updating it further for our time together.

The syllabus contains a lot of good information otherwise, but its version of the later units is spotty.

Unit 5 Update

The update for this unit, the beginning your research section of the course, is available in the Unit Update area of the Doc Sharing tab. Please remember that these updates are what you need to use for Units 3-9. The syllabus only covers in full the first two units, and I will not be updating it further for our time together.

The syllabus contains a lot of good information otherwise, but its version of the later units is spotty.


I have just today, September 21st, 2009, updated this update. If you have looked at the previous Unit 5 Update, throw it out and get this version.

Added Assignment to Unit 5

As soon as I checked the first submission of our first assignment, U1A1, I realized there were more questions I wanted to ask each of you and had failed to do so in my initial ten. There're only five more in this added assignment--and technically they're tied to Unit 5 because of the way I've structured the units and their points--but I'd like you to answer and submit them as soon as you can.

Also, since this is a restricted SCC course, I would imagine many of you live in s.e. Iowa. When you're on campus or in the Burlington area, I'd appreciate your stopping by to say hello. As mentioned in the Virtual Office section of our course, I'm in Building 600, Room 602. Call ahead to be sure I'm around as I do have several meetings per week that I need to attend.

All for now,

Unit 4 Update

The update to the syllabus for the fourth unit is in the Doc Sharing area of our course shell. The picture below still shows Unit 3 files, but below these are the versions for Unit 4.

Four units down, five to go!

Unit 3 Update

The update to the syllabus for the third unit is in the Doc Sharing area of our course shell.

Three units down, six to go!

The Visual One

One tool I mention in passing in the syllabus is The Visual Thesaurus. It's a great online tool that I use regularly as I write to help me find synonyms, to make sure I'm using a word correctly, and to look stuff up like a mini-encyclopedia.

The address is

http://www.visualthesaurus.com

The name to use is the fake email address of vt@scciowa.edu. The very real password is sccvt.

There are other online thesauruses--and paper ones, of course--but I like the way VT puts the connection between words and their meanings into a kind of graph.

Use this tool for all its worth, both for our class and all the others you have at SCC!

Second Welcome

Here's a second video from your instructor. I think I'm gonna try my hand at podcasts next. They're smaller files, and I can work on 'em almost anywhere.

Finding Files Online

Once you've logged into the online course site, http://www.iowacconline.com/, and gotten into our class, one place to check frequently is the Doc Sharing tab. It's where I'll be stashing most, if not all, of the verbal files I'll want you to work with during our course.

Most pictures and video, and probably audio, I'll be storing here in my Blogger.com page.

Click on the Doc Sharing tab.

You'll then want to click on the Select View drop down menu. The listings shown below have changed slightly since I made the screen shot below. In the choices that remain, there'll be files of interest under each heading like "Expanded Syllabi" and "Assignments." Once you've selected one or the other click the Go button.

There's not much there now, but there will be.

Other Notes #1

Here're some sites offering extensions and examples of what I'll be covering throughout the course. I'll try to remind you when I update this section but check it at least once a week.

A first lecture

Some sample assignments from Colorado State University

Another Comp I syllabus so that you can compare what I'm having you do to another source

I offer these up as reminders of what you need to be thinking about as you develop your writing skills and learn more about the process of writing.

They're also a reminder to me about what I want to keep uppermost in mind as you work your through Comp I.