Today is the last day of class. You will complete peer review for the sixth project and then submit your work by 11:55 PM Saturday, 1/17. There is NO grace period.

Readings for January 16

For today’s session, please review the following, as necessary:

• Editing and Proofreading tips and skim Appendix B of Markel.
• Guidelines on “Organizing a Memo” in Markel, on p. 232.
• FAQs on the Google Drive system.

Work for January 16 & 17

• Complete the peer review activities:
  • Post drafts for Project 6 in the forums.
  • Respond to two students in the forums.
  • Revise your Project 6 based on the feedback.
• Write your reflection memo and submit your project. by 11:55 PM Saturday, 1/17. There is NO grace period.
• Check back early next week for your course grade. I will post an announcement when final grades have been submitted.

• Writing your reflection memo.
  The reflection memo is your chance to tell me anything you want me to know about your project. I will read your reflection before I read the project.

• Sharing your project links.
  For this project, your reflection memo will give me the link to the documents you have chosen to write (extended definition, instructions, and glossary).

Writing Your Reflection Memo and Submitting Your Project

1. Go to the Assignments tab on the left menu in Scholar.
2. Choose “P6: Course Completion Report.”
3. Scroll down to the text box below the headings Submission and Assignment Text. You will write your memo in this box. (Alternately, you can write in a word processor/Google Doc, and copy/paste your text into this box.)
4. Add your memo headers (To, From, Subject, and Date). For your reflection memo, you’ll use the following:
• Address your memo to me (Traci) and from yourself (use your name).
• Add a subject line that indicates this is your reflection memo and which project it is for.
• Add the current date.
5. After your memo headers, insert a horizontal divider line using the button indicated with the red arrow in the image below:
   
6. Introduce your project—what are your overall goals, and what grade have you aimed for for Project 6? Note this is the grade for Project 6, not your participation grade.
7. Convert your document to Google Drive format if you worked in another word processor.
8. Add the Share link to the document on your Google Drive. Use the instructions for how to get the Share link on the FAQ site if you are unsure how to share documents (see more tips below).
9. Tell me what I need to know to understand the information you have included in your document.
10. Tell me anything you want me to know about the the layout and design.
11. Add a concluding section that tells me anything else you want me to know about your project.
12. Agree to the Honor Code by clicking the checkbox at the bottom of the page in Scholar. You cannot finish submitting the project without clicking that checkbox (and it’s easy to miss).
13. Submit your Project, and save a copy of the confirmation and submission ID. If something goes wrong in Scholar, you can contact 4HELP with that information.
14. You’re done! I will publish a blog post and send out an announcement in Scholar when final grades are posted.

Tips on Using Google Drive

The FAQ site has step-by-step instructions for tasks you will complete with your Google Drive, including converting your document if you have worked in another word processor, adding comments, and sharing your documents are all included.

To make sure that you can submit your first project smoothly, pay attention to the following FAQs:

• If you worked in something other than Google Drive, you can use your preferences to automatically convert files you upload to Google Drive automatically.
  This step is important so that I can use the commenting features in Google Drive.
• If you already uploaded a document to Google Drive, check the format of your files and manually convert the files on Google Drive if necessary.
• Follow the instructions on how to set permissions and get the Google Drive Share link to get a link that will allow me to read and comment on your document.

Note that if your documents are in the wrong format or the permissions do not allow me to comment, I will return your work ungraded.

• Post drafts for Project 6 in the forums by 9 AM Eastern.
• Respond to two students in the forums by 5 PM Eastern.
• Resolve comments and revise your Project 6 based on the feedback.

Posting Your Drafts for Project 6

1. Go to Project 6: Course Completion Report in the Forums, and create a topic for your draft with your name or your username and career or field (e.g., “Traci’s Report”).
2. Post a reply in your topic, doing the following:
   • If you do not want to share your last name in the forums, change it in your draft to a pseudonym. You can use a generic last name like Doe or Smith, or you can change it to Lastname.
   • You can obfuscate details about your grade if you prefer. You do not have to confess to one another that you believe you have earned an A or a B, etc. You can remove that sentence or just use the grade X as a placeholder. Just be sure to add the real grade details back before you turn the report in.
   • Share the link(s) to your Project 6 draft in Google Docs, using the FAQ linked in the Refresher section above.

3. Let your classmates know about any specific concerns that you want them to consider as they comment on your draft.

4. Be sure to Preview your draft to make sure everything shows up the way you want it to, and then submit your post.

Responding to Your Classmates’ Drafts

Follow these instructions to respond to your classmates’s drafts:

1. Read and comment on the drafts of at least two of your classmates:

   • Find one post that no other student has replied to (so that we can be sure everyone gets a reply).
   • Find a second post that has only one other student reply.

2. Use the Share link to go to your classmate’s draft on Google Drive and do the following:

   • Check the title of the document, and add a comment to tell your partner if it is clear and effective.
   • If you notice any spelling errors, punctuation errors, or typos, mark them as you read, but please focus more on the content rather than editing.
   • Add comments on the content of the draft. Comment on at least three things your classmate does well and at least three things that your classmate could improve on. It’s fine (excellent, even) to include more than the minimum number of comments.
   • As you review the document, check that the report
     addresses all three areas that fall under the participation portion of your grade: number of posts, quality of posts, and SPOT evaluation. Consider whether the document has used design and layout to make the information for the three areas easy to find and understand. Leave a comment if you notice anything missing or can offer advice on design and layout.

3. Once you finish commenting on the document, go back to your classmate’s post in the forums and add an overall comment that sums up what you thought of the paper and gives your partner some encouragement.

Reviewing the Comments You Received

Once you have finished adding comments to your classmates’ projects, return to your own draft, read the comments that your classmates have given you, and add replies as appropriate. For instance, you might thank your partner for catching an error, ask your partner for more detail on feedback you don’t understand, or share a revision and ask your partner if it is an improvement. Your goal is to reply today so that your classmate can respond if you need more information.

Today, you will analyze some example self-assessments, and then we’ll have peer review on Friday. Your final is due by 11:55 PM on Saturday.

Readings for January 15

For today’s session, please read the following:

• National Guard self-assessment brochure.
• USDA self-assessment document.
• Denver County Public Schools Employee Brief.

Work for January 15

• Analyze the self-assessment documents you have read for today for Powerful Word Choice. Post your responses in the forums.
• If you have any questions about the assignment, go to Questions about Project 6 in the forum and add them.
• Complete the Course Evaluation, if you have not done so yet (more details below).

Course Evaluation

Please fill out the Student Perceptions of Teaching (SPOT) survey for this course. I do not see the feedback until February (after grades are submitted), and your comments are anonymous.

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.

More importantly, you can say you completed the course evaluation in your Course Completion Report as evidence of your participation in the course. Please do NOT talk about what you said in your evaluation in your report!

Notice in particular how the example in the bullet formula in the 2014–2015 Guide moves from a generic idea (“communication skills”) to a very strong statement about what the person has accomplished. That idea of highlighting your “Demonstrated Accomplishment/Contribution” is what you should work for in your report for Project 6. For instance, rather than saying you were a strong forum participant in your Project 6 report, choose a strong verb and add clarifying details the show your accomplishment or contribution.

Go to the Project 6: Course Completion Report in the Forums and respond to at least one of the three self-assessment statements there:

• National Guard Self-Assessment Brochure
• USDA Self-Assessment Statements
• Denver Schools Self-Assessment Statement.

You will find questions there to get your conversation started. As always, feel free to engage each other in discussion by quoting one another as you reply. You are only required to post a reply to one of the three statements; however, you may feel free to reply to more than one. In fact, if you have not met your minimum requirement for the forums yet, you can take advantage of this chance to post some extra replies.

Today, you will read through the assignment for the final exam, read related information from the textbook, and post any questions you have. I will share some example self-assessments on Thursday, and then we’ll have peer review on Friday. Your final is due by 11:55 PM on Saturday.

Readings for January 14

These are the tasks to complete for today’s work:

• The assignment for Project 6: Course Completion Report (the final exam).
• Chapter 12 of Markel (“Writing Informational Reports”)
  Note that the information on progress and status reports is similar to the analysis task you will complete for Project 6.

Work for January 14

• Get started on your sixth project.
• Review the Forum Posts and Participation page, which includes the goals you will report on in your final project.
• Go to Tests & Quizzes in Scholar, and complete the reading quizzes on Chapter 12 of Markel by 11:55 PM on Thursday, January 15.
• If you have any questions about the assignment, go to Questions about Project 6 in the forum and add them.
• Complete the Course Evaluation (more details below).

Course Evaluation

Please fill out the Student Perceptions of Teaching (SPOT) survey for this course. I do not see the feedback until February (after grades are submitted), and your comments are anonymous.

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.

More importantly, you can say you completed the course evaluation in your Course Completion Report as evidence of your participation in the course. Please do NOT talk about what you said in your evaluation in your report!