Looking ahead, Draft 1.2 and Writing Review

[Ryan]

Happy Friday, Group,

I've had a crazy week and forgot about my weekly post! Apologies.

The good news is that I think we're in great shape for grading the
1.2. Thank you, Amber for pulling it altogether. The point system is
also great. Are we all in agreement with how we'll use the rubric in
grading: Assign a point value for each rubric category, cut and paste
the appropriate text into the TOPIC window, total the score, then
divide the total by the total possible number of points for all
categories (70)?

As Amber indicated in her last email, the drafts and our quotas are a
bit off - the rubric gives us the extra help in streamlining grading
more effectively.

What does everyone have planned for the last week of class? I'd liked
to help students polish their 1.2, but I'd like to hear any exercises/
activities you all have planned.

Finally, do we want to create a rubric for grading the Writing Review?
Remember everyone's grading demands will increase next week because
writing reviews are counted separately from drafts. I've pasted the WR
assignment description below. It seems pretty clear cut to me in terms
of what students are expected to include. Anyone want to add and/or
clarify?

Have a great weekend and a last week of class,

-Ryan

Objective: To review the work you have completed in the course and to
reflect on what you have learned from it.

Description: Look back on your writing from this semester, as well as
any in-class writings and/or notes you've taken. Also look back at
your Grammar Diagnostic score and results. Write a 300 - 400 word
reflection on what you have learned about academic writing and what
you understand about it that wasn't clear to you before. Discuss
specifically what you have learned about summarizing and paraphrasing
texts, about analyzing texts and issues, as well as what kinds of
challenges those tasks posed for you. You may also discuss what you
have learned about grammar and mechanics that has helped you become a
stronger writer in that respect. In addition, you may also talk about
other learning experiences you've encountered during the course.
Finally, you could discuss how the work you've done in 1301 has or has
not transferred to the writing you have been asked to do in other
courses this semester.

[Walki...@gmail.com]

Hey,
For class this week I plan to do the following:
1. Talk about 1302
2. Talk about the Writing Review
3. Go over a "cheat sheet" I put together to help students avoid
careless problems and mistakes in their 1.2 drafts
4. Evaluations

For the Writing Review I'm going to ask my students to refer to
examples from specific assignments to talk about their growth. I've
also told them they won't be penalized for being honest--talking about
weaknesses they need to improve on, etc. In class, I'm going to have
them do a freewrite thinking about the following questions, in order
to help them start thinking about the WR:
1. What was/is your revision process like?
2. Describe your writing process
3. What are your essays strengths? What are their weaknesses?
4. Where can you see these strengths and weaknesses in your work?
5. Did you see improvement in your writing throughout the semester? If
so, what, specifically, improved? What didn't?
6. What piece of writing do you feel was the best? Why? What piece of
writing do you feel was the weakest? Why?
7. How have you grown as a writer over the course of the semester?

-KW

[Walki...@gmail.com]

Hey, guys,
I didn't know where to post this, but I've noticed that just one point
on the rubric makes a significant difference in a student's grade, so
I've also been giving 8.5s, 6.5s, etc. Hope that's okay.

-Katie