I posted grades this morning via the UAT VPN. I don't know how long it takes for grades to percolate through the system; but, once you get to see your grade, do feel free to get in touch if you have any questions about your grade.
Despite the rough start, the class came together, and I was impressed by both the quantity and quality of the learning I saw taking place in your portfolios.
Thank you for all your hard work. As you move into your 102 courses, do feel free to get in touch for any help I may provide.
Steve
Friday, December 21, 2007
Monday, December 17, 2007
Comments on Portfolio Drafts.
Your portfolio drafts are clearly coming together. For a few, there's development left in terms of your cover letters and inventories. For most, you've got a single revision and proofread. For a select few, you've pretty much made your case. Most everyone is doing excellent work.
I have responded to everyone who has asked me to collaborate, via google docs on their drafts. This time, I did so as a response to your emails inviting me to collaborate and, where it seemed useful, in comments on your drafts themselves.
When you submit your final portfolios, do so via google docs. Name the file via your last name and the title "Final Portfolio: final Draft." To insure you're the only one who can view your grade, invite just me as a collaborator.
In the meantime, I will check my prof.brandon@gmail.com email each morning and again either in the afternoon or evening. I will have my cell phone with me: 505-553-3853. Do call with questions, concerns, etc.
As you move toward your last drafts and turning in (publishing) your portfolio, please do feel free to write or call. I'll try to limit new content to the blog, but if a basic idea needs clarification, I will post on it.
Steve
Steve
I have responded to everyone who has asked me to collaborate, via google docs on their drafts. This time, I did so as a response to your emails inviting me to collaborate and, where it seemed useful, in comments on your drafts themselves.
When you submit your final portfolios, do so via google docs. Name the file via your last name and the title "Final Portfolio: final Draft." To insure you're the only one who can view your grade, invite just me as a collaborator.
In the meantime, I will check my prof.brandon@gmail.com email each morning and again either in the afternoon or evening. I will have my cell phone with me: 505-553-3853. Do call with questions, concerns, etc.
As you move toward your last drafts and turning in (publishing) your portfolio, please do feel free to write or call. I'll try to limit new content to the blog, but if a basic idea needs clarification, I will post on it.
Steve
Steve
Sunday, December 16, 2007
Good Enough Process Writing.
A student wrote that knowing one's writing process and knowing one change they could make was "what process was all about." They were correct.
In the reply I wrote back, posted below, I describe the writing process I encourage students in my developmental classes to adopt as a starting point to developing their own process. I reiterate the fact that writing processes are messy and variable, but they profit from being made more systematic; and, I reiterative that learning to better one's process isn't rocket science.
The truth is one's writing process is usually messy. When I teach developmental writing, I teach students to go through all the steps in process writing but to do it in several passes, as they move from the sentence, paragraph, section, and completed draft.
Prewriting consists of thinking about the questions: "What can/should I say next?" and "What kind of sentence do I want to write?" I encourage students to compose the sentence in their heads, and then draft them on the computer. After they've got a sentence down, I have them revise it once or twice--no more--and proof it once. Then they rinse and repeat until they've drafted a paragraph.
Once a paragraph is in place, I have them revise for focus, content, and development, and proof the sentences once again. As they complete sections of a text, I have them revise and proof once again.
Mostly I'm giving them a system to follow and develop from. In the system I teach, they have they revise and proofread at multiple places in the process, so they're writing gets better in what looks from the outside as a longish drafting process. Over time, I move them to writing a sentence a minute and a paragraph every ten minutes or so, knowing that if they need to and the world forces such practice, they'll become increasingly fluid and faster.
As I move them into longer texts, I introduce the value of prewriting before drafting and thinking about the text as a whole; but, many writers stick with the draft and revise method of writing all of their careers. It works well enough.
I think that last thought, working well enough is the key to process. You come up with a process which works. It doesn't have to be elegant. It doesn't have to be pretty. It does have to be capable of producing the texts you need to produce, and these texts need to be good enough to accomplish your purposes on the audiences for whom they are targeted. Later, you improve an ugly process as need arises, and you study and reflect enough, so you can improve if needed. Mostly, such improvements consist of adding in a technique, trick or trying out a new idea for being more effective.
Near the beginning of class, I said, "Learning to be a good writer isn't rocket science. It's mostly common sense, some tools for thinking about your writing systematically, and practice."
In the reply I wrote back, posted below, I describe the writing process I encourage students in my developmental classes to adopt as a starting point to developing their own process. I reiterate the fact that writing processes are messy and variable, but they profit from being made more systematic; and, I reiterative that learning to better one's process isn't rocket science.
The truth is one's writing process is usually messy. When I teach developmental writing, I teach students to go through all the steps in process writing but to do it in several passes, as they move from the sentence, paragraph, section, and completed draft.
Prewriting consists of thinking about the questions: "What can/should I say next?" and "What kind of sentence do I want to write?" I encourage students to compose the sentence in their heads, and then draft them on the computer. After they've got a sentence down, I have them revise it once or twice--no more--and proof it once. Then they rinse and repeat until they've drafted a paragraph.
Once a paragraph is in place, I have them revise for focus, content, and development, and proof the sentences once again. As they complete sections of a text, I have them revise and proof once again.
Mostly I'm giving them a system to follow and develop from. In the system I teach, they have they revise and proofread at multiple places in the process, so they're writing gets better in what looks from the outside as a longish drafting process. Over time, I move them to writing a sentence a minute and a paragraph every ten minutes or so, knowing that if they need to and the world forces such practice, they'll become increasingly fluid and faster.
As I move them into longer texts, I introduce the value of prewriting before drafting and thinking about the text as a whole; but, many writers stick with the draft and revise method of writing all of their careers. It works well enough.
I think that last thought, working well enough is the key to process. You come up with a process which works. It doesn't have to be elegant. It doesn't have to be pretty. It does have to be capable of producing the texts you need to produce, and these texts need to be good enough to accomplish your purposes on the audiences for whom they are targeted. Later, you improve an ugly process as need arises, and you study and reflect enough, so you can improve if needed. Mostly, such improvements consist of adding in a technique, trick or trying out a new idea for being more effective.
Near the beginning of class, I said, "Learning to be a good writer isn't rocket science. It's mostly common sense, some tools for thinking about your writing systematically, and practice."
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