Week 12: How can an iterative approach to revision strengthen our written and oral communications?

Weekly Updates

Our plans for next week are incredibly simple, but incredibly important: help you finish both deliverables for Unit #3. In order to do that, we will spend most of our class time conducting peer critique sessions. I know these activities can be awkward and frustrating, but trust me when I say that students who take peer critique seriously are students who do better on their final drafts. I cannot stress this next point strongly enough: Resist the urge to take one of your “freebie” absences or to show up with a half-finished draft on Monday or Wednesday. Whatever you need to do to complete your drafts, do it. Trust me: it will be worth it.

I have cleared the syllabus to give you ample time to put the finishing touches on your project. Here’s how we’ll help you get there in class next week:

  • On Monday we will conduct a peer-critique workshop focused on your essays in Google Sites. You should come to class with a finished website, which means no “coming soon” sections and no empty placeholders for images. Yes, some of your text might still be a bit “drafty,” but the essay should be complete. Your site should be live on the web and viewable even by those who aren’t logged in to Google. In addition to your peers reviewing your site, I will check your site for completeness, so please email me the URL for your Google Site before you come to class on Monday.
  • On Wednesday you will rehearse your oral presentation with a few of your classmates. Again, this means that you should come to class with a finished PowerPoint file (using the template on the Unit 3 page) and a solid script for your presentation.

And that’s it — your only work for this class during the coming week is to make your Unit #3 project sparkle and shine. If there’s anything I can do to help you accomplish that goal, please come see me during office hours (T 1–4, W 9-12). Otherwise, happy writing, designing, and revising!

P.S. — An idea for this week’s blog post: embed the YouTube video of your favorite Ignite talk into your blog and write a brief post explaining what makes it so good. (See how easy this blogging stuff is?)