Just wanted to pass along here that Sherrie Pryor, who was in this class in the summer of 2009, emailed me to tell me some of the work she did this past summer was revised and published here: “A Pure Michigan Wine Tour.” It’s always cool when these class projects turn into “real things,” so much congrats to Sherrie!
Congrats to Sherrie on her “A Pure Michigan” post!
Posted in FWIW, In the news.
– September 11, 2009
The end is HERE! Grades posted!
As the saying goes, that’s a wrap.
It’s been a great class, folks. True, it was intense (though that is as much of a factor of the 7.5 week thing as it is anything else) and tough and challenging in places, but I’m glad that everyone stuck it out.
Oh, and just a few numbers: In 7.5 weeks, we had just shy of 1,000 comments on this site. On the wiki, you guys wrote almost 200 pages; adding up all of your blogs, there was somewhere around 100 or 120 posts. Lord only knows how many words all that was, and this doesn’t even begin to count the essays I assigned or the collaborative graduate project. Anyway, I mention all this to a) praise your work, and b) to point out that there’s a heck of a lot of interaction in an online class!
Comments for everything are posted for everyone on the gradebook on emuonline, and final grades are posted on my.emich (it will probably take 24 hours or so before they show up there). If you have any questions or concerns about that, don’t hesitate to ask.
Again, thanks a bunch for a fun term. I’ll see many of you in English 505 in the fall (which is one of the next things on my “to do” list!), I hope to see others of you around campus and/or in other classes, and for those of you graduating and going on with your lives, I wish you the best of luck.
–Steve
Posted in Announcements.
– August 19, 2009
The end is near! The end is near!
And those aren’t just the rantings of a crazy man! As you all know, the blog writing project is due today, as is the collaborative graduate project. A couple of simple reminders about this and one more thing before the end of time:
- Post the blog essay to your English 444 portfolio page, just like pretty much everything else we’ve done this term.
- For the graduate project, each graduate student should email me with their individual thoughts on the collaboration process. As I wrote in the assignment, “In that email, tell me a) what you did for this project; b) what you think others in the group did for this project; and c) what grades you think that you and your fellow group members ought to get for this project.” It’s also good to link to the graduate project you participated in on your 444 portfolio, though because there are only two groups, I have a pretty good handle on who’s in what group. BTW, I’ve already received emails from the grad students in one of the groups, so you’re well underway with this part of the assignment.
By the way, I’ve been pretty pleased with how these assignments have gone. Blogging is one of those things that is simply not for everyone, so it is hardly surprising to me when most students stop keeping a blog once the assignment is complete. But I can easily imagine a couple of you continuing with the blogging experience, and all of you have given it an honest effort. So bravo on that.
I also think the grad project has gone great, too. Both groups have come up with some really good ideas/suggestions for making the writing program site more user-friendly, and I am hoping on incorporating some of these ideas into a slightly new and revised version of the program’s site, which I am hoping to roll out some time this fall. I think the fact that this input is coming from graduate students will mean something to my colleagues, too.
Finally, two more things: First, before “the end of time,” which is tomorrow at 5 pm, send me an email about your participation in the second half of the term. This is essentially the same thing that you did for the first part of the term a few weeks ago, though it would be good to contemplate that previous email discussion and the grade we talked about back then: what sort of things have you been doing for participation for the second part of the term, what things have you done to improve your grade (if that was even necessary), and what sort of grade do you think you should get for participation overall for the term.
Second, remember that the end of time for our class is Wednesday, August 19, at 5 pm! I don’t think this is going to be problem with this group since people have been good at meeting deadlines for the most part. However, I want to emphasize that any remaining work must be turned in by August 19 at 5 pm! This is an important time/date because all things, good and otherwise, must come to an end, and for our purposes, the end shall be August 19 at 5 pm. In fact, I will start calculating final grades for the term at 5:01 pm (or so) on August 19, so if something isn’t done when I get to your final bit of portfolio materials, I will either give you an “E” or an “I” for the term, depending on the circumstances.
So please please please, have everything done and ready by August 19 at 5pm.
Posted in Announcements, Writing Assingments.
– August 18, 2009
Grades and comments posted for Print to Web and for Wiki Essay
Just wanted to let everyone know that I posted grades for the print to web and wiki projects. I don’t have a lot of detailed comments on either, but I’d be happy to chat with anyone (in person, on the phone, via email, etc.) who has questions or who wants more details.
A couple of general thoughts (and I’d be curious to hear some of your feed back on these overall issues):
- It seems to me that knowing the code is important but not the only thing with the print to web assignment. Sure, knowing your XHTML and CSS inside and out can help, but I also think that it is very possible to make effective, and “good style” web sites with very simple code. It’s a matter of thinking about what we read/talked about, and thinking about the audience.
- Usability testing was an interesting issue/component of the print to web assignment, and I think that one of the things I want to do next time I teach this class is emphasize that more. Having said that, most of you did have some really interesting experiences with your print to web project when you really did share it with others outside of the class for feedback.
- I think that folks did well by and large on the wiki– it really boiled down to the connections you made to the class activities and readings with the wiki project, and the extent to which you diligently participated in the EMU wiki this term. Having said that…
- … I’m not crazy about the assignment. This is a criticism of me, not of you– it wasn’t your idea to do this! But I thought I’d lay this out here to see if anyone had any ideas.
On the one hand, I think a wiki exercise for a class called “Writing for the World Wide Web” is critical given all the writing that is down out there on the web and on wikis. On the other hand, I’m not crazy about the sort of “artificial” boundaries of this wiki project for all kinds of different reasons, not the least of which is it isn’t possible for me to pick a topic up-front I know everyone is going to be interested in.
So, I don’t know. What do you think I should do the next time I teach this?
One thing I’m considering is letting students pick their own topics and post/contribute/join the wikipedia community based on that topic. This would have the advantage of being a “real world” activity; of course, that could also be a great disadvantage too, and keeping track of student work on this could be problematic.
Anyway, what do you guys think?
Oh, finally a word about grades: some of you have asked what a grade like “A/A-” means. Well, since I don’t have a very specific point system for this class (I rarely do for 400 and 500-level classes, to be honest), what it means is “I think this is somewhere between an A and an A-.” How this figures out in the end of the term is I tend to round up. In other words, if your writing projects (which are, really, one big grade worth 70% overall, with the other 30% being tied to participation) tend to be in the A to A/A- range, you’ll probably get an A for the writing part of the course. If your writing projects are somewhere in the B+ to A/A- range, you’ll probably get an A- for the writing part of the course.
Hopefully that makes a little sense. But hey, don’t hesitate to ask if you have questions about your grade! I think explaining my rationale for these things is part of my job, so please, ask if you’ve got questions.
Posted in Announcements, Writing Assingments.
– August 16, 2009
I think I’m going to take a raincheck on the post class gathering…
I know, I know, it kind of was my idea, I’ll admit. But I think I’m going to have to pass on a post-class get together next week, mainly because of stuff I’ve got going on in my own life (nothing bad, just timing conflicts and such). Like I said, it’s lame, I’ll freely admit. Besides, since it looks like a good half (or more) of the group has got other plans, maybe canceling is for the best.
But hey, don’t let me stop anyone else from getting together at The Corner or anywhere else next week or beyond!
Posted in Announcements.
– August 15, 2009
Doh! Well, maybe we should skip peer review for the blog assignment…
Jeez, I got caught up around here today with “life,” such as it is, and I didn’t have time to set up peer review groups. Actually, I even kind of forgot about peer review groups for this blog assignment until tonight. Ugh, that’s not good.
Well, I think you guys are all doing great and have all been pretty diligent on the blogs (not to mention the other assignments), so I guess I will leave it up to you. By this point in the term, my hope is you all know the value of getting others to read and offer advice on your writing; and if you don’t know that by this point, well…. I guess what I’m getting at is this: if you want some advice and help on your projects, why not share a link here and see if you can’t get some of your peers to chime in?
Let me know what y’all think. I can set up a more formal process if there is a desire for that, but my sense at this point of the summer term is that people mostly just want to finish stuff up….
Posted in Writing Assingments.
– August 14, 2009
A post class gathering poll…
I should have done this earlier: Do me a favor and take this poll, asap and/or before Sunday. Whatever “wins” will decide when we get together:
Posted in Announcements, FWIW.
– August 14, 2009
FWIW: “50 Ways to Use Twitter in the College Classroom”
Given that we’ve been playing around with Twitter a bit here this term, I thought I’d pass this along: “50 Ways to Use Twitter in the College Classroom,” from a resource called OnlineColleges.net. I’ve enjoyed our little Twitter.com feed going by with the class stuff here this term; it’s been a sort of interesting “back channel” discussion space, which is not the sort of thing you typically see in an online class.
I think a more compelling use might be in a face to face class, though:
So for example, if you were teaching a lecture-hall class, this kind of thing going on as part of the class might be kinda interesting. In the fall, when I’m teaching a face-to-face version of English 121, I will probably give this a try. Anyway, any thoughts out there from folks on Twitter?
Posted in Course Materials, FWIW.
– August 13, 2009
About a post-class gathering
For those of you who have been following the twitter feed for the class will notice there has been some talk to an after-class (or nearly after-class) and informal gathering to give folks a chance to meet in person, to talk about the class and whatever else, and to enjoy the loveliness of one of my favorite meeting spots in Ypsi. So I figured that it’d be good to actually have a post here to chat about our options.
First off, the locale I’m suggesting is The Corner Brewery, which is 720 Norris Street Ypsilanti, MI, on the corner of Forest and Norris between River and Huron 2 blocks north of Cross Street. If you’ve never been and you are a local (e.g., actually live in Ypsi or Ann Arbor), well, you need to go.
They serve their own beers, some Michigan wines (not very good, IMO), and the usual soft drinks. Don’t worry– I won’t require anyone to drink alcohol! Before 9 pm, it is a relatively “kid-friendly” place, so if you want to bring anyone else with you, feel free. Food-wise, they have a modest and improving menu of bar foods, and they also let you order in pizza for delivery.
Obviously, this is an optional gathering and has no impact on the grade one way or the other. It’s just for fun and for a chance to actually see the people you’ve been “meeting” with all term.
I’m suggesting we get together either on Monday, August 17, at about 5-ish, or Tuesday, August 18, at about 5-ish. I could be talked into August 19 too. So, what sort of preferences do folks here have? Post a vote and we’ll take it from there.
Posted in Announcements.
– August 12, 2009
FWIW: 15 Killer Hacks for Wordpess
I’m not sure how many of these would work with wordpress.com (as opposed to the version of wordpress I’m running here on my own server space), but I thought I’d share anyway: 15 Killer Hacks for WordPress that Are Extremely Useful.
Posted in FWIW.
– August 11, 2009
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