Today, we will look at some examples that relate to Project 6. There will be two more posts before the exam: peer review for Project 6 on 12/4 and submission details on 12/10.

Class Work for December 2

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

• Find comments on graded work.
• Discuss powerful word choice.
• Complete the course evaluation.

Finding Comments on Graded Work

Projects 1, 2, 3, and 4 are all graded. I always include notes that explain the grade you earned. If you are unfamiliar with Scholar, you can use these instructions to learn how to find feedback on your Assignments.

The grace period for Project 5 ends Tuesday, December 2, at 11:55 PM, and I will return those grades in the next week.

Discussing Powerful Word Choice

Choosing strong, powerful verbs is an important part of Project 6. Review Power Skills for Your Resume and Resume Bullet Formula (p. 37–40) in the 2014–2015 Career Planning Guide. These resources demonstrate the kinds of verbs you can use to show yourself as a strong, active person.

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  
• 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.

Course Evaluation

Please fill out the Student Perceptions of Teaching (SPOT) survey for this course. I do not see the feedback until January (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!

For your last work before Thanksgiving break, you will read through the assignment for the final exam and post any questions you have. There is no required forum work for the session. Have a great, safe holiday.

Class Work for November 20

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

• Review the assignment for Project 6 (the final exam).
• Post any questions you have about the assignment.
• Consider replying to optional discussion questions.
• Have a great Thanksgiving break.

Getting Started on Project 6

For Project 6, you will review your work in the course and write a completion report that outlines what you have learned and done during the term. In particular, you will review your posts on the Forums and point out some of your best work. In addition to grading your report, I’ll use the information you present to help determine your participation grade for the course. In the workplace, you could think of this report as a self-evaluation for a performance review.

Here’s what you need to do to get started:

1. Read the assignment for Project 6 completely. Begin gathering data on your forum work, explained in Step 2 of the assignment.

2. If you have any questions (today or in the future) about the assignments, post in Questions about Project 6 topic if you have questions about the report.

Optional Forum Posts

As you review your goals and the work you’ve completed for the Forum Posts and Participation portion of your grade, you may find that you want to make some additional posts. I have added an Optional Discussion Questions forum where you will find questions that touch on topics we have considered during the term and general issues related to technical communication. Add replies there as you wish to better the Forum Posts and Participation portion of your grade. You may be too far behind to argue that you completed your work in a timely manner, but you can still increase the quantity of posts. Your responses should be posted by December 2.