You’ll notice there’s no Assignments and Schedule page here… That’s because it’s a single assignment which we’ll start on Friday August 6, and one due date (EOD August 9). Here’s the video lecture and all the information you need.

We are now at our final writing assignment of an always-challenging summer term – too much to do, too little time to do it. But I am so proud of you all for making it to this point. Now it’s time for you to reflect on the work you’ve done.

There are two parts to the Final Portfolio

Revisions of Units 1 and 2 (worth 40% of this FP grade)

A Final Reflection on the work you did and the progress (however you want to define it) you made over the term (worth 60% of this FP grade).

Final Revisions 40%

You don’t have to do anything with Unit 3. But using the feedback you got from me and possibly some of your classmates, revise the Discourse Community Report and the Article.

If your revision is good, I’ll go back and change your Unit Draft grade to reflect it.

Final Reflection 60%

This is the longer (minimum of 1000 words), and ultimately more important, part of the Final Portfolio… because this is the time to think back on where you started, what you’ve done, what you’ve learned (or not), and what you think you might be able to take from this class going forward to other classes and into your work and community lives.

As a way to begin your reflection, look back through your compendium of work (posts, drafts, Padlets, annotations). As you browse through your work, ask yourself about and take notes on the following questions: 

  • What were your early assumptions/beliefs about yourself and writing? Have they since changed? Explain.
  • How would you compare/contrast work done early on in the semester to now? 
  • What was your favorite/least favorite assignment and why?
  • What are some notable lessons that have stuck with you after completing certain assignments? 
  • What changed in your writing (and reading and thinking) as the genres changed?
  • How did you make decisions in your assignments about content and design?
  • What was your experience revising assignments? 
  • Was there any peer feedback that stands out to you and why?
  • How did you adapt to the sudden switch to online writing mid-semester? 
  • What was particularly challenging for you in our course this semester and how did you overcome it (or attempt to)?

Don’t simply answer the above questions in your final reflection; they are just meant to help you brainstorm ideas. You’re writing an article about writing, not just a list of thoughts. Think about all of the essays we’ve read about writing this semester—some of them certainly hooked your interest while others… probably did not.  The ones that did were well-written, they had a point, the writer had a voice that you felt was worth listening to.  Try to do that in your own writing here.  Remember that this isn’t just you writing off-the-top of your head; this is a finished piece of writing. Treat yourself as a respected author who has lived through a difficult time: you are someone with something to say. 

Here’s something you can do to help me: put both essays AND the Final Reflection into a single document before you upload it into the Google Drive folder labeled “Final Portfolios.” If you can’t do that, just create your own folder within the “Final Reflections” folder and put all three documents there.

Here’s what I’ll be grading the Final Reflection on:

  • Attention to audience. You need to have a “so what?” Don’t just list off a bunch of random opinions about your writing—write an article about what you’ve learned. Think about who you are writing for (hint: it’s not just me). And don’t try to flatter me (won’t work!); I care about what you think about your progress
  • Attention to organization.  This does not have to be a traditional organization, but you should have paragraphs (not just a 1000 word paragraph, please) and some reason for why they’re in the order they’re in! 
  • Evidence and analysis. If you tell me you learned something about yourself as a writer, show me proof!  By proof, I specifically mean quotes from your own writing. All reflections should have at least three quotes from your own writing this semester.  Don’t just drop those quotes in there and expect your reader (me) to figure out why you’ve chosen them. Explain why that passage is important to your “so what?” 
  • Care. Proofread. Make sure it’s long enough. As usual, you can use whatever language you see fit to use, but make decisions about your language—that is, the words that are there should be there for a reason. 
  • It’s gotta be on time. I have wanted to be as flexible as I possibly can this semester, but the final portfolio (including this reflection) are due August 9, and I don’t have any leeway because I need to turn grades in two days later. Make sure to upload it into the Google Drive folder “Final Portfolios) by then!  
  • Due EOD Monday August 9: no ifs, ands or “can I turn it in late” pleas. I have to turn in grades on August 11, so I have absolutely no wiggle room on this.

Good luck!

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