Author Archives: Jason W. Ellis

Reading/Viewing: Mellody Hobson, “Color Blind or Color Brave?

During the first ten minutes of class, write your summary of today’s viewing: Mellody Hobson, “Color Blind or Color Brave?,” https://www.ted.com/talks/mellody_hobson_color_blind_or_color_brave?language=en. In your response, you might find out who Mellody Hobson is. What is her argument in the video? What distinction does she make between “color blind” and “color brave?”

Reading/Viewing: Nigel Marsh, “How to Make Work-Life Balance Work”

During the first ten minutes of class, write a summary memo of today’s viewing: Nigel Marsh, “How to Make Work-Life Balance Work,” http://www.ted.com/talks/nigel_marsh_how_to_make_work_life_balance_work?language=en. Also, how do you balance your work-school-life? What areas do you need to work on more? What strategies would you like to try out based on the video and other sources?

Viewings: Colantuono and Achor

For today’s class, you should have watched these two workplace-related TED talks:

Susan Colantuono, “The Career Advice You Probably Didn’t Get,” http://www.ted.com/talks/susan_colantuono_the_career_advice_you_probably_didn_t_get?language=en

Shawn Achor, “The Happy Secret to Better Work,” http://www.ted.com/talks/shawn_achor_the_happy_secret_to_better_work?language=en

During the first ten minutes of class, write a summary memo that briefly identifies the speakers of these two talks, their respective arguments, and relevant supporting evidence each provides. Post your memo as a comment to this blog entry.

Project 2 Studio Day, Post Meeting Minutes Here at End of Class

During today’s class, we will begin with a few announcements. Afterwards, each team should use the remaining time to do work on Project 2.

Remember to ask me if you have any questions and refer to the Project 2 assignment sheet linked above for specific details about the assignment’s requirements. Also, refer to pages 433-484 of Writing That Works for information on proposals and specifically pages 452-457 for an example of an internal proposal, which closely matches our purposes to propose a solution to an internal issue identified at City Tech.

Remember to have one person keep meeting minutes today, and everyone in the team should post a copy of Monday’s and today’s meeting minutes as a comment to this blog entry (one comment includes minutes for both days).

There is no beginning of class writing assignment today.

Reading: Writing That Works, Ch 15, “Writing for the Web: Rhetorical Principles for a Diverse Medium.”

During the first ten minutes of today’s class, write a summary memo of Writing That Works, Ch 15, “Writing for the Web: Rhetorical Principles for a Diverse Medium.” Also, write something about your own experiences writing online and how different sites, services, or spaces demand a different kind of writing from you. Save your work on Google Drive or elsewhere, and post a copy as a comment to this blog entry.

Reading: Writing That Works, Ch 13, “Writing Proposals”

You’re probably thinking why didn’t we read this earlier in the Project 2 process. On the one hand, you’re completely justified in thinking that. However, I wanted you to focus on your identified problem and proposed solution before thinking about the overall structure of how to put a proposal together. Use this chapter as a guide in addition to the information that I provided on the Project 2 assignment sheet.

During the first ten minutes of class, write a summary memo of your reading of Writing That Works, Ch 13, “Writing Proposals.”