The World Series

Dear Students: Tomorrow starts the World Series with the SF Giants playing for the first time in many baseball seasons. They have been preparing for this opportunity for years, actually. Their situation is not that different from yours. You have been learning the rules and processes of writing since you entered school, and for the past several seasons, you have been practicing and learning the fine points of the craft. This semester, I have been trying to get you to work as a team to improve your performance, and soon, your portfolio is due--The Pennant Race of Freshman Comp. I believe that working together, all of you can succeed. But, winning takes team work, and for that to be useful in our class, you need to bring not only yourselves, and brains, but also your manuscripts to class. This is the final stretch of the season.

I also want to remind you to continue to post on the class--this blog--and on your personal blog. I will be counting entries and, if I have to, words to make sure you have fulfilled the 500 words a week requirement. Most of you will have exceeded the minimum requirement since you often post more words than necessary each entry even if you have fewer than twenty entries for the semester. Starting this week, your classmates will be presenting the weekly reading assignment.

A final reminder, we will not have class on Nov. 2 so you can vote and attend an event sponsored by the Dialogue on Race. We will also not have class on Nov. 11, since the campus will be closed down in observance of Veteran's Day.

Next week's blog will give you additional information on the portfolio requirements.

Happy blogging. Susan

Conference Time Again

Starting tomorrow and for the rest of the week, we will be meeting in individual writing conferences. Instead of attending class at our usual time, you should be meeting in the Writing Center and meeting with me. Remember to get a verification from the Writing Center tutor that you had a conference.

According to my blog, I only have 19 followers, when I should have 50. At our conference this week, I will let each of you know what you are missing and what your 'grade' is so far in the class. If you have fewer than 10 posts on the class blog, and fewer than ten posts on an individual blog, you will be in danger of not having enough points to submit your portfolio. By the end of this coming week, you should also have two essays in good shape for inclusion to the portfolio. Hopefully, you will be all caught up before November 1.

See you this week. s

If this were a football game, we would have just finished the half time show

Dear Students, the halfway mark has come and gone. Your completed portfolios are due two months from today. That includes final copies of your work and your cover letter. Remember, to submit you need points accumulated from your blog, our class blog reading responses, response group participation, attendance, and writing conferences. Check your syllabus for the details. Most of you are doing fine, although I continue to be troubled by spotty attendance and that some of you still don't bring drafts of your papers to class.

Next week, October 18 through October 22, we will again be having individual conferences. The sign up sheet will be on my door by this Thursday. Please do not miss this conference as I will not have time for make-up conferences. If you miss this conference, you will be lacking an important 100 points, and you may not have enough to submit the portfolio depending on other things you might be lacking.

We will begin our third paper on October 25. In order for you to have some free time over Thanksgiving break, I strongly encourage you to concentrate on this paper as much as you can while also revising the first two papers. Some of you may have enough work that is appropriate for the portfolio to write a 'free choice' fourth paper rather than an analytical one. But that's getting ahead....

If we are making good progress, we will not have class either Nov. 11 when the campus is closed for Veteran's Day or Friday, the 12th. Start bringing a paper draft to every class.

s

Fall is officially here

Dear Students, The leaves are falling from the trees, and soon rain will be falling from the sky. The next two months will need all of our concentration, attendance, and hard work to prepare for the final portfolio submission the second week of December. Most of you have been following our class bog,and I have been following most of your individual blogs. But I still have yet to find some of you. You need to be up and running for the next ten weeks with a minimum of 500 words 'blogging' per week to satisfy the requirements for submitting your portfolio. I'm really eager for you to take charge of your reading and writing requirements rather than waiting for me to give you assignments and assign 'grades.'

By now most of you have also completed the Library Research Roadmap, but not all of you have.

Finally, for the rest of the semester, I expect you to bring a draft of one of your manuscripts for some kind of response each class period. We will continue to do small groups, conferences, and 'read-arounds' (T/Th class will learn about that tomorrow) until portfolios are due.

Stay healthy and come to class. s