Hey Y'all. Due to more medical complications, we are not going to be able to do conferences face to face, we will have to do them on the blog.
(What? the Dr doesn't think I should DRIVE when I'm super lightheaded...what kinda crap is THAT?? He obviously was never in the military, where we adapt and overcome....oh hey why are there stars out when it's daytime? Why am I on the ground when I was standing up a minute ago??? Okayyyy fine. I won't drive. But I WILL finish out my semester with my students. Somehow or other! I miss being in class with you, but we're going to finish this thing strong--it just might look a little different than we had planned, roger roger??)
New Conference Instructions:
Each one of you will post a comment in response to this post. It will contain three things:
1. Which pieces you want to put in your portfolio
2. Why
3 Any questions you have or challenges you are having with this assignment
Do this during the time you and I were going to meet. You may post your comments sooner if you wish. If we didn't yet set a time, do it before 5 p.m. on Friday.
I expect each of you to comment and it will count as two absences if you don't--just like if we were meeting. My hope is that I'll be able to respond to your post right away and you can respond back--then as others arrive on the page to post, look through the other conversation to see if your question has been answered. If it has, and you ask it anyway, I"m just gonna shake my head and smile and write "Refer to ______'s question and my answer, above."
Let's get it done, shall we??
Order of pieces I plan to include in my portfolio:
ReplyDelete1. Pretty cover page
2. Table of contents
3. Introductory Reflection
4. Revision of assignment #3
5. Reflection of assignment #3
6. Revision of assignment #2 as -OVE piece
7. Reflection of assignment #2
I decided to revise assignment #3 because out of all of the assignments, this one was my most "thrown-together." Looking back I can easily see ways to improve it. For the -OVE piece, I decided to revise assignment #2 because this assignment has the most to do with all three aspects, oral, visual, and electronic.
Questions:
1. The assignment page says to put the completed portfolio in a two-sided folder, but this seems odd to me. Would you appose if I put it in a binder, or some other professional-looking booklet?
Hey Amanda! I like your plan! I also like your logic regarding your choice of assignments. I think this will work great for you.
ReplyDeleteIn answer to your question, you may use whatever professional format you want. The two-sided folder is what was suggested to us--a lot of instructors at ISU use it, and I THINK the intent was to help students keep track of what needs to go into the portfolio and not leave anything out. That being said, I have every faith in you that you can do that without the help of a folder! :-)
Also, I would love to see you all post your portfolios on your blogs--they are the very best of your work and you should be proud to display them! I'm not requiring it, as you see, I'm asking for paper form, but I'd still love to see them published online!
The portfolio I plan on putting together will contain:
ReplyDelete1. Cover page
2. Table of Contents
3. Introductory essay/reflection
4. Revision of Textual Rhetorical Analysis
5. Reflection on revisions of Textual Rhetorical Analysis
6. -OVE piece: Research Paper
7. Reflection on Research Paper
8. Closing Essay?
I chose my textual analysis as the paper I would want to revise the most because I feel like I could reword some things and add some more information to improve the paper. I chose the research paper as my -OVE piece because I had to use oral, visual, and electronic methods of communication in that particular piece the most.
I was wondering if we need to do revisions on the -OVE piece? I thought mine was pretty good and the online thing said to include revisions, if any. So I might tinker with it to improve it, but not dissect it and completely edit and revise the piece like I will the textual analysis. My other question was do we need a closing page/essay that recaps the entire portfolio or not? It mentioned it on the assignment description page at the very end but wasn't included in the main numbered segments?
I love how you catch the details of things I mess up on assignments, Blake. :-) I thought I removed the part about the closing essay, but apparently not on the version I posted. No you don't have to do a closing essay but you can if you want. Last semester my students were about reflected-out with the other reflection portions of the portfolio, so I'm not requiring it this time. What means most to me is the intro to the portfolio/letter. It tells me what was valuable about the class, and more than the unhelpful (for me) numbers that the electronic evaluations of the class, it tells me what worked and what didn't. I don't grade on the content of that portfolio reflection. As long as it's reflective and decently near a page long, then it gets an A.
DeleteYes you need to do revisions on both the pieces you pick. The main point of the portfolio is to teach y'all how to literally re-vision a piece of writing--see it differently and make changes to it. If you don't see changes you can make to the piece then maybe consider using a piece you can see revising.
Other than that, I like your choices and think they will work.
1.Table of contents
ReplyDelete2. Introductory reflection
3. Revision of textual analysis
4. Reflection of textual analysis revision
5. My research presentation as my -OVE example
6. Reflection on my -OVE piece
I wanted to revise my textual analysis because it was very repetitive and I just didn't do a good job on it. I did not put as much time and effort into it as I did for the other papers.
My question: Would I be able to get a copy of my research presentation? If not, I understand. We didn't do that many official oral presentations so I wanted to use that as my oral communication example.
Josh, I don't know about you, but I like revision a lot because it's like hope to me--a second chance to do what I meant to do the first time. So often life doesn't give us chances to revise, but writing does, and I do, so I'm happy to hear you want to revise your textual analysis.
DeleteAre you saying you want to use your oral presentation for one component of your portfolio? I think that would work, and yes I think you can get a copy, I just have to talk to Gilchrist and see how. But how will you revise it? Practice it and re-record it? That is do-able, I'm just curious what you're imagining here. I think it would be fun to have someone use that form or communication in their portfolio.
I honestly did not see the part of revising the -OVE piece in the assignment guide. Could I just redo my presentation and have one of my friends record it and then put that into my portfolio? If not, I can always just find another piece.
DeleteNo worries. It's the time of the semester...but yeah, every piece in there needs to be revised. I think it'd be great if you redid your presentation. And if a friend recorded it, you could do as many tries as you wanted and get it all sharp and snazzy and professional. (And then post it on YouTube and send the link to your parents so they see what a serious student you are. :-) truly, though, I think this idea is great because you could use it even for applying for internships and etc in the future.)
DeleteI'll email Gilchrist right now and see how we can make your videos available to you all.
To be perfectly honest I am not entirely sure what I am going to include in my portfolio. However I will probably use, "Calming the inner critic", "Me as a writer" and My research paper.
ReplyDeleteI really liked how I wrote these papers and I feel that the writing styles that I used in these papers represent how I am as a writer.
How many pieces should we include in the portfolio? How much revisions shall we do vs. leaving the pieces in their original state? Should I be writing anything new for this portfolio?
Hey Zach, I like your reasons for using the pieces you want to use. I think those will work fine. By the "Calming the Inner Critic" do you mean you are going to revise your thought piece on that? Normally I'd want you to use two of your major assignments, but since you are doing three, I think I can live with that.
DeleteCheck out the portfolio assignment either on one of the posts here on the home page or on the "Assignment Description" pages. Also refer to the lists your classmates are making to see a pattern of what is required. :-)
After the cover page, table of contents, and other standard requirements, I plan to use the following pieces for my portfolio:
ReplyDelete1- Business Memo:
I think this assignment from the beginning of the semester is one of the truest expressions of individual communication. You allowed us to be creative with this one and therefore we wrote an innocent, unbiased piece based on communication as we knew it then. It would serve appropriately as a marker to show how we BEGAN our understanding of communication. I might revise it but, for the sake of preserving initial idea of the "starting point," I am most likely going to simply reflect on it.
2- Visual Analysis:
We first began to learn about rhetoric with the visual analysis and I think it demonstrates not only how we interpreted communication but also how well we could decipher it. I would definitely revise and reflect on this piece.
3- Textual Analysis:
I think the textual analysis should be included proceeding the others due to the fact that it incorporates the application of what we learned from all of the previous assignments. On top of that, it relates most directly to our field of study. There is a possibility I might consider revising it a bit but I will most likely reflect on it.
My only question is: to what extent should the revisions be altered? Is it a quick clean-up of diction and syntax or is it implementing a switch in train tracks to guide the topic towards a more refined purpose? I would probably answer myself with, "it depends on the piece," but it's the only question I have and you probably have a better answer.
You have learned my responses pretty well, David, with the "It depends." :-) But in this assignment, it actually doesn't depend. If you read through the assignment, it asks you to do, as you say, a pretty major switch on the train tracks. Think about the word "revision." Divide it. I want you to re-vision your piece. You have new eyes now than you did to begin with, and in revision you see what you have learned, by seeing how you see writing differently now. Reflection on that helps you transfer knowledge to other situations.
DeleteI like your choices for your portfolio. Definitely revise though. If you want to include the memo unrevised, that's fine because you have two other pieces you are revising. I'd be curious what your reflection on the memo is!
My portfolio will contain:
ReplyDelete1. Cover page
2. Table of contents
3. Introduction/Reflection
4. Revision of visual rhetorical analysis
5. Reflection of visual rhetorical anallysis
6. OVE piece: research paper or research presentation???
7. Reflection on OVE peice
8. Closing/Wrap it all up
I want to revise my visual rhetorical analysis because I have the least confidence in this paper. I feel that this one was the most thrown together and I probably could do a better job on it, going deeper into the analysis.
As many of the other students were wondering, how much revision would you like us to do on the revision? Take it apart and put it back together? Or tweak and rearrage a few things? Other than that, I have no other questions! (YET)
Thank you! Feel better!!
Okay, I am not picking on you, I'm picking on everyone, did I not say enough in my LONG assignment description to give you an idea of what kind of revision I want? Seriously? Should your first in-class assignment be revising my portfolio assignment so it's coherent? (I'm smiling here, if you can't tell, quite a lot--but i'm also semi-serious. If the assignment truly doesn't say, then I will explain more.)
DeleteAlso, I wanted to encourage you that you actually did pretty well on your visual analysis. You can always go deeper and I think it's a great choice, but you made some good points in there. I'd like to see how you go deeper on them.
Since you are going to be doing a lot of revising (hint, hint!!), think about how you would actually accomplish the revision of your research presentation. It can be done, but I don't know how. I have to see the files, and I haven't gotten them from Gilchrist yet.
Thank you for the well-wishes! Can't wait to see you all in class again!
My portfilio plan:
ReplyDelete1. Fancy required things (cover page & table of contents)
2. Intro
3. Visual rhetorical analysis revision
4. Visual rhetorical analysis reflection
5. OVE piece: research paper
6. research paper reflection
7. closing piece
I chose my visual analysis because I enjoyed the subject matter and I think working to improve it and going deeper into the analysis would not be awful. My research paper is one that I worked very hard on, but I see many areas that could use improvement.
Question: I was wondering if I could use a revision of the portrait of a writer piece as an intro? I feel like it best explains what I aim to do with my writing.
Oooooh, I like the idea of using your Portrait of a Writer as an intro. But I wonder if you have changed as a writer since then, and I'd want to know in what ways, and how the class has helped facilitate that, if so. So would you revise it?
DeleteI laughed at your wording "going deeper into the analysis would not be awful." I like the honesty. I like your logic for your choices and I think these will work well. And not be too awful. :-)
Portfolio Proposal:
ReplyDelete1. Cover Page
2. Table of Contents
3. Introductory Reflection
4. Business Memo Revision and Reflection
5. Visual Rhetorical Analysis and Reflection
6. Closing
I chose to do the business memo because I will be doing them in the future and I really need to get it down well. I chose to do the visual rhetorical analysis as well because I think that it is important to know how to analyze in business.
Question: Can I use the Inner Critic as part of the intro?
Proposal:
ReplyDelete1. Cover Page
2. Table of Contents
3. Introduction
4. Written: Textual Rhetorical Analysis Revision
5. Written: Textual Rhetorical Analysis Reflection
6. OVE Piece: Research paper Revision
7. OVE Piece: Research paper Reflection
8. Closing
I decided to use my textual rhetorical analysis because I felt I could get a better grasp of what this actual is. I also know I could use more details, and form a better structure with my writing on this topic.
I feel that my research paper is pretty good. I thought it fit the Oral/Visual/Electronic aspect the best, and I know that there is no such thing as a perfect paper so I am sure I could include more information.
Question: My question is similar to Blake's, but how much revision needs to be done on a piece? I feel like my research paper is pretty good, and I don't know exactly how much revision I will be able to come up with. Also, does this need to be in a binder or just like a folder or how are these papers going to be organized exactly?
Ummmmm, I'm snickering a little, because I can't decide if A) I write so bad that my assignments just aren't clear, if B) they are so long nobody reads them, or if C) just nobody reads them for any number of reasons. I'm going to refer you to my playful comments to Ashley, above, and this link, where I took a long time trying to make sure all the details were there to guide you in case I wasn't. http://english250pn.blogspot.com/2014/04/portfolio-assignment-proposal-due-in.html
DeleteAnnd of course it won't link in a comment. But you can copy and past it into your browser.
I like your reasons for choosing the other pieces. You mentioned getting a better grasp of what rhetorical analysis really is. I want to facilitate that conversation. Maybe post some thoughts/questions here about that? Or maybe I'll just make it an online assignment for next week. All y'all conversate :-) on one post about what in the heck rhetorical analysis looks like. Yep, I'm gonna do that, Because there are some things we missed--I missed actually--in teaching that section, and I want to teach you a little more as you revise. Thanks for the inspiration! :-)
So, question: did anyone get to their conferences spot with me in the cafe and figure out they needed to read their email? I hope all of you got the message before that happened! Conferences are my favorite part of teaching, so it sucks to have to do them this way, but I am also enjoying this interaction with you.
ReplyDeleteIf all goes well, I'll see you in class on Monday! From there, in person, we'll get on the same page about how the rest of the semester will go, finals times, etc.
Thanks to those who posted today!
Portfolio I plan on doing:
ReplyDelete1. Cover Page
2. Table of Contents
3. Introductory Reflection
4. Revision of Textual Rhetorical Analysis
5. Reflection of Textual Analysis
6. Oral Presentation as - OVE
7. Reflection on Presentaion
8. Closing Letter
I chose these two pieces to revise and reflect on due to the fact that I felt like I could have done better on them both. The textual rhetorical analysis was difficult for me to grasp because it was so complex and I have no clue what was really going on, but moreover, I didn’t exactly know what the assignment was asking for. I gave too much of a summary instead of actually analyzing the piece. In respect to the oral presentation, I think I did a good job preparing the visuals but I didn’t get to perfect the presentation before it was time for me to go. I went a day in advance so my timing was off and I kind of went off the slideshow more than I wanted to. I think I could have been more composed and confident if I had more time to practice and went on the day I signed up for.
The only questions I have are:
How do I revise an oral presentation that was kind of impromptu and not written down?
Also, are we just printing all of these or posting the whole thing to our blog?
Hey Wyatt, Good choices and reasoning behind them. I really like to hear why students want to revise something and so I appreciate this. It also helps me know what more I need to teach y'all to help you meet your own revision goals. Wednesday we're going to talk about Rhetorical analysis in class some more, so bring your questions!
DeleteHmmmm, how DO you revise an oral presentation? I'd like to hear your ideas...
My Portfolio:
ReplyDelete1: Cover Page
2: Table of Contents
3: Reflection
4: Revision of Textual Analysis
5: Reflection of Textual Analysis
6: Revision of the Oral Presentation that I missed
7: Reflection of the Oral Presentation that I missed
8: Conclusion
I chose to revise the textual analysis because I (as well as the commenter before me) made it more of a summary than an analysis, and I feel I can go way more in depth than what I did with the things that I did analyze. I chose to revise the oral presentation I was supposed to do in class because it is really the only true -OVE peice that we were supposed to do in this class.
Question: Since I missed my oral presentation, is it okay if I do a presentation I did (maybe a youtube video I made)? It would be a lot more meaningful for this assignment if I did.
If so, I would revise the first video I put up on youtube, because I sounded inconfident, kinda wierd (mainly because I didn't know who I was talking to in particular), and I don't know that I was really myself. I was starting to get used to something that I may do again in the future, and getting better at it would help me out a lot, for online tutorials and such.
PS I can give you a link to this youtube video if you would like.
Hey Robert,
DeleteAs I said to Wyatt, above, I like that you are choosing to delve deeper into the rhetorical analysis, and we will discuss it in class on Wednesday too.
For your oral presentation, I'm leaning towards saying you could do the presentation you would have done for the class, and have one of your friends/classmates record it for you. But I also don't want to turn down something that actually pertains to your work. Tell you what, send me the link to the video you are referring to on YouTube and I'll check it out and get back to you.
Also, to all of you who are using an oral presentation, bravo zulu! (That's a military pat on the back. :-)) I've watched myself on Video and all I wanted to do was shut it off, not revise it. Awesome!
Sorry it took so long to get this up. I forgot about it over the weekend.
Deletehere is the link:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VhZHmiaGLYs
My Portfolio:
ReplyDelete1. Cover/Title Page
2. Table of Contents
3. Introductory Reflection Essay
4. Revision of Visual Rhetorical Analysis
5. Reflection of Visual Rhetorical Analysis
6. Revision of Research Paper - OVE
7. Reflection of Research Paper - OVE
8. Conclusion
I want to do the Visual Rhetorical Analysis paper for the first piece to revise, because as an engineer, I will be looking at more visual components of drawings and such, so I feel like doing either of the other major assignments would not be a good use of my time to further practice towards my major. Even though I did quite well on this paper, I can see myself writing at different angles around analyzing visual components and furthering this paper by adding to it and revising a little.
I think the best representation of my writing is in the research paper. I included the most visual and electronic aspects to this piece, and I’m going to add even more V and E aspects to it, along with maybe some videos. I really think I can make my research paper helpful to all engineering students and take it even further to show technical communications in my field.
I don’t have any questions right now, and if I did, it has probably already been answered by another student’s question. But if I think of something, I’ll make sure to email you! Thanks!
John, this looks great! I am excited to see how you re-see your writing from new angles and I'm thrilled that you have such forward-looking vision for your work. Nice.
DeleteMy Portfolio:
ReplyDelete1. Cover Page
2. Table of Contents
3. Reflection Essay
4. Visual Rhetorical Analysis Revision
5. Visual Rhetorical Analysis Reflection
6. Research paper revision -OVE piece
7. Reflection on research paper -OVE piece
8. Closing statement
I chose to revise my visual rhetorical analysis, because I felt that I didn't spend enough time ironing out the details and refining the structure of the essay. For example, I don't believe that I spent enough time writing a good conclusion, because I was rushed to finish the essay by the deadline and I think a good conclusion is what really leaves the final thoughts in the reader's head. I also want to revise my research paper, because I feel that it doesn't include enough of the technicalities behind communication in mechanical engineering. I want to revise it so that it includes an extra paragraph or two explaining communication in mechanical engineering on deeper level.
I have just one question:
1. For the OVE piece, are we supposed to revise it and write a reflection on it? Or are we supposed to simply include our best OVE piece from the semester, and make no revisions to it?
I ask this because I see that some of my classmates above did things differently in this respect.
Thanks,
Sam Gaylord
Sam,
DeleteSo happy to see your vision for including more of the technicalities of communication in your field! Can't wait to read it.
Yes, the OVE piece is supposed to be revised as well. It's kinda confusing because, since we composed online, pretty much any major assignment counts as part of the OVE, but yes, a major point of the portfolio is revision--even if you did great on the original pieces. Looking at your work with new eyes always brings out angles you might not have noticed before.
My portfolio will include:
ReplyDelete1: Cover
2: Table of Contents
3: Introductory Reflection
4: Revision of Visual Rhetorical Analysis - OVE
5: Reflection of Visual Rhetorical Analysis - OVE
6: Revision of Summary
7: Reflection of Summary
8: Closing Piece
I decided to revise my visual rhetorical analysis because I did not think I did a very good job with it and I want to try again. I also want to see if I can come up with some different conclusions from the picture as well. Maybe I can demonstrate what I learned from the assignments that came after.
I also decided that I wanted to revise the summary I did. I did a lot with summarizing in high school and I don't think this was as good as it could have been. I also feel like summarizing things is going to be important in y chosen career field so I want to make sure that I am fairly good at it.
I am not really sure that I understand the OVE thing or what we are actually doing for that and how it is different from the other paper we are revising. I don't know if you answered this above, but sorry if I am repeating a question.
Kaitlin, No, I hadn't answered the OVE question yet when you posted this, though now there is a little something up there about it. It IS confusing. The reason is that most people who teach this course don't use blogs, so only some of their assignments fit in the OVE category. Because you guys did use blogs, every assignments is in that category. So it is no different, I just left the language in there to remind y'all that you are composing and you used different modes.
DeleteI like your goals for your portfolio. I think they are smart and will work fine. I especially like how you are thinking about what kind of work is going to be important in your field. Love it!
1. Cover Page
ReplyDelete2. Table of Contents
3. Introduction
4. Written: Visuall Rhetorical Analysis Revision
5. Written: Visual Rhetorical Reflection
6. OVE Piece: Research Revision
7. OVE Piece: Research Reflection
8. Closing
I wanted to redo my visual rhetorical analysis because I liked it more than the rest. It could be done better for sure. Maybe find different parts about it and look at it a completely different way.
Mainly I wanted to do the research paper because I wanted to incorporate more OVE which besides the presentation, I had almost nothing. I want to incorporate more visual components into it. Electronically not sure it yet but I'm sure it can be done.
I'm pretty well set on the assignment and don't have any questions as of yet. But since it was listed, here's my question. Who would win in a fight, a Grilled Cheese Sandwich or a Taco?
Hmmmmmm...the Taco because it brings the heat! (hot sauce...no idea, just making stuff up because I like tacos...)
DeleteI like your reasoning here, John, especially about including more OVE in your research paper. I think it can be done as well, and I'm looking forward to seeing how you do it!
Now who wins, sandwich or taco? This is going to bug me...
1.Table of contents
ReplyDelete2. Introductory reflection
3. Revision of summary
4. Reflection of summary revision
5. My research project for -OVE example
6. Reflection of my research project
I chose my summary for my revision piece because it was the lowest grade I received in my class and I made really silly errors that I'd like to fix. I chose my research project because I had components that fit in all three categories of OVE.
Questions: I don't think I have any right now!
Thanks, Matt. You know I'm so impressed with all y'alls (that's nor proper English, in case anyone was wondering) attitude about re-doing assignments you yourselves think you could've done better on. It is really rewarding to work with a group of people who are invested in their work like you are.
DeleteGreat choices here. Let's get it done!
1.Which pieces you want to put in your portfolio
ReplyDeleteResearch article summery and Textural analysis
2. Why
For the article summery I want fix grammar and structure of it and also include the “why” factor. For the Textual analysis I want to add more analysis.
3 Any questions you have or challenges you are having with this assignment
Since I did the both piece on the same article I how do make them different from each other without sounding the same?
Ohhh that is a really good question! Monday you guys are going to work online during class time and I am right now designing a workshop with partners that should help you out with this very thing. The key to your answer is in asking what the difference is between rhetorical analysis and summary. Can you list out some differences? That should help to get started!
DeleteI like your choices, and they make sense.
Thanks for moving your answers over here--I didn't think to look on your blog page for them!
The two pieces I'd like to put in is my summary and my Visual Rhetorical analysis. I'd like to put them in because I feel like they are my favorite pieces from this semester. I enjoyed doing them and realizing how much I actually do that stuff in my real life. Normally the stuff I learn in English is stuff that I could really go without, and that finally changed my perspective! I don't know how many pieces I need to put in, but just in case, I'll put my research paper in too, because it was enlightening to find out what my major entails!! I'm just going to be challenged by all the stuff I have to do with the portfolio along with my studying!
ReplyDeleteYou only need two pieces, Tanner, and each of them need to have quite a bit of revision to them so unless you have lots of extra time on your hands, I wouldn't advise including another one. You can totally put more in your portfolio on your blog, but for the paper copy that you will give to me, just include those pieces you will be revising for a new grade, and the other things required by the assignment.
ReplyDeleteI like your choices here and think they will work well.
Alright, that sounds like a plan then. I'll keep my two original pieces and make sure they come out perfect!!
ReplyDeleteA for effort! But Tanner, I never asked for perfection...just thought, heart, and all the effort you got. :-)
Delete1. A Cover Page and Table of Contents of course
ReplyDelete2. For my introduction/reflection I think it would be interesting to write about how my portrait of a writer piece would be different if I wrote it today. And then of course reasons why it would be different specifically mentioning different assignments this semester
3. Textual Rhetorical Analysis Revision and Reflection
4. Visual Rhetorical Analysis Revision and Reflection for OVE
5. Closing
Why:
Rhetorical Analysis was a hard subject for me to grasp and so I think rewriting these assignments at the end of the semester now that I have a better grasp would show a lot of improvement.
Questions:
Everyone already asked every question I can think of so I'm good for right now!
I am gonna follow the basic structure that everyone seems to be doing. As far as the pieces that will be included, I think I'd like to do my summary because I like that type of writing and think that I can edit it into a better finished product. Also, I will be using my visual rhetorical analysis because I think that I could have better revised it looking back on it now. I will be only having those two and not a third. And as far as questions go, after reading through the other's questions I don't have any so far, but may have some along the way!
ReplyDelete