Getting Organized: An Outline

For this in-class activity, you are going to spent time getting organized, which means this needs to be explicit, specific, and detailed. Do *not* do a general overview as that does not help get you organized. 

To begin: start by pulling up the checklist. Organize your outline based on this checklist. 

Go through each item on the checklist and begin to fill in your own information. Where you have blanks try and project forward. 

Conclude by projecting forward: what needs done in order for you to write up a draft by Thursday? 

Respond to at least 2 peers: reading through the outline, what questions come to mind? What looks promising? What is one word of advice? 

Transfer of Knowledge and Practices

In this blog post, you are exploring what it means to "transfer" knowledge from one situation to another. Begin by discussing what transfer means and how a student can achieve successful transfer according to the researchers of How People Learn (this means pull out evidence). 

What are contributing factors to successful transfer? Why is transfer important in education? What helps it along? And conclude by wrapping your discussion up: why is transfer of knowledge important? Do you believe transfer happens whether you think about it or not? 

By the end of the post, it should be evident what transfer of knowledge is, how it can be achieved, and why it's important. 

***NO response to your peers for this post.***

DUE by class time on Tuesday, February 24, 2015. 

From the Lit Review to The Essay

In-class Writing for Thursday, February 19, 2015. 

The move from your lit review to your first draft may seem challenging at first because there is not much cross-over between the two, and you want to make sure you aren’t merely lifting chunks of your lit review into your draft. 

I want you to begin to explore the differences between the two using your own research as guidance.

What are some central claims you believe you will make in your essay (in other words, what do you believe you’ll be adding to the existing conversation)? How do these claims differ from your lit review? What are things you need to anticipate for your audience? What are things you’ll need to include so that it’s obvious who your intended audience will be? Last, what are some things you, as the researcher and the writer, need to keep in mind as you begin to start drafting your essay? 

To conclude this in-class assignment, please generate a tentative outline of your essay. 

**Remember that your primary research HAS TO BE completed by the end of Week 8...because the final draft of the essay is due the following week.**

Reflecting on Reflection

As you read, Yancey believes that “reflection” allows students to become agents of their own learning. Other theorists view reflection as a means of looking back so that we can understand how to move forward. After reading Yancey's theory of reflection, I want you to reflect on reflection. Using specific evidence from the reading think through the following questions:

*What is Yancey's theory of reflection? How does she connect it to composition (i.e. writing)?  ***Note: she defines reflection in several different ways, so I'm not looking for everyone to use the exact same definition. Use the one that stuck out to you or that you were drawn to. 

*Make your own connections between reflection and writing: where does reflection fit into the writing process? To your writing process?

*Why is reflection "important" to you as a writer, a thinker, and a knowledge-maker?

Response to your peers: have a conversation about where reflection fits into the writing process and ground your thinking with Yancey. 

DUE by class time on Tuesday, February 17, 2015. 

Conference Day Blog

Due by midnight on Tuesday, February 10, 2015 as part of your attendance for class. 

Essentially, you have thought about your theory of writing at least once. Other blogs have hinted at your theory without being so direct. You are going to continue your thinking, musing, and defining of your theory of writing for this post. This is meant to be reflective in nature, so it's good to revisit some of your old blogs and see what you said and even pull from them.

Questions to springboard your thinking: 

(1) Key Terms for Writing

What are your key terms for writing? How does it expand your writing practices to understand these key terms? How do these key terms connect to your research? Why is it important that you write in different genres of writing (so far, you've experienced the following genres: blog, proposal, report, lit review, outline/brainstorming, reflection)? 

(2) Writerly Identity

Who are you as a writer? A researcher? How does considering key terms contribute to the development of your writerly identity? How do you think research, especially inquiry-based research that you're doing right now, contributes to your writerly identity?

(3) Prior Knowledge and Experiences

How is writing this quarter similar or different to what you've done in the past? What are you learning that you might carry forward to future assignments, in this class or in others? Will understanding the key terms help you in future?

(4) Theory of Writing

Dr. Seuss' is known for his witty and oddly inspiring quotes will set the tone for your conclusion of this post. In one-two sentences, write your theory of writing in Dr. Seuss style. 

In-Class Work for Thursday, February 7, 2015

Blog Response Part 1: The Lit Review

What's your purpose of your lit review? What are some of your themes? What sources will you use within each theme? Finally, then discuss what's next: where do you need to do to start drafting your lit review for next week? 

Blog Response Part 2: Observations and Interviews

Last week, you did round robin type interview practice. Today, you'll be practicing observations for a minimum   of 10 minutes. Take notes. Observe. Take down impressions. Once you do this, I want you look back over you interview responses and look over your notes from your observations. Based on the two, what are 2 conclusions you can draw about the student population at DU? How did the interviews and observations inform these conclusions? Be specific. Use your research. 

All of this is due by the end of class on Thursday. You do NOT need to respond to your peers for this blog post. 

Lit Review: In-Class Work for Tuesday, February 5, 2015

After reading through the 2 sample lit reviews, please take a look at these 2 websites: 

(1) http://writingcenter.unc.edu/handouts/literature-reviews/

(2) http://www.duluth.umn.edu/~hrallis/guides/researching/litreview.html

Taken together--the sample lit reviews and the two websites--please respond to the following questions pulling on at least one of the websites to evidence what you are saying: 

What is the purpose of a lit review? (be specific!)

Why might it be extremely important to do a lit review before writing your essay? 

Why do we learn how to write a lit review? 

Next move to your research, and respond to the following questions:

What is the purpose of your lit review?

What are some themes that you might pull out from your research that you've already conducted? 

How might these themes connect back to your research question? 

Be as specific and detailed as possible.