Week 4 Notes, Fall 2016

Dear Class,

Welcome to another week of perusing beautifully written text. I cringed my way through some of it, and I look forward to seeing your reactions this week. Remember that your draft of Essay 1 is due at the end of next week!

Reflecting on Week 3:

Last week, we dealt with incredibly sensitive subject matter. I appreciated your candid, thoughtful assessments. Thank you for creating thoughtful posts and also for engaging in the discussion boards. We don't need to convince each other that we are right--we just need to present evidence that supports our claims, demonstrate contemplation and analysis, and keep open minds and hearts so we can learn together. Last week, I graded your Week 2 work, and I want to offer some class-wide feedback on your Week 2 work here:

• Be sure to maintain present tense as you discuss literature. I posted an attachment showing how to do that in Week 3.
• Use third person voice unless you are asked to share personal experiences. You don't usually need to say "I believe that. . ." when you are writing; readers already expect that you are sharing your convictions. Make every word count.
• Be sure to proofread your work carefully before submitting it, always on the lookout for typos, apostrophe concerns, comma use, and fragments.
• Work to provide a clear topic sentence, source support with accompanying analysis, and a clear conclusion. Developing this habit will prepare you for your first major essay in this class and for your mid-term and final.
• I've attached a "Small Writing Assignments" document below to help you see how I score assignments. It will help you strengthen your writing.

Looking forward to Week 4:

• Amy and Mary are our student moderators this week. Be sure to check back in after making your initial post so you may help them develop the conversation. You need to contribute to the discussions on at least two different days during the week to earn full credit for participating.
• Here is a link to "The Open Boat": http://public.wsu.edu/~campbelld/crane/open.htm
  
• With the conversion of this course into I-Learn 3, we've encountered a few strange things. One of them has been the study groups for each lesson--these were never intended for our course. Instead of posting your submissions during the lessons in "Study Group" discussion boards, you'll just submit your lesson-specific assignments IF our course designers can make the change by the time you want to post this week. As of 9:56 pm on October 1, the study groups are still in place. Follow the directions carefully and save your work. With fewer discussion board to post on each week, I hope you will be more active in "Questions for Your Classmates" discussion board and in our spiritual threads.
• Finally, please don't rely on the I-Learn calendar to show you all your assignment due dates. You need to comb through the Weekly folders to ensure that you get everything done. Posting to the spiritual thread or asking a question in "Questions and Conversations" each week is optional. The "Questions for Your Classmates" discussion board is required.
• Thank you for your diligent efforts in this class so far. Keep in mind that your first major essay draft is due for peer review at the end of Week 5. It ought to be five pages long.

Spiritual Thread:

I heard this quote at least twice during Conference, and it was an answer to so many of my prayers. Even though I've heard it several times before, it was special to me during Conference. This week, I'm focusing on people rather than problems. I'll post here about what I notice as I work on this.

What will you do this week as a result of what you learned during General Conference?

I am praying for your happiness and success!

Sincerely,

Sister Bowen