Assignments: 11-17 February

Week of Reflection, Review, and Catch Up.

Now that you understand the basics of two of the fundamental concepts in the class--rhetoric and process, it's time to review, reread, reflect on, and integrate this knowledge into a firm foundation for later work. Rather than adding to your reading and writing, this week, I want you to take the time to go back and review, reread, and--if needed--catch up.

Start at the beginning of the class blog and text. Review each assignment, and make sure you've used your blog and writing inventory to show you've "gotten" the ideas to which you've been exposed. If you skipped an assignment or reading, now is the time to complete them. This is also a good time to write me with questions, to stop by my office with questions, to bring your blog and writing inventory up to date, and in so doing, integrate all the knowledge to which you've been exposed.

As you do this, I'll be writing on the blog a few posts which should help you gain a better "big" picture of how your writing inventory, blog work, and reading both create your grade and, more importantly, give you a set of skills which, once practiced and integrated, allow you to write better texts and provide a foundation for becoming a better writer.

Don't think this week as a time where you're allowed to rest on your laurels. When you have been quickly exposed to new skills and knowledge, for them to "set," there has to be a time where you review and reflect. This is why I have you write on what you've read in your blogs and in your writing inventories, and it's why tests are a basic part of teaching and learning. Repeated exposure to the same knowledge and repeated practice of new skills not only helps you improve the speed and accuracy of their application and use, it helps you make connections which otherwise would never get made. The upshot? Use your time and work this week to review and integrate the knowledge and skills to which you've been exposed.

Make the most of this opportunity. Depending on the kind of work I see happening on your blogs and writing inventories, and how productively you use this opportunity, I may extend this brief time for reflection and review into next week. After this, I will be introducing new material and work which will build on the foundation of knowledge and skills which I will assume will be more firmly in place.

As always write or stop by with questions. I'm here to help.