This is the post for the week of December 11, 2017.

Calendar for the Rest of the Term

All submissions due by 11:59 PM.

Readings for the Week

• Final Exam: Performance Review
• Advice Articles on Writing Self-Evaluations
• #WeekendWatch: Final Exam Resources
• #TuesdayTutorial: How to Evaluate Evidence for Your Course Grade (coming 12/12)

Tasks for the Remainder of the Term

1. By 11:59PM on Monday, December 11, write your 12/08 Labor Log in Canvas, if you are using the grace period.
2. By 11:59PM on Wednesday, December 13, submit your project in the Genre Analysis Report assignment in Canvas if you are using the grace period.
3. By 11:59PM on Thursday, December 14, complete your SPOT survey. Use the advice on the #WednesdayWrite: SPOT Evaluations.
4. By 11:59PM on Monday, December 18, submit your final exam in the Final Exam: Performance Review assignment in Canvas. There is no grace period on the Final Exam. If you do not submit your exam on time (or do not submit it at all), your grade in the course will be lowered.

This is the post for the week of December 4, 2017.

Calendar for the Rest of the Term

All submissions due by 11:59 PM.

Readings for the Week

Review the readings about formal reports, as they apply to your Genre Analysis Report. There are chapters and Lynda.com videos all listed in Step 2 of the assignment.

Tasks for the Week

1. By 11:59PM on Monday, December 4, submit your 12/01 Labor Log in Canvas, if you are using the grace period.
2. Check your work on your Genre Analysis Report carefully. Since there is little time left in the term, you need to be sure that your project does not need revision. In particular, consider the following:
   1. Review the rubric, which is on the assignment page in Canvas.
   2. Ensure you include all the required sections and information, listed in Step 4 of the assignment.
   3. Use document design to organize the information:
      • Use Informative Headings Help Readers and to Create Information-Rich Signposts.
      • Use Lists to Organize Information. 
   4. Include documentation of the sources used (see how to create Citations & Bibliographies in MSWord).
   5. Spellcheck and proofread your work.
3. Finish work on your Genre Analysis Report:
   1. Tue, Dec 5 by 11:59PM: Post feedback on the drafts posted by your group members in the Group Feedback on Genre Analysis Report Discussion in Canvas.
   2. Fri, Dec 8 by 11:59PM: Submit your project in the Genre Analysis Report assignment in Canvas.
   3. Wed, Dec 13 by 11:59PM: Submit your project in the Genre Analysis Report assignment in Canvas if you are using the grace period.
4. If you find yourself ahead of schedule, begin work on your final exam.
5. By 11:59PM on Friday, December 8, write your 12/08 Labor Log in Canvas. Specific questions for your log are included in Canvas. The grace period for your log entry ends at 11:59 PM on Monday, December 11.

This is the post for the week of November 27, 2017.

Welcome back. I hope you all had a pleasant Thanksgiving. We’re down to the last days of the course, so it’s important to stay on track and finish strong. If you run into trouble, be sure to contact me so we can come up with a solution.

Calendar for the Rest of the Term

All submissions due by 11:59 PM.

Readings for the Week

Since you have your big project to share with your group this week, go back and review any readings that you need and whatever research you have found. You control your readings for this week.

If you have questions about readings, research, or writing, let me know.

Tasks for the Week

Because I want you to have the whole week to work on your Genre Analysis Report, there are no extra tasks this week. Just the essential work.

1. By 11:59PM on Monday, November 27, submit your 11/17 Labor Log in Canvas, if you are using the grace period.
2. Finish a draft of your Genre Analysis Report project for peer review:
   1. Fri, Dec 1 by 11:59PM: Post a draft of your report in the Group Feedback on Genre Analysis Report Discussion in Canvas.
   2. Tue, Dec 5 by 11:59PM: Post feedback on the drafts posted by your group members in the Group Feedback on Genre Analysis Report Discussion in Canvas.
3. By 11:59PM on Friday, December 1, write your 12/01 Labor Log in Canvas. Specific questions for your log are included in Canvas. The grace period for your log entry ends at 11:59 PM on Monday, December 4.

This is the post for the week of November 13, 2017.

As I mentioned last week, I know you will soon be leaving for Break, so I have tried to keep the work light:

• You will turn in your Progress Report and a Labor Log.
• You will continue working on your Genre Analysis Report.
• You will work on an outline of your report.
• You can comment on daily posts if you like. This week’s posts will focus on effective email messages.

Readings for the Week

Review this week’s reading for help with the tasks for the week. These are not new readings, but they will help you with the organization activity listed below.

• Articles from the “Professional Business and Technical Writing” section of Writing Commons
  • Front Matter Components
  • Body of Report
  • Back Matter Components
• #FridayFact: Informative Headings Help Readers
• #WeekendWatch: Create Information-Rich Signposts 
• Today’s Infographic (on the right)

Tasks for the Week

1. By 11:59PM on Monday, November 13, submit your 11/10 Labor Log in Canvas, if you are using the grace period.
2. By 11:59PM on Monday, November 13, submit your Progress Report in Canvas. If you are using the grace period, submit your progress report by 11:59PM on Thursday, November 16.
3. Review the readings above and sketch out a table of contents (TOC) that covers the required sections of your report. Be sure that your TOC informs your readers about the report’s contents. Incorporate your TOC in your Genre Analysis Report draft.
   Today’s infographic outlines some ways that you can write headlines, which can inform the way that you create information rich headings in your TOC.

My Advice
Submit your log before you leave for break. You will have a harder time trying to remember what you did this week if you wait.

4. By 11:59PM on Friday, September 29, write your 11/17 Labor Log in Canvas. Specific questions for your log are included in Canvas. The grace period for your log entry ends after Thanksgiving at 11:59 PM on Monday, November 27.
5. Be prepared to share a draft of your Genre Analysis Report with your writing group for peer review by 11:59PM on Friday, December 1.
6. During break, I assume that everyone takes a break, including me. Naturally, you can work on your Genre Analysis Report if you want to. Here are some additional details:
   • I may publish some extra posts during break (for fun and amusement), but I will not post any work.
   • If you have a question during break, email me at tengrrl@vt.edu. I will reply within 48 hours, not counting Thanksgiving Day.
   • You can try Slack as well, if you like. If I’m at my computer, I will respond immediately.

Note: This infographic needs a text-based transcript. See the Optional Accessibility Transcript Activity for more details.

This is the post for the week of November 6, 2017.

This week you will continue writing your Genre Analysis Report, and you will write a Progress Report that tells me about your project.

Readings for the Week

• Due Date Changes
• Progress Report Assignment
• From Technical Writing by Hamlin, Rubio, and DeSilva
  • 6. Progress Reports
    • 6.1 Functions and Contents of Progress Reports
    • 6.2 Timing and Format of Progress Reports
    • 6.3 Organizational Patterns or Sections for Progress Reports
    • 6.4 Other Parts of Progress Reports
    • 6.5 Revision Checklist for Progress Reports
• From Style for Students Online: Effective Technical Writing in the Information Age by Schall
  • Progress Reports
  • Sample Progress Report

Tasks for the Week

1. By 11:59PM on Monday, September 25, submit your 11/03 Labor Log in Canvas, if you are using the grace period.
2. Spend the majority of your time working on your Genre Analysis Report. The more work you get done this week, the easier it will be to finish after Thanksgiving Break.
3. Plan ahead for next week. I know you are probably planning when you will leave for Break, so I want to mention that the work next week will be light. You will turn in your Progress report and a Labor Log. Otherwise, you will continue working on your Genre Analysis Report. I will still post daily posts that you can comment on if you like.

Why a Progress Report Now?

Before you leave for Thanksgiving break, I want you to assess your progress and then tell me what you have done and what you still need to do.

When you return after break, you can return to your progress report to see what you need to work on. This process will help you “hit the ground running” when you get back. You won’t lose any time trying to remember where you left off.

4. Share a draft of your Progress Report in the Feedback on Progress Reports on Canvas by 11:59 PM on Wednesday, November 8.
   • In your message, ask your group to look at anything you are trying to improve. Let them know the kind of advice you need.
   • By 11:59PM on Friday, November 10, provide feedback to your group members, using the strategies in the Peer Review Commenting Strategies video.
   • Revise your Progress Report, using the feedback from your group members. Be sure to add any details on work you have completed since you wrote the first draft.
5. Submit your Progress Report in Canvas by 11:59PM on Monday, November 13. The grace period ends at 11:59PM on Thursday, November 16.
6. By 11:59PM on Friday, November 10, write your 11/10 Labor Log in Canvas. Specific questions for your log are included in Canvas. The grace period for your log entry ends at 11:59 PM on Monday, November 13.

Photo credit: Evernote ETC: My Field Notes by Brooks Duncan on Flickr, used under a CC-BY 2.0 license.

This is the post for the week of October 30, 2017.

Once you turn in your Short Report Proposal, you will turn your attention to the Genre Analysis Report, which will be your focus for the rest of the term.

Readings for the Week

Tasks for the Week

1. By 11:59PM on Monday, October 30, submit your 10/27 Labor Log in Canvas, if you are using the grace period.
2. By 11:59PM on Monday, October 30, submit your project in the Short Proposal assignment in Canvas. If you are using the grace period, submit your project by 11:59PM on November 2.
3. Assume that your proposal has been accepted, and begin work on your Genre Analysis Report. I have never had to reject a proposed topic, but I do ask for slight changes occasionally.
4. Begin your research for your Genre Analysis Report, and be sure to keep track of your sources for your bibliography. Use the instructions in Step 3 of the assignment to guide your research. This is a large project, so I encourage you to work steadily over the next month, rather than waiting until the last minute.
5. Check for tools that can help with your research by reading the infographic on the right of today’s post and the blog post “12 Essential Chrome Extensions for Student Researchers” from the Educational Technology and Mobile Learning blog on research extensions.
6. By 11:59PM on Friday, November 3, write your 11/03 Labor Log in Canvas. Specific questions for your log are included in Canvas. The grace period for your log entry ends at 11:59 PM on Monday, November 6.

Note: This infographic needs a text-based transcript. See the Optional Accessibility Transcript Activity for more details.

Photo credit: Chrome Extensions Infographic from Educational Technology and Mobile Learning.

This is the post for the week of October 23, 2017.

This week, you’ll share the draft of your Short Report Proposal with your writing group and give feedback to everyone else in your group.

Readings for the Week

Review the texts below for help with your project:

• Short Report Proposal
• Examples, Cases & Models: Proposals from Online Technical Writing
• Proposal Writing Basics from Business Communication for Success
• Proposals from Online Technical Writing
• Video from September 9: Peer Review: Commenting Strategies (video, 5m4s)

Tasks for the Week

1. By 11:59PM on Monday, October 23, submit your 10/20 Labor Log in Canvas, if you are using the grace period.
2. Check out the previous posts that can help you improve your Short Report Proposal:
• Proposal Overview
• Advice on Proposals
• Proposal Readers Don’t Want Suspense
• Reader-Friendly Proposals
• What to Include in Your Proposal
• Scheduling with a Gantt Chart
• Informative Headings Help Readers
• Creating a Gantt Chart
3. By 11:59PM on Wednesday, October 25, post a draft of your project in the Group Feedback on Short Proposals Discussion in Canvas.
4. By 11:59PM on Friday, October 27, post feedback on the drafts posted by your group members in the Group Feedback Discussion in Canvas. Be sure to use the strategies from the Peer Review: Commenting Strategies video.
5. By 11:59PM on Monday, October 30, submit your project in the Short Proposal assignment in Canvas. If you are using the grace period, submit your project by 11:59PM on November 2.
6. By 11:59PM on Friday, October 27, write your 10/27 Labor Log in Canvas. Specific questions for your log are included in Canvas. The grace period for your log entry ends at 11:59 PM on Monday, October 30.

Note: This infographic needs a text-based transcript. See the Optional Accessibility Transcript Activity for more details.

This is the post for the week of October 16, 2017.

I hope everyone had an enjoyable Fall break. It’s the half-way point in the term, so we’re getting closer and closer to the last day of class. This week we are picking back up on the Short Proposal project. As a reminder, your Short Proposal tells me what kind of writing you will focus on in your Genre Analysis Report.

Readings for the Week

This week’s readings are specific sections from your online texts that focus on the organization of your proposal. Even short proposals will include most of these sections. To prepare for the workplace, review all of the following information. Sections marked with an asterisk are required in your short proposal:

• From Business Communication for Success
  • 9.3 Business Proposal (scroll down to Table 9.2 Business Proposal Format)
• From Online Technical Writing
  • Common Sections in Proposals
    • Introduction *
    • Background *
    • Benefits and feasibility
    • Description of the proposed work * (Areas to be studied)
      
    • Method, procedure, theory *
    • Schedule *
    • Qualifications *
    • Costs, resources required
    • Conclusions *
    • Special project-specific sections
  • Organization of Proposals
• From Purdue: Planning and Organizing Proposals and Technical Reports (PDF)

Tasks for the Week

1. Practice the process of organizing a proposal with the Business Proposal Package Activities from City University of Hong Kong. Try all four of the Activities at the bottom of the page. They are drag-and-drop and multiple choice style activities, which work as a self-test on your understanding of proposal structure..
• TIP: The last of the four activities asks you to organize text into the correct order. You need to scroll down to the bottom to see the chunks of text.
2. Complete steps 3 and 4 of the Proposal.
• You should have completed steps 1 and 2 before Fall Break. If you did not finish, do so now.
• Write a full draft of your proposal this week, including all the required sections. Follow the details in steps 3 and 4.
  • TIP: For an easy way to begin drafting your proposal, I recommend copying the required section details from the assignment and pasting it into your word processor. That process will give you the details you need to include within the document, so you an begin adding your specific information under each heading.
• Be prepared to post the full draft of your proposal for feedback from your Writing Group on Wednesday, October 25.
3. By 11:59PM on Friday, September 20, write your 10/20 Labor Log in Canvas. Your log this week covers October 7 to October 20 (because of Fall break). Specific questions for your log are included in Canvas. The grace period for your log entry ends at 11:59 PM on Monday, October 23.

Photo credit: Gantt chart example by Vheilman from Wikimedia Commons, used under a CC-BY-SA 3.0 license.

This is the post for the week of October 9, 2017.

This week, we begin work on the last three projects you will complete for the course. All of the remaining major projects in the course are connected. Here’s how:

The take-away message is that you have to decide on your plan for both the proposal and the genre analysis report this week.

Readings for the Week

Tasks for the Week

1. By 11:59PM on Monday, October 9, submit your 10/06 Labor Log in Canvas, if you are using the grace period.
2. By 11:59PM on Monday, October 9, submit your project in the Analysis assignment in Canvas. If you are using the grace period, submit your project by 11:59PM on October 12.
3. Check out the posts on the rubric for the Bio project and on grades for the project. If you have an Incomplete, remember that you simply need to revise. I have suggested you revise by October 12. If you have a lot of work already this week (I know it’s midterm time), turn it in later. There’s no penalty for turning it in next week.
4. Review the assignments for the Short Report Proposal (due 10/30) and Genre Analysis Report (due 12/11). The Examples, Cases & Models: Proposal provides some models you can use as you work. There are also examples on the assignment pages. Post any questions you have about the assignments in #general on Slack.
5. Complete Steps 1 and 2 of the Proposal Assignment:
   • Read Step 1 of the assignment, and consider the advice on how to choose your topic.
   • Examine the kinds of writing you listed in your Analysis Project and, if you completed it, your answers to the #WednesdayWrite: Writing Superlatives post.
   • Choose your focus for the remaining projects, based on the advice and what you know about writing in your field.
   • Complete Step 2 of the assignment to familiarize yourself with the characteristics and features of proposals. You will do so by reading the online texts that are appropriate for your course.
6. Have a fun day off on Friday, and enjoy the weekend.
   • No Labor Log is due this week because of Fall Break. Continue to track your work as usual. Next week, your Log will cover October 7–20.
   • I will take some time off this weekend too. I will check in occasionally, but I will spend some time away from the computer as well. Look for responses to any questions you send on Monday, October 16.

Note: This image already has a text description, so a transcript is not needed.

This is the post for the week of October 2, 2017.

This week, you will share a draft of your project with your writing group, give feedback to your writing group members, revise your project as needed, and then submit the project.

Readings for the Week

• Analysis of Writing in Your Field Assignment
• Post for September 18 (for useful readings to review)
• Post for September 25 (for useful readings to review)
• Video from September 9: Peer Review: Commenting Strategies (video, 5m4s)

Tasks for the Week

1. By 11:59PM on Monday, October 2, submit your 09/29 Labor Log in Canvas, if you are using the grace period.
2. Review previous posts that can help you improve your Analysis project:
• Using Parallel Structures 
• Website Audience Analysis 
• Intercultural and Global Awareness in the Workplace
• Using Strong Verbs
• Improving A Table’s Appearance
• Can You Be Creative?
• Choosing Colors 
• Tables Can Be Boring
• Accessibility in Word
3. Rewatch the Peer Review: Commenting Strategies video for specific ways to comment on one another’s drafts. I will check for references to these strategies in your group comments.
4. By 11:59PM on Wednesday, October 4, post a draft of your project in the Group Feedback on Analysis of Writing Projects Discussion in Canvas.
5. By 11:59PM on Friday, October 6, post feedback on the drafts posted by your group members in the Group Feedback Discussion in Canvas. Be sure to use the strategies from the Peer Review: Commenting Strategies video.
6. By 11:59PM on Monday, October 9, submit your project in the Analysis assignment in Canvas. If you are using the grace period, submit your project by 11:59PM on October 12.
7. By 11:59PM on Friday, October 6, write your 10/06 Labor Log in Canvas. Specific questions for your log are included in Canvas. The grace period for your log entry ends at 11:59 PM on Monday, October 2.