Assignment link for Week Fifteen is now active.

As always, write with any questions.

Steve

Examples of Effective ENG 111 Course Portfolios

I have posted this link in this week's assignments, but here it is another time. Remember, suspenders and belt are best insurance.

The Assignment Link for Week Fourteen Is Now Active.

This week, you move into pre-writing, putting together, and drafting your portfolio. Don't forget to bring everything you're doing to class next week, as we'll continue work shopping your final portfolio.

As always, if you have any questions, get in touch.

Steve

I will post assignments for the coming week tomorrow, Wednesday, 20 April.

Proven ways to make new habits stick...

Ok. You've been working on picking up a new habit all semester in Getting a Clue, so how to you make sure it sticks? This post from lifehack.com may hold a few answers to your finding a system which works for you:

Link: "Six Proven Ways to Make Habits Stick"

Steve

Assignment link for Week Thirteen is now active.

Ya'll are Awesome!!!! :)

FYI - Just back from the VCCS New Horizons conference today, and we are the PROUD WINNERS of the Excellence in Education Award for Best Face-to-Face Teaching Strategies for the "Getting a Clue" Learning Community. Thanks for all of the great portfolios turned in by those currently in the LC and the great work done on the wiki by the "Formerly Clueless"!!!! We couldn't have won without all of your hard work! :)))))))

-Prof M

No class next week, Tuesday, 6 April. Assignments link for Week Eleven and Twelve are now active.

Note: Next Tuesday, 6 April, is Assessment Day, and the college will be closed to students; so, we won't have a physical class. Luckily, you are in a hybrid section, where half your work and learning take place online anyway. On the assignments page, I have posted two weeks worth of exercises. These are exercises which are designed to allow you to learn as you do them. Feel free to work with your groups on any of them.
Exercises 1-4 are due by Midnight of Monday, 5 April.
Exercises 5-8 are due by Monday, 12 April.

Note: I will be out of town from Wednesday, 7 April - Sunday, 11 April attending the VCCS New Horizons conference. Professor Morrison, Miles McCrimmon, and I are finalists for a teaching award for the Getting a Clue SDV 100/ENG 111 learning community design. In addition to competing for the teaching award, we'll be presenting on the various components of our class design, including, survivingsarge.pbworks.com. I will be back in town on 12 April and again available to work with students.

Assignment links for the week are now active.

The assignments link for the week is now active. Sorry for the delay activating it. This is the first time we've done the library visit in Getting a Clue, and I had a lot of background work to do building it into the course assignments for the second half of the semester.

From your perspective, you'll appreciated that I kept the week's work shorter than usual as a result.

See you next week.

As always, write with questions.

Steve

Welcome Back from Spring Break

Welcome back from Spring Break, I hope you return safe, rested, and ready to hit the ground running.

Remember, tomorrow's class will be on using the library to local resources for your upcoming short research paper on your career path and/or choice. You'll need to be at the presentation to know how to discover the sources you'll use for the paper, so this is a critical meeting.

We'll meet in front of the library in Massey prior to 9:30. If you come in late, I will snarl at you, because the librarian is taking time out of his day to make your life easier. If you do have to come in late, come in, ask one of the front desk librarians where we are meeting, and do come in. This is an important meeting.

Remember to bring your career file. If you don't know what this is, it's explained in last week's assignments.

Your work for the rest of the week will be posted under assignments on this website. You'll need to get it done prior to meeting next week.

As always, write with questions.

Steve

Getting a Clue Course Design Video

Here is the video on the Getting a Clue course design made, in part, from the pictures we took last week.  Thanks for your help.

Steve

I hope you are enjoying your Spring Break, but...

I hope you've set up your time and work, so you can enjoy some time off over Spring Break.

For those who didn't, however, do allow time to complete the assignments.  These include the draft of your reflective essay for ENG 111, having your career research/resource file with you on the 23rd, a review of the comments you received back and of your SDV portfolio, and--finally--two short posts for your blog.  All these exercises are explained more fully on the assignments page for the week.

I'll see you in front of the library prior to 9:30 on Tuesday the 23rd.

Steve

Final Portfolios

If you have not already picked up your Final Portfolio, they are in my office in LTC 231. Please make sure you pick it up as you'll need it for your ENG 111 portfolio.

Meet in front of the library on 23 March.

As a class, on 23 March, we'll meet in front of the library just prior to 9:30 for the library workshop on career research.

If you get there late, and we've already gone in.  Ask a librarian where the ENG 111 library workshop is meeting, and the librarian will direct you to the correct room.

The real trick here is to not be later; however, if you are, come in anyway.  This is a critical class for the upcoming short research paper/project on planning out and researching your career path.

Steve

PS Don't forget your new Career Project file.  Bring it to the meeting on the 23rd.

The Assignment Link for Week Eight is Active.

Assignments Due for ENG 111 by Monday, 8 March at Midnight Posted.

SDV Final Portfolio Reminders

Hi, everyone.

Here is a reminder checklist of everything that needs to be included in your final portfolio:

1) Reflection Letter (aka. Cover letter, Cover essay, Reflective essay, etc.). This should be 4-5 pages in length double-spaced and include the items that Dr. Brandon gave you in class this week. You can reference these instructions in Week 6 or at the bottom of this announcement.

2) Life Files printed out and dated (6 total including the one assigned this week)

3) Major Asignments

• Career Assignment (including all 4 parts - Inventories Summary, printed description of one particular job, Career Exploration Worksheet, and Job Listings)
• Advising Assignment (including all 4 parts - First Year Advising Sheet from the SSC, your addresses page, your financial aid page, and your course schedule for this semester)
• Activities Assignment (2 completed activities and full descriptions. If you were unable to attend an activity b/c it was cancelled or rescheduled, you may include proof of the original sign up for credit.)
• Course Evaluation (email from Class Climate asking you to evaluate the SDV course - This should be sent to you within the next few days if you haven't already received it. I just need the "Thank you" page for your assignment.)

4) Artifacts - demonstrating what you've done and learned in my class. This is one of the MOST important parts of your portfolio for me and should include LOTS of work.

If you have any questions, just email me!

-Prof M



Reminders from Week 6 on What the Reflective Letter should include:

"3. In class this week, we began discussing the reflective essay/cover letter you will write for your final SDV 100 portfolio. In many respects, your grade on your final SDV portfolio will reflect how you are doing in both SDV and ENG 111, because to write the reflective essay and write it in a way which will allow you to achieve your rhetorical purpose for the letter, you'll have to employ what you've learned in ENG 111 about rhetoric, audience, writing for a purpose, adapting your writing to the needs of your audience, and writing process. This week, you learned about the necessity of connecting the claims you make to evidence and analysis. These are the Point-Evidence-Analysis (PEA) body paragraphs we discussed in class. In class, you also worked with your group to come up with a list of claims you can honestly make about what you have learned in SDV 100, and you began to connect these claims with specific artifacts from assignments which you've completed for SDV and ENG 111.
a. Complete and publish the list of claims you can make and the evidence you can use to support these claims to your blog. This can serve as a record for your final ENG 111 portfolio of what you've learned in terms of group discussion and brainstorming as pre-writing/discovery techniques. If you weren't in class, make sure to get a copy of these notes from someone in your group; otherwise, you'll need to create them on your own.
b. With the post from 3a in hand, you are now in a position to begin drafting individual, PEA paragraphs for your SDV portfolio's reflective essay. Draft three body paragraphs of this essay using your post from 3a. Each paragraph should follow the PEA structure, that is, each paragraph should: 1) make a claim/offer an opinion about what you have learned in SDV; 2) introduce evidence you can use to support this claim/opinion; and, 3) provide an explanation of why this evidence supports your claim/opinion. Remember, in each paragraph, you might need to invest from one to three sentences for each part of the paragraph, and it isn't uncommon to need to introduce two or more pieces of evidence and accompanying analysis to support each claim. Post the drafts of your paragraphs to your blog. Remember, drafts are written in complete sentences; they capture what you want to say in sentences and paragraph form; and, you assume you'll be going back and revising and proofreading the paragraphs later, so they don't need to be perfect. They do need to capture your thinking about your claim as completely as possible. "

Assignment Link for Week Seven Is Now Active.

Note:  This is an important week.  You'll be finishing up SDV 100, and finishing up and turning in your SDV 100 final portfolio.  The work you do this week is crucial to your suggest in both SDV and ENG 111.  Plan the week, so you can do your best work.

Note: SDV 100 Final Portfolio DUE: 4 March, 231 Massey, BEFORE Noon.

Steve

A New Regimen for Getting in Touch and Meeting with Me.

About a month ago, I was diagnosed with vertigo, which is a fancy Latin word for dizziness.  The vertigo first presented itself during a visit to Baltimore and following a cold, and the doctors seem convinced it is related to a chronic sinus infection.  As a result, I have been on antibiotics, heavy decongestants, and allegory drugs for over a month, but symptoms have become worse rather than better over time.

I don't usually share health issues with a class.  So far,  I have been able to make every class I have had to teach and interact with and help students.  However, the vertigo has affected my ability to drive, and episodes come and go unpredictably, though they do get worse as the day progresses, which means I am limited in the times I will be at my office.  While I can still make arrangements for face-to-face meetings, and I will be happy to do so, if you need to see me in person, until further notice, the best way to contact me is via one of the website contact forms or via phone, 804-885-3727.  Moreover, until further notice, please contact me to arrange each face-to-face appointment rather than stopping by my office, as I want to make sure I am there when you do stop by.  

Steve  

Class last week

Hi, everyone.

I just wanted to say how pleased I was with the attention that you gave Ms. Pope in class last week.  You asked excellent questions!  :)

Reminder - Ms. Bruce will be coming to class with information on how to transfer to the 4-year school of your choice.  Make sure you bring lots of questions.  And, please be on time!

-Prof M

Portfolios

Hi, everyone.

A few of you didn't pick up your portfolio in class last Thursday.  I will be bringing them with me this coming Thursday.  Please make sure that you get them. 

Also, don't forget - we have a guest speaker coming this week.  Make sure you bring all of your financial aid and credit card questions with you!

-Prof M

The Assignment Link for Week Five is Activated

It looks to be an interesting week.  Folks like speaking about money and how to do better with it, and you'll be learning why and how you can keep more money in your pocket.  In the process, you'll be looking at the difference between process and product, learning the rhetoric and process writing involved in creating and keeping a budget, and you'll learn about financial aid.

Steve

Office hours cancelled for Doc B, Thursday and Friday, 4-5 Feb.

I have been fighting off a chest and sinus infection since last Friday.  The cough which has accompanied it has become much worse overnight, and my voice is affected. The upshot is that I won't be keeping office hours today, Thursday, 4 February.  I don't normally have office hours on Friday, but I am also cancelling all meetings and appointments Friday as well, as I have a doctor's appointment in the morning and want to get in as much rest as possible, all with an eye toward being rested and--hopefully--well enough to tackle a full week next week.

If you had planned on stopping by my office, please email using one of the forms on the webpage, as my voice isn't all it could be.

Thanks,

Steve

Link to week four assignments now active.

A student wrote asking that I activate the fourth week's assignments.

Usually, I activate the assignments during Prof J's and my shared office hours each Wednesday morning, 9:00-11:00, but I didn't see any real reason to not activate the link early.  I do have one concern.

Please don't get distracted from working on your portfolio for SDV 100.  Until you turn it on on Thursday, 4 Feb, it is your most important consideration in both SDV 100 and ENG 111.

Of course, starting after you finish your portfolio and turn it in, week four's assignments then become your most important consideration.

Steve

Office hours Monday, 1 February

I've spent the day hoping the streets in front of my home would get plowed, but my wife is just back from a walk in the neighborhood looking at the streets and stopping by the neighborhood grocery.  

It looks as if the interstates are plowed, but secondary and neighborhood streets are still only, at best, snow-packed.  I suspect this will translate into refreezing overnight and dangerous driving tomorrow morning, during my regular office hours; so, I'm going to keep virtual office hours as usual from 8:00-1:00, but I am going to keep them from home.

You can call and speak with me by calling 804-885-3727; you can email me at sbrandon@reynolds.edu, or you can IM me at prof.brandon@gmail.com to get in touch with any questions you may have.  If there is an a need, I will come into campus, but--unless asked--I will only be available from home to help.  

Steve 

Welcome.

Welcome to the Getting a Clue Learning Community. 

Professor M (Jena Morrison) and Doctor B (Steve Brandon) welcome you to what we hope will prove a fun and enlightening semester.