This is the post for the July 14, 2014 class meeting.

Today is peer review day for the first project. By sharing the draft of your first project, you will have the opportunity to get some feedback on your work before it is due. In addition, you will have the chance to get to know your classmates better by reading through the bios everyone else has posted.

I will be in the online chatroom this evening (from about 9 to 11 PM Eastern) if you need to ask any questions about your project.

Class Work for July 14

These are the tasks to complete for today’s work:

• Review Editing and Proofreading tips (Markel, Appendix, Part B).
• Post drafts for Project 1 in the forums.
• Respond to two students in the forums.
• Read everyone’s posts to get to know your classmates.

Editing and Proofreading Tips

Part B of the Appendix in your text goes over various rules for grammar, punctuation, and mechanics. You can review these rules as needed. There’s also a list of 20 Most Common Errors available under the Resources menu at the top of the page.

Posting Your Drafts for Project 1

You will post your draft in the forums, just as you posted your topics last week:

1. Go to the Project 1: Professional Biography Statement
   board in the forums, and find the topic you created with your name or your username (e.g., “Traci’s Bios.”).

2. Post a reply in your topic, doing the following:
   • If you do not want to share your last name in the forums, change it in your draft to a pseudonym. You can use a generic last name like Doe or Smith, or you can change it to Lastname.
   • Share your draft in one of two ways:
     • Link to your bios in Google Docs, if you have shared your draft with “Anyone with the link” or “People at Virginia Tech with the link.”
     • Copy and paste your document into the forums; however, you will need to restore the formatting (such as adding any bold or italics back to the draft)

   • If you have written more than one bio, please label them so that your readers will know what they are reading (for instance, you might note one is a formal bio for the company website, and the other is an informal bio for the internal company newsletter).

3. If you have any specific concerns that you want your readers to consider, add a note on that as well.

4. Be sure to Preview your draft to make sure everything shows up the way you want it to, and then Submit your draft.

Replying to Project 1 Drafts

You will post your draft in the forums, just as you posted your topics last week:

1. Read the drafts of at least two of your classmates and add a reply with advice and encouragement (more below).

   • Find one post that no other student has replied to (so that we can be sure everyone gets a reply).
   • Find a second post that has only one other student reply.

2. In your reply, be sure that you answer the following three questions for the draft:

   • What is good about the draft? What should not be changed? Why is it good?
   • What suggestions do you have to improve the draft?
   • Add an overall comment that sums up what you thought of the bio(s) and gives your classmate some encouragement.

Reading the Remaining Project 1 Drafts

To get to know your classmates a bit better, read through the remaining bio statements that are posted. If you notice anything you want to comment on, feel free to post additional replies.

Finishing Project 1

Read the peer review comments in the topic for your project, and use the advice to improve your work. You will post your projects tomorrow, along with your reflection memo. Tomorrow’s post will include details on writing the memo and how to submit your project in Scholar.