Class Notes

Working on Projects 5 & 6

by  •  • Comments Off on Working on Projects 5 & 6

This is the post for the August 7, 2014 class meeting.

Today, we will look at the assignments for Project 5 and Project 6, the two projects remaining in the course.

Class Work for August 7

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

  • Finding comments on graded work
  • Talk about the assignment for Project 5
  • Review the assignment for Project 6
  • Discuss powerful word choice

Finding Comments on Graded Work

I am working through the projects you have submitted as quickly as possible. As I grade projects, I do release them immediately. You may get an email message when they are released, depending upon the settings in Scholar. You can always tell what has been graded by looking at the Gradebook in Scholar or going to the Assignments page in Scholar. If you are unfamiliar with Scholar, you can use these instructions to learn how to find feedback on your Assignments.

Getting Started on Project 5

For Project 5, you will review your work in the course and write a completion report that outlines what you have learned and done during the term. In particular, you will review your posts on the Forums and point out some of your best work. In addition to grading your report, I’ll use the information you present to help determine your participation grade for the course. In the workplace, you could think of this report as a self-evaluation for a performance review.

Here’s what you need to do to get started:

  1. Read the assignment for Project 5 completely. Begin gathering data on your forum work, explained in Step 2 of the assignment.

  2. If you have any questions (today or in the future) about the assignments, post in Questions about Project 5 topic if you have questions about the report.

Continuing Work on Project 6

Project 6, your final exam, is due by midnight in your timezone on Friday, August 15. A rough draft of your work is due for peer review on Thursday, August 14.

Move forward assuming that I have approved your proposal for the job application materials you will submit. I will get feedback to you on the proposals as soon as possible. In the meantime, move forward writing (or compiling) the materials as you proposed them.

Discussing Powerful Word Choice

Choosing strong, powerful verbs is an important part of both Project 5 and 6. Review the Skills Cluster List (p. 44) in the 2013–2014 Career Planning Guide and the Power Skills for Your Resume and Resume Bullet Formula (p. 37–40) in the 2014–2015 Career Planning Guide. These resources demonstrate the kinds of verbs you can use to show yourself as a strong, active person.

Notice in particular how the example in the bullet formula in the 2014–2015 Guide moves from a generic idea (“communication skills”) to a very strong statement about what the person has accomplished. That idea of highlighting your “Demonstrated Accomplishment/Contribution” is what you should work for in your report for Project 5 and your job application materials for Project 6. For instance, rather than saying you were a strong forum participant in your Project 5 report, choose a strong verb and add clarifying details the show your accomplishment or contribution.

Go to the Project 5: Completion Report in the Forums and respond to at least one of the three self-assessment statements there:

You will find questions there to get your conversation started. As always, feel free to engage each other in discussion by quoting one another as you reply. You are only required to post a reply to one of the three statements; however, you may feel free to reply to more than one. In fact, if you have not met your minimum requirement for the forums yet, you can take advantage of this chance to post some extra replies.