Today you will submit your first project. Project 1 is due by 11:55 PM tonight.

If you need an extension, take advantage of the no-penalty, no-questions-asked grace period, which ends Thursday night at 11:55 PM. If your work is not submitted by the end of the grace period, you earn a zero.

Readings for July 14

For today’s session, please read (or review) the following:

• FAQs on the Google Drive system.
• Guidelines on “Organizing a Memo” in Markel, on p. 232.
• Writing Center at Virginia Tech (If you are in Blacksburg, remember that the Writing Center has summer hours and they can help you with your assignments for this course.)

Work for July 14

There are two parts to submitting Project 1:

• Writing your transmittal memo.
  As I explained in the assignment, the transmittal memo is your chance to tell me anything you want me to know about your project. I will read your memo before I read your bio.

• Sharing your project link.
  For this project, your transmittal memo will give me the link to your biography statement on Google Drive.

Writing Your Transmittal Memo and Submitting Your Project

Follow these instructions to submit your work:

1. Go to the Assignments tab on the left menu in Scholar.
2. Choose “P1: Professional Bio Statement.”
3. Scroll down to the text box below the headings Submission and Assignment Text. You will write your transmittal memo in this box. (Alternately, you can write in a word processor and copy/paste your text into this box.)
4. Add your memo headers (To, From, Subject, and Date). For your transmittal memo, you’ll use the following:
• Address your memo to me (Traci) and from you (use your name).
• Add a subject line that indicates this is your transmittal memo and which project it is for.
• Add the current date.
5. Insert a horizontal divider line under the headers (using the button indicated with the red arrow in the image below):
   
6. Introduce your project:
   • Explain who the audience for your statement(s) is and where you are imagining that the bio will be published. Tell me whatever I need to know to understand the information you have included and the tone you have used.
   • Tell me anything else you want me to know about the bio, including the content, the layout and design, and any images you included.
   • Explain what grade have you aimed for and how well you think you met your goals.
7. Make sure that your document is a Google Doc (and not a PDF or Word Docx file). See the tips below for information on how to convert your files if necessary.
8. Add the Share link to the document on your Google Drive. Use the instructions for how to get the Share link on the FAQ site if you are unsure how to share documents (see the tips below).
9. Agree to the Honor Code by clicking the checkbox at the bottom of the page in Scholar. You cannot finish submitting the project without clicking that checkbox.
10. Submit your Project, and save a copy of the confirmation and submission ID. If something goes wrong in Scholar, you can contact 4HELP with that information.

Tips on Using Google Drive

The FAQ site has step-by-step instructions for tasks you will complete with your Google Drive, including converting your document if you have worked in another word processor, adding comments, and sharing your documents are all included.

To make sure that you can submit your first project smoothly, pay attention to the following FAQs:

• If you worked in something other than Google Drive, you can use your preferences to automatically convert files you upload to Google Drive automatically.
  This step is important so that I can use the commenting features in Google Drive.
• If you already uploaded a document to Google Drive, check the format of your files and manually convert the files on Google Drive if necessary.
• Follow the instructions on how to set permissions and get the Google Drive Share link to get a link that will allow me to read and comment on your document.

Note that if your documents are in the wrong format or the permissions do not allow me to comment, I will return your work ungraded.

Readings for July 10

For today’s session, please read the following:

• Strategies for adapting your writing to the needs of your readers and chapter 6 of Markel.
• Principles of ethical communication and chapter 2 of Markel.

Work for July 10

Please complete these tasks:

• Go to Tests & Quizzes in Scholar, and complete the remaining quizzes for this week´s readings. You should take the quizzes on Chapters 1, 2, 3, 4, and 6 by 11:55 PM on tonight (Friday, July 10). If you need an extension, use the grace period, and complete your quizzes by 11:55 PM tomorrow (Saturday, July 11). See additional policies for quizzes on the course logistics page.

• Remember to pitch your plan for Project 1 by 11:55 PM Friday. I will check your short proposal to make sure you are on the right track for the assignment.

• Continue working on the drafts for your bio statement. For Monday, you will post your draft in your topic in the forums, and give peer review feedback to two other students. Project 1 is due on Tuesday, July 14. The grace period ends on Thursday, July 16.

• If you have any questions about the assignment, post them in the Questions about Project 1 topic in the forum.

• When I’ll reply to any questions: I am at West Virginia University this week, at a digital publishing and accessibility seminar. I am in sessions during the day. Look for replies after 9 PM Eastern today.

Readings for July 9

For today’s session, please read the following:

• Details on the characteristics of technical writing and chapter 1 of Markel.
• Details on the importance of audience and purpose and chapter 4 of Markel.
• Examples for Project 1, to help you understand the assignment.

Work for July 9

Please complete these tasks:

• Go to Tests & Quizzes in Scholar, and complete the reading quizzes on Markel, Chapter 1: “Introduction to Technical Writing” and Chapter 6: “Analyzing Your Audience & Purpose” by 11:55 PM on Friday, July 10. See the policies for quizzes on the course logistics page.

• Discuss the example bio statements in the Analyzing Example Bio Statements topic in the forums.

• Follow these instructions to pitch your plan for Project 1 by 11:55 PM Friday. I will check your short proposal to make sure you are on the right track for the assignment.

• Begin working on the drafts for your bio statement. For Monday, you will post your draft in your topic in the forums, and give peer review feedback to two other students. Project 1 is due on Tuesday, July 14. The grace period ends on Thursday, July 16.

• If you have any questions (today or in the future) about the assignment, go to the Questions about Project 1 topic in the forum and add them. Remember that the protocol for this course is to check the forums and then ask your question there if you don’t find an answer.

• When I’ll reply to any questions: I am at West Virginia University this week, at a digital publishing and accessibility seminar. I am in sessions during the day. Look for replies after 9 PM Eastern.