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.

Today you will complete peer review for the first project.

Readings for July 13

For today’s session, please read the following:

• Editing and Proofreading tips and skim Appendix B of Markel.
• FAQs on the Google Drive system.

Work for July 13

• Complete the peer review activities (full instructions):
  • Post the link to your drafts for Project 1 in the forums.
  • Respond to two students in the forums.
  • Revise your Project based on the feedback.

• You will submit the Google share link to your document along with your transmittal memo on Tuesday. Remember that you have a two-day grace period if you need an extension. We begin Project 2 on Wednesday.

Optional

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.

We will follow this basic peer review process for all of the projects in the course:

• Post the share link to your drafts in the forums by 9 AM on Monday.
• Respond to two students in the forums by 11:55 PM on Monday.
• Revise your Project based on the feedback and turn in your project by 11:55 PM on Tuesday.

Posting Your Drafts for Project 1

1. Follow the instructions in Step 1 of How do I use Google Drive for peer review? to set up sharing permissions for your documents. You need to share your draft with “Anyone with the link” or “People at Virginia Tech with the link” so that we can read your work.

2. Go to your topic in the Project 1: Professional Biography Statement board in the forums. You’ll use the same topic where you posted your proposal for the project.
3. Share the link to your bio in Google Docs. You can follow these instructions to make your link in the forum post clickable.
4. If you have any specific concerns that you want your readers to consider, add a note on that as well.
5. Be sure to Preview your forum post to make sure everything shows up the way you want it to, and then Submit your message.

Replying to Project 1 Drafts

Next, you will reply to the posts of some of your classmates:

1. Review the instructions in Step 2 of How do I use Google Drive for peer review? to learn how to use the Comment features in Google Drive.

2. Go to the Project 1: Professional Biography Statement board in the forums, and 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.

3. Use the Share link to go to your classmate’s draft on Google Drive and do the following:

   • Check the title of the document, and add a comment to tell your partner if it is clear and effective.
   • If you notice any spelling errors, punctuation errors, or typos, mark them as you read, but please focus more on the content rather than editing.
   • Add comments on the content of the draft. Comment on at least three things your classmate does well and at least three things that your classmate could improve on. It’s fine to include more than the minimum number of comments. Refer to the ideas from the readings as appropriate.

4. Go back to the forums and add a reply to your classmate’s topic and add an overall comment in the forums that sums up what you thought of the bio(s) and gives your classmate some encouragement.

Reviewing the Comments You Received

Once you have finished adding comments to your classmates’ projects, return to your own draft, read the comments that your classmates have given you, and add replies as appropriate. For instance, you might thank your partner for catching an error, ask your partner for more detail on feedback you don’t understand, or share a revision and ask your partner if it is an improvement. Your goal is to reply by 11:55 PM Monday night so that your classmate can use the information to revise.

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.

Readings for July 8

For today’s session, please read the following:

• The assignment for Project 1: Professional Biographies.
• Read some tips on writing biographical statements for Project 1.

Work for July 8

Today, we begin work on the first major project in the course. Please complete these tasks:

• If you have not registered on the forums, follow the instructions in the 7/7 post to do so by 11:55 PM today. I will turn off open forum registration at midnight to lock out the spammers. Forum posts are part of your participation grade for the course.

• Discuss the advice on writing bio statements in the Readings for Project 1 topic in the forums.

• Begin making plans for your first project. You will post some preliminary details on your audience and purpose tomorrow.

• 

  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. You can skim through this topic for answers as well.

• 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.

Please pitch your plan for Project 1 by 11:55 PM Friday by writing a short message on the forums:

1. Go to the Project 1: Professional Biography Statement board in the forums, and start a new topic. Give the topic your name or your username to help keep things organized. For instance, if I were setting up a new topic, I would name it “Traci’s Bio Statement” or perhaps “Tengrrl’s Bio.”

2. In your new topic, do the following:
   • Identify the audience(s) and purpose(s) you have chosen for Project 1. Be sure to answer these questions:
     • What company or organization are you writing for?
     • Who will read your bio?
     • Where will it be published? (e.g., on a website, in a staff newsletter, and so on)
   • Give us enough information on your plans to understand what you are going to write about.
   • If you have any questions about your plan, include them in your post.

3. Once you have posted about your plan in the forums, read the plans of at least two of your classmates and add a reply with advice and encouragement.
   • 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.
   • I will reply to everyone by the end of the weekend. Do not count my replies when you are looking for a post that no student has replied to.