DR C—CAPTAIN'S LOG
ADVANCED ENGLISH COMPOSITION 102
ONBOARD AND ONLINE—WEEK THIRTEEN: APRIL 7-13
ONBOARD—WEEK THIRTEEN
Day One
Now, my trainees had to post on Blackboard on Saturday of last week, their body theme three of their research papers. On Day Two of last week, I had assigned each person in a group of three or four. So, when they came to the training session on Day One, they got into groups and provided peer-to-peer review of their group members’ posts. They had already emailed to me their critiques; in this way this motivated everyone actually to have some valuable comments to share. No one, who had been assigned to a group, walked in unprepared. They had to give each member the same critique that they had emailed to me.
Also, each group member had to critique himself/herself. Thus, each person could see if some of the strengths and weaknesses s/he found were similar to what their group members noted.
I brought in my laptop and walked around the groups, at first listening. Then, I did my best to give my critique of each one’s first body paragraph or a paragraph that a member wanted me to critique.
Now, what about those trainees who did not come to class last week, thus, were not prepared? I told them to post that eve and be prepared to discuss on Day Two. On Day One they were encouraged to sit in on any of the groups. This gave them a clear idea as to what was expected and how they should conduct themselves on
Day Two
The peer-to-peer reviews were completed on this day. I continued by going from group to group giving my “two cents worth” of ideas that may help them improve. Also, some of my comments coincided with those of in their group. I want to foster confidence in my trainees’ own review skills. Still, they like the assurance they receive when they hear my comments.
ONLINE
My online trainees had the opportunity to choose from a list of extra credit assignments:
There are five ways (you can choose all five, only two, or only one—in other words, you can do all or none; it's your choice) you can earn extra credit points:
A. You can write a short story of no more than 300 words. You earn ten (10) points for writing of a short story. And 8 pts. for a poem of no more than 50 words. If either is accepted to be published in The MANA SUNSET (the online newsletter for writers on the MarketingNewAuthors.com website), the work will earn an additional 5 points.
You retain full copyright to use the work in any other literary magazine, newspaper, etc.
B. You can write a five-installment short story. It will earn 15 points. If it is accepted to be published in “MANA’s Short Story Series,” it will earn 5 additional points.
C. You can write a personal opinion piece on any topic you wish that is no more than 300 words. Extra Credit Points: 5 pts. If it is well-written (with very few Standard English dialect errors and well-developed content presentation), you will earn ten (10) extra credit points.
D. You can read a book for pleasure and write an annotated bibliography about that work. Extra Credit: 10 pts
E. For those of you who are artists or photographers, you can submit a drawing or photo that illustrates a current event. Your image should make a clear statement about the event. Then, write a paragraph that explains succinctly the message the photographic image or drawing conveys and your reason for submitting such a work. Extra Credit Points: 10 pts.
Reflections: What is the value of extra credit, especially for online students? When I point out any of their mechanics and grammatical errors, they know this will not severely affect their grade. For me, I can see if individuals are, finally, “getting it.” If a trainee is still “stuck” on a particular skill, I can provide personal help. Sometimes, I set up a personal podcast for that trainee.
Also, they know that their work may be considered to be published. If the work is accepted by the editor, that really increases their self-esteem. Also, extra credit opportunities really help online trainees even more since they really need my input but not only for graded work. In this way, a kind of rapport is, sometimes, established.
As for my onboard trainees, the peer-to-peer in-class reviews are quite helpful. Now, this year I changed how I do this. In the past, I would give the assignment expecting adults to come to their groups prepared and ready to give valuable input to their group members. Silly me :0!
This semester they had to present their critiques to me—ahead of time. Wow! That made a significant difference in the quality of the input. They knew that I would actually read and grade their critiques, so they were much more careful. I gave them a format that they should fulfill for each group member:
1. Point out the weakest point
2. If body theme three was for an argumentative research paper, comment on the opposing viewpoints and how they were refuted
3. Point out some mechanics and grammatical errors; also, suggest how the errors can be corrected
My online trainees had the opportunity to choose from a list of extra credit assignments:
There are five ways (you can choose all five, only two, or only one—in other words, you can do all or none; it's your choice) you can earn extra credit points:
A. You can write a short story of no more than 300 words. You earn ten (10) points for writing of a short story. And 8 pts. for a poem of no more than 50 words. If either is accepted to be published in The MANA SUNSET (the online newsletter for writers on the MarketingNewAuthors.com website), the work will earn an additional 5 points.
You retain full copyright to use the work in any other literary magazine, newspaper, etc.
B. You can write a five-installment short story. It will earn 15 points. If it is accepted to be published in “MANA’s Short Story Series,” it will earn 5 additional points.
C. You can write a personal opinion piece on any topic you wish that is no more than 300 words. Extra Credit Points: 5 pts. If it is well-written (with very few Standard English dialect errors and well-developed content presentation), you will earn ten (10) extra credit points.
D. You can read a book for pleasure and write an annotated bibliography about that work. Extra Credit: 10 pts
E. For those of you who are artists or photographers, you can submit a drawing or photo that illustrates a current event. Your image should make a clear statement about the event. Then, write a paragraph that explains succinctly the message the photographic image or drawing conveys and your reason for submitting such a work. Extra Credit Points: 10 pts.
Reflections: What is the value of extra credit, especially for online students? When I point out any of their mechanics and grammatical errors, they know this will not severely affect their grade. For me, I can see if individuals are, finally, “getting it.” If a trainee is still “stuck” on a particular skill, I can provide personal help. Sometimes, I set up a personal podcast for that trainee.
Also, they know that their work may be considered to be published. If the work is accepted by the editor, that really increases their self-esteem. Also, extra credit opportunities really help online trainees even more since they really need my input but not only for graded work. In this way, a kind of rapport is, sometimes, established.
As for my onboard trainees, the peer-to-peer in-class reviews are quite helpful. Now, this year I changed how I do this. In the past, I would give the assignment expecting adults to come to their groups prepared and ready to give valuable input to their group members. Silly me :0!
This semester they had to present their critiques to me—ahead of time. Wow! That made a significant difference in the quality of the input. They knew that I would actually read and grade their critiques, so they were much more careful. I gave them a format that they should fulfill for each group member:
1. Point out the weakest point
2. If body theme three was for an argumentative research paper, comment on the opposing viewpoints and how they were refuted
3. Point out some mechanics and grammatical errors; also, suggest how the errors can be corrected
4. Indicate what you felt was most interesting
Knowing that I would be assessing their assessments made them more vigilant in trying to do a decent job. Now, no one came to his/her group having done much work and having no one really respond to his/her work.
Yes, I recommend this method for doing a peer-to-peer review. Seeing that this new approach is much more successful, yes, I shall employ this method with some of my future online trainees.
No matter how many years I have been a captain, I never stop learning new methods of approach. And, especially having attended such a great conference, I had garnered so new ideas, too!
What do you think about DR C's Academic Online Cruise Ship? Tell us your thoughts in the comment box below this post.
No comments:
Post a Comment