Final Words & Course Evaluation

Casey's note to students at the end of the semester...

Here we are at the end of Academic Writing Lab. This free course is designed to give entering college students a space to practice, learn, and improve college writing skills. It's not a traditional class, hence the use of the word "Lab" in the course title. 

I believe that writers teach themselves to write, but they need a supportive community to do so. Nobody learns in a vacuum. As your teacher, I'm part of this community, but there are many others: classmates, parents, friends, tutors, other instructors, etc. 

The best thing you can do to improve your writing (other than actually writing) is to read more and to be mindful of how other writers effectively communicate ideas. This is true for novelists, poets, literary critics, art reviewers, and so on. 

Your writing will improve as long as you continue to work on it. Don't think of yourself as a bad or insufficient writer; you probably just need more practice. Writing is truly difficult. You never know with certainty that you're getting it "right". It's difficult. Embrace this fact and you'll see improvement.

-- Casey

EVALUATIONS

To help your students locate course evaluations for each section, instruct them to click on the link for your course, the evaluation pops up as an alert under your dashboard, the link will say - “Please fill out the course evaluation.” I have sent out an email to all students to let them know, but please make sure to reiterate this information to them because their final grades will be locked until their course evaluations are completed. 

Getting your work in...

 Hello Students,

A shockingly high number of you have not uploaded your Exit Essay for this course. This is concerning. The directions are clearly articulated on the blog post directly underneath this one. To those of you have uploaded it on time, thanks; I'm not talking to you.

If... you haven't submitted your Exit Essay already, use the time after you complete your evaluation. This class ends at 12:30. If you need more time, you must ask me: csmith@dcad.edu

If... you have submitted your Exit Essay, use this space of time to write/revise/edit your final FYE reflective assignment (due tonight no later than 7 pm).

If... you have uploaded both your Exit Essay and your final FYE reflective assignment, use this time to revise and edit your final essay due in Reading & Composition. Give it another look. 

If... you have uploaded all of the above assignments to your satisfaction, spend the time familiarizing yourself with the three primary video-literature authors: The Hawtplates, Claudia Rankine and John Lucas, and Ryan Trecartin. Prepare smart insights for our class critique and discussion in R&C later this afternoon. 

Exit Essay: The Joy of Writing, a Self-Portrait

 

It's easy to feel the agony of writing like the man pictured above. We've all been there. For some of us, the agony is fairly constant. We hear nagging voices from past teachers, parents, various authority figures, that tell us, "You're no good. You can't write. You're always making the same mistakes." Sometimes these voices whisper, and sometimes they shout. Everyone hears them if they're listening closely. They become internalized, so they seem to come from within ourselves. These voices make us want to flee, to escape, to avoid the act of writing. See the man above? He has just had enough.

Well, why don't we flip the script? Let's silence those voices of unrelenting negativity. Let's focus on the other side. Let's approach the act of writing with radical positivity.

In your exit essay, focus only on aspects of writing that bring you joy. When you write something that you love, or maybe that your classmates, instructors, friends, or family love, how does it make you feel? Is it a different feeling from creating a work of visual art? How is it different? What actual strategies can you employ to get to this place of positivity? Be really specific using examples from your lived experience. This is an opportunity to tell the story (or stories) about particular times in your life when writing brought you joy, made you feel proud of your intellect, wit, humor, political beliefs, etc. Remember that writing also takes place outside of school and work environments. Think of all the writing you do via texts, message boards, social media, etc. You can also focus on academic writing and approach it in chronological fashion beginning with learning how to write your ABCs in Kindergarten, through grade school, middle school, high school, and now at DCAD. What have you learned to make the act of writing a positive and affirmative experience? 

Today in class you'll have 90 minutes to write and edit the first draft of this essay. Upload it to Populi by 12:30.

The final version should be single-spaced, one column, and fill a single page (use 10-12 pt font). Proofread the final version carefully. Catch the easy mistakes. 

Questions:  csmith@dcad.edu

The final version (docx please) must be uploaded to Populi by 9:00 am one week from today, December 8.