ClassPrepareParticipate

=Preparation and Participation—Pointers= (for classes taught by [|Peter Taylor])

• Proceed through the stages of development of course projects, redirecting your remaining research efforts according to what emerges. (In Processes of Research and Engagement, proceed through the Phases and pursue the goals corresponding to each phase.)

• If you get behind, ask for an extension or skip the assignment/item—it defeats the learning goals to submit a stack of late work.

• Stay in touch with me about what's going on—or not going on.

• Work on your project outside class steadily, i.e., every week, throughout semester, for 5-7 hours. Preferably, set aside clear block(s) of time to do this.

• Bring workbooks to every class to do in class assignments. Bring a ballpoint pen to make a clear carbon copy when requested.

• Aim to take your investigations beyond a library research paper. When you find yourselves out of your technical depth, you will need to ask for assistance and guidance.

• Read guidelines and rationales for assignments in Notes on Teaching/Learning Interactions. The class meeting times are too short to explain everything.

• Keep an eye on assignment target dates and other tasks ahead so you give yourself time to prepare.

• Do assignments on a wordprocessor so you can revise them readily. Resubmit assignments when requested, responding to comments from me and sometimes from other students. Submit assignments on or soon after the dates for initial submissions and submit revisions by requested date. Submit a note whenever you don't re/submit an assignment on the due date, answering these questions: Are you still interested in your project? When you plan to do the assignment/revision, or what are you doing instead?

• Begin outlining and drafting your report by early November or early April, which leaves time for the revision process to clarify what research still is needed.

• Engage with other students to clarify your own projects, ideas and arguments; to learn about each other's projects; and to help each other by acting as constructively critical reviewers of those projects.

• Don't think about doing assignments as something to please the instructor—to jump through my hoops. Everything has to work for your projects. When you submit to me it's mostly to get comments to keep you thinking and moving along; secondarily to pace you; only thirdly for the grade.

• Use email attachments only if we've pre-arranged this, because I prefer to comment on printed copies of assignments.

• If I make notes in the margins, include the previous version when you submit revisions. (I keep carbon copies of my comments, so you do not need to include your copy of these.)

• Revise and resubmit promptly—the yield for your learning is lower if you are no longer thinking about what you were at the time you wrote.

• Read chapters 3 and 13 of Peter Elbow's __Writing With Power__ for a wealth of insight about the processes of sharing written work and revising with feedback. See also Elbow's [|SUMMARY OF KINDS OF RESPONSES]. See also notes on writing and revisingqq, including Freewriting suggestions.

• I encourage you to arrange pair peer sharing and commenting according to whatever terms you suit you both. This will enable you to expand the kinds of readers to whom you are responding and to avoid a common trap, that is, writing as if the reader is the professor who knows enough about your thinking to fill in what isn't clear.

• In addition to dialogue around comments, making notes on readings and the annotated bibliography assignment ask for an active dialogue with others who are not physically present. Such dialogue helps you to think deeply about ways that the information you are reading, listening to, or writing about connects with and perhaps alters your course project and your work more generally.

The limited class meeting time means that we have to a) use the time efficiently, and b) keep lines of communication open out of class. The following practices should help:

• Check-ins and check-outs at start and end of class, in which you hear yourself and hear others say what's been going on for them.

• Email or call me during the week if the instructions need clarification, etc., especially when others might share your concern. I check email daily but voicemail less frequently. If you have a problem that other students may share or a general comment send the message to the course googlegroups.com list (e.g., cct692@googlegroups.com).

• Arrange to have time on campus when you can do library research for your projects and consult with me during office hours. For people who have arranged a back-to-back class schedule, this will probably mean visiting campus on another day as well as the day of classes.

• We'll start class on time. Latecomers should quietly but firmly join us—don't take a seat at the back or off to the side.

• Build relations with your classmates—a lot of learning and opportunities for clarification can happen when you talk and share work with peers. This will also allow you to find out what happened if you miss a class, and so you'll be able to prepare and participate actively in subsequent classes. The break mid-class, for which we take turns providing light refreshments (see sign-up place on the wiki), is a good opportunity for connecting with others.

• Drop off and collect written work on your own from my in/out folders before you leave class. This gives me more time to set up the class and talk with students before and after class.

• If you are not ready to submit an assignment or revision on the due date, submit a note about when you plan to do so. I am flexible about extensions, but I need to know that you are keeping track of your work, not simply falling and feeling behind. Be responsible about course involvement—don't wait for me to check in with you.

• Give yourself a chance to digest comments on your assignments, and don't try to squeeze in a discussion on them when we're in a rush or otherwise distracted. Instead, use office hours, phone calls, and email (see details below).

• Later in the semester, when you're concentrating on your own projects, you might establish a daily check-in with a live or phone buddy to ensure that you're doing what is essential and not simply doing what has accumulated on your list of things to do. And to help you balance the divergent and convergent aspects of the research and writing process.

• Observe good etiquette for email (see http://www.faculty.umb.edu/peter_taylor/eetiquette.html), especially in renaming attachments before sending.