11/12/08

First thing today I collected the students works cited for Project 3. I only had 2 students complete them correctly for their final copy. I had a few others that did them wrong and made sure I explained to them how to complete them correctly.

I then collected their proposals for Project 5 in which they told me about their plans for each of their genres and their repetends. They were also given the chance to ask any questions about the project. I had one good question about grading. The student wanted to know if I would be grading them on creativity or following the format of the genre. I explained that it would be a mix of both.

Instead of having the students do a viewpoint about something random, I explained to them that for the next few weeks they would be journaling about their progress in Project 5 and that their journals would become their notes pages for their final project. They seemed to think this was a great idea (less work for them). Their prompt for the journal was to tell me how they're feeling about Project 5 after having completed their proposals. I asked them what they are confident about and what they know they'll need help on.

I then had the class pull out the schedule I gave them during the last class and we filled in the squares with how the project would progress so they would have no excuses about getting their work done. They seemed to think this was a good idea, too. I was hoping it would help them stay more organized.

We finished the day be looking at the genres that they wanted to do for their 3 pt. genre. Many had already changed their minds, but were still a little confused, so I took this time to answer questions and help each one get an idea of where he or she was going with the project.

I ended class by having them do the instructor evaluations. I prefaced it with a reminder about the projects we had done and told them to write comments for me on the back because I really value their feedback. I knew that some still wouldn't write anything, but I also knew that some would. By the amount of time they stayed in the room, I know at least a few did (which was encouraging).

I then came back to the room after they were finished (one of the students came down the hall to get me) and worked on a few things with some of the students.