Prompt 4: What is community and why does it matter?

I created this video about Community and Genre for my Eng 200 class last semester and I think this is an useful place to begin our discussion. At around the same time I wrote this blog post – Community: Jumping to become a full-patch member which further extends my argument.

Links from the video (if you want to learn more):
Genre
Memo
Discourse Community
Gangland
Wolfpack

Reflect on this idea of joining a community. What communities have you joined and how has this process been similar or different from the one I describe?

I also want you to begin thinking about the ways that the web has made the process of learning about a community – and joining it – much easier (or perhaps more complicated?). This can help you with your proposal as well as your project.

Look for the web site of a business or organization that relates to your project topic. For example, Teach For America has come up in our goals discussion. Read up about the organization’s mission, goals, and history. How easy will it be to join this organization? What are the steps to becoming a full-patch member?

I also want you to investigate some hashtags (read this post to learn more about hash tags: The Twitter Hash Tags if you still aren’t clear about them) that relate to your topic (and intended community). Here are a few that I suspect will be helpful for you:

#appalachia

#rescue

#teaching

#writing

As the post above describes, hash tags develop organically rather than systematically so you have to play and experiment a bit to find the most appropriate and relevant hash tags. Once you have found a few that will work for your project then investigate the Twitter stream for that hash tag and check out the links that people Tweet. You will often find great resources, blogs, and interesting folks this way. Tell us about them!

Prompt 3: What comes next?

While writing a grant can be challenging, the work does not end with the submitted request. After you receive a grant then you of course have to implement the programs (which frequently involves various marketing and communication efforts that involve professional writing). But more importantly if you want to keep your current grant(s) and possibly receive more grant(s) then you must file the necessary reports. Sometimes those reports are financial and/or accounting in nature (ie. we spent this much on this thing and here is the receipt) but frequently granting agencies want to know a lot more about the details of your implementation of the project you promised. They want to see what they are getting for their investment and that you are delivering what you promised.

This week I'm going to share more of my National Writing Project work by sharing our 2012 Site Report, but first a little background. Check out the National Writing Project web site to learn more about NWP. 

In the past, our funding from NWP and the Kentucky Department of Education was rather automatic. NWP had a line item in the federal budget and occasionally that amount went up. Similarly, the amount we would receive from KDE was fairly stable. We created (as a site) three documents that we submitted to NWP each year. These were a site profile (reporting on activities and programs as well as who attended those); budget report accounting for every dollar spent (that means a description/narrative with almost every line item); and a Continued Funding Application that was a sizable document which was part grant request (for the new year) and report on what we accomplished (for the old year). Also, NWP likes to see lots about the challenges you faced and what you attempted to overcome those challenges as well as details about the outcome and what you learned. The CFA would include a proposed budget for the upcoming year and that budget would have to be approved by KDE and MSU as well.

For most of my tenure as site director for the Morehead Writing Project, however, our state funding has gradually diminished, but we were able to adjust to those changes. Then almost a year ago NWP lost its federal funding. Read more here. This has changed our report cycle as well. We still submitted a site profile and budget report but instead of a CFA (as there is no continued funding at this time) we are submitting a much shorter Site Report and something called a Continued Association form. The Continued Association form simply confirms that we want to continue as an NWP site. I would imagine that there are a number of sites who won't be able to do so because they do not receive the state funding that we do here in Kentucky or the institution support that MSU provides. The form also asks about interest in future funds for specific projects. NWP has told us that they will likely not have large unencumbered funds to give us as they have in the past but do expect to have funding for smaller and more specific projects.

Of course, I believe (based on my experience as a site leader) that we need to make the case for why our site should be eligible for those funds in our Site Report. Unlike the Big Read grant, which I primarily wrote myself, the Site Report is a collaborative effort of our Leadership Team. We need to submit a Site Report by next week and my Leadership Team is sending me their contributions this week so I will share (just as I did with the Big Read grant) in the discussion board when I can. In the meantime, you can begin with journal posts about the Site Report and its purposes. Learn more here.

I also hope you will continue to think about possible project ideas and draw inspiration from MWP's work. For example, our main goal is improving the teaching of writing and our main work toward achieving that goal has been professional development but we have extended our work to so much more than that to include writing conferences, writing camps (much more planned for this year), and the Big Read.Think about your passions and interests and goals. What can you do to extend and improve upon existing programs? What do people need to know or how can you improve understanding about important issues? What problems currently have no good solutions? For example, if you want to improve the plight of homeless and abused animals is the need for more shelters and adoption programs or is to raise awareness, promote adoptions, and increase funding? Your projects can propose solutions or simply investigate options or some combination of the two. You can seek out grants and write proposals on behalf of organizations if you want to do that as well. I need to work on your assignment sheet but may not get it done until tomorrow but as long as you keep thinking about it then you'll be fine.

Bonus Prompt

I apologize for being an idiot and for doubling your reflection and work load with no notice whatsoever. I will offer this defense and apology.

First of all, as you may remember this is my first time teaching this class and I received the assignment about 10 days before classes started so I didn’t really have time to think through the semester properly and certainly didn’t have time to think about how the other half of my job might usefully inform and contribute to my teaching. And I do really think this will give you insight into professional writing. That’s the explanation for this last minute bombshell. By way of apology, if you willingly engage in this reflection and editing discussion then I will give the entire class a week off from reflection activities later in the semester when the final project deadline looms. This way when all is said and done you won’t really be doing extra work (or at least not much) and really you will be ahead of the game which is always a good thing.

OK, enough teasing. Here is the bombshell: I want you to still engage in the Prompt 2 reflection activities you were already assigned (and many of you have already begun) but I want to add another (bonus) topic. You will still journal, discuss, and tweet about this topic (so in essence you will have two journal entries, participate in two discussion board forums, and post two sets of Tweets this week. I know, I know, that is a lot to ask but think about it as getting ahead.

I am doing this to you (I’d rather think of it as for you but I know that’s not how it feels when a teacher drops this sort of bombshell) because I was working furiously on a grant application (today) and suddenly realized that this would be a great opportunity for you to see the process from the inside. I then realized I would be very remiss if I did not grab this teaching opportunity and use it. Believe me, the last thing I want when fighting a tight deadline is to stop writing, thinking, and editing to teach but I’m hoping it will all work out in the end. I hope this work will also inspire your own thinking in regard to your semester project.

Here is the situation:

My job description at MSU includes teaching two classes each semester and serving as the Site Director for the Morehead Writing Project (basically half-time teaching and half-time administrating). As an affiliate of the National Writing Project, MWP’s mission is to improve the teaching of writing (although we interpret this to improving literacy instruction as you cannot really separate reading and writing). We are supported by a mixture of federal, state, and local grants as well as institutional support (MSU) and our own program income. Our primary purpose is professional development although we also run a number of community outreach programs as well. I am currently engaged in writing a grant for a community outreach project for a program run by the National Endowment for the Arts called the Big Read. You can read more about it here: http://www.neabigread.org/about.php

For your journal reflection, I want you to look at the guidelines and applications instructions: http://www.neabigread.org/guidelines.php and think about how you would review applications. This review cannot be based on your personal preferences and interests. It needs to reflect the parameters and requirements of the Big Read. Specifically look at the criteria and requirements. What needs to be in there? Don’t simply list the requirements again but think about what it really is that they are looking for. What buzz words and ideas will tickle their fancy and/or turn them off, for example. What will capture their interest? What will make them reject a project? Really think about what a successful application would look like.

You might also want to reflect on the work that doesn’t show up on paper. How much groundwork, planning, collaboration, and networking is essential to prepare an application of this nature? Sure I’m writing it but there are a whole lot of people involved.

In Blackboard, I will post the narrative and accompanying documents as I draft them (oh yes, I’m letting it all hang out, and it’s not pretty) and our discussion will center around your evaluation of those documents – not as an editor but as someone on the committee reviewing my application. Where have I gone right, gone wrong, and what do I need to add or take out or expand upon? This is a real, honest-to-goodness work in progress and I’m on a real deadline (Feb. 1). This is not a drill.

And, last but not least, do not forget to Tweet!

Prompt 2: What do you want?

Last week's prompt focused on what we mean by professional writing, but this week we are going to talk about what you specifically want out of this class. All your assignments for this class will center around one specific project/topic. You have a few weeks before you need to settle on that topic and project, but this week we will begin thinking about possibilities.

I want you to begin with journaling about your chosen major and intended future career. Where do you see yourself in five years? ten years? Also reflect about what really matters to you. What are your hobbies and interests? Where do you want to live and why?

Right now I just want you to dream big here. We'll worry about sifting, sorting, trimming, and shaping later. Just throw out lots of ideas for now. We want to explore who you are, what makes you tick, and where you want to go.

In addition to that self-exploration, I want you to begin thinking about the types of writing that are available to you. Think first about this article: Writing is the greatest invention. I happen to believe that rhetoric is incredibly powerful and has the capacity to change the world. It can sway emotions and thoughts, but perhaps more importantly it can make things happen. Think about the actions of people, governments, and industries -- what is really possible without written communication and records? You can get some ideas of the different types of writing that different professions engage in by watching the videos on Write for your life. In particular watch the topics of "Introductions" and "Kinds of writing".

Think about topics and questions you would like to explore or learn more about that connect with your major, intended profession, and/or region. What needs do you see? What would you like to change or do when you graduate?

For example, right now I am infuriated by the changes taking place in Montgomery County Schools and at Mapleton Elementary School in particular. This is my mother-bear instinct kicking in big-time but what is happening also appalls me as an educator and as someone who works with teachers (and future teachers). I won't bore you with the details because I'll start ranting (you can read My Child will be Left Behind if you really want to know more). However, I am currently pondering the ways that I can make sure my child is intellectually challenged in some sort of Saturday or after-school program. So I could make my project about researching and proposing such a program.

Under course documents I have included a list from Dr. Royar about topics that people have used for past semesters. I had students do a similar project when I taught Eng 292 and those topics included investigating a particular new development for their employer, providing a clearinghouse for community support services, developing a medical news hotline, and studying the business development needs of a community as well as specific educational and social services programs.

Prompt 1: What is professional writing?

I want to start out by reflecting on and discussing the topic of this class. Just what is professional writing?

It can actually mean a lot of different things and some academic programs and some employers use it rather interchangeably with terms such as business writing or technical writing. And of course, just to further complicate things sometimes the word writing is replaced by communication so it can incorporate more media (as for many writing implies working with print media only).

Some examples of programs:

·         Texas Tech (where I earned my Ph.D. & so I know lots of folks)

·         University of Cincinnati (where I have friends on faculty)

·         Eastern KentuckyUniversity (I earned my MA there and taught there for a while before MSU)

·         Michigan State University program about jobs in professional writing

In the end, it all boils down to one word: rhetoric.

Please watch this video about rhetoric: http://youtu.be/BYMUCz9bHAs

And read a blog post I wrote about rhetoric a few years back: http://masclemetawriting.blogspot.com/2010/03/forgotten-r.html

While you probably are not faced with the same identity question, I do want you to think about where your interests lie now and where you think they might take you in the future. Certainly all educated professionals will use rhetoric in the future.

In fact, if you read communication journals there has been talk for decades now that we are now in an information age and what is necessary are “knowledge workers” (what I would call rhetoricians). You can read an article about this here: http://www.theatlantic.com/past/docs/issues/95dec/chilearn/drucker.htm (skip down to the section “The Rise of the Knowledge Worker” if you don’t want to read the whole article).

Written language was actually born out of the necessity for government officials and business people to communicate about transactions. It was not until much later that writing was used for the literary purposes we take for granted today. It is also important to remember that it was not until the 20^th century that literacy became commonplace. Actual college courses focused on professional, business, and technical writing were first offered by colleges in the period after the Civil War. Prior to the Civil War most colleges were small and catered almost exclusively to the sons of wealthy landowners and professionals. The two Morrill Acts (1862 and 1877) founded and promoted land-grant agricultural and mechanical colleges that dramatically increase the availability of higher education and changed it in many ways – in both focus and student body. With a change from a more liberal arts/ humanities focus to more technical subjects and an increase in the number of students who came from less privileged backgrounds (without private tutors, for example) it became clear that more attention would need to be paid to writing. First came the advent of required composition courses in the early 1900s (trivia note: these started at Harvard) then the professions began to demand that future members be trained to write coherent reports as well as simple business letters. Professional and Technical Writing really came of age after World War II in part due to the GI Bill but also a tremendous growth in technical writing due to the use of technology during the war (WWII was the first truly technological war). Today we find professional writing in many more places than engineering firms and places of business and professional writing is much more than simply technical or business writing. It's now grown to include all these things and more.

Professional writing falls into two basic categories: professionals who write on the job, such as engineers, nurses, scientists, etc;. and people who write as their profession. But there is one simple truth: professional means getting paid for what you do.  

·         My friend Lisa’s description of Tech Comm: http://www.tek-ritr.com/tech_comm/pmwiki.php?n=Foundation.WhatIsTechComm

I love technical communication now but when I was an undergrad many many moons ago it wasn't even on my horizon. I did know then that I wanted to be a working writer. Do you? What does that mean to you? How do you define professional writing? What is a professional writer? What kind of professional writer do you want to be? What is rhetoric to you (definition)? Do you consider yourself a rhetorician? Write a journal post (you can find your journal in BlackBoard under tools) exploring and reflecting on these ideas and questions.

Then Tweet some response to your journal entry. Try to include a hashtag (label) so your response becomes part of a wider conversation. Some possible hashtags include #writer #writers #writing #jobs #techcomm #rhetoric #communication #media

Finally, participate in the Blackboard reflection discussion for your Week 1 prompt.

Help us become a community

During the first three weeks of classes (and hopefully beginning BEFORE classes) we will use Twitter to get to know each other as people. One of the greatest drawbacks of an online class is that we do not get the opportunity to get to know each other as we would in a face-to-face class through discussion and regular interaction.

You will need to take three steps to help us learn more about each other. First, you will need to follow your classmates (check the list of people that the class account is following. The class account will only follow your classmates--you can ignore those Twitter accounts related to writing). You will need to keep checking the class "following" list as that will change over time as people join the class. It is entirely up to you whether or not you want to follow me on my personal account. You may decide that you already hear enough from me. I am more concerned with getting to know you and for you to get to know each other.

Second, over the first three weeks of class you will need to post at least 10 updates (spread over 10 different days). These are Tweets so they are short. Just give us a glimpse into what you are thinking, feeling, and/or doing. You can do more than that. Post every day if you life. Post more than once a day if you like. We are just trying to break the ice here and help us see you as a person. You don't need to share your deepest secrets or anything terribly personal. This is just meant to help us overcome the fact that we won't actually "see" you in person and know that you are suffering from allergies or a truly horribly haircut or that you just had an awesome weekend or are sporting the perfect shoes (note you can even send pictures of your perfect shoes, cute dog, or funny kid with applications such as http://twitpic.com/.

Finally, you will need to read the Tweets of your classmates and participate in some conversations. Ask people about their six-word memoirs or their updates. Commiserate with those struggling with campus parking or long lunch lines or expensive books. You don't need to respond to everyone and you don't need to do this every day but try to do it at least a couple different days.

Notes:

To send a public reply to someone use @username (such as @mascle200)

To send a private reply to someone use D username (such as D mascle200)

To link your post to a larger conversation use hashtags (such as #masclepw or #sixwords) to label a conversation. Some other examples include:

#iamsotiredof

#fail

#fun

#notfun

#college

#writing

Introduce yourself to the class…in just six words

Your challenge is to write a six-word memoir.

Why just six words? Because that is the rule of the game! Learn more about the Six-word Memoir Movement:

The book:



It began (and continues still) at Smith Magazine

Some examples if you need inspiration:

On Twitter and more Twitter!

This is the six-word memoir I created for my Fall 2010 class:

And my Spring 2011 class:

This summer I wrote this six-word memoir for my Morehead Writing Project work:

Head too full...it's gonna blow!

These are some six-word memoirs created for other classes:

Mr. Ream’s 9th grade class:


Mr. Wright’s Creative Writing Class:


After you have created your Twitter account and the class Twitter account is following you (it might take a day or so for that to happen) then post your six-word memoir to your Twitter account. Please include @6_word_memoirs #sixwords at the end of your post to "label" it and link it up with other 6-word memoir Tweets.

Also add your six-word memoir to your Twitter "bio".

Not required but strongly suggested: Share your six-word memoir on Smith Magazine so you are officially a part of the movement!