Changes to Peer Review/Groups & Common Errors found in Project #2

     It is that time again: Peer Review Time!

     What did we learn last time? 

• Canvas is not a perfect system, but we worked it out.

• Groups of 4 work better together than groups of 3.

• Missing a deadline messes everyone else up.

     In order to fix some of these issues, we are changing our approach to Peer Review.

• Groups have been rearranged into 4 instead of 3. This means that nearly every group has been reassigned.

• I manually set up Groups in Canvas. You can see who your group members if you go to Canvas and on the left side click on People, then Groups. Scroll down and you should be able to access your group. 

• Once you know who is in your group, you can contact them via email and look for them on Twitter in case you need to ask them a question.

Assignment

Groups

     I want everyone to Upload your draft to Assignments AND your Group Home page.

     This way I can see the draft AND your group can see your draft. To be clear: You are uploading this draft in TWO places.

     Make sure you upload a Word Doc, your classmates cannot all open Pages files, and cannot make track changes on Pdfs. You are required, like last time, to read each draft twice and to make track changes on the document in order to assist your group-mates in improving their draft. 

     Here is the Peer Review Feedback Sheet for Project #2. Upload this to your Group Page. You are responsible for making sure your group members get their Feedback. You will be completing another Peer Review Evaluation on your group members like last time. If you miss deadlines, do not provide thorough feedback, do not provide constructive feedback and do not make their feedback easily accessible, it will appear in your evaluation and affect your grade.

Drafts need to be uploaded to Canvas under Assignments and your Group Page BEFORE 11:59 Wednesday 10/18. 

If you have not signed up for Conference next week, do so NOW via SignUpGenius. 

     *** Would you like Extra Credit? Make a practice Google Hangout video call with a classmate and take a screenshot of you two conversing. Someone in your peer group might be a good candidate. Post the screenshot on Twitter. I will award 10 points of Extra Credit  (Make sure your classmate gives consent to you taking a photo of them and posting it on your Twitter page. It is good manners)***

Common errors found in Project #2

1. Introducing Sources. When you provide evidence or data, explain to the reader where is comes from IMMEDIATELY. On first reference. For example, "According to Brandi Bradley, instructor of record for English and Composition at Florida State University, writers who do not introduce their sources leave readers confused and questioning their credibility."

2. Incorporating the Interview. Not only do you have to conduct an interview with an expert in the field who is neither your parent nor your roommate, you have to use that information they give you in the paper. Many times students get tripped up on how to incorporate the interview. You treat the information from the interview the same as you would any other source. Use it as evidence to support your findings. The MAIN difference is you do not have to use in-text citations for them. When you first use their information introduce them using their First Name, Last Name and title - this shows they are a source with Ethos. Then use Last Name for each reference after. No need for parenthesis because you conducted the interview.

3. Forgetting to cite the interview on the Works Cited page. Citing a personal interview is really easy.  

4. Failing to include an interview. This will result in the reduction of one letter grade. 

5. Not following the outline. The impulse to sit down and hammer out a draft without a plan will result in an unfocused paper.  

6. Forcing the research to create the result you want. This is another project where you are not to take a side or give an opinion. The evidence (sources and data) should support the findings. If your evidence does not support the findings, then check your findings.  

7. Not using Peer Reviewed Sources: News is not Peer Reviewed. Neither are magazines. blogs, dictionaries, or How Stuff Works.

8. Not including a captivating title: Always include a title which gives the reader an idea of what to expect with this paper.

9. Too long paragraphs. If the paragraph is over a page long, it is too long. Go into the paragraph and find where your topic transitions into a subtopic and make your paragraph break there.

10. Writing in 1st and 2nd person - this is a real easy fix. Before you complete your draft, go to Find/Replace and search for all the I, me, my, mine, us, we, our, you, your

11. Not meeting the Word Count - For P2, the Word Count is 2,000 words. 

Writing tips

     Here are some common errors I noted in Project #1. Or, not that they are errors, but they are evidence of early stage writing.

• Unique - stop using this word. Unique means one of a kind. Something cannot be very unique or extremely unique. It is best to avoid it.

• Very - delete all the instances of very. Must adverbs are superfluous if the verb is strong enough, so work on finding stronger verbs than adding very or extremely.

• Just, so, even - These are filler words. While conversational, they do not contribute much in professional writing. Delete them.

• Rhetorical Questions - These are a crutch and rarely add anything of substance to the paper.

• Passive Voice - This means you have turned your subject into an object. For example: The donuts were eaten by Clara. This is passive because the person who performed the action is not center stage, the donuts are. Instead, Clara ate the donuts. 

#Peerreview #Project2