Writing Studio -- Students Say Evaluatons Won't Cut and Paste

If they use the paste tool (one of the buttons on the top row that look like a clipboard--the one with a W on it is paste from Word, but the plain clipboard one is just cut/paste) instead of using short-cut keys or the drop-down menu in Pages, they won't have the problem. It's a good idea to always remind students that when they are working at the Studio, they are basically creating web pages--quite a bit of HTML code is going on behind whatever they're doing, so to make sure that code is all correctly inserted, they should always use the tools (the buttons along the top of the window) to do things.  (from Lynda Haas)

How Do I Find the Library Tutorials?

Here's how to get to the library tutorials:
1. Go to the library homepage: http://www.lib.uci.edu/
2. Look for the colorful tabs just under the picture of the Langson
Library Entry. The orange tab, "How Do I..." lists the various
tutorials. (Click more to get to this page:
http://www.lib.uci.edu/how/how-do-i.html.)

Writing Studio -- Students Say the Dropbox Won't Accept their Paper

Here's what the intrepid Lynda Haas had to say about this in  2010:

"Usually when they get that message they have the file open on their computer at the same time they are trying to upload it.  Ask them to make sure the file is closed and then try to upload it again."

How do I schedule a librarian visit to my classroom? (Advocacy Essay)

It is useful to schedule for a librarian to come to your class as you begin the advocacy class, to do a follow-up library orientation focused specifically on finding a policy.  You should do that during Week 5.  


Here is the text of an e-mail from librarian Cathy Palmer in 2011:


Dear All,
If you would like a librarian to come to your classroom and review the options that your students have for locating policies for their advocacy essays, please submit a request using the Libraries' Instruction Request form.  <http://www.lib.uci.edu/services/workshops/instruction-request-form.html>.  Please remember to include your classroom location in the request.  As a reminder, the librarian will come to your classroom and offer a short review of the process and resources available for locating policies.  We can also provide a review of resources available for the critical biography essays.

Cathy Palmer


Library Orientations almost always are more effective and focused if you have contacted the librarian ahead of time.  

How do I grade the evaluations at Mid-term?

There are a couple of ways to do this.  You will need to use your own judgement here, but here is one thought.

Create two grade books in eee, one indicating quantity and the other quality.  In the the quantity grade book, simply check that students are keeping up with their sources and evaluations each week, noting the number per week.  Do not read the evaluations every week -- just count them up as aligns with your source and evaluation requirements for the quarter.  Then two or three times during the quarter, read and assess the sources and evaluations in line with the rubric and with what you have emphasized to your students.  I recommend doing the first one at the two week mark, but some people do it when each paper is turned in, or once at week 5 and once at week 10.  You have to plan ahead and look for those little gaps where you see you will not be reading drafts or grading papers.

Reading Aloud

I do it too.  I read from the prompt.  I read from the Anteater's Guide to Writing and Rhetoric.  I have them read from the prompt; I have them read from the AGWR, or from my single author text.

But there has to be a better way than this pour knowledge into their heads model.  Have them write about the prompt, and ask them to then explain to the rest of the class what they have understood.  Have them write down questions about the assignment and take a sample of those questions.  This lets you know what they actually know and how they understand what the task is that is before them.

How do I use group work effectively?

"What's your major?"  "Me, too, I'm undeclared."  Every instructor has heard comments, or ones like them, when they thought they had given a full-proof assignment, one guaranteed to keep students on task.

Personally, I believe in group work -- students can form relationships that can aid their intellectual development and research over the course of the quarter.  And in my more generous moments, I think that even some of the "irrelevant" or "off-task" behavior can be useful.  But we all want students to make good use of the time that we give them to work on in-class assignments.  Here, I outline a few ideas (some thieved) for how to keep students on track during group time.

1.  Use a quiz question to drive the discussion.  This can be a good way to follow up a quiz.  For good and for ill (see Alfie Kohn on motivation, punishment, and reward), they take quiz materials seriously, and if they have done some writing immediately prior to the small group discussion, they will then have something substantial to lean back on when they begin their discussion.

2.  Give them one clear task, and make sure that the task is not just connected to content, that either you or they eventually connect it to the next major assignment on the horizon.  I'll supply a few ideas below.

3.  Some people are good at making use of competition to keep the groups focused.  For example, I know of one instructor who puts together Jeopardy games.

4.  Avoid having different groups working on different questions.  When you re-convene, it means a conversation between you and each small group, while the other groups (usually) struggle to pay attention with more or less success.