Professional+Development+For+Writing

=Professional Development For Writing = I'm not asking you to come reverently or unquestioningly; I'm not asking you to be politically correct or cast aside your sense of humor (please God you have one). This isn't a popularity contest, it's not the moral Olympics, and it's not church. But it's //writing//, damn it, not washing the car or putting on eyeliner. If you can take it seriously, we can do some business. If you can't or won't, it's time for you to close the book and do something else.

Wash the car, maybe.

Stephen King, //On writing// (2000, p.107)

1. CHANGE THE YEAR OF PUBLICATION ON WILLIAMS IN THE SYLLABUS TO 1995 OR 2010 2. THERE WILL ONLY BE ONE GROUP (PUBLICATION GROUP). 3. EACH STUDENT WILL HAVE TO READ HIS DRAFT ALOUD TO THE CLASS 4. EACH STUDENT WILL HAVE TO HEAR HER DRAFT READ ALOUD BY ANOTHER STUDENT DURING CLASS 5. THE CLASS WILL USE LIVE GOOGLEDOCS WORKSHOPPING 6. ALL STUDENTS WILL DO JOURNAL REVIEWS OF THE TYPES OF ARTICLES THAT THEY WANT TO WRITE. 7. I WILL REVIEW THE VARIOUS TYPES OF JOURNAL ARTICLES. 8. EACH STUDENT WILL HAVE TO WRITE A SHORT PROPOSAL BEFORE WRITING THE ARTICLE DUE BY THE SECOND OR THIRD CLASS 9. DEADLINES MUST BE STRICT AND ATTENDANCE PENALTIES MUST BE ENFORCED TO THE LETTER. 10. LIT REVIEWS MUST MAX OUT AT 14 PAGES. 11. EVERY DRAFT WILL BE READ BY EVERY STUDENT IN GOOGLEDOCS WITH COMMENT PLACED ON IT. 12. FINAL DRAFTS MUST HAVE HIGHLIGHTED CHANGES 13. THERE WILL BE A NEW ASSIGNMENT WHERE EACH STUDENT MUST READ AND BLOG AND PRESENT (5 MIN.) ON AN ARTICLE OR BOOK CHAPTER FROM HIS FAVORITE ACADEMIC WRITER. 14. ALL STUDENTS MUST BE ABLE TO TALK ABOUT AND SHARE THEIR TOPICS AND PAPERS. NO SECRET PAPERS. 14. INFORMED CONSENT WILL BE REVIEWED. 15. EACH DRAFT WILL BE WORKSHOPPED TWICE. ONCE FOR TOPIC AND AGAIN FOR STYLE. 16. EACH STUDENT WILL HAVE A 2 MIN. CHECKIN WITH THE CLASS EACH DAY. 17. THE PROFESSOR WILL READ EACH DRAFT ONLY TWICE. 18. NO SKYPE 19. TALK ABOUT USING MODELING. 20. TALK MORE ABOUT THE WRITING PROCESS AND PLANNING WRITING. 21. TALK MORE ABOUT OUTLINING. 22. DISCUSS MEMOS. 23. STUDENT CANNOT REWRITE FOR THE PORTFOLIO. 24. REWRITE RUBRIC FOR MANUSCRIPT TO INCLUDE A SECTION OF "DEPTH."
 * THINGS I WANT TO CHANGE FOR NEXT TIME:**

= = 

Welcome to Professional Development for Writing Summer 2010. This course serves two general needs for students of writing.

You need to decide which need you want to focus on.

1-5/24 || Introduction to googledocs, wordpress and wikis. ||  ||   ||   || 2-5/31 || Memorial Day/ No class || Blog on Booth & Williams || Blog on Williams ||  || 3-6/7 || Workshop, Journal Reviews & Portfolios Questions to ask when writing an article. || Genre Study in the bog || Blog on Williams || Draft 1 || 4-6/14 || Workshop, Journal Reviews and Manuscript Presentations || Genre Study in the bog || Blog on Williams || Draft 2 || 5-6/21 || Workshop Teacher as writer Sharing the blogs || Genre Study in the bog || Blog on Williams || Draft 3 || 6-6/28 || Revision Workshop
 * __Course Schedule and Content Outline (Subject to Change)__**
 * Week/date** ||
 * Topic** ||
 * Professional Publication Group Assignment due** ||
 * Writers' Workshop Group**
 * Assignment due** ||
 * Assignment due for both groups** ||
 * Assignment due for both groups** ||

NPR Story about clear language || Genre Study in the bog || Blog on Williams || Draft 4 || 7-7/5 || Independence Day Observed/ No class. Online Workshop.* ||  ||   || Prepare and send drafts to group w/ instructions for what you want your readers to look for. || 8-7/12 || Editing for Mechanics ||  ||   || Read shared drafts (within group) and comment. || 9-7/19 || Manuscript/Final Draft Presentations || Manuscript Presentations || Final Draft Presentations ||  || 10-7/26 || Online Portfolios || Portfolio || Portfolio || Portfolio ||
 * Online Workshop requires at least four comments from each reader on the shared draft. Comments must address macro and micro issues, they must be constructive and critical.

In this group we will focus on mastery of the elements of style, techniques of argument, and other writing skills such as audience, voice, and genre. In short, we will learn to be a better writer of academic prose.

MARION BROWN

mbrown@dracutpublicschools.net
NANCY NICKERSON [|nnickerson@necc.mass.edu] TONY DILUNA tdiluna73@gmail.com CAITLIN COLOMBO [|ccolombo@dracutpublicschools.net]

In this group we will identify professional journals appropriate for publications in your field, analyze the type of articles used, and/or prepare research clearly and concisely for publication. You will produce a publishable article in your area of graduate study.

ERIC FORMAN [|Eric_Forman@student.uml.edu] BECKY GROOTHUIS [|groothua@aol.com] PHILIP STRUZZIERO [|Philip_Struzziero@student.uml.edu] MARGUERITE WEIDKNECHT [|brydan@charter.net] DAVE SCIUTO [|dave_sciuto@uml.edu] JEAN-MARIE KAHN [|jkahn@billerica.k12.ma.us]

Both groups will use blogs, wikis and googledocs. Both groups will write during class and outside of class. All students will read the work of other students.

Bring your laptop to class every week.

Some things good writers do:
• They write for different purposes. • They plan their writing tasks. • They revise many times. • They work hard. • They rarely see a piece of writing as finished. • They spend a lot of time on each piece of writing. • They consider their audience. • Write every day. Set aside time for it. • Read every day. Set aside time for it. • Pay attention the to the structure of language when they read. • Read their own writing aloud before showing it to another person. • Read their own writing aloud to another person they trust before submitting it. • Proofread. • Learn their weaknesses and watch out for them. • Read authors they want to emulate. • Choose their words carefully. • Love writing. • Hate writing. • Hang out with other writers and talk about writing--the actual writing, not plans for writing. • Focus on the purpose of the writing task. • Concentrate on the writing task, trying to avoid distractions and disruptions.

More at []

Some things the we learned Summer 2010
•Read the authors you want to emulate. •Focus is more important that you think. No. More important than that, too. •Modeling is a good idea. •Write about a topic you know, you are interested in, and one that is not yet out of fashion. •Write about your work if possible. Don't if you can't tell the whole story. •Revise a lot. •Plan, because it takes a long time to get it done right. Longer than you think. •Write memos. •Freewrite •Outline, re-outline and then outline after you are done. •Change your topic if you need to. •Writing require conscious awareness. •Use questions to guide your writing. •Use memoing to tae notes on sources and to organize those notes. •Read your work aloud to yourself and to someone else before turning it in to the class, the professor or to the journal. •Informed consent and special permissions are essential.

Questions to ask before writing an article.
1. Why are you doing this study? 2. What do you think is going on? 3. What do you want to understand? 4. What will you actually do? 5. How might you be wrong? Joseph Maxwell, //Qualitative research design: An interactive approach// (2005)

Blogging
media type="youtube" key="NN2I1pWXjXI" height="385" width="480" We will blog about the readings in our texts just about every week, so you will need to get a blog. If you already have one that is not too personal, not too private and won't get me in trouble, you can use that one. If you need to make a new one, go to [|wordpress] and do that now.

To receive full credit on a blog, you should: Engage with the reading by, for instance, connecting the text to your own experience, analyzing or evaluating the arguments in the text, and/or extending the ideas in the text. You should also reflect the text accurately, cite relevant parts of the reading, and follow the conventions for proper academic prose.

**The WWG will blog about** Williams, J. (2009). //Style: Toward clarity and grace.// Chicago: University of Chicago Press. **The PPG will blog about** Booth, W., Colomb, G, & Williams, J. (2009). //The craft of research.// Chicago: University of Chicago Press. For this, you will select and read a professional journal in your area of study. For example, I am a high school English teacher, so I would choose a journal like //English Journal//. However, I could choose a another journal like //College Composition and Communication//, too. For my genre study blog, I would read one article from that journal and critically reflect on it with some depth, relating it to my experiences as a teacher, student and writer. Choose an article that will be of use to your practice as a teacher or that works for the lit review of your dissertation.Download the rubric below for grading criteria.
 * AND**
 * Genre Study from Professional Journals.**

Responding, replying or commenting
Your blogs must be posted 24 hours prior to class, giving your classmates enough time to read and respond to your blog. Your responses to blogs will be graded also. As you monitor your own blog and classmate's responses, replies or comments, please release theses responses ASAP, so I can see them. I will sometimes reply to your blogs, and I will frequently do so with criticism. If you do not want that criticism to be public, use the setting on your blog dashboard to moderate the release of replies. You can always read and then discard my criticism if you do not want classmates to read it. However, accepting criticism is something a doc student aught to get used to as he or she prepares for the dissertation process.

Each student (in the PPG) will present a review of a journal in our field that is an appropriate market for submission. We will give names and addresses of editors, the sponsoring organization, types of articles used, circulation, acceptance rate (if possible), general guidelines to authors, and a brief review of a typical article. Please include a 1-2 page handout, 5-10 slide Powerpoint presentation, 1-3 page blog or 1-4 tab wiki with your presentation. We will have a maximum of 20 minutes to present our reviews. The use of computer technology is encouraged for this presentation. Yes, this is a class presentation. **DUE:** 6/7 & 6/14 Email me which date your prefer.

During the semester, each of us will develop one professional manuscript for submission to a journal or publisher. This may be a report of research, a theoretical piece, a report of professional practice, a book review, a book prospectus, or any article acceptable to a journal in the field. Publication is not required. Submission (or a schedule for submission) is required. **DUE:** July 19 Use [|googledocs] for manuscript writing.
 * Professional Manuscript ** **PPG**

There are three “final” drafts required during the semester. You will receive grades on these pieces, but they may be re-written for inclusion in the portfolio. They should be best possible versions of pieces you have been working on during the course. Use [|googledocs] for manuscript writing. |googledocs]] for draft writing.
 * Weekly & Final Drafts ** **WWG**

Portfolio
media type="youtube" key="-dnL00TdmLY" height="385" width="480" There is no exam in this course. Instead, you will make a portfolio, using a wiki. Your portfolio will be a little bit different, depending on which group you are in.

[] http://margie-infospace.wikispaces.com/ http://bgroothuis.wikispaces.com/

** WWG Portfolio **
During the semester you are to SAVE EVERYTHING (WEEKLY DRAFTS, ROUGH COPY PAGES, NOTES, CLIPPINGS, READING RESPONSES, FINAL DRAFTS ). You are to create a portfolio answering the question: Who are you as a writer? Specifically demonstrate your assumptions and beliefs about writing, your goals as a writer, your strengths and weaknesses as a writer, and your awareness of your writing process. Your portfolio should include (1) a Dear Reader letter answering the above questions and referring to (2) exhibits of materials collected during the semester (and at other times) that demonstrate your assumptions, beliefs, goals, qualities, and processes, and (3) three final drafts of papers developed during the semester that show how good you are as a writer. One may be other than exposition or argument. A complete portfolio will address specifically topics we have covered in class. During the class, each person will have 10-15 minutes to share his or her portfolio with the class, and to receive response from classmates. The use of computer technology is encouraged for this presentation. DUE: July 26

During the semester you are to SAVE EVERYTHING (WEEKLY DRAFTS, ROUGH COPY PAGES, NOTES, CLIPPINGS, ONE-PAGERS, FINAL DRAFT ). You are to create a portfolio answering the question: Who are you as a professional writer? Specifically demonstrate your assumptions and beliefs about writing, your goals as a writer and scholar, your strengths and weaknesses as a writer, and your plans for managing your writing process in order to publish. Your portfolio should include (1) a Dear Reader letter answering the above questions and referring to (2) exhibits of materials collected during the semester (and at other times) that demonstrate your assumptions, beliefs, goals, qualities, plans and processes. A complete portfolio will address specifically topics we have covered in class. During the class, each person will have 10-15 minutes to share his or her portfolio with the class, and to receive response from classmates. The use of computer technology is encouraged for this presentation. **DUE:** July 26
 * PPG**** Portfolio **

Links
[] [] [] [] [|50 Years of Research on Writing: What Have We Learned?] [|Berkeley Writers at Work with Robert Reich] [|Advice from Stephen King] [] BLOGS [|http://jbrown4343.wordpress.com] [] [] [] [|bgroothuis.wordpress.com] [|mweidknecht.wordpress.com] [|marionatumass2010.wordpress.com/] @http://davesciuto.wordpress.com/ @http://cjcolombo.wordpress.com/ [] []
 * http://www.npr.org/templates/story/story.php?storyId=126224371 **

WIKIS http://marionatumass2010.wikispaces.com/ http://philstruzziero707portfolio.wikispaces.com/

** Professional Journal Review ** s
Educational Researcher-Eric Forman Reading Research Quarterly-Jean-Marie Kahn Reading Teacher-Becky Groothuis Journal of Research in Music Education-Marguerite Weidknecht Adult Learner-Dave Sciuto
 * June 7**
 * June 14**

What do I do to get ready to write my draft?
[|•Freewrite] Writing a journal article can be like running a 10K. A dissertation would be a marathon. Before you set out to run such a race, you aught to warm up. Freewriting can help with that. It can also help with planning your writing task, generating ideas and focusing topics. The idea is to loosen up your mind to all possibilities, and then record those possibilities. The gremlins that stop us from writing can be sidestepped by freewriting, because there is no pressure. You are doing it to get ready, not to turn in to the editor or professor. But, when you read it over, you might find a genius idea that came from your unconscious mind.

Here's what you do:

Get a PC or paper and pen. Then, set a timer for either five or ten minutes. Then, write without stopping for that long. Don't worry about being correct. Don't worry about spelling. Just make sure you can read it when you are done. Then, stop! Read what you wrote. Take some notes about what you wrote and then do another one if you have to.


 * Freewriting will prevent bad first paragraphs, unfocused topics and writer's block. Do it every day for the best results.**
 * It will make the writing task less fearful, if you do it every day.**


 * You can do a focused freewrite by writing "about" a topic. Usually this is used to find focus.**


 * A cool down is good after a run too. And stretching. Freewriting can serve as a good way to reflect on how the writing task went, perhaps generating more creative juices to flow.**

** What is metadiscourse? **
Metadiscourse (for our purposes as writers) is the linguistic concept of writing about writing. Williams (1995) discusses how we need metadiscourse when we write to develop a relationship with our readers. But, he also warns that it can get in the way of the topic. Some researchers and writers have made an artform out of metadiscourse and it works for them. They weave their sentences back and forth, through their narrative, a discussion about the topic or research question and the discourse that they lay down as they lay it down. This use of MD connects the writer to his writing, and thus the writer to the topic. This can help the reader understand the topic by gettting to know the writer. MD adds a personal element to writing. However, most of the time, MD is an obstacle to comprehension. It places the writer’s voice and unnecessary words between the reader and the topic. For the unskilled writer, MD is a place to hide. It is also a way to show the reader that you are not sure of yourself. And, it can make (sometimes intentionally but mostly subconsciously) a narrative quite circuitous. Why would a reader want to be evasive? Because he may not know the topic and wants to hide that fact from his reader. Oftentimes, the reader doesn’t even know what she doesn’t know (denial) and creates the MD as a response to a lack of confidence.

Here are some examples of metadiscourse: •In my opinion. . . . •I think. . . •some of my reasons are. . . •examples of this are. . . •In this paper I will. . . •I feel. . . •The point of my essay is. . . •This example supports my reason because. . . •I summarize When you start out writing academic prose, it is best to avoid using MD until you know your topic, have a strong writer's voice and are ultimately aware of your MD. The worst cases of MD are perpetrated when the writer is unaware of using it.

Other things to avoid:
** Avoid using words that make you sound insecure. **

•really •very •In truth •It seems that

Contact me at jbrown4343@gmail.com**