Group Presentation Materials
Here, you will find the presentation materials that Samantha, Fiona, and Alex used for their group presentation, preparing for professional writing, as well as a reflection on the presentation.
Readings
Cox, Ortmeier-Hooper, & Tirabassi, "Teaching Writing for the 'Real World'": Community and Workplace Writing (Links to an external site.)
UMUC, "Writing for an Audience" (Links to an external site.)
Quibble & Griffin, "Writing Deficiencies"
Supplemental Readings
Selingo, "Why Can't College Graduates Write?" (Links to an external site.)
UMD English, About PWP (Links to an external site.)
UMUC, "Writing for an Audience" (Links to an external site.)
Quibble & Griffin, "Writing Deficiencies"
Supplemental Readings
Selingo, "Why Can't College Graduates Write?" (Links to an external site.)
UMD English, About PWP (Links to an external site.)
Discussion Questions
- What is your definition of professional writing?
- What might be some differences in writing to a workplace audience and writing to a professor?
- Given this age of technology and casual correspondence, do you think professional writing should be required or is the need for it becoming outdated?
- Can you see a logical connection between ENGL101 and the professional writing course? If so, are there any ENGL 101 assignments that could be connected to professional writing?
Presentation Reflection
With today’s technology, planning group presentations is easier than ever before. Fiona, Alex and I were able to plan our entire presentation over text conversation. From our texts we decided to create a google doc, on which we brainstormed activity ideas based on the readings we used. We brainstormed on the google doc for about a week before deciding we needed to meet in person. Alex and Fiona came over to my house and we spent a few hours finalizing and critiquing the ideas we had come up with on the google doc and how we wanted to present. From here, we created a google slides document, on which we each filled out our own slides, which we would later present. Since our group was so small, I feel like we were all leaders in our own way. I think the readings we chose were specifically useful because they came from websites that targeted real people attempting professional writing. This helped show that professional writing is a skill that people need, which is the message we wanted to share with the class. The Quible article also showed that there are real costs to poor writing. It rattled off statistics about money companies have to spend to correct employees poor grammar/style/etc. Hopefully reading these articles before class planted the idea that professional writing is important in our classmates mind. Fiona, Alex, and I brainstormed the questions together on the google doc. After choosing the articles we like, we each wrote questions that we thought corresponded nicely with our message and the readings. We then agreed to pick the ones which we did because they seemed to be the most robust. Honestly, I believe we structured the discussion bored as we did because that seemed to be the general trend of discussion boards throughout the semester. It seemed customary to provide readings, supplemental readings, and three questions for our classmates. We wanted their to be a personal element to the discussion board, because personal questions tend to get the most diverse and interest results. This is why we prefaced the other questions with the question: "How do you define professional writing?”. We then transitioned into more specific questions regarding professional writing and ENGL101. We decided to share comments that aligned the most with the message of our presentation in our powerpoint. We thought the writers of our selected comments would be flattered, and presenting other peoples’ comments gave us good transitions in between topics or activities. I did not respond to comments on the discussion board. We saved commenting for our actual presentation, as the posts we presented also seemed to encapsulate similar views other students held. Fiona, Alex and I tried our best to “articulate the processes required to bring about a successful outcome in the classroom”. We gave tips on how to succeed in professional writing, which can transfer into succeeding in the workplace. By describing the benefits of completing English101, hopefully we inspired ENGL101 TAs to push their students to achieve great things so professional writing will go smoothly. This means we are sharing how to achieve a successful outcome not only for those Engl388v but ENGL101 too.
As I have mentioned earlier in this portfolio, the presentation that stands out most in my mind is the language diversity and the inclusive classroom presentation. Before the presentation, the group posed discussion questions about our experience with inclusion in our classrooms. We also were asked how we define standard english and how we would approach students with learning disabilities. This subject matter pulled on my heart strings, as it is such relevant topic for our time. From the presentation I learned that everyone has their own definition of standard english. Although, the majority of us feel that the definition of standard english is becoming more flexible and inclusive of various slang terms. The discussion we had during our presentation made me realize the definition of writing, as we know it, is constantly changing to include different styles. As instructors, we must be sensitive and accommodative to this, by guiding students and grading with empathy. Another part of this presentation that really made me realize the importance of inclusion in the classroom was the gallery walk. We all shared our encounters with prejudice in the classroom by writing our experiences down on paper and posting them on the classroom walls. I was upset to see that we all had experiences with prejudice in the classroom. This only motivated me to be sure that I am as inclusive and sensitive as possible in my own classroom.
Materials |
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https://docs.google.com/a/terpmail.umd.edu/document/d/1ek4gJ_5mmQYV5xBN5oZSn7fCqaamqHjPnnDZJ8XQBx8/edit?usp=sharing
https://docs.google.com/a/terpmail.umd.edu/presentation/d/1Z5XhtRghNlDDbKm2xM3agt4C4FtAG5Lx6Xnfb_oAld8/edit?usp=sharing
https://docs.google.com/a/terpmail.umd.edu/presentation/d/1Z5XhtRghNlDDbKm2xM3agt4C4FtAG5Lx6Xnfb_oAld8/edit?usp=sharing