LastDayWork:LetterstoFutureStudents

TODAYNOMEETINGONTHEEXAMDAY!!!

Directions:
NowhavingcompletedANDSURVIVEDthiscourse,itistimetopassonsomeofyouradvice
tomyfuturestudents.Inletterformat,respondtothepromptsbelow,includingdetailed
examplesandexplanations.Eachgroupwillbeassignedaspecificaspectofthecourseto
speakto,andyourgroupsectionshouldhaveagreeting,introduction,bodyparagraphs,
conclusion,closing,andyournamessigned.

EachgroupneedstocreateasectionoftheGoogleDocspacedevotedtoyourgroup
responses.(e.g.Youmaychoosetoidentifyyourgroupasseparatewithadifferentcolor).
Makesurethatyoulisteverypersonsnameinyourgroupsothateachofyoucanreceivecredit
foryourwork.

Topics(thesewillbeassignedonepergroup)
Attendance,ExamDay,CourseParticipation,&InClassWritingDays(Ranz,Elena,
Abdul,Jordan)
ThePORTFOLIO,PortfolioChecks,DesigningthePortfolio
(ZachB
,
WilliamSells
,
EmersonCreech
,

NickHarvilla
Assignments1&2,Whatarethey?Howdotheycontributetotheportfolio?(Kyla,
Jacob,Ashley,MaryMargaret)
WeeklyResponses(SR/GR/HWRs),QuantifyingtheCourseWorkload,&Group
Networking
(Samantha,Roh,Zack,Roberto)
HerearesomethingsyoubetterknowaboutAshlyns:classroommanagement,habits
asateacher,expectations,officehours,andemailetiquette(KristenJo,Santiago,
Cameron,andPaul)

Morespecifically,addressthefollowingpromptsforyourgroupassignedtopic:

Hereiswhatwewishedwehadknownabout(insertyourassignedtopic)beforestarting
thiscourse
Hereiswhatwewishedwehaddonedifferentlyin(insertyourassignedtopic)
HereswhatyoushouldknowaboutgradingandAshlynsfeedbackon(insertyour
assignedtopic)
Severalaspectsof(insertyourassignedtopic)thatwereallyenjoyedwere
Severalaspectsof(insertyourassignedtopic)thatwerechallengingwere
Explainyouroverallexperienceandwhatdidyougetoutoftheclass(notasin4hrs
credit,agrade,etc),butwhatdidyouACTUALLYLEARN?
Useimages,textboxes,GIFs,MEMEsthroughoutthesectionsyoucreateasagroup.
Inotherwords,makeitvisuallyappealing!


Attendance,ExamDay,CourseParticipation,&InClassWritingDays

DearStudents,

As we are writingthisletter,weendedthesemestersuccessfully!Wealsohope thatyou

will do the same for this semester. The following paragraphs contain guidelines for you to
remember so that you can besuccessfulinthiscourse.Wewishwehadknownthatthiscourse
has been more challenging than the typical UWRT class since it is a 4creditcourse.Buttotell
youthetruth,ithasbeenworthitandwehopethatyouwilldowell.

Attendance is a key part in this course. Each student can only have 3 unexcused
absences before losing 10 points from their overall grade. After the third unexcused absence
the student will lose 10 points with each daytheymiss.Studentsare expectedtobe inclasson
time. If you are over 10 minutes late then you are considered late. Being to class late 3 times
equalsinoneabsence.Ifyouhavemissedoverhalfoftheclassthendontevenbothercoming.
The exam day is something that students will most likely not want to do. Sure enough,
the instructor has given conditions in order to avoid it. The agreementintheexam dayispretty
clear ever since the first week of class. She has laid down the actions that we need to do and
also avoid in order to not meet on the exam day. On the exam day, it is only a meeting time.
This semester (Spring 2016), our class was successful in doing it. In order for theexamdayto
be waived, we must comply with either one of the conditions which is first, to submit the three
major assignments and to complete the portfolio checks on time.Bytheway,itisgoodtoknow
that she will never accept late works so, you better pass on on or before the submission date
and time. However, if you were not able to submit the assignments on time, there is still a
possibility for the exam day to be waived if you make NO EXCUSES and take it as itislikean
adult. If the waiver is forfeited, theclasswillmeetontheexamday.Notattendingtheexamday
willresulttogaining2absencesandalso10pointsdeductioninthefinalgrade.
Therearetwopartsincourseparticipationnamely onlineandinclass.Theonlinecourse
participation includes student, group and homework responses. Even though these are done
online, it is a big chunk on our grade so doing these responsesareveryimportant.Doingthem
properly and accordingly will result to bigger grades. She really likes it when youanswerthese
responses in details and its well organized. There is also an asked and answered forum
online and that counts as part of the online courseportfolioandIthinkshegivescredittothose
people who use that forum. The next part is the inclass participation. This is graded based on
your performance in class. If you participate more in class discussion, shell give you a better
grade on your course participation as well. You just need to ask if you have questions or
concerns and respond to her questions if ever she willaskyouguys.Takingleadershiprolesin
small group discussions is also a good way to prove that you are participating but engaging in
class discussion is better. Overall, you just need to be active online and inclass to get a good
gradeincourseparticipation.
In class writingdaysaretheclassespeerworkshopdays.Wehavepeerworkshop days
numerous times throughout the semester. In these workshop days we are allowed to work on
our in class and out of class assignments during class. Some of theseassignments consistsof

editing our peers assignments or doing our own assignments. This class consists of a lot of
busy work so with these workshop days the amount of work you do is lessened if you actually
do your work and usethetimewiselyduring theseworkshopdays.Mostofthe timeyoucanget
your smallerassignmentssuchasgroupresponsesandstudioresponsesdoneintheseinclass
writing days. Weare allowedtohaveourphones andlaptopsoutduringthisclass andcaneven
listen to music in class, but you should take complete advantage of these in class writing days
andbeproductiveratherthanunproductivedoingnothing.
To sum it all up, be as active as possible, dont skip class since it might hurt you a lot
and do all the responses online. This class is really fun because Ms. Ashlyn is an awesome
instructor, justdontBSandeverythingsgonnabealright.Weallenjoyourclassdiscussionand
thewritingpartmightbechallengingbutshereallyhelpsusalot. Shesalwaystheretohelpyou
whenever you need it so dont hesitate to ask. We all learned that writing is not actuallyboring
as long as you enjoy what youre writing and we also learned howtousecitationsaccordingto
our field properly. Time management is also a key for you to succeed in this course and she
alwaysremindsuswhattodoandwhenitisdue.Youjustneedto doyourpartasastudentand
youlldofineinthiscourse.

Bestoflucktoyouthissemester,
RanzSaturinas,ElenaSantiago,AbdulazizAlasfar,JordanDonahue

DearFutureStudents,

Oneoftherequirementsofthiscourse,istocompleteacourseportfolio.Theportfolio
willbeworkedonbystudentsintheclassthroughoutthesemester.Therearefourdifferent
portfoliochecksoverthecourseofthesemester.Beforeeachcheck,newinformationwillneed
tobeaddedtoyourportfolio.Eachstudentsportfolioisarepresentationoftheirworkcompleted
throughoutthesemester.Ashlynlooksovereachportfolioateachcheck,andprovides
feedbackforthingsthatneedtobecorrected.Whatisaportfolio?Theportfolioswillhave
studio,homework,orgroupresponsesandmajorassignmentsincludedinit.Alongwith
screenshotsoftheassignments,summarieswillalsoberequired.
Aportfolioatleastforthiscourseisabunchofinformationaboutthecourse,whatis
expectedintheclassfromAshlynsperspective,personalinformationandotherrequired
informationthatiseasilyviewableonaWIX.comwebsite.Aportfoliocanhaveanywherefrom
46maintabswithmultiplesubtabsattached.Eachportfolioshouldrepresentthemajor
assignmentsthatwerecompletedearlyoninthesemester.Theseportfoliosarenojoke,they
accountfor40%ofyourfinalgrade.Forinstancemanyofmypeersembeddedvideosormusic
inthebackgroundtogohandinhandwithclipartandpicturesonthebackground.Thedisplay
andavailabilityoftheportfoliowassomethingthatAshlynlookedatspecificallywhengrading
eachportfolio.Withthatbeingsaiditisimportanttodesignagoodportfoliothatisreadableand
easytonavigate.
WhiledesigningthePortfolio,weusedWix.comwhichisawebsitethatallows/andhelps
youbuildyourownwebsitethisiswhatweusedtobuildourportfolioswhichwerewebsiteswith
ourcourseinformationonthem.WithguidancefromashlynandherScreenCastcoveringwix
andthebuildingofaportfolio.Wewereabletoeasilynavigatethewixsitetohelpsetupthe
baseformatofourprojects.Wixwasdesignedtobehighlycustomizable,andiencourageyou
toreallypushthelimitwithyourportfolios.Dontbeafraidtoaddmusic,pictures,andvideos,
thatpertaintoyourtopicofresearch.Aspartofyourportfoliochecksyouarerequiredtohavea
specificnumberofitemspercheckso,wewereabletousedifferentformsofmediainorderto
createawellroundedsite,onesiteweusedwasscribberwhichtakesyourworddocuments
andcreatesthemintoembeddabledocumentsthatwecanthenplaceinourportfoliossothat
youcanviewthedocumentinitsentiretyandnotjustascreenshotofthedocument.Thisis
youropportunitytoaddyourinputandinsightintothisfieldofresearch.Whenfirststartingyour
portfolioinwix,Ashlynwillencourageyoutouseablanktemplate,pleasepleasepleaseheed
herwarningheretheprefabtemplateshavewonkyspacingandweirdthingsembededthatwill
messyourprojectuplateronwhenyougotoaddcontentintoyourproject.Taketimeandputin
theefforttodesignandbuildagreatportfolio,thiswillhelpensureyouhaveagoodgrade,you
havethePortfoliocheckstoensureyouarebuildingyourportfoliothroughoutthesemester.
Portfoliochecksgohandinhandwiththecourseportfolio.Onceperunit,wewould
haveaportfoliochecktomakesurewewerekeepingupwiththedevelopmentofourportfolio.
Therewasfourintotalandthelastonewasthecompletedportfolio.Eachportfoliocheck
graduallyincorporatedmoreandmoreintotheportfolio.Thefirstonefocusedmainlyon
formattingandthelayoutoftheportfolio.Ithadalittlebitofcontent,butthatwaslimitedto
groupworkandstudioresponses.Thesecondcheckincludedmoregroupworkresponses,

studioresponses,andhomeworkresponses,aswellastheintroductionofoneScribd
embeddeddocwhichwasAssignmentOne.Thethirdcheckalsoincludedmoregroupwork,
studio,andhomeworkresponsesaswellastwomoreembeddeddocs.Bythen,thelayoutof
theportfoliowasalmostfinalandeverythingjusthadtobefinetuned.Thefinalcheckhad6
docsandareflectivesectionabouttheportfolioasawhole.Alongtheway,besuretotake
plentyofscreenshotsaswellasciteanythingthatisntyours,becausebytheendyoushould
have15totalscreenshotsofthedevelopmentofyourportfolioalongtheway.Theportfolio
checksmayseemlikeahassle,butintheendtheywereverybeneficial.Unlikeotherclasses,
thisclasshadtheportfolioassignedinthebeginningratherthan2weeksbeforetheclass
ended.Theportfoliocheckswereagreatwaytomanagethislargetaskespeciallytowardsthe
endwhenyouhadotherfinalsyouhadtostudyfor.

WehopeyouhaveawonderfulsemesterAshlynisagreatteacherandwehopeyou
enjoyherasmuchaswedid.

Respectfully,

NickHarvilla,ZacharyBurdick,EmersonCreech,WilliamSells

DearFutureStudents,

Herearesomethingstohelpyousucceedinthisclasswhenitcomesdownto
completingthemajorassignments1and2.Firstoffmakesureyoudonotprocrastinateand
waittocompletetheseassignmentsbecausetheydotakealotofworkandtimetocompletein
thecorrectmanner.Shedoesprovideverygooddetailsanddescriptionswhenitcomesto
tellingyouhowtocompletetheprojectandwhatmaterialneedstobeincludedinthe
assignmentsthemselves.Abigthingiwouldstresstoyouistonotstressabouttheproject
becausetheyarentthatbadandcanbeeasilycompletedintheamountoftimethatshegives
you.Theycountforadecentamountofyourgradesoyouwanttomakesuretotakeyourtime
andactuallyputinalotofeffort.Thesearejustafewthingstomentionabouttheassignments
andthefollowingparagraphswillgointodetailabouttheassignments.
Timemanagementiskeywheninthisclass.Mainlybecauseyouhavealotofduedates
andAshlynwillnotacceptyourassignmentifitislateandtherearenoexcusesforalatepaper.
Yourassignments1and2arebrokendownintosmallerassignmentsthatyouwilldecideupon
whattheywillbe.WhatImeanbythisistheassignmentsareaprettydecentlengthsowhatwe
gottodowasbreakassignmentonedownintofourorfivesmallerassignmentsthatattheend
youwouldputtogethertomakethewholeassignment.Eachoneofthesmallerassignments
hadadifferentduedateusuallywithinthreeorfourdaysofeachother.Thesmaller
assignmentsarehomeworkassignmentsrelatedtotheonebigassignment.Thebigassignment
hasmultiplesectionstoitanddecideasaclasshowyouwantthoseassignmentstobebroken
downfortheduedates.Thisisjustoneofthewaysthatshehassuggestedtoussothatwecan
takeourownapproachandmakeourselvesresponsibleforourworkandlimittheamountof
procrastinationthatwenormallydo.Thishelpedustonotbesostressedoutaboutthemain
assignmentbeingdueatonetime.Anotherthingthatwasmentionedtoyouinthefirst
paragraphistomakesurethatyouarewatchingthevideosandviewingtheoutlinesthatAshlyn
isgivingyou.Theywillhelpalotifyoudontunderstandwhatyouaresupposedtobedoingfor
theassignments.Yes,weknowthescreencastsarelongandsometimesdifficulttowatch,but
theyllhelpyousomuchinthelongrunifyoujusttrustus.
Assignments1&2areassignmentsthatprepareyouforcompletingyourportfolioand
helpingyouresearchandunderstandyourtopic.Assignment1focusonresearchingyourtopic
inawaywhereyouusevideos,interviewpeople,etc.Youhavedifferentsectionsthathelpyou
breakupyoursourcesforyourtopic.There'srelevantbackgroundinfo,3observations,an
interview,analyze,chart,andproposal.Theobservationshelpyoustartoffyourresearchand
areverybeneficialtotheassignment.Theinterviewhelpstheassignmenthavesomeoutside
voicetoexplainwhereyouwanttogowiththetopic.Analyzehelpsyoumakepatternswithallof
yourresearch.Thechartishelpfulbecauseithelpsyouseewhatideasstoodoutfromyour
research.Finally,thepurposeoftheproposalistoproposewhatyouwillbestudyingfor
assignment2andhelpthereaderunderstandyourgoal.Assignment1contributestoyour
portfoliobyhavingabackgroundforallofyourresearch.Allofthesesectionstakesometime

butintheendtheyallcometogethertohelpyoumoveontoAssignment2.Assignment2is
similartoAssignment1whereithasdifferentsections,butthesectionshaveadifferentpurpose
forAssignment2.ThesectionsforAssignment2areintro/backgroundinfo,literaturereview,
enteringtheconversation,andtheconclusion.Intro/backgroundinfoistheretoexplaintothe
readerwhatyouaregoingtobetalkingabout.Literaturereviewisgoingtohelpyouexplain
yoursourcesandwhyyouchoseeachone,itsalsotheretohelpyouexplainyourpast
researchandtoconnectpastresearchwithnewresearch.Enteringtheconversationistherefor
youtoexplainyourperspectiveofyourtopicandresearchandalsoitspurposeisfordeveloping
studiesofyourtopicandnewideas.Theconclusionistoconcludeyourpaper,discussthe
resultsofyourresearch,anddiscusshowyoucanfurtheryourresearchoutsideofthepaper.
Assignment2helpsyourportfoliobyfindingnewsourcesforyourresearch,andhelpingyou
expandyourresearchandthinkaboutnewideas.
Tosumitallup,theseassignmentarecrucialtoyourgrade,itisveryVERYimportant
youdotheseassignments(ONTIME).Ifyoudothis,youlldoveryverywell.Anotherimportant
thing,istopickatopicthatisimportanttoyouthatyoucanreallygointodepthabout.Thiswill
helpyouinthelongrun,trustus.Forassignmentone,donotwaituntilthelastminute,make
sureyourekeepingupwiththehomeworkresponses,groupresponses,etc.Thiswillhelpyou
withtherevisedassignmentonewiththesectionsalreadybeingdonesoattheendofit,you
justhavetoputitalltogetherandyouregoodtogo.Forassignmenttwo,itismoredifficult,but
youcandoitifyoukeepupwiththeHomeworkresponsesaswell.Youneverdoanythingin
thisclassthatwontbevaluablelateronintheassignment.Withtimemanagement,beingone
ofthemostimportantaspectsofthisclass,keepupwithit.Listentothisandyoulldogreat.
Havefun!

Frompaststudents,
Ashley,Jacob,Kayla,andMaryMargaret

DearFutureStudents,

WhencomingintoUWRT1104,youshouldexpectalotofworktobedoneinthisclass.
Donotpanic,theworkloadmayseemoverwhelmingatfirstbutitismanageableaslongasyou
remainfocused.Inthecoursewedoaseriesofweeklyresponses:studio,groupand
homeworkresponsesandaveragedtogetherwereallworth20percentofourfinalgrade.Studio
responsesareindividualresponsesthatwedobasedonthemajorassignments.Thegroup
responsesarewhereeachgroupthatisformulatedinthebeginningofthesemester,is
assignedaspecificpromptortopictodiscussamongsteachotherforagrade.Homework
responsesarebasedoffofthemajorassignments.Eachhomeworkresponsewasbasicallya
pieceofeachassignmenttohelpwithprocrastinatingforcompletingthemajorassignments.
Withgroupnetworking,ourgroupexchangedphonenumbersandcreatedagroupchat
foroutsideofclass.Wedefinitelyrecommendallgroupsdoingthisbecauseitturnedouttobe
extremelyhelpful.Ithelpedustorememberassignmentdeadlines,whattoincludeintheweekly
responsesifwewereeverconfusedonwhattodoforaparticularassignmentwewouldreferto
ourgroup.Ifclasswasevercancelled,oneofourgroupmemberswouldtextthechatsowed
allbeaware.Mostimportantly,thisservedasapurposeforcreatingnewfriendshipsand
becomingclosewithourpeers.Participatinginagroupchatcouldhelpyourgradeinsomany
waysbecauseyouhaveyourpeersthataretakingthesamecourseasyouareandwhatyou
maynotunderstand,someoneinthegroupmayandcanofferhelpinthatspecificmoment.
Themainaspectofthisclassistonotprocrastinate.Alongwiththegroupchats,inclass
groupwork,andotherassignments,thereareotheraspectsthatareoptionalthataffectyour
gradetoo.Inordertoreceiveamaximumparticipationgrade,itisnecessarytospeakupand
askquestionsinclass.Therearealsooutofclassresourcesforaskingquestions.Theasked&
answeredsectiononMoodleisagreatwaynotonlytogetanswersquicklywhenyouneed
themwithoutconsultingtheprofessor,buttoalsoboostyourgradeasitcountsforextracredit.
Withtheseconsultationpossibilities,Ifounditverydifficulttogetbehindormissanassignment.
Itmadethingsveryeasytonotonlystayontrackbuthelpotherclassmatestoo.
Comingintotheclass,wewishwewouldhaveknownhowtoprioritizetheworkload,
howstrictAshlynisaboutdeadlines,andtheamountofworkthathastobedoneforthemajor
assignmentsandportfolio.Thingsthatwerechallengingwithweeklyresponses,quantifyingthe
curseworkload,andgroupresponsesweredefinitelyprocrastinatingandlatework.Weasa
groupdidtendtoprocrastinateuntilthelastminute.Whenitcomestolatework,Ashlynwillnot
acceptanylateworkatall.Weallthoughtshewassayingthatjustsowewouldget
assignmentsturnedinontimebut,shedoesnottakeanyexcusesatallifyouturnanyofyour
worklate.WithAshlynhavingthesestrictdeadlinewasanotherwayinhelpingquantifythe
courseworkload.Asthecoursecontinuedon,ourgroupnetworkinghelpedeachotherinhowto
manageourtimeinordertogetallofourworkdonewithweeklyresponses.Aspectsofweekly
responses,quantifyingthecourseworkload,andgroupnetworkingthatweenjoyedwere
definitelyworkinginourgroupinclass,andhavingAshlynasourprofessor.Wefound
enjoymentinourgroupandwewerealsotheclosestoutoftheothergroupsintheclassas
well.
Leavingthisclass,wearealldefinitelymoreworkdrivenandhaveabettersenseoftime
management.WelearnedtheimportanceofdeadlinesbecausepriortothisclassIfeelwe
wouldalltrytomakeexcusesforlateworkwhereasinAshlynsclass,lateworkisnever

acceptedneitherareexcusessowehadnochoicebuttogetthingsdone.Also,workingin
groupsandhavinggoodgroupnetworkingdefinitelyhelpeduswithquantifyingourworkload
anddoingtheweeklyresponses.Wehopeyouloveandenjoyherclassandcreatenew
friendshipsjustaswedid.

Sincerelyfrompaststudentsandbestofluck,
Samantha,Rohdina,Roberto,andZack