TW Information: Final Papers available

Dear TWers,

Papers are now available for pick up. Each paper is in its own envelope in a box outside my office. I should only leave papers there for a few days, so please drop by as soon as you can. After that, I will keep them in my office and you should come by first week of next semester.

Take care & have fun over the break.

Best,

Owen.

--
ELP, International Christian University,
3-10-2 Osawa, Mitaka-shi, Tokyo 181-8585.
Office ph: +81-(0)422-33-3371
Home 0.5: http://okoj.net/james/
Skype ID: owen_james
Delicious ID: okoj

TW Information: What the end of tutorials means.

Dear Class,

Today was the last day of tutorials, which officially also marks the end of writing support. This means that students should not send last minute email requests for me to check papers. 

It regularly happens that one or two students will make a desperate effort to write a paper on the last weekend and then ask me to check it. A paper is whole term task and should reflect the quality of 9 weeks consistent effort. A TW paper cannot be written in 2 days.

Class support so far has included 52 separate tutorials, 20 Office Hours, 6 classes, and in total, more than 100 email messages. Ideally, this weekend, papers should be receiving finishing touches only.

Thank you for your understanding.

See you on Monday,

Owen.

TW Information: Submission of Final Paper

Dear TW Class,

As a gentle reminder, here is the relevant information from Course Information concerning submission of your Final Paper:

1. Submission Details

2/16 Monday. Class 7: Final Paper due. Everybody must attend class. 

You will submit two copies of your Final Paper:

1) e-Portfolio color coded version

2) Print version. Bring to class

2. Basic Requirements (in other words, not optional)

*Main Assignment - Final Paper (75%). A documented research essay (1500 words, MLA style, color coded) on a topic of strongly connected to your personal interests and experiences. Eight (8) sources (mix articles, WWW, books), the majority must be English sources.

Final Paper format is:

• Times New Roman, text size 12, 1.5 spacing
  

• Header, Outline, Student Information, Title (size 14)

• Final Paper (incl. in-text citations, " .." for quotes), sub-headings for each section, and Works Cited. Please see the 8 sample papers and the LBH sample paper. (Click the link to open the file in your browser, or click "Download" to save a copy to your computer.)
  

3. General Advice

Final formatting of your Final Paper should be done in MS Word. When your Final Paper is complete, copy it, open MS Word, and paste into a blank document. Complete the formatting of your Final Paper. Check off each each basic requirement above when it is done.

It is a good idea to use MS Word for final formatting, because currently it provides a little more control than Google Docs over formatting details like the header, font, spacing, hanging indents in Works Cited, etc.

General Comments

Your e-Portfolio & printed versions of your Final Paper are essentially the same. I will refer to both versions when grading your paper. I will refer to the color coding in the e-Portfolio version for information regarding structure. The paper version will be black text on white background and colors will be lost. I will make comments on and return your paper version.

Thank you, that is all. If you have any questions, please do not hesitate to contact me.

Sincerely,

Owen.

--
ELP, International Christian University,
3-10-2 Osawa, Mitaka-shi, Tokyo 181-8585.
Office ph: +81-(0)422-33-3371
Home 0.5: http://okoj.net/james/
Skype ID: owen_james
Delicious ID: okoj

TW Admin: Use this form for you e-portfolio

E-portfolio: In Theme Writing this semester, you are required to maintain an electronic portfolio (e-portfolio) of all your writing in Google Docs. You should do all of your written assignments in your e-portfolio, as well as the preparation work required. Your e-portfolio is evidence of the work you have done and the progress you have made. You can write directly in your e-portfolio, GDS is like a simple online version of Microsoft Word. Moreover, it enables you to share and collaborate on your writing at the push of a button. 1. If you have not already signed up for Google Docs, you should sign up now. It takes about one (1) minute. Here again are the instructions. Please return here when you have finished. 2. Click the link at the top of this email message. Create Your Own e-Portfolio 3. On the next screen, click the on the 'File' menu, click 'Save as new copy'. You now have a copy of the TW e-portfolio form. 4. Click on the 'File' menu, click 'Rename'. In the box that opens, enter a new document name. The name of your e-portfolio should contain the title of the course, your first name, as well as your student number: e.g. 100108 Mari's Theme Writing Portfolio 5. You now have your own e-portfolio for Theme Writing. Share Your e-Portfolio With Me 6. Click the "Share' button (look top right), click 'Share with others'. Figure 1 7. On the next screen (Figure 1), type in my email address. The blue 'as collaborators' button should be 'on'. The boxes at the bottom should also be checked as shown. 8. Click the 'Invite Collaborators' button. 9. In box that appears (Figure 2 below), click the 'Send' button. Figure 2 10. As shown in Figure 1, click '« Back to editing the document.' 11. Delete all this text, Steps 1-11 above, then paste your Scratch Outline into your e-portfolio in the section below.

(Your Name Here) Theme Writing e-Portfolio 1) Scratch Outline (Please paste your work here) 2) Structured Outline (Please do or paste your work here) 3) In-class First Draft (500 words, 2+ sources) Handwritten in class. 4) Second Draft (600-800 words, 4+ sources) (Please do your work here. Leave one blank line between paragraphs. No indent necessary - not yet) 5) Third Draft (color coded) (Please do your work here. Leave one blank line between paragraphs. No indent necessary - not yet.) 6) 'Working' Title, Thesis & Formal Outline (Please do your work here) 7) Full-length Draft (1500 words, + peer review checklist) (Please do your work here. Leave one blank line between paragraphs. No indent necessary - not yet) 8) Works Cited (Please do your work here. No hanging indent necessary - not yet) 9) Final Paper (Please do your work here.)

TW Admin: Start Up Message to Students 2008

Dear Theme Writers,

Welcome to the course! I am looking forward to meeting you in class on Wednesday.

Before class I would like you to do three (3) things:

1) Think carefully about your writing topic. Please give some thought to what you would like to write about. Theme Writing is one of the most liberal and liberating courses at ICU: it is perhaps the only course that allows you to focus your reading, study, and research on a topic that is entirely chosen by you and reflects your particular interests. Please think about a topic that:

• Is strongly related to your personal interests and experiences. If you have lived most of your life in Japan, your topic should reflect that connection.

• Will let you write something new about it.

• Involves a problem or question that you can answer.

• Is "doable" in about 7 body paragraphs.

2) Sign up for Google Docs (GDS). GDS is free online software that you can use to create, store, share, publish, and collaborate on your documents. It is like a free version of Microsoft Office, but because it is online you can use GDS to access your work at any online computer, anywhere in the world. Moreover, for a course like Theme Writing, GDS makes sharing and collaborating on your paper incredibly easy. It means saying goodbye to the messy process of sending your paper to me as an email attachment. It also means you will never have to miss an opportunity to work on your paper because you left you paper at home. Once you have shared your paper with me via GDS, we can open and your check your paper at my computer. I will also share all course materials with you in GDS. GDS is easy to learn to use and can save you lots of time. GDS can make study easier. Yay! For these reasons, GDS is a requirement for Theme Writing this semester. If you already have a GDS account with Google, you do not have to do anything now. However, if you do not have GDS, please take two minutes now to sign up before class tomorrow.

1. Click GDocs & Spreadsheets, or point your browser at http://docs.google.com. If you have a Google account already, sign in with your Google username and password. You are finished!

2. If you do not have a Google account, click the 'Get Started' button.

3. Fill out the sign-up form and follow any directions that Google gives you.

4. If you have time, watch this short video which explains more about GDS. Click to watch the video.

3) Bookmark the TW Homepage. Our homepage is located at http://twicu.blogspot.com/. Please bookmark this in the browser on your home computer. Also, write down the address some where safe, so that you can access it any time you need to, e.g. your diary, keitai, etc.

Thank you & see you tomorrow,

Owen James

TW Information: Final Paper & final class

Dear TW,

After thinking more about what to do in class tomorrow, it seems that we may have covered everything on Monday, therefore, it is not really necessary to require all of you to attend tomorrow.

To check the details about final submission, please see under Submit Final Paper in Course Information. These details are the same as we covered in class on Monday.

However, if you would like a final quick tutorial and/or would like to exchange your paper with a classmate for peer review, please come to class. If your paper is finished you might like to come and hand it in, otherwise please submit it on Thursday according to Course Information.

If you still have more writing to do, you might like to do that in the Library or at home.

In summary, please make a decision about class based on what your current needs are and how you can use the time to achieve the best outcomes for yourself.

Thank you, Owen.

TW Information: Full Draft pick up

Hello Yuta,

Please pick up your paper from the envelope outside my office when you can. As we discussed yesterday, the predicted problem does exist.

Thank you, Owen.