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December 10: Final Wrap-up

My apologies for missing class last Thursday--trust me when I say it was against my will.  Thank you to those who e-mailed your opinion articles to me; I'll pick up the hard copies from you today and get them back to you through campus mail.

We have two tasks today: we need to do an overview of the class, and I'll be asking you for suggestions for improvement.  Part of this process will involve doing the course evaluation, as you might guess, but I also want to just talk about what worked and what didn't work--particularly important because next year I intend to dump that stupid (and expensive) book and write up more of my own material.  You have the potential to be VERY influential on what next year's class will be like.

My own basic conclusions about the class?

• I need to drop that $70 book I ordered--and since I haven't been able to find a reasonable and useful book, I should replace it with website text and handouts.

• I need to work with you more on the AP Stylebook.give daily AP Style quizzes--just to get everyone to learn the basics.

• I need to totally rethink that Libel test.  I wrote this year's so badly that I had to throw it out as useless (sorry--wrote it too quickly with too much unthinking cut and paste--and it was a total mess)

• I need to strive to be more consistent in my grading.  I tried hard to stick to the list of deductions I gave you at the beginning of the semester, but I ended up being much easier than I said I'd be. In some instances I also needed to get the articles back to you more quickly.

• I need to reconsider my extra credit policy.  Some people are going to end up with really inflated grades on the basis of extra credit (I know--it breaks your heart!)

Questions I have for you:

• Is it an advantage or disadvantage to have the class in this computer classroom?

• This course covered a lot of territory in a relatively shallow manner. Would you have been better served by a narrower class that gave you more depth (such as a class that focused entirely on news and feature writing)?  Or would you have been better served by a class with an even more broad approach (including media other than print)?

• What was (be honest now) the worst thing about the class (leaving out the libel test, which I know was bad)?

• What, in all the work we did, was the best assignment?

The second very important task is the editing of The Georgetown View.  Each of you will get a copy of the rough layout of your pages; some preliminary editing has probably already been done by the person who did the page layout.  I want you to look for problems in layout as well as in your stories.  Write your name at the top of the copy you edit. Mark your edits of the stories (ALL stories on the page, but start with your own) directly on the page.  In addition, write any comments about the layout or suggestions for improving the page on the back of the printout.  In some cases, you may need to do extensive editing, which may require you to work on the disk copy of your story.  If you edit the disk copy, be sure to turn the disk in to me or email me the revised story.

We'll also talk about your Final Article, due during the exam period for this class (no later than 11 a.m. on Tuesday, December 17).

I've enjoyed this class, and I hope that you've had a good time (and learned something).  Have a great Christmas break!