Comments on: Bring Back the Old Note Cards

By: Lost Wanderer

Lost Wanderer — Sat, 23 Jan 2010 21:26:17 +0000

Thanks Shonna. That was very helpful. I think I’ll probably go with lecture packet this time, because I would have preferred getting comments from Margie without having to put work in the whole loop. And I don’t really feel sharing work with complete strangers because you never know whether you would hit it off or not.

By: Kitty Bucholtz

Kitty Bucholtz — Sat, 23 Jan 2010 08:33:13 +0000

Shonna, I feel your pain. I’ve done this, too, with the note cards. I’m dying to find out what you decide to do with the story! In any case, you’ll choose what you like best anyway, so you’ll still be happy with how it turns out. Yay for that!

By: Shonna Slayton

Shonna Slayton — Fri, 22 Jan 2010 17:03:34 +0000

Lost Wanderer, good question, so I’ll answer it here in case there are more people wondering. Here is my experience:

At the beginning of the class we were asked to find a critique partner. Some people chose to go solo, but I wanted the full experience so I put my name on the list of people needing a partner. I actually ended up with two.

Margie gives assignments with each lecture. Between classes you do the work and trade it with your crit partner for feedback. IF you choose, you can also post this critiqued piece to the entire loop. This is how Margie sees your work and gives you feedback. I may have done this once before slinking back to my introvert shell.

Although, you do not HAVE to have a crit partner, having one will certainly help you get more out of the class. And NO, you do not have to read through all the posted writing samples, just your crit partner’s (though you will learn from Margie’s comments on the online pieces.)

If all you have time for is her lectures and doing the assignments on your own, you will still find the class is well worth your time.

BTW, I still keep in touch with my two crit partners! We all speak “Margie” now so when they look at my work and say it needs more “green” or that a sentence should be “backloaded” I know exactly what they are talking about.

Hope that helps!

By: Lost Wanderer

Lost Wanderer — Fri, 22 Jan 2010 14:44:52 +0000

Oh the letter tray is so fabulous.

Shonna, I wonder if you could answer a question about Margie’s class. I am really interested in them, but what slightly concerns me is peer critique. Are students expected to critique everyone’s work? I simply don’t have a lot of time to spend, hard enough trying to sort myself out. I would really appreciate it if you could email me about your experience, or just leave a message on the blog.

Thanks.