Final Blog Post

Hello Class!

This will be my final post to this blog *sheds a tear*. I hope that you have learned a bit over the course of the semester. My students never cease to amaze me. I think I learn just as much from my students, if not more, than my students learn from me. In short, I have had a great time with you this semester, and wish each of you a relaxing and happy summer.

Once I post the Group Facilitation grades to Blackboard, you should be able to easily calculate your grade on Blackboard. I will update grades on Blackboard and return your graded papers tonight. Simply add up all of your points and find your total on the following scale:

A 950-1000
A- 900-949
B+ 870-899
B 840-869
B- 800-839
C+ 770-799
C 740-769
C- 700-739
D+ 670-699
D 640-669
D- 600-639
F 600 and below

I will post grades at some point tomorrow, but I don't think they will be released for a day or two. The mysjsu system will release grades at its own pace.

I will check the class email address until Friday. After Friday, if you need to contact me, please do so at my SJSU email account, which can be found on my faculty webpage. I will no longer check the class email address after Friday, please make note of this!

Again, I have had a great time with you all this semester, and hope that you have a wonderful summer!

Signing off for the last time.....

The Blogging Prof

Grades Posted for the Discussion Week of May 9th - 15th

Hello Folks!

I have posted the discussion grades for May 9th - May 15th. Please take a look at your score and let me know if you have any questions.

Your Group Facilitation Papers should be returned to you via email in the middle of the week, so look out for that.

I will post one more time to this blog in the middle of the week (Wednesday or Thursday), to end the semester.

I hope finals week is kind to you.

:)
Carol

Final Exam Grades Posted - and Reminders

Hello class!

This morning I posted your grades for the final exam. As expected, some groups did better than others, but overall no one failed (wooohooo!). ;)

I will post the grades for the final discussion week sometime next week. Please DO NOT delete your blog yet. I will post a few more times, and will let you know when it is ok for you to delete your blogs.

Have a great day!
:)
Carol

Final Paper

Hello Folks!

It was a pleasure to finally meet you all in person.

I should have your final exam scores uploaded sometime this weekend. I will post a note on my blog when I have those tests scored and the scores uploaded.

I will have your papers returned to you next week by the end of finals week.

Have a great night! :)

Final Exam

Hello Folks!

Tomorrow evening is your final exam. Here is some information that you will need:

When? 5:15pm - 7:30pm

Where? HGH 122

What? Final exam

What should I bring? Your Epstein textbook and any notes you would like to use.
Are we doing anything else besides the test? Yes! You will complete the SOTE evaluation for Comm 41.

It's around dinner time, can I bring snacks? Yes, please bring whatever you'd like as long as it's not in the family of tuna sandwiches, Taco Bell, onion salad, hard boiled eggs, or anything else that might have a strong scent or distract your colleagues while taking the test.

Can I leave after I'm done with my test? Sure!

What if I take longer than the others to complete my test? I will stick around. No worries, I won't leave until every person is finished with the exam.

Is the test multiple choice, true false, essay and/or fill in? The exam is multiple choice - nothing more, nothing less. And let's face it, you don't want to write another essay, and I sure don't want to read another essay. ;)

If there are any other questions, please email me TONIGHT. I may or may not have access to email tomorrow morning. I will be on campus all day for meeting prior to the final exam and will most likely not be able to check my email. However, if you need to contact me in case of an emergency, please send an email and I will check it a few minutes before the final exam if possible (although I can't promise that I will have internet access before the final exam).

Office Hours

Hello Class!

I will be holding online office hours tomorrow from 9am to 11am. I will also be on campus on Thursday in case you want to drop by my office. If you want to meet with me in person, please send me an email so we can schedule a time to chat.

I hope you all are doing well during this very short, last week of classes.

Week of May 16-17

Hello Folks! Welcome to your last two day of class. The only responsibility you have this week is to study for the final exam. I will post more about the final exam on Wednesday.

I will be available through email all week. My office hours this week will be posted to this blog tomorrow.

Have a great evening!

Group Facilitation Paper

Hello Class!

I will send confirmation emails that I have received your project at some point tomorrow. I will not be online at midnight (at least I hope I won't be), so the replies will have to wait until tomorrow.

I hope you all have fabulous night!

Final Exam Date/Time/Location Reminder

Hello Class!

Our final exam is quickly approaching. The final exam for our class is scheduled for Thursday, May 20th @ 5:15pm and should last no later than 7:30pm. We will meet in Room HGH122. Please arrive early.

The exam is open book/open notes, so please come prepared. The test will cover everything we have learned throughout the semester, so make sure to review the book, websites, etc.... that I have provided you with throughout this course.

Remember to bring a pen or a pencil, your book, and any notes you think you may need.

I look forward to meeting you all in person on May 20th @ 5:15pm in HGH122.

REMINDER: Your Group Facilitation Paper is due by Friday, May 14th @ 11:59pm. Submit your papers early to avoid late penalty. (To review the late work policy, please see the syllabus).

Grades Posted for the Week of 4/25-5/1

Hello Folks!

I posted grades for the week of April 25th to May 1st. Please take a look at your grade and email me if you have any questions.

Check my blog tomorrow for a post about the FINAL EXAM!

Have a great evening!

Week of May 9 - May 15

Hello Class! I hope you all are having a wonderful weekend so far. Here is what's on the Schedule and Participation Pages for this week:

*Read Chapter 14: Generalizing

*Participate in Week 16 discussion

*The Group Facilitation Paper is due by Friday, May 14th @ 11:59pm. Please submit your papers early to avoid late penalty. Remember, this assignment is worth a full 20% of your final grade!!!

Class Discussion: Answer one in each of your three posts, at least 12 hours apart:

1). Pick one concept from Chapter 14 that you found useful or interesting.

2). Discuss some of the things you learned throughout the semester in this course.

3). Pick one other concept in the book (any chapter) that you feel needs further discussion?

Remember to post 3 responses to your colleagues blogs during this discussion week.

***This is your final week of discussion - let's make it a great week!


REMINDER: Thursday, May 13th is a furlough day.

More Group Facilitation Questions

Hello Class!

I have been receiving some interesting questions from students across both of my Comm 41 classes about the final project in the course. Here is some additional information:

1). Read through the entire assignment carefully.

2). When you gather your group of 5-7 people (not including yourself), you will act as the facilitator and observer. You will NOT participate in the decision making process. Rather, you will be observing and asking questions.

3). Hand out the LAST page of the assignment sheet. (My apologies for including an additional "tip" at the top of the page. Tell your group to ignore that, as it is for you and not your group.)

4). Your group will then, INDIVIDUALLY, rank the people in order of who they would offer the job to first. This means that #1 on the list will be the most qualified candidate to each individual person. Have them write down, in descending order, who would qualify the most.

5). Have them write down "WHY" or a rationale for their decisions.

6). Have a group discussion about their ranking order and their reasoning.

7). You will then discuss the case as a group, and have the group make a decision about who is the most qualified. Make sure to focus on the discussion aspect of the assignment. This is where you will get examples of 'reasoning' and 'arguments'.

8). After a decision is made, and everyone agrees (by majority vote of course - not every single person has to agree), you will then have a discussion about HOW the group interacted. Follow the list of questions on the assignment sheet. Feel free to ask more questions though. Do not feel limited by what I have written down for you.

9). Right after the facilitation, while everything is still fresh in your mind, write down some notes. This is CRITICAL so you do not forget the arguments and reasoning. Remember to record sound reasoning as well as flawed reasoning.

10). As the assignment sheet states, you will need to include at least 4 concepts from the Epstein text, and at least 2 from the Small Group Communication text.

11). FOLLOW the grading sheet when writing and editing your paper. That grading sheet is EXACTLY how I will grade your essay.

Let me know if you have more questions about the final assignment. Remember, the final assignment (and video/audio/CD/DVD) needs to be submitted NO LATER than Friday, May 14th @ 11:59pm.

FAQ's about the Small Group Facilitation Project

Here is a re-post from my blog on April 14th. These are FAQ's about the Group Facilitation Project. Email me if you have additional questions, and I will post more FAQ's as they come in.




Hello Wonderful Students! I have come up with a frequently asked questions list to answer some questions that have come up over the last week or so about the Small Group Facilitation Project. Here they are:

1). Do I have to gather 5-7 people at the same time?
Yes - this is THE culminating project in this class and will cover concepts from both texts. Because it is a small group project, you will need to gather 5-7 people to make that happen. You can gather family, friends, folks from church, etc... to help you with this project. Promising people food is always a motivator.

2). Am I a part of the project?
Yes and No - You act as the facilitator of the project (see assignment sheet), but you will not be a part of the small group itself. You will ask probing questions to find patterns of small group communication, critical thinking, reasoning, arguments, etc.... but you will not be a part of that process. Rather, you will facilitate the process. Then you will write about what concepts emerged in the required essay.

3). What is the due date of the project?
The due date is no later than May 14th @ 11:59pm. Any submissions after 11:59pm (even one minute) will result in a 50% deduction. Since this project is a full 20% of your grade, make sure to turn it in early to avoid a FULL LETTER GRADE deduction.

4). I can't upload more than 10 minutes to youtube, what do I do?
You can do a number of things. You can split up your video into multiple parts and upload it that way. You can find another free video hosting website and upload it there. You can copy the facilitation onto a DVD and turn it into the Communication Studies Office. As long as I can verify that they facilitation took place with the minimum number of folks required, I will accept it.

5). I can't find 5-7 people. All of my friends are busy. What do I do?
You are more than welcome to work with a partner from the class to facilitate your projects. By this, I mean that you can work together on the facilitation ONLY. Your papers will be completely separate entities.

6). If I submit an audio tape will I get it back?
No. I cannot return the audio tapes.

7). What type of probing questions should I ask my group when I'm facilitating the discussion?
Whatever types of questions you would like. You might want to think it through ahead of time to possibly be prepared with some questions before your group arrives to your facilitation activity.

8). Since this is a small group project, will I be working with the same group from class?
No - this is an individual project that encompasses a small group component. You will gather 5-7 family members, friends, acquaintances and facilitate the group project. If you are having a hard time finding 5-7 people to join you for the group portion of the project, you can work with a classmate and facilitate the project together.

9). How are you going to grade the essay?
There is a grading sheet attached to the assignment sheet. Please review the grading sheet in its entirety before beginning the project, and refer to it often while writing your paper. There should be NO ambiguity when it comes to how I will grade this project.

10). I don't have a tape recorder and I don't know how to post a video to youtube.
Well, to be honest, you're just going to have to figure this one out. You are required to turn in an audio tape, video tape, or youtube video so I can verify that your facilitation took place. You wouldn't believe how many people will try to fake a project like this.

Cutting Office Hours Short

Hello Folks!

If you need to contact me, please do so through email. Due to unforeseen circumstances, I have to cut my office hours short today.

My deepest apologies!

Week of May 2 - May 8

Hello Class! I hope you all are enjoying the beautiful weather today.

Here is what's on the Schedule and Participation Pages for this week:

*Read Chapter 13 - Numbers?

*Take Test#4 in the class on Chapters 8-10, 12, 13 & 15 by 11:59pm on Saturday

*Continue to work on your final project in this course. Remember, your Group Facilitation Projects are due by May 14th @ 11:59pm. Please submit your projects early to avoid late penalty. As you will notice on the syllabus, the penalty for late submissions is 50%. As a reminder, this project is worth 20% of your grade, so please work on it diligently over the next couple of weeks.

REMINDER: May 6th is a furlough day. I will not be holding office hours on Thursday, May 6th.