Photo: Latke Time [345/366] by Tim Sackton on Flickr, used under a CC-BY 2.0 license I’m using a food-related theme for my summer technical writing course. The first assignment is an oral presentation (video) that they will use to introduce…
Author: Traci Gardner
10+ Things to Add to Your Community Action Toolkit
Image Credit: Toolbox by Florian Richter on Flickr, used under a CC-BY 2.0 license. As I mentioned on my List of 10 on hashtags, I’m working on a series of assignments and classroom activities that will support the “Digital Assignments…
10 Assignments on Hashtags
Image Credit: Piqsels.com, used under public domain. I’m working on a series of assignments and classroom activities that will support the “Digital Assignments for Activist & Justice-Oriented Projects” presentation that I’m giving at the Computers and Writing Conference this year.…
Why I’m Failing & How to Change
Things are going awry in my tech writing course this term. Somehow students are struggling with assignments—not understanding the purpose, working on topics that don’t fit the assignment, mixing up the genre conventions, and more. I’m not happy. Students aren’t…
How I Almost Undermined My Ungrading System
It seemed like a simple explanation at the time. By the time I was almost done, I realized that I had almost undermined my entire ungrading system. This fall, I have a few hard deadlines. Most work has a grace…
Transparent Feedback Strategies
My assessment this term focuses on feedback, as a part of the #ungrading approach I have adopted. Since I do not put A’s and B’s on student work, feedback is critical. Understandably, some students are a bit nervous about this…
Rethinking the Syllabus Quiz
Since my summer course, I have been using an #ungrading approach, built on the anti-racist assessment strategies that I used previous semesters. With such an approach, the standard syllabus quiz is a poor fit. I don’t have any interest in…
Decoding Racist Language in Technical Writing
Yesterday’s Marketplace broadcast included a story that demonstrates the power of racist coding in less than 2.5 minutes. “Can changing home appraisal language help close the wealth gap?” examines how the word choice in home appraisals, which are essentially technical…
Making Outlines Work in Tech Writing
I am not a fan of outlines. I never could figure out how someone was supposed to know all the bits of their document before they wrote it. Sure you can make a working sketch of what you want to…
Midterm Course Progress Report Assignment
It feels like just yesterday I was setting up my course for the summer session–and now, suddenly, midterm is upon us as we begin the third week of this six-week course. By the end of the week, students will turn…