Discussion Post 2: Writing-to-Learn

Asynchronous discussion enhances learning as you share your ideas, perspectives, and experiences with the class.  You develop and refine your thoughts through the writing process, plus broaden your classmates’ understanding of the course content. 

Initial Response

1. First, collect all the course curricular materials for Week 5 & Week 6, in-class writing, mini-lecture materials (see Prof Suter powerpoints on Modules as well), and your course notes in one place.
2. Now that you have everything collected, reflect on the materials and your writing for evidence of how your thinking has changed and developed as a result of your participation in Weeks 5 & 6 in this course—focus specifically on identifying shifts related to your understanding of race and adoption whether in the context of domestic or international context. 
3. Create a claim to frame your response. For instance, I might write, “In reviewing course curricular materials and my own writing in relation to Weeks 6 and 7, one shift I identified related to my understanding of race and international adoption is …. XXXX.”
4. Then, provide evidence and reasoning for your claim.
   • Course curricular materials as evidence: Evidence must be based, in part, on Weeks 5 and 6 course curricular materials.
   • When you are drawing upon course curricular materials, be certain you are integrating these in concrete and specific ways. Concrete and specific ways mean referencing specific terms/lines/concepts and/or specific instances/examples/stories from the course curriculum you select.
   • When answering the prompt, be certain you reference what your initial thinking was, your new thinking, and why this shift is important to you. When addressing the importance of the shift, index your identiy(ies), whether at the individual-, relational-, familial,- or cultural-level of identity.
5. To post your initial response to the discussion board, simply click in reply box located below the question. You will notice the box will then enlarge and display word editing options. When you have finished typing your response in the box, click “Post Reply.”

WRITING EXPECTATIONS

1. Write from the I perspective: This means you are writing from your own personal point of view, you are conveying your own personal experiences of learning in this course. Accordingly, write uses the pronouns “I,” “me,” “my” “we” when writing the first-person text. The use of the first-person point of view will make your writing seem more conversational and natural in tone, congruent with the discussion post genre.
2. Honoring Your Audience: From a point of honoring our course ground rules and commitments to inclusion and diversity in this course, writing from the I perspective will help ground you in speaking for yourself and owning your words. Distance can convey a degree of anonymity, and as a result, many people feel less inhibited in online situations than in their everyday lives. This lessening of inhibitions sometimes leads people to drop their normal standards of decorum when communicating online. Remember your audience when you are writing your initial post and your replies to other students. Imagine you are talking to the group face-to-face during an in-class discussion.
3. Due Dates: Submit an initial post(s) responding to the prompt before 11:59 pm on Sunday and post your reflections on at least one other person’s post before 11:59 pm on Monday. Respond to someone who has not yet received a response.
4. Spelling and Grammar: Please Note: Compose your initial posts and peer replies using a word processing application such as Microsoft Word to save your work. Be certain you then check your writing for spelling and grammar errors. Then, simply copy and paste your answers into the discussion board.
5. Length: Initial posts should be within a range of 250 words (equivalent to 1 page double-spaced) to 300 words (equivalent to 1 ½ pages double-spaced), Response: 100-150 words.