Class Minutes Date: March 2, 2010

Date: March 2, 2010
Taken by: Amanda Fischedick
Participants: Don Wagner, Amanda Fischedick, Lynnette Bruce, Kyle Hodgson, Rob Greer,
Nathan Reynolds, Aaron Day, Jon Willow, Matthew Ali, Ryan Reed, Stacy Furgal, Giselle
Guadalupe, Timothy Cumberbatch, Brittany Meeks, Jessica Zeller, Danielle Zeller, Maegan
Spindler, Alex Mottern, and Leanna Mulvihill.
Class Start: 9:31
Review of Minutes
Discussed the origin of the title “Don Dude”.
Reviewed comma usage and presence of “ing” words.
Minutes accepted as ratified.
Technical Process Description
Handed in technical process draft and reviewed several.
Reviewed guidelines:
· Overview
· Compare/Contrast
· Signal to reader
Class Examples
· Definition (is/are ______ that/which____)
· Label diagrams and figures, have them placed by text.
· Normally you would cite images and figures, but for our use here plagiarize.
· Provide descriptive heading for each part of your description.
· Begin with a concrete definition that uses specifics. Do not be general, or vague.
· Use technical terms; provide the reader with a list of the keywords you will be
using.
· Keep in mind the audience you are writing for.
· Keep the format of your document consistent.
Assignments
By Tuesday read the section of our online text on reports and think about a proposal
topic.
By Sunday night redo technical process description.
Class End: 10:45

Class Minutes Date: March 2nd, 2010

Date: March 2nd, 2010
Class Start: 9:34 AM
Class End: 10:48 AM
Author: Kyle Hodgson
Participants: Everyone except Melissa

Review of Old Minutes
• Minutes were written by Ryan and read aloud by Giselle
• Grammatical errors were critiqued by class
• Don-dude intentionally reverses the chronology of the minutes to emphasize the importance of logical order
• Minutes were ratified at 9:50AM and kudos was given to Ryan, despite Don-dude’s manipulation of the minutes
• Old papers were passed back after the minutes were accepted

Grammatical Lessons
• Discussion of compound predicates, independent clauses and comma use
• ‘For example’ is an introductory statement that suggests a comma is needed
• ‘If’ is a conditional word that opens for a conditional clause.
o Can be utilized in the beginning or middle of a sentence
• A comma is not needed when a conditional word is used in the middle of a sentence

Class Discussions
• Spending time in front of TV and computer screens is leading in the diminishing interpersonal communication skills among high school students
• Discussion of Chilean and Haitian earthquakes and how we should pay more attention to the media
• Word of the day – peristalsis: the wave-like contractions that move food along the digestive tract

Instructional vs. Non-Instructional Descriptions
• Instructional descriptions include experiments, performing tasks, methodologies and natural processes. Explaining ‘how you do it’ is essential
• Instructional descriptions must include: a paragraph of introduction, a definition, materials needed and step-by-step procedures that are enumerated
• Non-instructional descriptions are causal and explanatory. Explaining ‘how it works’ is essential
• Don presented “How to Operate the Minolta Freedom 3 Camera” as an instructional description example. His second example was a reference to a non-instructional description.

Homework Assignment:
• Read online section on instructional and non-instructional descriptions located under the Information Structures link
• Come in with a draft of a description that is one to two pages in publishable form

CLL 405 Class Minutes February 25, 2010

CLL 405 Class Minutes
Author: Ryan Reed Class start: 9:30 AM
February 25, 2010 Class end: 10:50 AM

Participants: Casey Galletto, Stacy Furgal, Amanda Furcall, Timothy Cumberbatch, Brittany Meeks, Jessica Zeller, Danielle Zeller, Megan Spindler, Alex Mottern, Leanna Mulvihill, Amanda Fischedick, Lynnette Bruce, Nathan Reynolds, Rob Greer, Josh Menard, Aaron Day, Jon Willow.

• Don handed out Girl Scout cookies!
• Old minutes were read and ratified. Kudos were given to Danielle Zeller.
• Right after minutes are read Don will hand back any old assignments.
• Went over reading assignment on technical descriptions.
• Take object in technical description and break it into its parts. Describe each part to allow the reader to gain a better understanding.
• Organize technical description into major level headings.
• Don told us about a text book he had read from the library that had only the first chapter read and highlighted. The second chapter had poor one sentence descriptions and was confusing. This was a failure of the text.
• Be aware or your audience when writing a technical description.
• We discussed different functions of a pencil to show how giving the function of the object in a technical description is important. We also discussed the function of each part of the pencil. For example a pencil eraser can be used to erase stuff but also can be used to prop a window open or scratch an ear.
• Give enough detail in description to allow somebody to draw it. Including pictures in description.
• Order in technical description is very important.
• Broke up into 5 groups and were given tape and slips of paper with different sentences describing an Adidas shoes.
• Had to determine the order of the sentences.
• Compared each group’s way of organizing information.
• Discussed the importance of following steps in a process.
• There is not just one way to organize information but the way you choose must be logical. Start with most important first and then follow in order of decreasing importance.
• If this is not done really bad things can happen. (Nuclear disasters at Three Mile Island and Chernobyl for example).
• Assignment: Write a Technical description about 1-2 pages of a process related to your discipline.
• Word of the Day: Proleptics – the art and science of predicting medicine.