MDC Academic Writing Club - Page 4

[namaste_mom]

kaybee - my kids have been sick too for about a week. DH just took DS2 to the doctor, he has double ear infections. I'm actually relieved, I thought it was broncitius (sp?) or RSV. He has been up for hours at a time for the past week. I have gotten between 3-6 hours of sleep a night for about 10 days.

GOALS (Week March 27-April 1)

1. Work on xsectn 30 minutes a day M-F

2. Work on Erosion paper 30 minutes a day M-F

3. Answer co-authors questions for Zir

4. Lab manual cover page

5. check with SM - India topography, diss proposal

[Geofizz]

Last week was spring break and was a total bust.  I took some vacation, and my brain failed to come home with me.

Today is the first day of the quarter, and I now have the first two weeks of the course squared away.

This week:

HRing:  Data to coauthor by end of Monday

Hol:  30 min/day Tues - Fri

HPv: 30 min/day  Tues - Fri

CP: Coauthor has a problem with a scaling relation I used.  Helping grad student figure it out then getting the thing submitted.

[Realrellim]

We were on spring break too last week. I though it would mean I'd do a lot of writing. And...nope, not so much. Grrr. R is on spring break this week, but I suspect that will lead to even less time for me to get anything done.

Last week::
- really send ICPS form Done
- grade other discussion Done
- read 75 pages in current research book Done
- write 5 sentences/night on the article

This week:
- 5 sentences
- 100 pages of research-related reading
- 1/3 way through concert paper grading
- write test

[namaste_mom]

GOALS (Week March 27-April 1) UPDATE

1. Work on xsectn 30 minutes a day M-F DONE

2. Work on Erosion paper 30 minutes a day M-F

3. Answer co-authors questions for Zir

4. Lab manual cover page

5. check with SM - India topography,

I was horrible last week at getting anything done. I had so many meetings...so

GOALS (Week April 3-7)

1. Work on xsectn 30 minutes a day M-F

2. Work on Erosion paper 30 minutes a day M-F

3. Answer co-authors questions for Zir

4. Lab manual cover page

5. check with SM - India topography,  

[Geofizz]

Complete bust for a week, here, too.  Interviewee was in town, out of normal schedule faculty meetings, rocky start to the quarter (my classroom is flooded), gave an extra lecture for a colleague whose DD was too sick for her to leave home, etc, etc, etc.

Onward to next week.

[kaybee]

Last week:

Spend 30 min/day on Rav section of BFR, starting on Tuesday. - Nothing on Tuesday, Wed, or Thur.  I got to this on Friday for about an hour.

Clean up sections 1-4 on BFR. - I worked on this, but didn't finish it.

Start edits on other people's BFR sections as they come in. None of them came in until Friday afternoon.

Write an exam for next Monday. (I want to make sure I don't forget it...) Mostly there

This week was not as productive as I'd hoped.  Sick kid for two days, and I my proposal took up more time than I'd planned.

Next week's goals:

1. Finish I3 proposal and submit by Friday.

2. Finish cleaning up sections 1-4 on BFR by Wed.

3. Work on Rav section of BFR for 30 min/day ALL week.

4. Merge 2 spreadsheets and prep for submission to funding agency.

[Realrellim]

Last week:
- 5 sentences Done - in one very long writing session last night that resulted in ~30 sentences, give or take. And yes, I give myself a day off each week, hence 30 and not 35.
- 100 pages of research-related reading Partly done, but I probably only managed 50 pages
- 1/3 way through concert paper grading Done!
- write test Done!

This week my primary goal is to catch a little extra sleep before my half-marathon on Sunday (priorities!), so I'm setting the bar low:
- the usual 5 sentences/day
- 50 pages research-related reading
- finish concert paper grading
- grade listening section of world music tests

edited b/c I finally changed to rich text format and can do fonts in color

[namaste_mom]

I had another horrible week and essentially did not accomplish any of my Goals. I'm OOT for the first 3 days of next week but I'm taking work with me. I will work to try and achieve some of these goals.

GOALS (Week April 11-15)

1. Work on cross section (not this week, I'm OOT)

2. Work on Erosion paper 30 minutes a day M-F

3. Answer co-authors questions for Zir

4. Lab manual cover page

5. check with SM - India topography

6. Grade midterms

7. Grade project 2

[kerc]

I've been absent forever: Spring Break I intentionally took off.

Then to quote my friend "reentry was a little tough."  after Spring Break.

This week I've been sick. Like sick enough that I canceled classes one day and stayed home during one non-instructional day. I think I'm on the mend.....

Good news (and bad news): I was asked to be the PI on a STEM initiative proposal for our campus. I'm overwhelmed. But there is (supposedly) funding from administration to compensate me for proposal writing time. I'm flattered and overwhelmed. But I have a few really good ideas and said them rather loudly at a brainstorming meeting, so the grants person cornered me and, well....off we run. I was hoping to check out for the summer June 10 when my kiddos are out of school and return in August. I'm not sure that can happen, but that's probably ok.

Goals for next week (4-11 to 4-15):

get current on online grading (which means grade 2 labs)

write course outline for freshman seminar I'm teaching this fall

write new course descriptions for 130 and 112

type handwritten notes for paper and find 2 references for said paper.

[kaybee]

This week went pretty well.  Here were my goals:

1. Finish I3 proposal and submit by Friday.  It is done.  It's due Monday.

2. Finish cleaning up sections 1-4 on BFR by Wed.  I finished cleaning up sections 1, 2, and 4 and sent it to colleagues by Wed! Sec 3 is waiting on someone else. 

3. Work on Rav section of BFR for 30 min/day ALL week.  I finished the Rav section by Wed. 

4. Merge 2 spreadsheets and prep for submission to funding agency.  What a pain in the rear this has been.  Not quite there yet - need to have some serious conversation with author of spreadsheet #1.  

Next week's goals:

1. Finish section 3 of BFR, pending info from colleague (Mon?).  Done.

2. Write those last 2 short sections of BFR (Mon and Tues). One is done and the other is delegated and now they are both done.

3. Clean up entire document, including comments from others. (by Thurs)  Working on it right now. DONE!

4. Send the blasted BFR off by Friday (due Friday!). DONE!!!!

5. Write abstract and submit by Friday. Done!

Question for you all.  This spring has just been one deadline after another for me, so I've been fairly productive.  I can usually make deadlines.  The problem is that I tend to crash afterwards and lose all momentum.  How do keep going?  

(I'm beginning to think I should submit all of my papers to special issues simply because they have deadlines.  I can make deadlines.  I can't motivate myself to get the papers done that don't have deadlines.)

Edited by kaybee - 4/15/11 at 6:04pm

[Realrellim]

What I accomplished: the research reading, concert paper grading and listening section of the tests. Also, the extra sleep before the race, more or less. Writing took a big hit though, mostly because I was being a wuss.

So this week:
- grade discussion posts
- finish grading tests
- grade world music concert papers
- 50 pages in research book
- 5 sentences per day (no excuses!)

kaybee--um, I haven't figured out the "keep going" thing yet, or at least not well. That would explain why I've spent all semester working on a rough draft of one article. Also, I'm not convinced that it's possible to keep up a certain pace forever, so I try to focus on limiting my recovery. Or I will once I finally get this article done.

[Geofizz]

Yeah, I'm finding that I'm now almost entirely deadline driven.  The trick seems to be to assign deadlines and have someone who can keep me accountable.  I've got 2 coauthors for minor projects that are great like that.  My major stuff is another story.  Those coauthors seem to only function with the top 10 emails in their inbox, and if you sink below that, they forget about the project.  My students are keeping me honest, though, so those papers I generally can handle -- they're breathing down my neck constantly.

I did break a logjam yesterday on some of my data for one paper, so that's good to roll.  I plan to crank on that one this week to see how far I can push it.

[Realrellim]

Last week was more productive. I finished all the grading, finished the research reading and best of all, have a (very) rough draft of my article.

Onto this week. I'm trying to keep my expectations reasonable because I'll be at church three evenings this week and that's likely to mean late bedtimes and less work time.
- finish current research book
- grade discussion assignments
- print and start editing article - at least an hour this week
- bonus: start outlining next article

[kaybee]

Nice job getting a draft complete, Lisa!

Last week was successful - I submitted a proposal on Monday and a monster report on Friday.  Phew!

Yesterday I spent running around like a chicken with my head cut off.

My goals this week involve primarily reading and editing drafts of student papers and catching up on a few reviews.

1. Read ED's thesis by Wed. Done

2. Read SD's paper by Thurs. Done

3. Read and review MS1 by Friday. Done

4. Read MS2 - first pass by Friday.  Not done

5. Go through nomination packets I'm supposed to be reviewing. Done

6. Go through chapter 2 from BFR and start working on turning it into a paper (30 min/day for 3 days)  Nope - not done

Looking forward to Geofizz's visit on Thursday!

Edited by kaybee - 4/25/11 at 2:02pm

[Geofizz]

CP is submitted!!!!  Please wish it well.  It went to the highest impact journal in my field that publishes longer papers (ie, not Science/Nature, and surprisingly higher impact than GRL)

I need to keep whittling on the other papers.  I did get one log jam on Bam freed up last week, but my motivation is in the pits.

Has anyone contemplated a writers retreat for your group?  I'm contemplating something for my group in finals week this quarter where we do some sort of locked-in-a-room-no-internet kind of routine with daily exchanges of papers.  It would be me and 3 grad students, all with papers to write.  Thoughts on making that work?

Sick kid - night filled with tornado sirens - travel this afternoon.  I think that travel will be more restful than being at home for once.  AND I get to hang out with kerc and meet kaybee.

[kaybee]

Congrats Geofizz, on submitting CP!

Writer's retreat.  Yes, we've pondered it.  In fact, 2 of my grad students took the initiative to plan one (although it looks like I won't be able to go).  The plan was/is cabin in a state park, with electricity and heat a must.  Write/exchange drafts during the day, with concrete goals, and scheduled breaks for hiking, etc. 

[Realrellim]

Geo - a writing retreat sounds wonderful. It wouldn't happen with my colleagues because life is too complicated, but I can think of three of us who need it. There would need to be an ample supply of coffee or a nearby Starbucks (or coffee shop of your choice) to make it awesome.

I finished two of the four items last week. Didn't do any editing, but otoh, that wretched stomach bug sucked two days out of my life between J being sick and then me being sick, and with Holy Week activities starting the minute we were all healthy, well, so it goes.

This week:
- 100 pgs research reading
- at least an hour of editing
- outline next article
- start grading opera papers as they come in and have 15 done by Monday evening

[kaybee]

I've been bad getting any writing done for the last two weeks.  This is the classic post-submission crash.

So I'll try and be good and start making goals again...

This week:

1. Edit UWEC proposal and get it back to them. Done

2. Organize FT guide and send out writing tasks to everyone involved.

3. Read ED's thesis, comment and return. Done

4. Review MS2 by Friday. Halfway done

5. Work 30 min on Th and Fri on Hol paper. 

6. Read SD's paper and return comments by Friday. Done

Edited by kaybee - 4/29/11 at 7:12am

[Geofizz]

This week was consumed by grading really dreadful midterms.  One student complained that she could see that my midterm was designed to take the facts and concepts and relate them to draw inferences.  Totally unfair.

I've gotten lots of calculations done, abstracts edited for students (those count, right), and hand holding on data analysis.  Writing - as in words into a word document with a title and author list on the top - needs to happen.

Tomorrow - visitor, but will spend 15 minutes on Bam

Friday - eaten by meetings

[Realrellim]

Um, apparently I'm just a bum. I'm not sure what happened to last week, seeing as 5 opera papers are graded, no articles have been outlined and nothing has been edited, at all. I did manage the research reading at least.

OK, time to start the final push to the end.

1. Finish grading opera papers
2. Grade discussion posts over the weekend
3. Finish the research book by Tuesday's final so I can return it while I'm on campus
4. Spend at least an hour editing the article