Lesson Report:
Title
Final Session: Advice for Future Freshmen, Reflective Letter, and a Multimodal Narrative Remix
This capstone meeting blended community-building and reflective writing with a collaborative “remix� activity that moved from narrative to visual storytelling. Students consolidated learning (descriptive writing, parts of speech awareness, inference-making) while closing administrative loops on portfolios and next steps before departmental meetings.
Attendance
– Students mentioned absent: 0
Topics Covered (chronological)
1) Opening and administrative housekeeping
– Final session framing and time check; reminder that departmental meetings follow immediately after class.
– Portfolio status:
– Several portfolios missing from the Google Drive; instructor cannot pass students without a submitted portfolio.
– Some print materials appear to have gone missing from the classroom (room was unexpectedly cleared); contingency: if a student only has a draft, they may type it up and submit by end of day.
– If a student’s essay was not added to the portfolio and cannot be located, they must see the instructor at the end of session to work out a plan.
– Named follow-ups flagged in class:
– Maria: no essay on record; advised to rewrite from memory and submit by tonight.
– Nuria and Aroukian: flagged to speak with instructor regarding missing items.
– Milana: reported lost books/notebooks when the room was cleared.
– Victoria: missed three sessions (maximum allowed) — must see Camilia in Room 420 today regarding attendance disposition.
– One ICP student: instructor to meet later today.
2) Community knowledge share: “Advice and Questions for Future Freshmen�
– Activity: Pass the marker; each student writes (a) one concrete piece of advice for next year’s freshmen and (b) one question (for self and/or freshmen) on the board.
– Purpose: Consolidate takeaways from orientation; model metacognitive reflection; surface peer-tested strategies (e.g., timeliness, document submission, balancing workload) and authentic questions to guide next steps.
3) Reflective writing: “Letter to Future Me (Open in December)�
– Prompt: Write a brief letter (3–4 sentences) to be opened at the end of December (finals/grades period).
– Guidance: Reference class board’s advice/questions; articulate goals and who the writer wants to become; pose self-check questions such as “How far have I come?â€� and “What have I done so far?â€�
– Logistics: Letters go into students’ notebooks for retrieval in December.
– Objective: Goal-setting, self-regulation, and transfer of orientation insights to the semester.
4) Multistep collaborative writing-to-comics game (remix narrative)
– Framing: Students receive instructions one step at a time; emphasis on purposeful, swift writing and creative problem-solving.
– Step A — Anonymous micro-memoir:
– Task: On a torn-out page (no names), write 4–5 descriptive sentences about “the worst thing that happened to you this summer.â€� Fabrication allowed if needed; key is vivid detail.
– Skill focus: Sensory detail, concise narrative, tone.
– Step B — Parts of speech word bank:
– On a separate page, write two nouns, two adjectives, and two verbs (no profanity).
– Skill focus: Grammatical awareness; vocabulary agility.
– Step C — Redaction/labelling in original story:
– In the original micro-memoir, identify and cross out two nouns, two adjectives, two verbs; label each deletion with N/A/V above the word.
– Skill focus: Parts-of-speech identification; revising under constraint.
– Step D — Exchange #1: Fill-in remix
– Swap the story (only) with one partner.
– Insert your six words (2N/2A/2V) into the labeled blanks of your partner’s story, regardless of sense.
– Outcome: A semantically “brokenâ€� but grammatically marked narrative.
– Skill focus: Constraint-based creativity; structural substitution.
– Step E — Exchange #2: Visualizing the “nonsenseâ€� narrative
– Swap with a new partner.
– Read the remixed, often illogical story; imagine a coherent scenario anyway.
– On the back, draw a four-panel comic (no words allowed) that depicts the “worst thing that happenedâ€� per the remixed story.
– Skill focus: Visual literacy; inference; multimodal composition; narrative sequencing.
– Step F — Exchange #3: Image-to-text inference
– Swap again with a third, new partner.
– Do not read the text story; only look at the four-panel comic.
– Write 3–4 sentences explaining the worst summer event based solely on the images.
– Skill focus: Interpreting visuals; reconstructing narrative from limited cues; concise explanation.
– Planned but cut for time:
– Usual final step is to share the full chains (original text → redacted → remixed → comic → interpretation) in the group chat and compare transformations. Skipped due to time.
5) Closing and cohort send-off
– Instructor expressed appreciation and welcomed students to AUCA; group photo by the whiteboard.
– Final reminders: Submit missing items; students with special cases remain briefly for directives.
Actionable Items
Urgent — Due today (by 5 PM)
– Submit portfolios to Google Drive; no pass without submission.
– Students with only drafts: type up and submit by end of day.
– Maria: rewrite essay from memory and submit by 5 PM.
– Identify and contact any students whose portfolios are unaccounted for (file names unclear); request corrected file naming and re-share links if needed.
High Priority — Today/This week
– Victoria: meet Camilia in Room 420 today regarding three absences.
– Instructor: speak with Camilia about the classroom clear-out and determine if a short extension (through Monday) is permissible for affected students.
– If approved, notify affected students (e.g., Nuria, Aroukian, Milana, Maria) of revised deadline and documentation needed.
– Meet with the sole ICP student as planned after departmental meetings.
Follow-up/Reminders
– Investigate missing physical items: coordinate with administration on why the room was cleared; explore camera review if feasible; communicate findings to students who lost materials.
– Compile a definitive list of missing/unclear portfolios and confirm receipt; standardize naming convention for Drive submissions.
– Optional wrap-up: Invite students to post their original stories, remixes, comics, and final interpretations to the group chat for informal comparison (or archive select examples for future teaching/demo).
– December reminder: Prompt students to open and reflect on their “Letter to Future Meâ€� at semester’s end; consider a quick check-in activity to close the loop.
Homework Instructions:
ASSIGNMENT #1: Final Portfolio Submission (Due 5 PM today)
You will finalize and upload your orientation writing portfolio to demonstrate your work and progress in the course. As emphasized in class, you cannot pass without this portfolio, and the deadline announced was 5 PM today.
Instructions:
1) Gather your materials
– Include your essay in its final form.
– Include any other items you were asked to keep in your portfolio during orientation.
– Double-check that your essay is actually inside the portfolio.
2) If you only have a draft
– Revise the draft into a clean, typed final version and include it in your portfolio today.
3) If your materials were lost in the classroom clean-out
– If you have only a draft, type it up and submit today.
– If you have no copy of your essay, rewrite what you remember and include that version today.
– If you were affected and need more time, contact the instructor immediately; a short extension into the weekend may be possible pending approval.
4) Digitize any non-digital pages
– Scan or take clear, well-lit photos of any handwritten pages.
– Make sure all images are legible and in the correct order.
5) Assemble your portfolio for upload
– Create a single PDF or a clearly organized folder that contains all required files.
– Put your full name in the file/folder name to avoid identification issues (e.g., LastName_FirstName_Portfolio).
– Ensure your name also appears on the first page inside the document.
6) Upload to the designated Google Drive folder
– Use the same Drive location used throughout orientation.
– If needed, it is acceptable to include photos of pages, as discussed in class.
7) Confirm your submission
– Verify the upload finished successfully and that your files open correctly.
– Check that your essay is included.
– Ensure sharing/permissions allow the instructor to view the file.
8) Deadline and requirement
– Submit by 5 PM today (as announced in class).
– Reminder: you cannot pass without submitting this portfolio.