Lesson Plan 5: Preparing for Assessemnt of the Purple Cow: DO THE WORK

Go over criteria for:

1) written purple cow proposal,

2) presentation, and

3) journal

See below...remainder of class, assist, coach, motivate...

Comm 302 Introduction to Purple Cow Communication Research Methods Fall 2013

Name__________________________________________________________

____Written Proposal (20%) 

Include the following headings in this order—typed, double spaced, staple (no 

folders/binders):

             

        What is your purple cow dream in 1-3 pages?—use the following sub-headings:

                        Title (something creative)

                        Motivation (why do you want to do this?)

                        Big Dream (context)

Piece of the Dream (what you’re focusing on for 4 weeks in this class)

                        Genuine purple cow (how so?)

            How will you accomplish the piece of the purple cow dream proposed in 4 weeks—1-3 pages?

                        Detailed flow chart with each of 4 weeks labeled and concrete/specific activities listed

            Attachments (sub headings labeled and in this order)—1 page each—3 pages total

                        Pic: Picture of purple cow dream that fits on the back of a napkin

Lit Rev: 1 page “Literature Review” of most important things learned and sources in APA style

Method: List & describe how to use one research method to obtain information about your target audience (innovators/early adopters) to create persuasive message…include best 3 of 10 questions

____Oral Presentation (changed from 10 to 5%):

Picture and Description of:

What is your purple cow dream? (1 minute)

How do you plan to do it? (1 minute)

            Other factors:

Delivery, Time, Clarity, Creativity

Responses to questions from class/professor (2 mins)

___Journals (10% = average of 3 items below)-you rate these with 3 numbers—I’ll check

___(0-10) Quantity: 5 entries of what you learned and how you felt about what you learned

___(0-10) Quality: Import, Significance, and Personal Meaning of what you learned

___(0-10) List 3 most important things learned and WHY on separate page at the end      

  

THE BIG CHALLENGE: 

DO THE WORK   

Work straight through the written proposal, presentation, and journal assignment without stopping until you are finished (with this first draft).

Images to motivate you to DO THE WORK:

1) This is an in class examination on your ability to demonstrate what you have learned up to this point...do the work--you have till the end of class to complete the written dream proposal, the outline of your presentation, and the 3 most important things you learned from the journal writings and why...then, at the end of the class period, you must turn in whatever work you have completed for a grade.

2)  You paid for this class, you committed to this time period, why not take advantage of it, get the work done now, then you can relax and reward yourself with something special later...do the work now, play later...keep your priorities straight.

3) The devil (zombie, dragon, or...) is chasing you, breathing down your neck, poking you in the rear with a pitchfork...as long as you're doing the work, you can stay out of its reach, but once you give up, once you stop working, you experience the tip of the pitchfork, the bite of the zombie, the fire of the dragon...there is some consolation here: once you get to the finish line (the first draft is complete), the entity leaves you alone for awhile--till the next assignment.

4) You have inner resources within yourself that you may not even know about, or are only dimly aware of...these inner resources will come to assist you in times of need...believe in yourself, believe in your potential, believe that there are these underground resources that will come to your aid...some people think of these resources as: the muse, angels, spirits, deeper parts of your personality, your "higher self", ancestors, "God"etc...let these inner resources help you do the work.

NOTE:

You can probably think of other ways to motivate yourself to "do the work," but whatever the motivation, you need to:

DO THE WORK...get something done (no matter how flawed, imperfect, or rough)...there will be time to reflect and fill in the gaps later, the important thing right now is to work all the way through till you're finished with the first draft.

            You will be tempted to stop working, you will discover things inside you that want to SABOTAGE your success...RESISTANCE will strike you from every corner, creating every imaginable EXCUSE to prevent you from getting the work done...hungry, thirsty, tired, need to study for another test, need to answer an important text message, need to sleep, need to meet someone...fight these with the all the strength you can muster--bulldog tenacity, fierceness of a lion(ess), Spartan warrior, fire of the spirit...use whatever image you need to help you persist and DO THE WORK.

 For more encouragement/motivation along these lines, see  Steven Pressfield's book: Do the Work! (most of the above ideas are directly form his book, or inspired by his book).

A LOOK AHEAD:

Share proposal idea in groups of classmates that have similar dreams--get feedback.

Work straight through the rough draft in class today.

Reflect and fill in the gaps for your proposal, polish as needed. 

Print and staple the "criteria for assessment" (on bb under "assignments")  to the top of your proposal and journal writings.

Next class, turn in your package *before* you present your proposal to the class--you only have 2 mins to present your picture and purple cow dream proposal (what and how)...think of it as your "elevator talk"--and only 2 mins of q/a from the class.

After the presentations, i will post an on-line schedule of 5 minute "feedback" sessions for the following class in which i will return your proposal, presentation evaluation, and journal assessment...ck under "assignments" on bb for the feedback sessions.

The following 4 weeks i w..ill hold in class "coaching" sessions for those that need assistance with their projects--if several students need assistance with a similar topic, i may give mini-lectures, otherwise this will probably be take the form of individual meetings--i will have a sign up sheet for this available as a wiki entitled "sign ups for coaching sessions"..record your name and what specific topic you would like to discuss...we will meet in the classroom during our regularly scheduled time...if no one is signed up for a stretch of time, i may relocate to my office (bal 3018) and will be available there on a "drop in" basis.

After the 4 weeks of work, you will turn in and present the results of your purple cow dream to the class--we will have 2 class periods for this, and i will have a sign up sheet (i anticipate 8 min presentations) for this posted on bb under assignments...at this time you will also turn in your second round of journal entries. I'll create another cover sheet listing the criteria for assessment and post it on blackboard at least 2 weeks before the due date. 

I also will change the schedule a bit to accomodate for a full 4 weeks worth of work before the presentations...i'll post this revised schedule on bb as the "new course syllabus" in the next week.