Five Tips for Starting the Communications Cluster

1. Fear Not
Many of you have been out of school for years or even decades. This is not necessarily a disadvantage. You are here to learn how to write essays and research papers, so if you aren't sure how to do that, you are in exactly the right place. Sometimes after I have reviewed the first assignments, I recommend some students take a writing review class before attempting the Communications Cluster because we don't have much time for extensive work on the basics. Lindenwood is offering a class starting in the Spring of 2009 that helps students get their writing skills in shape.

2. Polish Your Skills
Some of you are already effective writers, but even the best writers can stand to review the rules once in awhile. So if you have a basic understanding of writing for college, use this class as an opportunity to make your writing even better and more polished.

3. Stock Up
You will need at least four folders: Two for turning in assignments, one for class handouts, and one for storing research paper sources/info. You will also want a notebook for notes and plenty of pens.

4. Take Notes
Part of your participation is taking notes and staying informed on deadlines and other class details. Because you are allowed to use notes on our tests, clear and comprehensive notes can be a big advantage. When you start taking notes, put the class date at the top of the page and mark important/major points with stars or underlining to help keep them organized.

5. Read the Instructions
Many of the questions you might have can be answered by the handouts you get in class. I absolutely do not mind answering questions, but why wait for a response from me on an assignment if you already have it at your fingertips in a handout?

Tip for Students: Writeboard Stores Documents Outside Your Computer

I mentioned this in one of the classes this week - here is the specific info. Sign up for Writeboard's free program that allows you to store text documents outside your computer.

Many students have had computers eat their homework or forgotten to print papers or journals before class. If you store your documents on Writeboard, you can access them from any computer, make changes, and save alternate versions.

Most of our campuses have a computer available, so you can access it before class if needed. It also tracks major changes to your document, so it's easier to turn in the required drafts.

You can create as many writeboards as you want for free. They do have some paying services that help you organize your writeboards. I may sign up for one after I get more writeboard documents, but for now the freebie version works fine.

Now the evil computer can never eat my drafts again. Bwuhoohahahaha! Onomatopoeia people, remember?