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Chapter 56. PROFESSIONAL REPORT
Activities Using
Professional Business, Project, or Status Report
Writing
See also "Activities
& Groups." ---
SPECIAL ACTIVITIES
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REPORT OF A PROJECT: As a group or individual,
develop a final project report (or a report on the current status of an
ongoing project), real or imaginary.
(1) Start by stating the name of
your company or professional service (real or imaginary), and a one-sentence
summary of what you make or do and who your clients are.
(2) Then
describe your project in a few sentences. Finally, assume the project
is finished. Make a final report on it.
(3) Break your project
report into several parts, such as the different steps, activities,
locations, or results. In each part of your report, describe who was
involved, what was done, what money and materials were involved, what went
well, and what was problematic and how the problems were solved. (You
may do this, instead, as a status report on a current--ongoing and
unfinished--project.)
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REPORT OF A PROBLEM OR NEED: Imagine that your
company of professional service has a problem or need, something lacking, or
a change to make. Do not try to solve the problem or need.
Rather, simply report on it factually and in detail. Simply follow
steps "1"-"3" above: for "2," briefly
summarize what is causing the problem or need, and for "3,"
describe the problem or need itself by dividing it into several parts and
detailing the people, activities, money, materials, etc. involved in each
part.
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Report of a Date: In groups or alone, develop
a report on a date that you were on, either a real one or an imaginary one.
Use fake names. Break the date into three or four parts: by steps,
activities, or locations. In each part, describe who was involved, what
the goals were, what was actually accomplished, and what problems you
encountered and solutions you used to resolve them.
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OTHER ACTIVITIES
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THOUGHTS ABOUT THE CHAPTER:
As an individual or a group, read the chapter and take
notes about it using one or more of the methods in "General
Study Questions."
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ROUGH DRAFT: As an individual or a group, write
a paper as described in this chapter. Use the subtitles
shown in the "Introduction" or the "Basics" section as
subtitles of your rough draft, and write at least 50+ words in each body
section. If you are working as a group, you may, if your instructor
allows, develop a fictional and fanciful background and subject for your
rough draft.
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GROUP MAPPING & PLANNING: Divide into
small groups of 3-4 people randomly. In each group, one person each should
volunteer to be
(i) the facilitator (the person helping everyone to do the
work),
(ii) the writer/recorder (who does the writing for the group),
(iii) the reader/announcer (who reports
the group's works to the class), and
(iv) if there is a fourth, the timekeeper, the observer taking notes about the group's way of working,
and/or the "social encourager"--someone who finds questions to encourage quieter
members of the group.
The group should then follow these steps using a
timetable given by the instructor, either in a small, close circle with the
writer using pen or laptop, or at a segment of the whiteboard with the
writer using a marker:
(A) What is the key or essence of this type of paper? Brainstorm an
interesting, fun idea (serious or silly) to write about.
(B) Then look at the "map" or blocks of how to build this type of paper,
from introduction through the body sections to the conclusion. The
instructor can either project it on a screen or draw it on the board.
Then fill in the parts with 50-100 words for each main body section, and
20-50 for the intro and conclusion (depending on the instructor's
directions).
(C) If your instructor suggests this, add a good made up illustration,
graphic, or quotation or two to each section from an "expert" and give
credit to your made-up expert. (Note: Never add made-up detail or
experts to a real paper.)
(D) Have your reader/announcer read your result to the entire class.
(E) After all groups have gone, then the "observer" in each group--or the
facilitator--should answer three brief comments on how the group process
happened: "What worked well," "What didn't," and "How could it be changed?"
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GROUP CRITIQUE OF A
LATER DRAFT:
If your class has a paper all of you are preparing for grading, gather in a group to
critique each other's developed drafts:
(A) Simply pass the papers to each other;
your paper preferably should be checked by three other people. (Some
instructors prefer that you make several copies, distribute them to your
group members, take the copies home that you receive, and comment on them
there.)
(B) Write comments for each other.
To do so, use a a
set of grading guidelines (or "rubric"):
for example, "How are the contents,"
"How is the organization of parts," "Do paragraphs work
well," and "How well have editing errors been corrected?"
Preferably, you can use the guidelines your instructor applies when grading.
(C) For each question or requirement in your guidelines, write one or more
comments. Your comments should be substantial and specific (more like a
complete sentence, and more specific than just "Nice!" or "Needs
work"). Your comments also should be positive or helpfully
constructive: when positive, they should offer specific praise of a particular part, detail, or
method; when constructive, they should offer specific advice about what to add or do to make
the paper better.
(D) Add a final positive or constructive comment about how you think the
average reader of this paper might respond to it, and/or how the paper could
be changed or fixed for a stronger or more positive response from its
audience.
(E) After
receiving your comments from others, take them home. Review
what they have written. Remember
that your readers are not commenting on you as a person, but rather on how
easily (or poorly) they have been able to read your paper as its audience
members. Pay attention in particular to comments that may have
been repeated by more than one of your readers.
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For a wide variety of other activities and
exercises, go to "Activities
& Groups."
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