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Web Unit Criteria and Stretch Goals

Work to have done:

  • Finish at least the assigned chapters of the internetingishard tutorial
  • Work on your website portfolios, and push a preview to GitHub: project folder (probably named ‘docs’), work-in-progress screenshot from the browser, optional screenshot of your editor setup, and text description, plus updated list of assets/credits.

Plan for the Day:

  1. Reflective writing on current projects (5 min)
  2. Reflective writing on websites we’ve liked (5 min)
  3. Gathering criteria (45 min)
  4. Sharing insights (10 min)
  5. EXT: Studio

0. Documenting your process

Just a quick note, since I didn’t emphasize it last time: if you haven’t yet taken screenshots of your work in progress, remember to get that done at some point today.

NB: If you ever need to go "back in time" on your project, git lets you do so! Follow the steps at dangitgit.com to reset your point in the project history, take a few screenshots (or, for earlier projects, export a flattened .png or .mp3), and then repeat the process without making any new commits to return to the present. It's pretty nifty!

1. Reflective writing (5 min)

In your own space – you won't have to share this unless you want to – do a little writing about your website portfolio in progress.
  • What's exciting about it?
  • What's challenging about it?
  • What are you unsure of?

2. Websites we’ve liked… within reach (5 min)

Shift now in your writing to think about the websites you navigate every day.

  • What seems to make them easy to get through, to find what you need?
  • What causes frustration?
  • How do you think its structure might be related to its audience?

Jot down some notes.

3. Gathering criteria (45 min)

Primed now by that writing and thinking, I’m going to ask you to get in groups and brainstorm in pursuit of baseline and aspirational criteria for this unit.

Remember to talk to each other about what you value!

3a. Review, comment, and suggest (10 min)

You’re used to this process by now, yes?

Criteria from previous semesters are posted in our shared google doc as a starting point.

In breakout rooms, take 10ish minutes to talk amongst yourselves about what's working, what's missing, and what you'd like to move or modify.

As you reach consensus, add comments or use the "suggestions" feature (click the pencil icon in the top right) to propose modifications or additions. Or ask questions, if you have them!

Remember that aspirational criteria are not required, but baseline criteria are. Given the goals of the unit, what should we set as our minimum criteria for full credit? What are some ways we might push beyond that minimum – not merely in terms of quantity, but in terms of quality or challenge level? I really want you to see these aspirational goals as opportunities to stretch yourselves and your skills, not just to do more of the same. Think about what would be new and potentially exciting – but not required for everyone.

EXT: If your group feels finished, skip ahead: read through other groups’ notes, respond to their questions on yours, or start discussing thoughts and questions on how to achieve your preferred aspirational goals.

3b. Comment and Discuss in the Doc (15-20 min)

As you finish up, read through the other groups’ notes, collegial replies to their comments in the margins to upvote, ask questions, or propose modifications.

Make sure to loop back to your own comments to see if you’ve picked up anything to respond to.

ALT: If you're joining us asynchronously, please also leave comments, especially with questions or suggestions. You will be held to these criteria, too, so make your voice heard! We won't finalize them until after workshop next week.

EXT: If you finish early, move on to the next section.

I’ll work solo to write up a clean list that reflects your consensus in the comments, while you all work solo (with groupmates on-hand for questions or other feedback) on your projects and any needed tutorials.

4. Know that you are mutual fonts of knowledge (10 min)

Before you break off into individual projects, make two quick lists (just about a minute each):

  1. Things I’ve learned about layout (or responsive design)
  2. Questions I have about layout (or responsive design)

Share within your group, using what you’ve learned to try to answer each others’ questions.

Questions your group can’t answer? Post them to the google doc, and I’ll work on posting answers there.

EXT: Group Studio While I Synthesize

As time allows, get to work on achieving baseline or pushing beyond it.

As always, please set yourself some studio goals in the doc; set a timer, leaving the last 5-10 minutes for an exit note; and then write that exit note on what you were able to achieve / what your next steps are, adding it to your initial goals back in the doc.

Don't forget to save and commit as you go!

Remember that you can track changes to multiple files within the same commit – i.e., commit changes to both HTML and CSS at the same time – but not on the GitHub website. You should all be comfortable using GitHub Desktop (or command-line git) by now.

NB: If you're joining us asynchronously, please do add your goals and reflections to the doc whenever you're able to "do" today's lesson.

EXT: If you’re feeling stuck in studio, check to see if you can answer questions in the doc; otherwise, use any remaining time to work on your projects and view any needed tutorials.

Homework for next time:

We will not meet on Zoom on Tuesday, to allow maximal flexibility for vaccinations etc. Instead, we'll have a fully asynchronous workshop. Aim to provide feedback by Thursday morning, and we'll resume the normal schedule Thursday afternoon.

To double-check that your partners will see the files as you intended, please download a .zip from your GitHub.com repository to a second location on your computer. Does your site open in a browser? Does it look right, or did you forget to push the latest changes?

  • Work to push a full draft to GitHub by 10:00am Eastern Time on Tuesday, April 6th: a solid attempt at a complete website, ideally meeting baseline criteria. Rough edges are still welcome.
    • Don’t forget to update your source credits and permissions / license to use them. You can include these right on the website, or link from the website to a file (credits.md, or even README.md) in your repo.
  • If you’re pretty sure by Monday dinnertime that you won’t be ready to turn in a draft, please let me know asap so that I can responsibly rearrange peer-review groups.
    • That said, remember that pretty much any start, however rough, will count here. Even placeholder content with navigation lets us see the parts you’re thinking about, and maybe we can help you move forward from there.

NB: If GitHub is giving you trouble with large files, you can try Git Large File Storage (git-lfs). See the section on the Resources page about What to do if your files are too large for GitHub.

If git-lfs is giving you trouble with the forked repository, you can transfer your local repo to a new remote repository, outside the fork stream. It should work better from that fresh start. Just remember to add a link in your old README.md to the new repo, so we can find it!

And if all else fails, you can use Box instead. Just make sure that you...

  • add a link to the Box folder at the top of your GitHub README.md file.
  • grant the organization, which is Pitt, Downloader or Editor permissions in the Box folder
  • include all the same files as you would have if you were only using GitHub.