Though this might not seem like a necessary thing to cover in First-Year Composition because many of us expect to receive hard copies of student papers, it is good to show students how to do this.  Other teachers or employers may expect them to be able to do this, so we might as well show our students how.

I incorporated this into my lab day by having them free write in a Word file about the essay prompt for the upcoming essay. Then they saved it to either their disks or their F-drives.  It is essential that they save it, so they can find it easier when they attempt to e-mail it.

Then they either went back to our class web site, and clicked on the link to my e-mail from the home page, or they went to their e-mail accounts.  I provided a link to the following explanation (hot linked below), so they would have a "How To" on-line.  However, I still had to walk around the lab assisting groups of students to send out their e-mails.

One good thing about this assignment was that because some students finished earlier than others, I was able to have them assist their classmates.  I wouldn't suggest grading their ability to send the attachments or requiring them to do it in mass.  Too often things get bounced back to the sender.  In the following class period, I explained to my students that this was more of an exercise than assignment.  They were relived.

To see an example of the explanation I gave them, click here. You'll have to use the back arrow to return here.

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Plan presented by Meredith Larson