FOR NJOSH ONLY

In My Life Diary

HDFS 215: Dynamics of Family Development

(90 points)

The In My Life (IML) Diary is an opportunity for you to apply the course concepts that you find the most interesting or personally meaningful to your own life and family experience. You will write a total of at least 12 diary entries throughout the semester, and then audit your diary via a reflection and two expansions. Your active participation in class discussions and activities will prepare you for this ongoing project by helping you understand course concepts and apply those concepts to your life. This is an adaptation of the In My Life Blog developed by Dr. Jen Reinke.

Steps:

1. The In My Life Diary is an electronic diary or journal; this is your place to more fully examine how a handful of topics of your choosing relate to your own life and your own experiences. This is your chance to take a step back and reflect on what you are learning – about your chosen topics and about yourself. Challenge yourself to go deeper here than you might feel comfortable.

· For this step, there are hundreds of topics to choose from, and each entry should have two components:

1. Course material

2. Real life examples/personal connection to the course material

· The title for each entry should have some connection to the course topic or information you are going to be discussing further in your entry.

· Each entry should be around 290-300 words in length. (If your entry is longer than 300 words you will not be penalized!)

· 12 entries are REQUIRED, though you may write additional entries if you so choose (only the first 12 will be graded).

2. Complete Checkpoint 1

· You will need to complete your first 3 IML entries by Friday, 9/22. Be sure to follow the steps for writing an entry from above.

· This is worth: 9 points (3 points per diary entry)

· Points for this portion will be given for completion, but be sure to check your entries for additional comments. These comments will either give you more direction for some things you need to fix, OR a “green light” to go ahead and keep writing just as you are!

3. Complete Checkpoint 2

· You will need to complete at least 6 (total) IML entries by Friday, 10/27.

· You will have already completed 3 entries from Checkpoint 1. Make any necessary revisions to your previous entries and add 3 more entries to get the 6 entries you need for Checkpoint 2.

· This is worth: 18 points (3 points per entry)

4. Complete Checkpoint 3

· You will need to complete at least 9 (total) IML entries by Friday, 12/1.

· You will have already completed 6 entries from Checkpoint 2. Make any necessary revisions to your previous entries and add 3 more entries to get the 9 entries you need for Checkpoint 3.

· This is worth: 27 points (3 points per entry)

5. Complete Final Checkpoint

· You will need to complete at least 12 (total) IML entries by Tuesday 12/19 at 1:50p.

· You will have already completed 9 entries from Checkpoint 3. Make any necessary revisions to your previous entries and add 3 more entries to get the 12 entries you need for the Final Checkpoint.

· This is worth: 36 points (3 points per entry)

Below is the grading rubric that will be used in reviewing your entries; please review this carefully so you can receive full credit for each entry.

Score	Characteristics
3	Fantastic! The entry is focused and coherently integrates both course content and real life examples. The entry demonstrates awareness of biases, assumptions, or preconceived notions, and it considers multiple perspectives when appropriate. The entry reflects in-depth engagement with and accurate understanding of the topic.
2	Pretty good. The entry is mostly description or summary of the chosen topic, without consideration of alternative perspectives, and few personal connections are made. Or, the entry solely focuses on personal connections and does not fully integrate course material.
1	Room for improvement. The entry is unfocused, or simply rehashes previous comments, and displays no evidence of student engagement with the topic. It is unclear which course topic is being described and applied. Entries that appear to be written in a hurry, are filled with “fluff”, or do not meet the minimum word requirement fall into this category.
0	No Credit. The entry is missing.