With the final project underway, we are officially in the homestretch of the semester. In the next few weeks, you’ll be marshaling all of your web design and writing skills to create beautiful sites for your clients. This is my favorite part of the semester — I love watching everything come together!

Next week, we’ll make sure that everyone starts off on the right foot. Here’s our game plan:

• On Tuesday, we will spend most of the class session experimenting with advanced typography tools. Because you will be busy putting the finishing touches on your Unit #3 reports, there are no official reading assignments for Tuesday; however, if you get the chance, you should explore some of my bookmarks about typography. Please remember that your Unit #3 report is due at the beginning of class. Before you finalize your report, I strongly recommend reviewing the evaluation criteria and the final checklist I gave you on Thursday.
• On Thursday, we will not meet as a class, but I will meet individually with each of you to review (and hopefully approve) your MOU for Unit #4. (You will sign up for a conference appointment in class on Tuesday.) Please use the MOU template as a starting point for developing your individual (or team) MOU and print out two copies of your completed MOU before coming to meet with me.

Finally, a few words about our second exam: Because we have a limited number of class sessions left, I have decided to make this an open-book, open-note (but not open-classmate) take-home exam. In addition, the exam will be optional, which means that you only need to complete the exam if you are unhappy with your score on the first exam. If you are satisfied with your grade on that exam, I will simply duplicate that score for Exam #2. However, if you would like the opportunity to raise your exam grade, you can pick up a copy of the take-home exam when you meet with me to discuss your MOU and submit it at the beginning of class on Tuesday, April 24. (Please note that while a take-home exam is likely to produce higher grades than an in-class exam, a higher grade on Exam #2 is not guaranteed.)

As always, if you have any questions about these plans, or if you want to discuss potential clients for the Unit #4 project before your individual conference, please let me know.