1 English 131-60 Writing Experience Fall 2009 Instructor: Debra M. Potter MA, LLPC Email: [email protected] Office hours: Since I do not have an office on campus I make myself available after each class if anyone needs to speak with me individually. Contact information: The best way to contact me is via the e-mail listed above-I check my e-mail daily. You may call the Language and Literature Department and leave a message with the secretary if necessary at 517-796-8582. If you do not normally communicate using e-mail I encourage you to do so this semester. Textbooks: Writing: A Guide for College and Beyond-2nd Edition by Lester Faigley Course Catalog Description: ENG 131 is “an intensive writing course designed to help students improve, strengthen and refine writing skills. Research methods are introduced. An end of the semester portfolio of narrative and informative writings is required.” Performance Objectives: English 131 course goals and objectives incorporate specific Associate Degree Outcomes (ADOs) established by the Jackson Community College Board of Trustees, administration , and faculty. These goals are in concert with four-year colleges and universities and reflect input from the professional communities we serve. ADOs guarantee students achieve goals necessary for graduation credit, transferability, and professional skills needed in many certification programs. The ADOs addressed in this course are: Writing Clearly, Concisely, and Intelligibly (Developing Level), ADO #1; Working in Small Groups (Developing Level), ADO #9. Incomplete Grade: The incomplete grade is in place for students who may experience extenuating circumstances which prevent them from completing the course by the end of a semester. Incomplete grades will only be given to students who have demonstrated a passing grade up to the point that they request the incomplete. The incomplete must then be completed by the following full-length semester. If you find yourself in this position and want to request an incomplete let me know and we will schedule a time to go over the necessary documents to put in place. Academic Honesty Policy: Jackson Community College (JCC) has an academic policy in place that prohibits dishonesty in the presentation of your work. Plagiarism in all forms is not tolerated and may result in disciplinary action from JCC; you may not copy the works of others2 and represent it as your own. This can take the form of either directly copying or paraphrasing work that belongs to another individual. Attendance: Attending class each week is a vital part of your learning process and considering that we will only be meeting one day per week I will accept two missed classes and anything above that will result in an overall point reduction in the participation part of your grade. Cell Phones: Please do not at any time use a cell phone during class, this includes text messaging. If you need to take a call or make a call, please leave the classroom before doing so. It is very rude and disrespectful to me and to your fellow classmates to use cell phones during class. Also put your cell phones on silent or vibrate during class. Participation: 200 Points Participation points will be given for participating in peer review, current events articles, in class discussion, attendance, and in class writing other than your essays. Peer Review will be conducted each time you turn in an essay draft. Peer review is a time for each student to receive feedback on their writing as well as offer feedback to their fellow students. This is a time to provide positive, constructive feedback to one another without passing judgment on the opinions or infringing upon the rights of others. If at any time I see a student behaving disrespectfully to another student I will intervene. Current events articles; this is a time to share an article of your choice to the class regarding a current event that is happening in our world. These articles should be in good taste and involve a current issue such as alternative energy, stem cell research, etc. Please do not bring in articles that are clearly gossip columns for famous people. In class discussion will be a time to discuss anything pertaining to the class as well as my instructional lectures. In class writing will be assigned each week during class and should be included in your writer’s notebook. Portfolio: 400 points Every writing student at JCC must submit a portfolio, consisting of a variety of revised papers completed this semester that best demonstrate competency in skills and strategies appropriate to English 131. Successful portfolios contain papers that have undergone serious revision. The portfolio is the culmination of your semester’s work and should show evidence of careful revision and editing. Your portfolio MUST be 10 full pages in length; 8-9 full pages will receive a3 ½ point reduction in grade for example if you were to receive a 3.0 your grade would be reduced to a 2.5. If you turn in fewer than 9 pages you will be marked down one full grade. Writer’s Notebook: 100 points Please include any writing that you complete for this class in your writer’s notebook. Examples: essay outlines, essay mapping, essay drafts, notes taken in class, poetry, etc. This assignment will be graded on basis of completion; I will not be grading your individual writing for accuracy I will determine whether or not you spent time writing throughout the semester and included this writing in your writer’s notebook The more we write the more confidence we gain and the greater our skill becomes. Spending time reading on a weekly basis is another key tool in developing your writing voice. Essays: 300 Points You will receive 50 points for each essay draft and 50 points for each final essay. In assigning points for your drafts I will be concentrating on whether or not you followed the assignment guidelines such as including an audience and purpose statement; if you did not complete the basic assignment requirements you will receive an overall point deduction. In grading your essays I will be concentrating on the writing process, as well as mechanics-which means that you will not be deducted points for every missed comma or every misspelled word, however if the mechanics in your essay is so distracting to your audience, and it appears that you did not proofread or edit well than this will result in an overall point deduction.
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