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College is not something you do just when you have the time. Instructor: Jim
Roth Office: Main Building, 211T Office Phone: 533-7058 School e-mail: jroth@scc.spokane.edu Web site: ol.scc.spokane.edu/jroth Required Books and
Materials: ·
The Teal Packet sold in our bookstore ·
Timed Readings, Third Edition, Book One ·
A three-ring binder for The Teal
Packet (1 and ½ inches or wider)
and other course handouts ·
A set of
inexpensive three-ring binder dividers ·
Access to a
hole punch ·
A USB Thumb
Drive Please read the following carefully and ask about
anything that is unclear. This is
what you and I agree to in regard to this course and will be followed closely
to be fair to everyone. This course is designed for
students with various backgrounds and needs.
It provides excellent help for: Ø Students who have been out of school for a while. Ø Students who have just graduated from high school
but need better skills to be successful in college. Ø Students who have had a less than positive earlier
school experience. Ø Students who lack self-confidence. Ø Students who want to maximize their time and success
in college courses. Ø Students who will face a very demanding program of
study. Some of what we cover this
quarter may not apply immediately to your classroom situation, but rest
assured that you will need all of these skills throughout you college
experience. I assure you that the
effort you put forth in this course will directly affect how well you will do
in future courses—mastering key study skills and then applying them to future
courses can mean at least a full grade point better in those courses. Skills you will have the
opportunity to learn and/or improve include reading speed and comprehension
improvement, note taking skills, research and library skills (quickly and
correctly finding the information you need), textbook and chapter skills,
memory training skills, test taking skills, vocabulary improvement skills,
writing skills, and general classroom skills.
These skills require an on-going commitment from you to practice and
master them: They cannot be taught—you must practice them to master
them. A personal
note Some of us may not have
been the best of students earlier in our school experience. If this applies to you, do your best to
give up old, negative educational attitudes and habits. This quarter offers you the opportunity for
a fresh start, so please see it as such and consider that if you want
something different from your S.C.C. experience, you may have think and act
differently to get it. One of life’s truths is that if you continue to do
what you’ve always done, you’ll continue to get what you’ve always
gotten. Therefore, if you are unhappy
with the results of your earlier school experience, you likely will have to
think and act in new ways to achieve a different result. Over the years, I have
found that successful students have two qualities. The first is readiness: These students enroll at S.C.C. because
they want to be here and are ready for a change. New students who feel that they have
to be here or those who are here because they have no place better to be will
likely struggle. The second quality is
perseverance, which is the determination to keep attending and doing the work
no matter what. Perseverant students
are not necessarily the brightest ones, nor are they the ones in a hurry to
get a degree; rather these students realize that college is a step-at-a-time
experience, and that obstacles and challenges will be a part of the
experience. In short, the vast majority
of students who eventually walk across the stage and receive a degree are
ready for this experience when they begin, and do not quit, even in the face
of hardship and sacrifice. FIRST THREE DAYS ATTENDANCE REQUIREMENT In order to be eligible to
continue in the course, a student must have attended regularly the first
three days of the quarter or have made arrangements with the instructor in
advance. ATTENDANCE POLICY I do not take attendance
because I believe that at the college level, attendance is the student’s
responsibility. Unlike earlier
required school participation, enrolling in college is a choice you freely
make; in addition, it is a privilege, not a requirement. Therefore, it is your choice of whether to
take advantage of it by attending or not. CLASSROOM CONDUCT and BEHAVIOR No student has the right to interfere with another
student’s opportunity to learn.
Because of this, I expect all of my students to act like responsible,
socially-skilled adults or they will be asked to leave the class and/or drop
the course. In addition, please turn off all electronics including cell phones,
I-pods, mp3 players, etc. Since
attendance is optional, if you would rather be calling, texting, or chatting
with friends during class time, please do so rather than attend class. Please see the S.C.C. Student Code of
Conduct for more information. PASS/FAIL
ASSIGNMENTS Though pass/fail
assignments receive no points, they are vitally important to your mastery of
the course. Each Pass/Fail Assignment
must be submitted complete on or before its due date for a student to be
eligible for a quarter grade above 1.9. LATE
ASSIGNMENTS I do not accept late
assignments for any reason unless you make arrangements in advance. However, you may make up one assignment according to the Making Up
Assignments Guidelines below. MAKING
UP ASSIGNMENTS GUIDELINES
To
allow for the unexpected, you may make up one missing assignment without penalty according to the following
guidelines: Ø You must attach your da Vinci late assignment form to your late assignment in order
for it to be accepted. Once you have used this one late assignment
option, I will accept no more late assignments from you no matter
the reason unless you made earlier,
prior arrangements to submit the assignment late. No excuses and no exceptions, so please
don’t ask. Ø The assignment must be made up within one
calendar week of its due date. Ø Pop Quizzes, Miscellaneous Points Awards, the oral
report, the research summary, and the Comprehensive Final cannot be made up in any way even if
you have made arrangements in advance.
THE WEB SITE
Please
visit my school web site often. On it
you can check your grade, find announcements, assignments, due dates,
calendar updates, handouts, and additional resources. Just go to http://ol.scc.spokane.edu/jroth. If you need help getting to this site,
please stop by my office for a demonstration.
In addition, I have reserved Computer Lab 1220 on Fridays throughout
the quarter. We will do an orientation
shortly. YOUR FINAL GRADE: Each assignment, test, or
quiz will be worth a certain number of points. Please see the Study Skills Point Values
Sheet for more information. Your course grade will be determined by the
percentage of the total points you've earned converted to a decimal using the
attached percent-to-decimal scale. S.C.C.
uses the decimal grading system. I
will first convert your grade to percentage by dividing you total points by
the total points possible. I will then
convert your percentage grade to a decimal grade using the chart below. The decimal value will appear on your grade
sheet and transcript.
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