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J. Roth--English 99 Syllabus
Instructor: Jim Roth · Office: · Office Phone: 533-7058 · School e-mail: · Web site: http://ol.scc.spokane.edu/jroth
REQUIRED MATERIALS § The Course Packet sold in the SCC Book Store § An inexpensive USB Thumb Drive § A journal-style notebook § A portfolio folder
MANDATORY PREREQUISITES
_ Please note: You must meet all three of the prerequisites below or you will be asked to drop the course.
WHAT THE COURSE IS AND WHO IT IS FOR
Improvement of
Writing 99 is a basic course designed to make you a better writer. It
is an excellent course for the following students: ·
Students who want to be more successful in English 101. ·
Students who plan to enroll in vocational/technical programs. ·
Students who did not get much writing practice in high school. ·
Students who have been out of school for some time and want a review. ·
Students whose native language is not English.
ACTIVITIES
· We will
write a great deal. This will include keeping a journal as well as
writing sentences, paragraphs, and essays. Please bring your book and
writing materials to every class. · We will work
through many grammar and usage exercises. · We
will discuss problems and progress often. 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. COMPUTER LAB TIME
I have reserved
a computer lab for our class. We will
do an introduction shortly. FIRST THREE DAYS ATTENDANCE
REQUIREMENT In
order to be eligible to receive a course grade of .7 or higher, a student
must have attended regularly the first three days of the quarter or have make
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 up to you
whether you will take advantage of it or not.
However, a student who misses too many classes may become ineligible
to pass the course because excessive absence brings into question whether the
student attempted the course at all. CLASSROOM
CONDUCT and BEHAVIOR No
student has the right to interfere with another student’s opportunity to
learn. To this end, 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 and I-pods. Since attendance is optional, if you would
rather be calling, texting, chatting or listening to music during class time,
please do it elsewhere. Please see the S.C.C. Student Code of
Conduct for more information. GRADING OF YOUR WRITING ASSIGNMENTS
As we cover each skill, I will expect you to apply the new knowledge
to all new writing assignments. In
addition, I expect that each of the writing assignments you submit to me will
be the product of multiple drafts, reflecting thorough editing and
revision. If I find I have to spend an
excessive amount of time correcting writing errors we have already covered
and/or editing and revising your work for you, the grade on the assignment
will drop accordingly.
MAKING UP LATE ASSIGNMENTS
There are no make-ups
unless you make arrangements in advance.
However, to allow for the unexpected, you may make up one assignment without penalty as long as you make it up within
one calendar week of its due date.
These make-up guidelines do NOT
apply to the Comprehensive Final, to discretionary points
awards, or to pop quizzes. EYou
must attach your da Vinci Late Assignment Submission
Form to your late assignment in order for it to be accepted. Please remember that 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.
PORTFOLIO FOLDER
Please keep all
returned assignments in your portfolio folder. Being able to produce a
returned, graded assignment is the ONLY WAY to verify that you have
completed the assignment if my records indicate otherwise. ZERO-TOLERANCE MATERIAL
Zero-Tolerance
Material is material over which you must get 100% correct to
pass. That’s right—zero-tolerance means zero-tolerance: even one
error disqualifies the quiz, and you must take it again. As of now, I
have one Zero-Tolerance Unit: Words Commonly Confused. A
second-- Subject-Verb-Pronoun Agreement--may be added depending upon
our skill level as a class. By the end of
the quarter, you must have achieved 100% on a quiz over any Zero-Tolerance Unit
to be eligible for a grade above 1.9. No matter what your course
average is, if you do not achieve 100%, you cannot receive a grade higher
than 1.9. The reason is simple: until you can handle Zero-Tolerance
Material with confidence and ease, you are not ready to move on to English
101 or write successfully on the job. You will have lots of opportunities
throughout the quarter to study for, take, and retake these tests. THE COMPREHENSIVE FINAL
English 99 is a preparatory course: a grade of 2.0 or better
certifies that you are a competent writer and are ready for English
101. Therefore, to receive a grade of 2.0 or better in this course, your writing must meet or exceed the
minimum level of competency required for English 101 entry. I will be evaluating your work throughout the quarter in terms
of your competency to be successful in English 101. In addition, toward
the end of the quarter I will give you a comprehensive final evaluation to
assess your readiness. If, in my judgment, your writing competency
does not meet this minimum level, the highest grade
possible regardless of your class average a 1.9. Again, a 1.9 is
not a failing grade—it is a low ‘C’ and simply means you cannot enroll in
English 101 until you raise it to a 2.0 Please remember that I am here to help you write better and meet
or exceed this minimum level of competency. Please see me for additional help
whenever you feel that you need it. In addition, tutors are available
in the SCC Tutoring Center.
YOUR FINAL GRADE
Each regular assignment, test, or quiz will be worth a certain
number of points. The comprehensive final given at the end of the
quarter will come in two parts: an objective test and an in-class essay. If you complete all of the assigned essays and pass both parts of the
comprehensive final (70% or higher), your course grade will be determined by
the percentage of the total points you've earned converted to a decimal using
the percent-to-decimal scale below. If
you do not complete all assigned essays and/or fail to complete either part
of the comprehensive final satisfactorily (70% or higher), the highest course
grade you can receive is 1.9 REGARDLESS OF YOUR COURSE AVERAGE. A
1.9 is not a failing grade—it is a low ‘C’ and simply means you cannot
enroll in English 101 until you raise it to a 2.0. COURSE POINT VALUES
· Essay Assignments Max 100 points per essay (300-500 points total) · Journal Completion 45 entries times 3 points per entry = 135 points · Discretionary Points 75-125 points total · Zero-Tolerance Material Mandatory Pass · Comprehensive Final 400 points total
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 following chart. The
decimal value will appear on your grade sheet and transcript.
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