Helpful Information for Managing English 101

1. Helpful Information for Managing English 101 • Blackboard • Net Tutor • Safe Assignment • Pairs/Groups • Boardwork>Classwork>Class Participation

2. Blackboard >There are two places in the Blackboard software that apply to your work >Course Materials and Announcements >In order to save paper, I will provide the rubric for each assignment in Course Materials. In addition, I will attach any relevant files to the assignment. Check both places at least twice a day, as I may update/revise assignments. However, changes will be made to an assignment NO LATER THAN twenty four hours of when it is due.

3. Net Tutor • This is the section of the Enhanced Insite software where you will submit up to six assignments for electronic revision. There are English instructors and graduate students in South Florida who are contracted by Cengage publishers to do this work. I will show you samples of their work. Remind me to show you how to submit an assignment to Net Tutor.

4. Safe Assignment • This is a place within Blackboard where you submit all of your writing assignments for plagiarism checks. I know this sounds scary, but plagiarism is serious enough and widespread enough to necessitate such measures. We’ll talk more about this when we address issues of plagiarism.

5. Pairs/Groups • Almost every day, you will work in pairs and groups in order to practice and reinforce the day’s lesson.

6. Board work • Almost every day, you will write sentences from your work on the board, and we all analyze them as a class.

7. Miscellaneous • All assignments need to be typed, double spaced and use an MLA heading.

8. Important Information about Absences • A doctor’s/hospital’s/clinic’s note does NOT excuse an absence. You have three absences, for any reason and that is all. After the third absence, you must attend every single class. A forth absence, for any reason, forfeits you the class.

9. Late Work Coupon • If you are absent on a day when an assignment is due, you earn a zero for the assignment. There are no exceptions to this. • You will receive a coupon which allows you to e-mail essay #2, 3 or 4 to my GCC address by 8PM on the day it is due. However, you still need to be present on that day in order to use the coupon.

10. Zero Forgiveness Coupon • You will receive a coupon which allows you to eliminate one grade of zero.

11. Net Tutor Requirement • You need to submit six assignments (I will tell you which ones) to Enhanced Insite’s Net Tutor program. Failure to submit an assignment results in an automatic loss of 15 points from the assignment’s final grade.

12. Safe Assignment • From Essay #2 until the last essay, each assignment must be submitted to the Safe Assignment program for plagiarism, created by me in Blackboard, within “Course Materials.” Failure to submit an assignment results in a loss of 15 points from the assignment’s final grade.

13. Meta Cognitive Writing • Meta cognitive writing is your way of truly analyzing not only what issues came up in your work, but how that probably happened and what you can do to make it right. Failure to do this writing results in a loss of 10 points from the final grade of the assignment it addressed.

14. Grading Rubrics • Unless I indicate otherwise, I will be using grading rubrics to evaluate your work. These rubrics can be found on the GCC English Department website, found at www.gc.maricopa.edu/English, under “Resources for Faculty.” Become familiar with these tools, and keep them nearby as you draft your pieces. You’ll be glad you did!

15. The Use of Student Work for Class Instruction • I believe that nothing engages students in the learning process like viewing and analyzing each others’ work. Therefore, I will routinely share your essays in class, for the purpose of improvement. The benefits of this are many, not the least of which is seeing your writing in a fresh way, through the eyes of your peers.

16. continued • However, if you do not want your work shown in class, write me a note to indicate this. I will keep it on file and honor your request.

17. Board work • This segment of our program is imperative and required of everyone, so that we all share both the agony and the joy of being academically vulnerable.

18. Format of Assignments • Each assignment must contain • One inch margins around all four sides of the paper • Last name and page number one half inch from the upper right hand corner • Correct MLA heading • Title centered after heading • Everything is double spaced

19. continued • Failure to format correctly results in a ten point reduction of final assignment grade. • Remember to use Times New Roman and a number 12 size font. You also lose ten points for not doing this.

20. Absences and Lateness • A final reminder to show up in class on time, every day. Minutes late add up, and not saving your three absences for later in the semester might not be a good idea. • The only excused absence is for a student athlete who has a scheduled game that I need to sign an official card to acknowledge and allow. An absence due to an injury during a GCC is not an excused absence.

21. continued • Please do not call or e-mail me if you are going to be absent. The absences are yours, and the reasons are not my business.

22. Breathing • I know this all seems daunting, but you’ll be fine, I promise. Just keep breathing and keep writing. One word at a time, each paragraph will get written. When you need to stop and rest, remember to breathe deeply, and know that the words will come. They will.