Your success in this course will depend on your willingness to:
- Be engaged
- Work on the reading
- Work on your writing
- Reflect on your learning
Let me explain what I mean by those things.
Being engaged is important not only for your own learning but also for how others can learn from you. Everything else that matters about this course begins with your engagement which includes (but is not limited to) things like
- Preparing for class discussions.
- Contributing to class discussions (in-person and online).
- Responding thoughtfully to your classmates’ comments.
- Asking questions.
- Attending class meetings (with the usual exceptions for illness, emergency, or religious holiday).
- Meeting deadlines.
- Meeting with me when you have questions or want to talk further about course matters.
- Demonstrating a willingness to consider new ideas and ways of thinking.
Working on your reading includes (but is not limited to) things like
- Annotating as you read.
- Taking notes / timely completion of the reading notes assignments.
- Rereading.
- Working with passages from the reading in your writing.
- Sharing your ideas about the reading in class.
Working on your writing includes (but is not limited to) things like:
- Devoting a regular time (e.g. every day, every other day, every week day, etc.) to work on your writing.
- Getting comfortable sharing your writing before it’s finished.
- Finding readers you trust who will provide helpful feedback on your writing.
- Responding thoughtfully to feedback on your writing.
- Learning to be patient with your writing, because good ideas need time to develop.
- Tossing out the 2 pages you wrote yesterday that no longer seem like a good idea.
- Saving in a separate file the 2 pages you wrote yesterday, because they might turn out to be useful, but you can’t see how just yet.
And reflecting on your learning means that you periodically stop to think about your doing of all of the above things and make adjustments as needed. You will have regular opportunities to do this in some of the informal assignments for this class and then more formally in the reflection essays that accompany your midterm and final portfolios.
When you submit your portfolio, I will ask you to suggest a grade that fairly represents your efforts to date. (If we disagree, we’ll have a conversation to reach an understanding. I retain the authority to change grades I think are too low or too high.) Here are guidelines to use when it’s time to assign yourself a grade:
A: Your portfolio is complete and submitted on time. Your portfolio cover letter describes and reflects in some detail on your learning to date as represented by the contents of your portfolio—including talking through representative passages from your work that demonstrate the claims you’re making about your writing. The other work included in your portfolio exceeds expectations and requirements given in the assignments. Your writing demonstrates that you are following the trajectory of our discussions. You are a regular contributor to class discussion in person and online and your writing demonstrates ongoing engagement with issues at the center of the course. You complete assignments on time. You have no unexcused absences.
B: Your portfolio is complete. Your portfolio cover letter describes your learning to date as represented by the contents of your portfolio, and provides some reflection—including talking through representative passages from your work. Most of other pieces in your portfolio demonstrate a solid working understanding of the expectations and requirements given in the assignments. On most days, you contribute to in-class discussion, and it’s clear from your writing that—while you might have quiet days—you are clearly following the trajectory of our discussions. You participate in online discussions when required. You might have missed an assignment deadline or 2, but generally complete assignments on time and have not skipped any assignments. You have no more than 1 unexcused absence.
C: Your portfolio is complete, but your portfolio cover letter provides minimal description and little reflection or analysis of your work and your learning to date. The majority of the other pieces included minimally meet expectations and requirements given in the assignments, or may skip parts of assignments, or tend to be completed at the last minute. You don’t voluntarily contribute to in-class discussions, are relatively quiet in small groups and online discussions. You have more than 2 late or missing assignments. You have 2 or more unexcused absences.
D: Portfolio was incomplete.
F: Portfolio was not submitted, or submitted late without advance notice and permission from me.