Introduction to college english Mrs. Lighthall Fall 2014

Meet the instructor I graduated from Bradley with both my Bachelors and Masters degree in English/Writing. This is my 7th year teaching at CHS. In my spare time, I love to read, travel, watch my favorite shows and play with my dog. I figured you’d rather see a picture of my dog than me.

Required Books YOU are responsible for buying both books required for this class. You can get them at the SRC bookstore or order from a place like Amazon; however, you need these books here by Friday.

Other Materials Required Looseleaf paper Pen/pencil Jump drive 3 x 5 note cards Highlighters of various colors

Grading Your grade What it means A- to A+ B- to B+ C- to C+ D- to D+ F SRC has a slightly different grading scale than CHS, so your grade may differ between schools (see syllabus). Here is how I view the grades you earn: Your grade What it means A- to A+ You went above and beyond the requirements and are among the top College ENG students. You mastered all skills. B- to B+ You exceeded the expectations on the assignment and went above the basic requirements. C- to C+ You met the requirements and are what an average College English student should be able to accomplish. D- to D+ You are not meeting the requirements and need improvement in some areas. F Not completed/incomplete/late or did not meet in many areas.

What you should expect in English 101 You will be writing 4-5 essays of varying lengths A great deal of research using only scholarly sources Lots of planning, drafting, revising, and editing. No first (or second or third) draft is perfect! Copious amounts of peer editing. As a peer reviewer, you have an incredibly important role in the writing classroom and should take this job seriously.

More of what to expect Homework virtually every night in some capacity to expand on what we do in class Critical reading and annotating Possible announced and unannounced quizzes on what we are studying—EVERYONE is responsible for knowing the material Class discussion—we discuss a great deal, and you are expected to participate. Class participation counts as a grade. Drafting in and outside of class—though you are given some time to complete papers in class, you are also expected to work on them outside of class as well.

How do I deal with late work? Late homework is not accepted, period. You must have homework ready to turn in when I collect it, or no points are earned. For major essays, I allow you to turn them in up to 24 hours late with a penalty of 50% off your paper grade. It is imperative you turn things in on time as a college student.

Online Component You will be completing some blogs and online discussions at my website: mrslighthall.weebly.com. If you have no Internet/computer at home and foresee this being an issue, it’s your responsibility to discuss this with me ahead of time.

Plagiarism/cheating policy Cheating is absolutely not tolerated in English 101. This includes copying others’ homework, allowing others to copy yours, and copying/purchasing papers/turning in papers that are not your own work. Any cheating results in an automatic zero for that assignment, and depending on severity, you may be reported to the administration at CHS and SRC. Less severe instances of plagiarism, which will we discuss at length in class, will result in a 10% reduction of your paper grade.

Final Words Please don’t forget that, even though it’s offered at CHS, this is a college course and will be conducted as such. The course will be challenging, but you definitely will have all the resources you need in order to succeed if you put in the effort. If you are struggling, you need to come see me before or after school to get some individualized, one-on-one help. Don’t forget that to earn credit for this class, you have to earn a “C” or better.