my english class syllabus

 

EWRT 1A S + T SYLLABUS
Anne Argyriou, Spring 2021
Section	Meeting Days/Times	Asynchronous Class Time	Homework
EWRT 1AT.01Z	T/Th  10:30-11:20 - Zoom	3 hours online - Canvas	Additional hours :-)

 

ANNE ARGYRIOU

Office:  Forum 6B   Zoom                Mailbox:  Canvas Inbox or E-mail

Office Hours:  M-Th 11:30-12:20 p.m. & by appointment

Email:  ArgyriouAnne@fhda.edu                                      Office Phone:  (408) 864-5340

 

Required Texts for Both Classes:

EWRT 1A S & T Reader/Workbook, Anne Argyriou Available on Canvas course site (digital) or at bookstore (printed on paper)

Dear America, Notes of an Undocumented Citizen,  Jose Antonio Vargas Buy at bookstore or elsewhere. Winter 2022

Everything I Never Told You, Celeste Ng Buy at bookstore or elsewhere. Paper copies so we all have the same page numbers! Spring 2022

 

Required Technology Access/Equipment:

Internet connection to access the course website on Canvas

Computer (or Chromebook) to take quizzes and type essays. Phones & tablets may not work well.

Webcam/Video to participate in class discussions. Audio-only connections will make it difficult to participate in class activities. Phones/tablets may not work well.

Need software? Office 365 software is available on the De Anza Portal, in the “Apps”. Office 365 includes MS Word, Excel, PowerPoint, Notes, etc.

Need technology? Please see this link (scroll down) https://www.deanza.edu/online-winter/#Learning

 

Description and Requirements for EWRT 1A S & 1A T:

These courses integrate reading, writing, and thinking skills necessary for success in EWRT 1A.  In response to AB 705, this course meets the needs of students who have a high school GPA of 1.9 or less, who need additional time, practice, and assistance to be successful in EWRT 1A.   EWRT 1AS is transferable to CSU and UC for 2 units and EWRT 1AT is transferable to CSU and UC for 3 units.  Both EWRT 1AS and EWRT 1AT must be completed in order to receive transfer and GE credit.  After these courses, you will increase your likelihood of success in EWRT 1B and EWRT 2 and hopefully all your other classes.

 

Student Learning Outcome Statements (SLO)
	• Practice writing as a multi-step process including planning and revising with attention to varying purposes, audiences, and rhetorical strategies.
	• Read and analyze rhetorically and culturally diverse narrative and expository texts from a variety of perspectives.

 

Course Objectives:

• Analyze a variety of college-level texts, e. g. fiction and nonfiction;
• Use schema to read and comprehend;

·       Demonstrate vocabulary growth and apply pre-reading and annotation strategies;

• Develop topics and ideas for essays (pre-writing strategies);
• Write and support thesis statements, body paragraphs, introductions and conclusions;
• Compose organized, developed essays that increase in level of difficulty;
• Practice various sentence structures to improve sentence complexity and style;
• Proofread for recurrent usage and sentence-level errors.   

 

To achieve these goals and objectives you can expect to complete:

EWRT 1AS – first quarter 

• two initial assignments (30 points)
• a narrative assignment (50 points)
• part of an in-class essay on Happiness (50 points)
• an out-of-class revision of the in-class essay (100 points)
• an essay on our memoir (100 points)
• a reflective essay (50 points)
• revision of the memoir essay (50 points)
• HW assignments such as: pre-writing exercises, vocabulary, annotations

reading quizzes, supplemental instruction (approximately 80 points in quizzes and HW)

• active participation in whole class discussions, groups, and peer-response sessions (50 points)
• There will not be a specific final exam. The Revision of the Memoir (if time) and the Reflective essays will serve as a way to wrap up the quarter.

 

NOTE: Due to the shift to online instruction, the grading will be based on the following categories and percentage weights, adapted from the list above:

 

EWRT 1AS Assignments	Points	Canvas Grade Category	Weight of Canvas Grade Category
Two initial assignments “Quinceañera”	30	Diagnostic	5%
Narrative Essay assignment	50	Essays	75%
In-class essay on Happiness	50	Essays
Out-of-class revision of the in-class essay	100	Essays
Essay on the memoir Dear America	100	Essays
Reflective essay	50	Essays
Revision of the memoir essay (if time)	50	Essays
Homework (HW) assignments	80	HW	12%
Active  participation	50	Classwork	8%
Total Points:	560		100%

 

 

 

 

 

EWRT 1AT – second quarter

o   An essay on gender codes (100 points)

o   An in-class essay on creativity (100 points)

o   An essay on our novel (100 points)

o   A serious revision of your reflective essay (100 points)

o   A revision of an essay that also includes minor research + a works cited page (100 points)

• HW assignments such as: pre-writing exercises, vocabulary, annotations

reading quizzes, supplemental instruction (approximately 82.5 points in quizzes and HW)

o   active participation in whole class discussions, groups, and peer-response sessions  (50 points)

o   The final will be a portfolio (200 points total)

 

NOTE: Due to the shift to online instruction, the grading will be based on the following categories and percentage weights, adapted from the list above:

 

EWRT 1AT Assignments	Points	Canvas Grade Category	Weight of Canvas Grade Category
Gender Essay	100	Essays	60%
In-class essay on Creativity	100	Essays
Essay on a novel	100	Essays
Reflective Revision essay	100	Essays
Revision + Research essay	100	Essays
Homework (HW) assignments	82.5	HW	10%
Active  participation	50	Classwork	6%
Portfolio (final exam)	200	Final Exam / Portfolio	24%
Total Points:	825		100%

 

GRADING:

97.6-100% = A+                      97.5-92.6% = A                       92.5-89.6% = A-

89.5-87.6% = B+                      87.5-82.6% = B                        82.5-79.6% = B-

79.5-77.6% = C+                      77.5-72.6% = C                        72.5-69.6% = C- (C- is NOT passing in 1A)

69.5-67.6% = D+                     67.5-62.6% = D                       62.5-59.6% = D-   58.5% and below = F

 

Class meetings:

Instructional time (class time) totals 5 hours a week.

·       2 hours meet each week (synchronously) +

·       3 hours work on lessons online (asynchronously)

Homework assignments will be given in addition to the 5 hours of instruction.

 

Attendance: 

Attendance will be tracked in two ways:

(1) attending the required online synchronous meetings (twice weekly)

(2) participating in the online lessons outside of the online meetings.

 

·       Attending the online class meetings means being signed into the Zoom meeting and participating when appropriate during the class session (via chat, in small groups, answering poll questions, other, etc.). Students who do not respond in a timely manner to those prompts will be marked absent for that class meeting. Please turn on your video during our class meetings, to help develop a sense of community and encourage participation.

 

o   Students who are absent for three (3) online class meetings will be dropped from the class, per the College’s “excessive absence” policy. 

 

·        Participating (or completing/submitting) the online work: each lesson has a timeframe to complete all activities and assignments, and you may work at your own pace within that timeframe. However, you must adhere to the due dates outlined on the Calendar. You should log into the course daily to check for updates, review lessons, and participate in activities.

 

o   Students who do not log in weekly or who do not complete lessons within designated timeframes may be dropped from the course for non-participation.

 

Participation, Deadlines, Missed Days/Work

 

·       If you miss the deadline for a timed essay exam, there will be no way to make up the exam, except for extenuating circumstances that you have discussed with me before the essay exam date. This includes not completing the exam within the given time stated on the assignment.

 

·       Your Participation Matters! Please try to meet the deadlines for the course. Many of our class work projects and assignments will be collaborative, via distance, so it is vital to keep up with the deadlines, as classmates’ work will depend on you completing your part. Late work will impede the flow of class assignments and we will all miss valuable input and feedback from each other on assignments.

 

·       If you miss a quiz due to missing the day, time, or not completing it within the time limits, you will not be able to make it up. (We will do trial runs of quizzes and assignments to make sure everyone knows how to do them.)

 

·       If an emergency arises and you can't make it to class, please contact someone from the class to get any materials and/or homework, and let me know by sending me a message.  If you miss a class, you are still expected to turn in the homework for the class you missed and for the next class--no exceptions. 

 

·       Please log in promptly to class. Latecomers will not only disrupt class, but also miss valuable information and feedback on assignments.  If you are habitually late or absent, you will be asked to take the class another quarter. 

 

·       Keep in mind that absences in college, whether excused or unexcused, MATTER, as you miss valuable lessons and information directly related to our assignments.  It is difficult for a student to recover from, say missing three classes in a row, since they miss almost 8 hours of instruction.  See page 5 in our workbook for more on this.

 

 

Paper Format:  Type all take-home essays and other assignments, double-spaced on one or both sides of the page. Use MLA Format.  Please see our workbook page 8 for more. Submit all essay assignments to TurnItIn via Canvas

 

Late Papers:  Papers should be handed in at the beginning of class on the day they are due.  A late paper will be marked down a ½ a letter grade each day (including weekends) after the original due date. 

 

Revision Policy:  Some students may need to revise their essays if they are not passing. To be eligible, students must be given permission from the instructor to revise an essay, based on whether students have satisfactorily completed the preparation assignments for that particular essay. For EWRT 1AT, only the Gender Codes or the Novel essays are eligible for revision, and the limit is 1 essay. If you plan to revise an essay, you must make an appointment with me so we can talk about your revision plans and set up a reasonable due date for the revision.  When you turn in your revision, please give me your original draft and highlight the changes.  I will NOT accept a revision if these stipulations are not met.  You will also have the chance to revise an essay for the portfolio.

 

HOMEWORK:

·       I will check homework assignments for each essay unit, on due dates. 

 

·       Late homework will be marked down up to ½ letter grade per day late, including weekends.

 

·       I will check rough drafts on the days that they are due. They will not be graded for perfect grammar or neatness; I will, however, grade rough drafts on their thoroughness and completeness.

 

·       Other homework assignments will have point values indicated. If they do not, then the default grading will be a check plus, check, or check minus (worth 3, 2, or 1 points respectively) based on thoroughness and correctness (as applicable).

 

Portfolio Expectations & Process

 

If you complete all of your work and have a passing grade in the course (C or above) at the end of the quarter, you will submit a portfolio to the English Department. This portfolio will affect your final grade in this course.

 

The English Department expects that your portfolio should:

·       demonstrate your best work in the class. Consider carefully which essays and assignments you will choose to include.

·       represent the work of a student who is passing EWRT 1AS. If you are not passing the class, you cannot submit a portfolio.

·       Represent your own words, and NOT contain any plagiarism. Plagiarized work cannot pass the portfolio process.

 

This means that your final grade in this course depends on two processes:

1. If you complete all of your work in the class and have a passing grade, you will submit a portfolio of selected writing for review by members of the English Department at the end of the quarter. If these readers agree that your portfolio demonstrates the appropriate skills for a student who has completed this quarter of EWRT 1A, you will pass the class. If your portfolio does not demonstrate the appropriate skills, you will not pass the class.

 

2. If the English Department determines that you should pass, your actual final letter grade (A, B, or C) will be determined by the percentage of points you earned throughout the quarter. For example, if your percentage on your assignments throughout the quarter in this class is 89.4% and you pass the portfolio process, you will receive a B+ in the class. However, if you do not pass the portfolio process, you still cannot pass the class.

 

In order to pass this class with a good grade, you should

• complete all of your work and score as many points as possible during the quarter.
• revise and polish selected essays in order to assemble a strong portfolio at the end of the quarter.

 

My grades on your essays should be a signal of whether you are likely to pass the portfolio process, so you will definitely have multiple warnings if you are in danger. However, you should keep in mind that—ultimately—you will not be able to “make up” for failing essays by earning lots of participation points or homework points. Those points will not affect the assessment of your portfolio, even if they affect your grade. More information will be provided as the quarter progresses.

 

Plagiarism

Any time you use writing or ideas that are not your own in an essay, you must cite your source(s). This includes essays you may have written yourself for any previous course.  I will be going over how to do this in class, and I'll be happy to answer any questions about the hows and whys. Using others' words or ideas in part or whole without acknowledgment is plagiarism. And, while it's always fine to seek help with your writing and reading in the Writing and Reading Center or from me, it is not acceptable to have anyone else correct your errors for you. If you receive a ZERO on an essay due to plagiarism, you will not be able to rewrite it.  This most likely will result in you failing the class.  I will submit a report to the office of the Dean of Student Development. That office will determine an appropriate administrative response.  I expect that you will not copy other people's work and pretend it is your own, have someone else write your essays, or have someone else correct your writing errors for you. If you feel stuck, or need help at any time, please come talk to me.                 

                                                           

Phones and Other Technological Devices:  Please maintain your focus on our class activities during our synchronous hours. Please also turn on your video to create a genuine community. If you appear to be distracted, not responsive, or not participating during our online meeting times, even after I have asked you to focus on the class, I reserve the right to deduct points (10 points) from your grade, or mark you absent (if you do not respond to any requests or questions).

 

Tutors/Writing and Reading Center (The WRC), AT 309

http://www.deanza.edu/studentsuccess/wrc/

You will be required to complete 3 (three) activities of Supplemental Instruction (SI) this quarter and next, which will count for 40 points of your HW grade.   

The WRC offers the following activities for the SI requirement (and possibly more):

1) free drop-in (30 minutes) sessions,

2) weekly tutors that you need to sign up for if you need more assistance,

3) online sources-- Directed Learning Activities (DLAs) or Student Instructional materials, and

4) workshops (50 minutes)

5) visits with an English Performance Success Counselor or another counselor you already have.

 

Documentation of your CSA activities is due weeks 3, 7, and 11, and will be included in your Portfolio. Please get started on these activities early, so you can benefit early. We will check in during weeks 7 and 8 to make sure you are on track. The WRC will send email reminders and we will learn more week one of our class when we visit the WRC.

 

Office Hour Visits:  You are each welcome to come to my office hours any time you have a question or want help with your reading or writing, and you’ll definitely need to come if I request that you do so to discuss one of your essays. For Spring 2022, my office hours will be held via Zoom, link on Canvas.

 

Computer Software: De Anza offers students free access to Office 365 (Word, Excel, PowerPoint, other) from the De Anza Portal. Just log in, go to “Apps” and look for the tile “Office365.”

 

COMPUTER LABS:  Since campus is closed, please see the College website for information regarding computers and wi-fi. https://www.deanza.edu/online-winter/#Learning

 

A note on grades: I know you are concerned about doing well and earning a good grade in this class. The best way to do that it is to put your full effort into completing all assignments along the way, come to class prepared, actively participate in class discussions, seek help from me in office hours and support from tutors in the writing center when necessary.   I will evaluate your writing based on clear criteria that I will give you for each essay, and it will be your responsibility to ask about any requirements you don't understand.  Come talk to me when you have questions about our work or want to discuss ideas for one of your essays, but do not email asking for a better grade for individual essays or for the course as a whole.  Grades are earned and are not negotiable.

 

De Anza College’s DSPS:  De Anza College views disability as an important aspect of diversity, and is committed to providing equitable access to learning opportunities for all students. Disability Support Services (DSPS) is the campus office that collaborates with students who have disabilities to provide and/or arrange reasonable accommodations.

• If you have, or think you have, a disability in any area such as, mental health, attention, learning, chronic health, sensory, or physical, please contact DSS to arrange a confidential discussion regarding equitable access and reasonable accommodations.
• If you are registered with DSS and have accommodations set by a DSS counselor, please be sure that your instructor has received your accommodation letter from Clockwork early in the quarter to review how the accommodations will be applied in the course. 

Students who need accommodated test proctoring must meet appointment booking deadlines:

§  Exams must be booked at least five (5) business days in advance of the instructor approved exam date/time.

§  Finals exams must be scheduled seven (7) business days/weekdays in advance of the instructor approved exam date/time.

§  Failure to meet appointment booking deadlines will result in the forfeit of testing accommodations and you will be required to take your exam in class.

Contact the DSS if you cannot find or utilize your MyPortal Clockwork Portal.  Email: DSS@deanza.edu  

DSS Location: RSS Building, Suite 141, Phone: 408-864-8753, On the web: http://www.deanza.edu/DSS/

 

English Performance Success (EPS) Counselors: Monica Ganesh, Christian Rodriguez, & Felisa Vilaubi

To schedule an appointment via phone or Zoom https://www.deanza.edu/languagearts/counseling.html

 

De Anza College Mental Health Statement:  Life at college can get very complicated. You may sometimes feel overwhelmed or lost. You may experience stress, anxiety or depression, or struggle with relationship difficulties.  Psychological Services helps students cope with difficult emotions and life stressors. Psychological Services is staffed by experienced, professional psychologists and counselors, who are attuned to the needs of college students. The services are FREE and completely confidential. Find out more at http://deanza.edu/psychologicalservices/ or by calling 408-864-8868.

 

Food Pantry: During the Shelter in Place, the Mobile Food Pantry from West Valley Community Services continues to visit Parking Lot C, from 12:30 – 3:30 p.m. every 2^nd and 4^th Tuesday. The De Anza College Food Pantry is closed during the campus shutdown.

Questions? Contact the Outreach Office at outreach@deanza.edu or 408.864.8327. 

Or visit this website: https://www.deanza.edu/outreach/food_pantry.html

 

Undocumented Students:  This is a challenging time to be an undocumented student. First, I want to be very clear that you belong here—in this class, at De Anza, and in the broader community. There are many, many people who believe this and we will do everything we can to support you.

 

Second, I want to call your attention to De Anza’s Resources for Undocumented Students. Check out this website: https://www.deanza.edu/students/undocumented.html

And let me know if you have any questions or concerns. I can help!

 

Final Notes:

·       Always make/save a copy of your essay before you submit it to Canvas, and save all essays and homework until the end of the quarter.

·       See me when you have questions or concerns.

·       Anyone who misses class within the first two weeks will be automatically dropped as will anyone who does not turn in Essay #1 on time.

 

 

IMPORTANT SPRING 2021 DATES:

Event	Date
Add Deadline	April 16, 2022
Drop Deadline (for refund) (w/o grade on transcript)	April 17, 2022
Pass/No Pass Grade Requests	April 29, 2022
Memorial Day Holiday	May 28-30
Withdrawal Deadline (with W grade on transcript)	May 27, 2022
Juneteenth Holiday	Monday, June 20
Final Exams	Portfolio due Week 11

 

A NOTE ABOUT AB705:  The placement test has changed for De Anza and many schools in CA.  Students are all placed in EWRT 1A now (either only 1A, 1A + 250 or 1AS + 1AT), but in the past about 80% of students placed into 1 or 4 classes pre-1A (that were credit/ no credit), allowing more time and practice with college-level reading, writing, and thinking skills without earning a letter grade.  There is now a law to accelerate this process, which is already accelerated in the quarter system.  You have the opportunity, though, to accomplish what has typically taken 2 or 3 quarters, so know that the pace and the amount we will cover will be a lot.  You will need to step up your game.   Knowing this, we hope that you put in the time and effort the course needs, ask questions, and seek help when necessary.  If the course load or material feel like too much, there are other options and support we can recommend.