Syllabus

Spring 2018 Course Time and Location: Tues/Thurs, 2:00-3:20 pm, Nevada Lab
Spring 2018 Office Hours:  Tues 1-2, Wed 10-11am

Required Texts:

 
• Ferris, D. R., & Hedgcock, J. S. (2014). Teaching L2 Composition: Purpose, Process, and Practice (3rd ed.). Mahwah, NJ: Lawrence Erlbaum Associates.
• Hedgcock, J.S., & Ferris, D.R. (2009). Teaching Readers of English: Students, Texts, and Contexts (3rd ed.).
• Rowling, J.K., (1997). Harry Potter and the Sorcerer's Stone. New York: Scholastic.
• Assorted Readings which will be available electronically.

Other required materials:

·  Portable storage for computers (or Dropbox!!). 

·  Copies of your work as needed for class discussion

·  An @illinois.edu e-mail account

Assignment Format:

All formal assignments should utilize the American Psychological Association (APA) manuscript format and be documented accordingly (actually, all I care is that you consistently uses some documentation format).  All assignments must be typed and should use Times New Roman 12-point type, 1-inch margins (please don’t kill my rapidly ageing eyes with tiny fonts!  ;-).  Of course, if you are doing an assignment online, some of these rules go out the window!

Course Policies:

Attendance:  Be here!  This course includes a great deal of in-class discussion and sharing of resources, so missing a class means you are missing part of the coursework.  Participation is part of your grade.

Be Prepared:  Part of your participation is being ready to discuss the readings, etc. in class.  Buy the books, make sure to do the readings, and be ready to discuss.  Surely teachers realize that a teacher knows when they did not read?!?!  

Tardiness:  While it is acceptable to be very occasionally late (life happens), habitual tardiness or cases of extreme tardiness is simply rude—don’t do it.  Expect to start class right on time.  When you come in late, you'll notice me making a note on that in the attendance sheet.   

Cell Phones:  Turn them off or put them on silent mode.  If your phone rings during class time, I will confiscate it and use it to make long calls to people on the Tristan da Cunha island chain during peak hours!  If my cell phone rings during class time, you get to make fun of me.  ;-)

Classroom Interaction: Come to class prepared, work with your classmates in small-group activities, play nicely during recess, and cooperate with me by coming to class prepared to ask questions.

Evaluation:

 The breakdown of the course totals is below.

Assignments	%	Due Dates*
Practice Day	15%	TBD
Course Observation	10%	by April 13th**
Participation	15%	Daily
Materials Sharing &  Pottering (Forum & website)	25%	Over course of semester,  all by May 2nd
Quizzes	10%	Various
Final Project	25%	May 11th***
Total Percentage	100

*more details on official assignment pages on this blog.

**LATE MATERIALS will be graded down 5% for every day late.  
***Note: Comp takers due date is April 20th if graduating this term so that we have time to process the results for graduation

Under this system, the attainment of an “A” grade requires at least 90%; a “B” requires 80%; a “C” 70%; and a “D” requires at least 60%.  A "C" grade for graduates is technically a failing grade. Work at the C level does not meet the minimum expectations of rigor as articulated for each assignment. 

Scores from -0% to -3% (e.g., 81% = “B-”) are minus grades, while scores from -7 and up are plus grades (e.g., 87% = “B+”).  I round up grades of .5% or higher, so an 89.46% is considered an 89.5%.  I would round this up to 90%, which is an “A-”