Individual 1.2 Prewriting Exercise

This is a free-writing exercise. As such, what you write will be a function of how you write. You should allow yourself to write freely for 10 minutes. Write ideas, phrases, words and thoughts. You need not write in complete sentences or spell things correctly. During the 10 minutes, you should type continuously. If you can't think of anything to write, type your name, the title of the magazine you will write for in 1.2, or simply "I can't think of anything." The moving hand will create a moving mind. In ten minutes, you should type about 300 words. Don't worry if you write down some useless or silly things. You'll have to spill out some junk, but with the junk will come useful creative insight, too. (And don't worry about other people reading your pre-writing. They have better things to do and their pre-writings will be just as "awful.")

Focus on the following while you are writing:
In 1.2, you will draft an article reporting on a recent medical study or advance for a magazine of your choice. You need to include graphics and/or pictures and you need to make it interesting. How do you want to spin this boring information? What is you "thesis" or bent going to be? What pictures and graphics would make this article cool? How are you going to get people to read your important information? How will they know it is important to them?

Hearing Loss and the iPod Generation

In this exercise we will review how a health article in a popular magazine is structured. As a class, we will discuss the first paragraph. Then in your groups, you will look at (and post as a comment to this entry) an analysis of one additional "paragraph." You will have about 10 minutes to do this.

Here are your marching orders:

Teacher's Pet: Last paragraph. It begins on page 3, bottom of 4th column: "And while most veteran. . ."

Globo Purple Cobras: In the red and black text box entitled "Save Your Ears" on page 3, #5 that begins "Quit Smoking."

Square Headed Spouse: Second paragraph and accompanying photo. It begins on page 2, "In 1989. . ."

Super Llamas: The graphic entitled "The Risk Factor" on page 3.

Important Reminders (ahem.)

Last Day for [Mandatory] Unit 1 Conference: Monday, Feb. 13

And now. . .

Public Shaming for Those Who Have Not Turned in the VERY IMPORTANT and REQUIRED FOR CREDIT in this course Pledge for Students in English 12:

Brittany
Paul

Reflection on Drafting as a Group

Spend approximately 30 minutes writing on the following topic. The resulting informal reflection will be about 100-200 words.

How was creating a PowerPoint presentation with your group? How did you divide up the work and collaborate to find a topic, brainstorm, research, create a powerpoint, and practice? What went well? What crashed and burned? How well did your group work together? Where did you get off track? Who lead? Who organized? (Names need not be included.) What did you learn from your group members? How did you solve problems? What did you learn about the group process from this exercise? What will you do differently next time? Vent about the negative and hurrah the positive.

1.1 Draft Workshop

Before beginning this workshop, make sure that everyone in your group has the 1.1 PowerPoint presentation in his/her H drive (in the public_html folder) and has created a link to it in his/her blog.

In this draft workshop, you will observe the 1.1 PowerPoint Presentations of all groups. After all groups have finished presenting, you will confer with your group on the first group of questions that follow for about 5 minutes. You will then spend about 10 minutes providing feedback to your assigned group. The feedback should come in the form of a comment to the blog of one of the group members. (Each member of your group should address a different member of the assigned group.) In your feedback, you should consider answering some, if not all, of the second group of questions. During the presentations and group discussions, you should take notes.

Things to discuss with your group during the 5 minute discussion period:

1. Which was the strongest presentation and why? How can we suggest that strength to our group?
2. What has to be improved about our assigned group's presentation?
3. What was really great about our assigned group's presentation?
4. How polished/practiced was the presentation?
5. Did we understand what they were saying?

Things to discuss in your feedback to your assigned group:

1. The best aspect of their presentation
2. One thing to improve about their presentation
3. How to improve the "one thing"
4. Something you didn't understand

Assigned Groups:

Super Llamas (Leanne, Johnna, Brianna, John) will give feedback to / receive feedback from

Square Headed Spouse (Josh, Taylor, Paul, Book, Nathan)

Globo Purple Cobras (Arden, Justin, Jessica, Jeff) will give feedback to/ receive feedback

from Teacher's Pet (Denise, Andy, Ashelyn, Brian, Brittany)

Stinking it Up with PowerPoint

Use this "style guide" to help you craft your 1.1 PowerPoint presentation.

Plagiarism Assignment

Correct MLA citation for Plagiarism Assignment:

Ozols, Jennifer Barrett. "A Job or a Cigarette?" Newsweek.com (24 Feb. 2005) 26 Jan. 2006

.

Start looking at the gradebook

Now that we are rolling into the semester, you have become (more) comfortable with the practices and philosophy of the course, start looking at the gradebook to tract your participation and other grades. This will keep you abreast of your progress in the course. You should also look at the Course Policy Statement and come to my office hours if you have questions.

Two additional reminders:

1. You will assess group participation at the end of each unit.
2. You must come to "live action" office hours once during each unit. (Don't wait until the last available Monday! I will be cranky and overworked by then.)

CBE Exercises

You may work with your group to complete these exercises, but you should post your answers to all of the questions in your blog. (This means that everyone has the assignment completed in his/her blog.) It is best to complete the plagiarism assignment and read Chapter 22 in the St. Martin's before attempting these exercises.

Each exercise asks you to do a bit a research, a bit of writing, and some citation. Don't worry, it won't hurt much. All the sources mentioned in the exercises are real.

Here is an important bit of information that you will need: In this class we will use the name-year format for in-text citations.

1. The Super Llamas are going to use snippets of the podcast we listened to in class, "Anal Sex: Media Taboo?" (See the Slate.com website) in their PowerPoint presentation. How will they write this entry on their "List of References"?

See answer.

2. The Globo Gym Purple Cobras found a book at the library that will really help them with their podcast. The title is Lesbian Women and Sexual Health. Help them out by writing the entry for the "List of References".

See answer.

3. The Teacher's Pet have decided that they like the public health aspect of that scholarly article we looked at in class on Monday. What was that thing called again? Using the database Expanded Academic Asap, find the article and write a "List of References" entry.

See answer.

4. The group now known as "Square Headed Spouse" (and you know who you are, my friends), have been on the stick. They have found their journal article using a database discussed during the library session. Write a few sentences discussing your article and cite it using the appropriate in-text citation. While you are at it, write the "List of References" entry too.

1.1 Group Pre-writing (In Class)

As a group, dialogue about potential topics for your 1.1 PowerPoint Presentation. Start with general ideas first. Think of areas that interest you such as eating disorders or sleep deprivation. Spend about five minutes just batting ideas around. Be open to anything. After the five minutes take a catalogue of the ideas you have come up. Evaluate the feasiblity of each idea (some may be too off the wall, not "medical" or otherwise inappropriate or only interesting to one member), cut the chaff, and move on. Begin to narrow, what about the ideas that made the cut interest you? Tease out the flesh of each idea. Find one or more avenue within each idea that might be worth pursuing. What is the genetic factor in eating disorders? Why are more men being diagnosed with them? Why do they run in families and sometimes start up after traumas or when kids/teenagers go off to camp? Spend ten minutes on this brainstorming in this way.

You should take copious notes. Each member should post these notes to his/her blog. You will use this pre-writing to guide you to finding a journal article during the library session on Wednesday.

Reflecting on the Writing and Technology Survey

Some of the words you used to talk about your feelings towards writing were "efficient," "uncomfortable," "torture", "work", "caution," "tool" and "tedious". The only word that was used more than once was, intriguingly enough "desire."

I think these words reveal the complex nature of our feelings toward writing. We need it, we know it is our vehicle, but the task of writing is a personal one, one that is often shrouded in shame and feelings of inadequacy. Despite all this, writing is such a personal and intimate act, it can be almost visceral.

Here are a couple of my favorite quotes from the process question:

Honestly, I do the rough draft the night before it is due, around nine with my fan blowing on me. I normally start with the tilte and gain inspiration from there. I cant half ass writing cause i get paranoid, as I am not yet quite confident in my writing, so I always double and triple check everything, especially before handing in the final draft. It normally takes me an hour or two write an effective paper because I coax myself into staying focused. I have to eat peanuts when I write, god please dont ask me why because I dont know the answer, I just have to do it.

My process of writing is a bit unstructured. In many cases, the ideas or themes that I use in my writings come to me at random moments, like walking from a class or in the cafeteria. If I feel like an idea is a winner, I'll jot it down on a piece a paper or repeat it (and edit it) in my mind until I am able to sit down at a computer. I never write my papers--I type them directly. I typically then just sit with my computer and peck away (with a sheet of paper beside me to work out my ideas and organize them just right). Excluding long papers, I also usually finish my papers in one sitting (i.e. I don't work on anything else while in the process of writing). Before I begin a new pararaph or section I read the previous ones out loud and start typing the new section after I've finished talking. I like to hear my written words because it allows me to see if my words are flowing and recognize where some parts may need to be revisited. When I finish typing (completely), I lean back in my chair, clap my hands, and say "Yes!" I like to write in very quiet conditions, or with very faint noise (a tv or music) in the background. I prefer to write in a familiar place, like my dorm room or lounge, because I feel comfortable. I can, however, write where ever I need to to get something completed. I like kicking my shoes off sometimes or getting up for a stretch (or email, facebook, AIM) break. I am higly adaptable though.

I usually set up a giant playlist on iTunes or Media Player (because this will probably take a while), plug up the headphones, and lay down a giant stream of concsiousness in a word processor. This is my general framework for the piece and is usually done the first night. After this I go back to the writing and start to revise and cut apart, in chronological order initially. I usually set up multiple windows of the word processor in order to take down good phrases or quotes that I think of but may not immediately have a place for. I leave all these windows open for several days or hours (whatever may be the case) leading up to the due date. I then revise in waves while trying to get my mind off of things in between. This usually results in 5 to 9 little revision sessions. Often there is one giant, penultimate revision session right at the end that may last for hours. After this giant session I look over everything, save, sacrifice some barnyard animals, and call it a paper.

So are you a good writer?

Yes!

Yes, I consider myself to be a good writer - I know I could improve, of course, but I do feel that I am talented at writing. I think that I have a broad vocabulary and that I use a formal tone in my writing, which are good qualities. Also, I think my diction is good, and that I express opinions without holding back when I write. I do have problems with wordiness and run-on sentences when I write, however, and those are important qualities that make a good writer (so I need to work on that).

I am a good writer because I am able to express my ideas clearly and use good evidence to support my arguments. A good writer should be someone who can present their ideas in a concise way and in a manner in which anyone can understand their argument.

Sorta.

would say that I have potential. A good writer is someone who can write what they are trying to say clearly but nicely. Ofcourse it depends on what kind of writing it is, but on essays a good writer is consise, has a deep vocab and knows how to organize a paper. I feel that I have potential because I have learned a lot about writing and I have a decent vocab and I know how you are supposed to organize a paper, but it is easier said than done.

I think I have good ideas ( not trying to sound conceded) but I don't really know how to articulate them.

I need some help.

No, I'm not a good writer. My writing is too structured and dull. I also don't have the eloquence or patience need to produce a well thought out paper. A good writer should be interested in what he is writing about, not just suffering through the words to get a good grade. This is one of the hardest parts of writing I believe, to passionate enough about a topic to write a good, interesting, and informative paper about it.

I don't beleive that I am a good writer. I have alot of trouble getting started writing and my still make many grammatical errors. My vocabulary is not that strong and I often seem to be redundant. I believe a good writer would most likely be someone who can comfortably express their ideas through writing, a person who knows their grammar skills at a professional level, and has good wording in making a very vividly strong point. A good writer would also have the ability to persuade the reader in agreeing with them or at least having the readers' fully attention.

You said the greatest hits of English 11 included

My favorite assignment in English 11 was the paper we wrote about sitcoms. I thought it was very entertaining to research and think about. We had many engaging discussions about what defined humor, why people thought it was funny, etc.

Our first assignment was an in-depth analysis of a risque movie. The theme of the class for the entire semester was gender, so the movie i chose was about three Australian cross-dressers searching for an identity and respect. The movie turned out to be quite enjoyable, and had a really good soundtrack. The paper, despite its length, was a relatively easy write and helped me better understand my teacher's goals for us as a writer.

You said the low points were as follows:

The public speaking because I had to make a speech that generally did not interest me. I had to talk about the Harriet Miers fiasco and give a one sided speech on this issue because my group members were to lazy to research the issue of ethics involoving nanotechnology in the medical field. Also, Ireally dont like speaking in front of people, but I am willing to work on it.

My least favorite assignment in English 11 was when we had to do a powerpoint presentation taking a position on integration/segregation and supporting it with evidence. (edit- This was in Ms. Morgan's English 11 class. Brianna or Justin is in trouble!)

My least favorite assignment in Englsih 11 was writing a five page letter to a congressman or some other government official asking him/her to support a particular bill, amendment, or program. The assignment was so unrealistic--no one writes a 5 page letter to a government official. In order to reach the assigned page length, the letter's subject was exhausted and the letter became rather repetitive. The point of the assignment was to practice and recocgnize the different tones we use in writing, but that particular assignment was a bit much.

My least favorite assignment in English 11 was when we had to pick an older movie that had a recent remake and write a proposal, for the remake, as if it had not been produced. I didn't like this assignment because, eventhough the remake gave us an idea on how to write our paper, I think it would have been a better idea to use a movie that didn't have a recent remake. By using this type of movie, we would have been able to really use our imagination to produce a strong proposal for a remake.

How 'bout goals?

It would be nice if I could improve my writing skills. I'm curious about the "real-life" applications of writing that we'll be looking at, not just book analyses and essays... oh! and to not burn out...

I would like to try to become even more comfortably with the written word and try to alleviate that inertia issue that plagues me when I get ready to write. Once I get started writing I usually enjoy it and often find myself able to effectively express myself. The biggest issue I have now at this point in my career is the fear that looms when I sit down to actually start composition.

I want to learn more about computers and the ways our media is changing. I think that learning how to edit the movies will be a fun thing to learn.

And concerns?

I am a little nervous about all of the computer-related assignments that we will be doing this semester in class; however, I had Katie McBirney as my English 11 teacher last semester, and we did almost all computer-related assignments, and I survived (with only minor trouble), so I should probably be alright. I am not the most technologically-able person there is, but I still want to stay in the class, and I am confident that I will be okay

That the workload may be overwheling! Bring it on Ms. Morgan! I'm ready for a challenge.

And for the tech survey:

Most people check email everyday. The majority compulsively.

Everyone in the class has a Facebook account; three have done photoediting. A few are dabbling with myspace.

Everyone saves over their old drafts; most people have created folders in the My Documents section of their PC.

Slightly more than half the class feel they know more than the average bear (so to speak) about technology.

If you all were designing this class:

If I were the teacher I would determine everyone's major and design the class based on the types of papers that everyone will most likely be writing in future classes for their majors. (edit- This student should be in a LINK class!)

It seems like some students (including me) will need more individual attention than others, but since there is only one teacher that is probably impossible in a 50 minute block. So, I think that a good addition would be to pair people who feel comfortable with the technology with others who do not so that the teacher will not have to spend so much class time on individuals.

If I were teaching this class, I would definitely do assignments with online blogs, because I think blogs are a good way for students to learn about new Internet trends (since computers and the Internet are major components of life nowadays), and plus writing blog entries is fun and involves a somewhat relaxed writing style (which is a change of pace from the typical research paper style of writing). I would also incorporate speeches into my curriculum, because I think that public speaking is an important skill to have, because it involves necessary social skills that will be valuable to students as they begin professional careers (as far as job interviews, working in social settings, etc.) I would overall try to have a mixture of computer-related and non computer-related assignments, so that I could cater to the computer geniuses as well as the slightly computer-illiterate (like myself).

Coffee- the perfect companion to boring, repetitive tasks

Like teaching. Ha, ha.

This article from Cnn. com, posted January 11, 2006, with cutie Dr. Gupta reports that the caffeine in coffee is effective in helping people do tasks- particularly mental tasks that they otherwise wouldn't be able to perform after the equivalent of two cups of coffee. Some thought this made coffee drinkers smarter. Not so. But coffee does make you more cheerful, better able to perform at detail-oriented tasks that are associated with intelligence. Not to mention more tolerant of other people's crap. This is especially true of our chronically sleep-deprived nation. So we seem smarter after our morning espresso.

The downside is that it is addictive. As Dr. G points out "it is a drug."

Here is an interesting thing: One of the researchers in Dr. Gupta's report- Harris Lieberman- is funded by the Military Nutrition Division of the U.S. Army Research Institute of Environmental Medicine. Now why would the Army have a vested interest in whether or not caffeine made you smarter or helped you perform boring, repetitive tasks when you are sleep deprived? Probably because soliders are even more sleep-deprived than their civilian counter-parts yet they need to function at an extremely high level to protect themselves. For them, caffeine could be a performance enhancing drug.

But what about the side effects to getting soliders jacked up on high level of java? It is, as we all know, addictive? Will the VA soon have a decaf detox unit?

Medicine Unit Syllabus

Note Bene: This syllabus is subject to change based on class progress.

Fri. Jan. 20 The Assignments
HW: Find online article about health, link to it from your blog, discuss it. Comment on two other class member's articles.

Mon. Jan. 23 18 The Role of Popular articles in Health Education
Discussion of Slate's podcast Anal Sex: Media Taboo? vs. Oral versus Vaginal Sex Among Adolescents: Perception, Attitudes, and Behavior
HW: Library Tutorial: Finding Helath Information

Wed. Jan. 25 Library Session: IS 124
HW: Read Chapter 22 in The St. Martin's Handbook; Complete the CBE Exercise and post, Complete English 12 Plagiarism Exercise from Writing Program Student Guide and post, bring Student Guide to English 10, 11, and 12 to class on Friday

Fri. Jan. 27 Presenting a PowerPoint / Plagiarism / CBE exercise review
HW: Assemble and practice PowerPoint presentation

Mon. Jan 30 DW 1.1
HW: Revise 1.1., Blogging reflection assignment

Wed. Feb. 1 Paragraphing Rolling Stone article iPod use and hearing loss/ 1.1 due
HW: Prewriting for 1.2

Fri. Feb. 3 Video: Peer Review Class Will Meet in UL Viewing Room 205
HW: Complete Paragraphing Assignment (a hold-over from Feb. 1), Complete Blogging Assignment on the usefulness of draftworkshops and revision

Mon. Feb. 6 DW 1.2
HW: Revise 1.2, post to blog (Make sure 1.2 Draft is posted, too!)

Wed. Feb. 8 U1P Prewriting/Podcasting workday/ 1.2 Due
HW: Record and Edit U1P

Fri. Feb. 10 Podcasting workday
HW: Complete recording and post U1P

Mon. Feb. 13 U1P DW / Last Day for Unit 1 Conferences!
HW: Revise U1P

Wed. Feb. 15 Revision
HW: Complete revising U1P

Frid. Feb. 17 Unit 1 Projects Debuted, Reflected upon/ Group Evaluations/ Introduction to Gender Studies
HW: Gender studies blog assignment

Medicine Unit Assignments

1.1 Presentation of Findings
In this group authored 7- minute PowerPoint presentation, explain recent research in the field of medicine for our class. A successful presentation will engage with at least one scholarly article from a medical, nursing, or public health journal. (You may use additional general sources for reference.) The presentation should also include graphics, a CBE citation, and the speaking participation of each group member.

Rough Presentation: January 30
Final Presentation: February 2

1.2 Popular article
Write a 4-page article on recent medical research for a popular magazine of your choice. You need only discuss one scholarly article but you may engage with other sources for reference. A successful will include pertinent graphics, a citation of the scholarly article, be pitched toward the audience of the popular magazine in information and tone, and be entertaining to the reader. Of course, you should identify the popular magazine for which you choose to write.

Rough Draft: February 6
Final Draft: February 8

Unit 1 Project: Health Radio Report
Create a group podcast of five minutes in length meant to educate a targeted group of radio listeners about a recent development in medical research. A successful radio report should be informative, pertinent to the intended audience, accessible by the lay listener, specifically discuss a scholarly research, and be entertaining. Of course, it should make clear who the target audience is. Only one group member needs to speak, but you may include expert or “person on the street” interviews, sounds effects, music or other add-ins.

Rough edit: February 13
Final cut: February 17

Groups

And here they are!

Leanne Teeter, Johnna Lewis, Brianna Young, John Dianchenko

Jeff Haller, Jessica Watson, Arden Van Vleck, Justin Milner

Brittany Brown, Ashelyn James, Brian Joyner, Denise Rodriguez, Andy Duvall

Josh Boatright, Taylor Davis, Paul Han, Book Booker

Group Contract Assignment

Create a contract for your writing group. It should be specific and represent how you express respect for your group members and their work. A successful contract will include

1. Three to five "to dos"
2. Three to five "do not dos"
3. An established or preferred way to meet with an exchange of contact information
4. A name for your group
5. A list of all the group members. (You should not post email or IM on the web.)

Post this contract in the blog of every group member by the beginning of class Friday.

Look here from now on!

We will no longer use Blackboard for anything except its gradebook function. This blog will host the class syllabus, homework assignments, and other goodies related to the class. Sometimes you will post comments to posts on this blog, sometimes you will post in your own blogs.

Today in class you will break up into your writing groups, write a group contract, and create your own blogs.

Here is your homework, due by 9am on Friday:

• Set up your blog, posting a picture in your profile (See your Dashboard for directions)
• Comment on this post with the url of your blog
• Post your Group Contract in your blog (See the next Post for more about this)
• Extra Credit Opportunity: Customize your blog by deleting the Google News link and substituting in a link to the English 12.018 blog. This will earn you 1 point on your Unit 1 participation grade. (You may complete this any time during Unit 1.)

How to Get Open AFS Client Configured on your laptop

You can refer to this if you didn't get set up in class or want to install a drive for our class web page.

If you need additional help, call 962-HELP or go to the ATN Help desk in the basement of the UL.

Course Policy Statement

COURSE DESCRIPTION:

The Writing Program Staff Manual defines the following four objectives for English 12 students:

1. To develop students’ skills at each stage of the writing process (prewriting, writing, and rewriting);
2. To introduce students to the discourse of various academic communities so that they develop skills and versatility they need to be effective writers for these communities;
3. To devote approximately five weeks to each of the three disciplines, i.e. five weeks on Public Health, five weeks on Business writing, and five weeks on Film Studies; and
4. To require of each student at least one oral presentation per unit.

Intersecting with the goals above, I set the goal for this class to enable you to use writing as a tool to achieve success inside and outside the classroom through harnessing current and emerging technologies. I understand attaining this goal to be crucial to your status as a literate, educated person in the 21stC.

This course hinges on the dual assumptions that writing is essential to success in college and beyond as a lever for thinking and that writing can be learned. Accordingly, this course provides you with the opportunity to grow as a writer through frequent in- and out-of-class practice and draft workshops. Further, this class privileges you, the student, as an expert in your own writing and as a teacher to your fellow students.

REQUIRED MATERIALS:
The Student Guide to English 10, 11, and 12, 2005-2006
The St. Martin’s Handbook (Fifth Edition)
www.dictionary.com bookmarked on your laptop

RECOMMENDED:
USB Connecting Microphone

EVALUATION:

The formula for final grade is as follows:

Portfolio 30%
Participation 15%
Unit 1 Project 15%
Unit 2 Project 15%
Unit 3 Project 15%
Numbered Assignments 10%

The final grading scale in this class is as follows:

A 90-100
B 80-89
C 70-79
D 60-69
F 0-59

Students’ portfolios will earn numeric grades based on rubrics discussed in class.

Students’ participation grades (out of one hundred) will be based on the instructor’s holistic impression of the student’s level of engagement in class. This will be based on observation, homework, student self-evaluation, feedback provided from the group, and the student’s attendance record.

The Unit Projects will earn numeric grades (out of a hundred) based on rubrics discussed in class.

The numbered assignments will not be graded for instructional purposes, instead receiving copious comments. Students will receive credit for completing the assignments.

PARTICIPATION:

Students will attend every class. Students who miss ten or more classes will automatically fail the course. If a student misses a class for illness or a family emergency, s/he should obtain documentation from either Student Health or his/her Dean. Any absence that is unexcused by such official documentation will reduce the absentee’s final grade by one letter. Students who experience a personal crisis or severe illness which will take them away from the classroom for an extended period should see their academic advisors about withdrawing from the class.
When students happen to miss class, they should understand that they are not excused from the assignments due, and gather the information distributed in class from the available resources such as the syllabus, group members, and blackboard.unc.edu. Simply emailing the instructor asking “What did I miss?” is not an acceptable from of information gathering.
Students will arrive on time to every class. Since grossly late arrivals are disruptive to the educational atmosphere, students who arrive after 9:15 will be counted as absent.
Students should practice good computer hygiene. Students should run weekly virus scans on personal machines, back up all work, and manage files.
Students will participate in all class activities. This includes class discussions, group activities, blogging, impromptu presentations, drafting, responding, and researching. Adequate participation also requires that individuals refrain from non-productive activities during class time, such as IM-ing, emailing, surfing the net, carrying on extraneous conversations, or doing work for other classes.
Students will work in a writing groups assigned by the instructor. Students should make an effort to share the burden of group work equally and take seriously the mission of teaching and learning cooperatively.
Students will attend face-to-face office hours at least one time per unit, i.e. three times per semester, in Greenlaw 406. Office hours are held Mondays, from 10 am to 11:30 am. They are welcome to come to office hours more than three times a semester or take advantage of virtual office hours through AOL Instant Messenger on Thursdays, from 9 am to 1 pm.
Students will avoid even the appearance of plagiarism. Plagiarism, a grave violation of the Honor Code (Section II.B.1), will not be tolerated. Plagiarism consists of the intentional or inadvertent submission of another’s work as your own. Two examples of plagiarism are turning in a paper or parts of a paper purchased on the internet or from another student, and failing to adequately cite quoted or paraphrased source material in an original paper. The instructor, as an employee of the UNC Department of English, actively seeks out plagiarism in student writing. If the instructor suspects plagiarism, she is bound by her contract with UNC to interview the student or students involved.
Students will respect the guidelines of the multimedia classroom by not bringing food or drink into the classroom. In addition, they will protect their work and privacy by saving to a disk or their H:/ drive rather than the classroom computer desktops.
Students will avoid the following counterproductive behaviors when dealing with the instructor: whining, threatening, bargaining, pestering, and fit-pitching.
Students will, in the words of Section II.A of the Honor Code,
1.Obey and support the enforcement of the Honor Code;

2. Refrain from lying, cheating, or stealing;

3. Conduct themselves so as not to impair significantly the welfare or the educational opportunities of others in the University community; and

4. Refrain from conduct that impairs or may impair the capacity of University and associated personnel to perform their duties, manage resources, protect the safety and welfare of members of the University community, and maintain the integrity of the University.

Further, students will show respect for the course, the instructor, themselves, their classmates, and opinions that may differ from their own in deference to the educational atmosphere.

ASSIGNMENTS:

· Students will complete three major assignments in this course and six minor assignments. Some of these assignments will be “traditional” writing assignments and some will feel like more experimental assignments, taking advantage of new media. Some assignments will be composed in groups, some individually. Some assignments must be completed in class while some will require days or weeks of outside-of-class preparation.
· Students will complete prewriting, drafting, and revising for all major and minor assignments. All of these materials will be posted to the student’s blog.
· Students will complete a draft workshop for all major and minor assignments. It is the student’s responsibility to take notes on these activities and revise accordingly.
· Students will submit all assignments on time. Late assignments will not be accepted. There are no exceptions to this policy.
· Students will “turn in” Unit projects, numbered assignments, and homework by posting them to their blogs. Students should post no later than the beginning of class, 9:00am, on the due date. Assignments that do not need to be posted will be noted in class.
· At the end of the course, students will submit a portfolio of revised work that demonstrates their progress as writers. This portfolio, accompanied by a letter or digital video detailing the progress they have made, will constitute the bulk of their grade.