Course Overview:

Course Description

English C1000: Freshman composition course. Students study the elements and principles of composition through the practice of writing expository essays and a research paper. Emphasizing the reading and writing processes, revision is stressed as a means of achieving effective skills in reading and writing college-level texts. Analysis of assigned readings stimulate critical thinking and serve as models of effective writing. Emphasis is on using outside sources as evidence in students’ argumentative essays and documenting source material in MLA format. The course allows students to develop metacognitive awareness of the role writing plays in their lives.

English 020: This course is designed to review and reinforce the skills necessary to be successful in English C1000 (freshman composition). Students will study the elements and principles of composition through the practice of editing and revising narrative, expository, and argumentative essays. Students will also be introduced to effective reading skills and strategies necessary for the reading of college level material. Pass/No Pass only. Non-degree applicable. ***Concurrent-enrollment support course for ENGL C1000 for students who do not meet the prerequisite for ENGL C1000.

What this course will be about:

This course will begin by focusing the purpose of education and our own educational journeys. From there, I hope for us to discuss important social justice issues, starting with free vs hate speech and ending with a social justice issue of your own choosing.

Why this course is important to you.

You need this course to graduate or transfer. But there is more to it than that. Many of you might think of writing as difficult or tedious. But being able to write clearly, express your ideas well, and critically analyze information will be valuable to you far beyond this course. Whether it is communicating with other instructors, your employers, your children's schools or anyone else., it is essential that you can do so clearly and confidently. Writing well does not only help you, but it is tremendously valuable for our community. You each have individual perspectives and experiences, and sharing that within our community is hugely important.

Course Organization

Our course will be divided into weekly modules. Each module will contain all the lecture materials, handouts, videos, assignments (including discussion boards, peer reviews, and quizzes), and submission links for the week. Each module will become available Sunday at 7am.

Attendance

I want you here with us! Your perspective is valuable, and it wouldn't be the same without you. I am excited for you to contribute to discussions, ask questions, propose answers, submit assignments, and collaborate with your peers. You'll have many opportunities to participate in the coming weeks, and I am excited to see what you have to share!

Here are the brief "rules" we will follow to guide participation:

• check-in and interact in the course at least twice a week;

• participate in all discussions--the first reply each week is due on Wednesday;

• connect with me beforehand if you are going to be disconnected from the course for more than 3 days.

This course follows a weekly schedule. Each week you will interact with your peers in weekly discussions, and complete a series of activities and assignments. The weekly schedule allows us to learn from one another, and it keeps everyone on a path toward our learning goals.

Your participation is an important part of the success of this course, but we also recognize that you each have other courses, family and friends to visit with, and, because we are human, sometimes we are just swamped or under the weather. If you have reached a point where you can't meet a deadline, please contact me--we will work together to make a path to success. 

As a reminder, here is GCCCD Policy on dropping and withdrawing as well:

1. It is the student’s responsibility to drop all classes in which he/she is no longer participating (for online classes).

2. It is the student’s responsibility to drop all classes in which he/she is no longer attending (for on campus classes

3. It is the instructor’s discretion to withdraw a student after the add/drop deadline (include date) due to excessive absences.

4.  Students who remain enrolled in a class beyond the published withdrawal deadline, as stated in the class schedule, will receive an evaluative letter grade in this class (A, B, C, D, F).

5. Students who miss more than 8 hours of instruction (or 4 classes in our case) may be dropped

Late Work 

My overall expectation is that you will submit your work on time. There are two reasons for that. First, submitting on time sets you up to be successful. It can be hard to catch up if you fall behind. Second, it allows me to give you timely feedback, so that you can continue to grow and improve. 

With that being said, I do understand that life happens, and there might be a time when you can't submit your assignment before the due date. Believe me, it happens to me! If an extension is needed, I am happy to talk to you about it. My goal is for you to do well, learn a lot and pass the class, so I would want us to work together to make that happen.

Plagiarism  

Plagiarism is using someone else’s words or ideas without giving the appropriate credit (you might check out the Cuyamaca College Academic Honesty guide as a resource). In a writing class, it may be tempting to plagiarize. Maybe you feel like you don’t have time to do the assignment, or you are confused by the directions, or maybe you just don’t think you can do it well. As a second language English learner myself, I remember feeling that way. I can also tell you that as an instructor, I have felt frustrated and discouraged when I see students plagiarize because I really believe that you are all capable, if you give yourself the opportunity. 

I want you to learn. You will have to trust me when I say that writing and communicating well will be really valuable skills for your future. Well, the only way I can help you improve your writing is if you submit your writing to me. Remember my late work and grading policy? I will work with you if you need more time, I am happy to answer any and all of your questions, I want you to revise. If you find yourself being tempted to plagiarize, talk to me instead. Let’s make our class meaningful to your learning and your experiences.

Keep in mind that if I do catch plagiarism in your writing, I will reach out to you, so we can talk about it. This is not meant to be a punitive discussion where I scold you. It will be a space for us to discuss what led you to make that choice and what we can both do better in the future. 

If plagiarism occurs more than once, I am required by the school to report it to the Chair of the English Department and the Dean of Student Affairs. The college tracks incidents of misconduct to ensure that students aren’t engaging in multiple violations across different classes or semesters. Academic misconduct can be grounds for earning a zero on the assignment(s) in question, and may result in sanctions such as suspension.  I have full faith that we do not have to get here. Let's work together.