This class has a very strict attendance policy in Writer’s Workshops as well as in class. If you miss seven class periods or four Writer’s Workshops, you will receive an F in the class. Ordinarily, there are no exceptions and no "makeups" for this attendance requirement. If you know of any circumstances likely to make this policy difficult for you this semester, you may wish to consult with your advisor to review your options.If you miss a class session, you always remain responsible for all information distributed, material covered, and assignments given during your absence.

Missouri Western requires all students to help us maintain good conditions for teaching and learning. All students will treat their classmates, teachers, and student assistants with civility and respect, both inside and outside the classroom. Students who violate this policy may, among other penalties, be counted absent and asked to leave. You should review your Missouri Western student handbook for further information.

Required Texts and Course Materials

• Dietsch, Betty. Reasoning and Writing Well. 3 ^rd edition. Mountain View, CA: Mayfield, 2002.
• English 100 Writer’s Workshops
. Fall 2002 ed.
• 3-1/2" floppy disks and a disk storage box
• cheap, simple folders for turning in portfolios
• extra copies of your writing for group work as requested

Course Goals

Detailed course objectives are available on the web site for English 100:

In general you should improve your abilities in the following categories:

• writing for different audiences and purposes
• active reading and critical thinking
• using writing processes effectively to produce valuable results
• using written conventions more accurately

Your grade will be determined on the basis of your progress as a writer, the writings you submit, and your class participation over the course of the semester. The components of your grade in the course are:

Writing. You will complete three major writing tasks, each of which will be submitted along with a mini-portfolio of related material. A student who does not turn in an adequate version of all three tasks may not pass the course, regardless of other points earned. You will also complete a final portfolio with a revised version of an earlier paper and other required materials. Since all of these grades are based on portfolios, you need to keep everything that you produce as part of this class for the entire semester in order to earn the best possible grade.

Writer’s Workshop. Throughout the course of the semester, you will attend the weekly small group Writer’s Workshops (listed as "labs" in the class schedule). Some of your Writer’s Workshop materials may be used in class, and some of your class papers will be critiqued and proofread in Writer’s Workshops. I will consider your Writer's Workshop participation as part of your class participation grade.

Quizzes and testing. You may be given unannounced quizzes to assess your attention to reading assignments. A limited amount of testing at midterm and during the final will check on your understanding of what you have learned about writing.

Task Papers and Mini-Portfolios

The three main tasks will be evaluated according to the criteria discussed in the assignments.

I will keep daily ratings for participation, including but not nearly limited to your quiz grades. I will report your current standing along with all evaluations of finished Task Papers. I will also review your Writer's Workshop materials before mid-terms and at the end of the semester to figure your final participation grade. The most important part of this grade is simply being in class for the entire class period. Next, you should aim to be completely ready to participate in class activities, such as by having adequate drafts for peer review. Next, you should aim to add value to the class whenever there are class discussions and activities.

The final portfolios will be evaluated for all the abilities described in the course objectives. Throughout the semester you will receive information and responses that help you understand these objectives and how they are evaluated to make up your grade. The portfolio will contain a wide variety of formal and informal materials that will be defined more specifically later on in the semester. To get the best grade on the portfolio, you need to keep everything that you produce as part of this class for the entire semester.

Each exam will have two parts. In one part, you will demonstrate your ability to write under time pressure. In the other part, you will need to answer questions based on your reading assignments.

Any student in this course who has a disability that prevents the fullest expressions of abilities should contact Missouri Western's special needs coordinator, Lois Fox, for possible certification of special needs and expert recommendations for assistance. You should also contact the teacher personally as soon as possible so that the two of you can discuss class requirements.

You will receive a grade of F for any paper that shows evidence of cheating and/or plagiarism. You always have the initial burden of demonstrating that a paper showing evidence of cheating or plagiarism is in fact your own original work. You should keep thorough evidence of your writing processes for all papers so that you can meet this burden of proof. Stronger evidence proving plagiarism may lead to further penalties. Please note carefully the statement on plagiarism on the departmental website, found at http://www2.mwsc.edu/eflj/plagiarism.html .

Whenever you are asked to bring anything, you should have with you a version that you would be willing to have marked up or handed in for review. Make an extra copy if you want a clean version for yourself.

You should also bring an electronic copy for in-class work and be ready to deliver it to me when and as needed. We will work on methods for doing this in class. An electronic file that has a virus attached will not be acceptable.

Whenever you are asked to read something, the assignment is to be read beforethe start of class on that date. Unless another source is mentioned, all reading assignments are in Reasoning and Writing Well , noted either by chapters (for example, "Ch. 11"), pages (for example, "pp. 405-20"), or titles. At times you will also need to do the reading before completing other tasks required by the start of class, so you should normally finish your reading well before the start of class. Quizzes may be announced or unannounced.