Class Syllaweb:  http://ol.scc.spokane.edu/jstrever/reading/fall96/

The purposes of this course are to help you improve your skills and to prepare you for the large amount of reading required in your other courses and in your career. We will spend some time with specific problems of reading comprehension, but the majority of this course will be devoted to exercises and assignments designed to teach you how to become a more confident and effective reader.

The evaluation system for English 096 is demanding. In order to receive at least a 2.0/C in this course, you must

	Attend class. Much class time will be spent learning new skills, working on assignments, or working in groups. Because of this, it is impossible to "make up" missed classes. A portion of your grade includes your attendance.
	Attend all scheduled conferences with teacher. A missed conference counts as a missed class.
	Be an active and responsible group member. You will learn much from your group members about how to make your writing more effective.
	Meet all due dates. Follow your calendar, and you will be aware of assignments before they are due; thus, late work in not accepted.
	Keep your journal up to date.
	Come to class prepared for discussion.

Objectives: To promote Responsibility, Oral and Written Communication, Global Awareness, and Problem Solving

Through assigned reading, you will learn

	to appreciate and analyze selected readings
	to understand how words, sentences, paragraphs relate to the whole of an article
	to critically review the content and style of a written work.

Through assigned vocabulary work, you will increase

	your comprehension
	your ability to decode a variety of reading material
	your confidence in understanding complex texts.

Through assigned writing, you will learn

	to explore your understanding of rhetorical strategies
	to develop sense of the reader/audience relationship
	to edit and revise in order to communicate your thoughts and ideas.

Overview of Course: (Subject to variation)

In this course you will learn to READ, REACT to what you read and then write about your reactions. The course material will be learned through the following components:

Active class discussions: Participation through discussion is a vital and mandatory part of class; thus, all students will be expected to engage in discussion.

Weekly writing assignments from journal: At the end of each week, you will be expected to read through your journal, find one entry that interests you and re-write that entry. This re-write will be typed, then turned in at the beginning of the second day of the class week. Typed journal entries (TJEs) are given points rather than grades. A check ( ) is worth 10 points, a plus (+)=12 points, a plus-plus (++)=14 points, and a minus (-) will earn zero points.

The midterm portfolio will include: (at least)

* 1 TJE
* 1 summary
* 1 reaction to a reading
* 1 exercise

The final portfolio will include:

 * 1 summary
 * 2 exercises
 * 1 book review
 * 1 reflection paper

ATTENDANCE AND OTHER HOUSEKEEPING POLICIES:

1. Keep in regular contact with your instructor and other class members.
2. This reading course will largely be a workshop. You are expected to play an active role as a member of a community of readers.
3. Please familiarize yourself with what constitutes plagiarism and the consequences of it.
4. All papers and assignments are due at the time listed on the class web page.
5. The key requirement is to be prepared and to participate and to do all of the assigned work -- readings and writings -- on time. You are responsible for all information presented in the class, whether or not  you are there to retrieve it.
6. After the 2nd week of class, teacher will not be bringing in handouts.  You need to get them from the web yourself during class on our computer workday -- this helps you learn one of the college's outcomes: responsibility. 
7. If you have anything that might hinder your progress in this class, you need to let teachers know, so that I can help you. If you have special accommodations that need to be made to ensure your success in class, the teacher needs to be notified during the first few days of the class.  
8. Since attendance is so vital to our class, periodic "spot checks" worth five points will be given.  These will happen in the first ten minutes of class, and they cannot be made up.  Since they are awarded for being there, you cannot receive them even though you arranged to be missing on a certain class day. Keep in regular contact with your instructor and other class members. The  diagnostic meetings are mandatory -- there are no exceptions. If you miss one of the diagnostic meetings, you have not met the requirements of the class and cannot pass the class with a 2.0 or better.
9. Participation and good attendance are essential to any class.  Meeting deadlines and attendance at the class meetings are mandatory, online or real time. 
10. Late Work and Withdrawals -- To receive credit for an assignment, please turn it in at the time and date specified on the calendar.  
11. Papers and exercises will not be accepted late; however, to allow for the unexpected, you may turn in one exercise late without an excuse or penalty if you submit it within one week of its due date. To do this, you must attach your late exercise certificate to the front cover. If you submit all papers on time (in other words, if you do not use your late-paper option), ten points will be added to your overall grade points at the end of the quarter.


There is NO late paper option for the book review components. You will know their due dates well in advance and, therefore, should be able to plan for the unexpected.

You should also be aware that I do not give "Z" grades. If you stop attending the class, or you decide to stop attending school altogether, please withdraw officially. If you are ill and cannot come to campus, SCC can assist you in such a situation.

Responsibility Outcomes

A critical step in becoming a truly educated individual is that of taking responsibility for one's own learning. The following outcomes address this step:

	Participating in class discussions in an informed and professional manner.
	Asking questions when a concept is not clear.
	Setting and balancing priorities.
	Understanding and accepting consequences.
	Demonstrating respect for others.
	Arriving on time to class, prepared to work.

Materials:

*a computer disk
*one 3 clasp folder
*3-5 manila folders

Textbooks:

McWhorter, Kathleen. Guide to College Reading, 6th Edition
Spago, Edward. Timed Readings, Book 10
A Novel -- to be determined at a later date.

Grading Policies:

Accessing your grades - To encourage you to take ownership of your progress in class, we will use web grading. You can access your grades at

-- https://secure.scc.spokane.edu/UserSpace/default.asp

Your user name is the first initial of your first name combined with your last name. For example, mine would be jstrever.

Your password is the last four numbers of your student id number.

Grades are updated each Monday and Tuesday. It is your responsibility to check your own progress. However, if I discover that more time is being spent worrying about grades than is being put into studying, then I will allow access to the grades only during mid-term and finals.

If you have questions or concerns about a particular grade, please use the comment feature in the gradebook to notify me of the concern.  Also, please notify me within one week of the publication of the grade, so that grades  can stay current. I will not go back further than that, so please stay on task. 

Last least, your grades are your business, so please always arrange an appointment to discuss them, so that we will not be interrupted or overheard!

Also, my philosophy about grades is that you earn them....I do not give them to you.