What I Expect from You

Attend all class sessions. This is a workshop-based course, which means your participation is vital to the overall success of the course, both for you and your peers. You can’t participate if you’re not here, both physically and mentally present. Even if you are attending class remotely, you should be focused and engaged just as though you were physically present. I expect you to attend every single class session. Failure to do so will affect your participation grade. Note that missing student-instructor conferences will count as an absence. UNC policy states that there is no such thing as an excused absence except for missing a class session in order to participate in a mandatory university-sponsored activity or if approved by the Dean of Students due to extenuating circumstances. Being sick, family trips, and doctor visits are not excused absences and will affect your participation grade.

If you miss a class session, it is your responsibility to reach out to me or your classmates (especially the other members of your working group) to find out what information you missed, including upcoming assignments, changes in the schedule, etc. You should also revisit our lesson plan from the day and/or the recording of that day’s online class session. Ideally, you should contact me ahead of time if you think you may need to miss a class. I do not want to know the reason for your absence; if you feel your absence involves extenuating circumstances, please contact the Dean of Students who will make a determination and, if necessary, contact me to excuse your absence, at which point I will adjust your participation grade for the day(s) missed. Please note that the Honor Code also applies to such requests made to the Dean of Students. The UNC Writing Program’s policy states that students must attend 75% of class sessions. See the University attendance policy at https://catalog.unc.edu/policies-procedures/attendance-grading-examination/#text.

Arrive on time. Class begins strictly at 3:30pm eastern time, at which point you should already be in your seat, logged into our Zoom classroom with Sakai and our lesson plan for the day also open, ready to engage with the day’s material. Tardiness will affect your participation grade. I highly encourage you to log into our Zoom classroom five minutes early in case you run into technical delays, etc.

Be prepared daily with assignments, drafts, readings, etc. If you show up to class without your assignments, rough drafts, or laptop, you will be unable to engage with the material for the day and unable to contribute to class in a meaningful way, which will hurt your participation grade.

Engage actively in all in-class exercises, writing workshops, and activities. Participate intensively and diligently with your peers. Collaborate with your classmates by offering consistently thoughtful questions, reactions, feedback, and discussion related to their work and ideas. By closely engaging with your peers’ work, both you and your classmates will grow as writers, and we will all learn and benefit from a collectively engaged community.

Complete every assignment thoroughly, thoughtfully, and punctually. I expect your best effort and attention to all reading, writing, and day-to-day activities in the course. Please note that absence does not excuse you from completing any missed assignments. It is your responsibility to figure out what assignments you have missed and to work out an appropriate timeline with me for making them up. (Most, if not all, assignments will be submitted electronically. If an assignment is due for a class session you miss, you are still responsible for submitting that assignment on time.)

Give thoughtful peer feedback during class workshops, and work faithfully with your group on other collaborative tasks (such as sharing papers, commenting on drafts, peer editing, online discussion boards, answering peer questions, etc.). If you feel your partners or group members are not putting forth substantial effort to collaborate with you, please let me know.

Sustain effort and investment on each draft of all assignments (at least 2-3 drafts on average).

Make substantive revisions when the assignment is to revise, extending or changing the thinking or the organization, not just editing or touching up. While you do not have to make every change suggested by your readers, final drafts should show growth from original drafts and evidence of your thoughtful engagement with peer and instructor feedback.

Copy-edit successfully all final revisions of assignments so they conform to the conventions of edited American English. While we will prioritize higher-order concerns (ideas) over lower-order ones (sentence-level issues), your attention to detail reflects your level of professionalism. The same standard for print projects applies equally to multimedia and/or digital projects.

Be consistent. All assignments, unless otherwise specified, are to be completed and submitted in standard academic format: Microsoft Word, one-inch margins on all sides, double-spaced in size 12 Times New Roman black font, with a header in the top-right corner that consists of page numbers accompanied by student’s last name (such as Blom 1, Blom 2, etc.). See also “Instructions for Formatting Assignments – ENGL 105” on Sakai at Resources>Helpful Handouts and Resources.

Next syllabus item: Important University Dates and Assignment Due Dates