General English 1A Syllabus

English 1A  College Reading and Composition

(our current semester may have a syllabus modified from this one)

Summer School Students be advised that the course will cover the same content as a full-semester course You will :

read three books

turn in three essays between a full four to a full seven pages in length

research scholarly works relating to paper topics

practice careful time management

                                                 have books on time    Course Communication

Instructor Contact

Elizabeth Zarubin

• Canvas Inbox is preferred.

• Email: ezarubin@ccsf.edu

• CCSF Phone: (415) 742-7033 (I do not check my work mail regularly! It's better to use Canvas messages).

• Office Hours by request and variable, findable in the Canvas Calendar

• Office Location: Use the Calendar function in your Canvas shell to find times

• I will respond to all course email within 48 hours Monday-Friday, exclusive of school holidays and weekends. Once the course begins, I prefer to get messages through the Canvas "Inbox."

• Optional homework hour is for one hour each week, to be determined by semester.

Course Communication

• I will respond to your messages within 48 hours during the work week (Monday-Friday), excluding holidays or weekends or if I am sick, or if you are notified otherwise.

• Your work will be reviewed, and I will often comment on it within 48 hours of the due date unless you are informed otherwise. Please note that you may receive private comments on your discussion posts, essays, and midterm exam. There will also be essay self-assessment quizzes.

• I will participate in the weekly discussions but will not respond to each individual student. You may receive private comments on your discussion posts.

• If you do not log in to the course,  you will receive a message to remind you to come back to the course. It is best to keep up as the semester goes quickly and because life happens!

• Conference hours will be by Zoom, and are searchable in the Calendar tab. If you do not see conference hours that work for you in the calendar, please message me a request a time. Give me a few choices to choose from. I am flexible about Zoom conferencing most days except Sundays. Message me a conference request! Also, you can bring your questions to any optional homework hours scheduled in Zoom. 

• If you have questions about a specific assignment, please PUT THE EXACT NAME OF THE ASSIGNMENT either in the RE line or in the body of the message. Otherwise I will not know how to support you.

Course Community

The heart of this class is the discussion forum. In other words, each of you is the heart of the class. You will analyze and discuss issues that come up in the reading or writing assignments. We learn from each other, from our varied experiences, from our different world views. I look forward to reading and participating in discussions and hope you will too!

What determines good participation in discussions?  

I respect your minds and your futures.  I don't like busywork, and you don't, either. All of your work is actually prewriting for your paper. When we start drafting, you will have a wealth of summarizing, connecting, and reflecting that is ready to be used for essay drafting. Great school habits translate directly into the workplace – which often means jobs kept and raises given.  To maintain your seat in class, it’s important to do assigned homework.  Because this is a process course, missing work has an impact on essay performance.

I know you can succeed and that you want the best future possible, so I expect a lot of you.  But maybe your work schedule changed or your computer is down or…?  Let's talk to see if we can find solutions. Conferencing is one of my favorite parts of the job.

Participation in discussion assignments

Taking an active role in your learning and in class – stretching your leadership skills – makes the environment more energetic and teamwork based. Your leadership also makes up a good part of your participation grade. 

You will have daily discussion assignments, so you will want to make sure you plan time for that.  In order to earn full credit for discussions, you will make thoughtful and well-developed contributions that follow assignment directions, and make a minimum of one reply to a classmate per discussion assignment. I encourage you to draft work outside of Canvas because occasionally things get lost. Be sure to check back to make replies for full credit.

Working together outside of Canvas

As you get to know classmates in the discussions, you may feel more inspired and challenged (in a good way) by some others. You may want to connect outside of assignments to discuss our reading or homework. I personally don't use Pronto, but students seem to like it.
Can you start a learning group with classmates? Heck yes! As well, our many campus learning communities may offer formal or informal study groups.  Check out the CCSF learning communities!

Instructor Announcements 

The instructor will post announcements on the “Instructor Announcements” page in Canvas throughout the semester. Canvas notifies students according to their preferred Notification Preferences as soon as the instructor creates an Announcement. 

TO DO: Please go into your account preferences now and input a phone number and email address that you use, and as well turn notifications on and off according to your preferences. You can always adjust these later, but you should at minimum turn on instructor announcement and feedback.

Q&A Discussion

• A “Q&A Discussion” is available on the home page as a quick link. The Q&A Discussion is for you to ask for the assistance of your classmates. I do not read this page; it's like the conversation you might have among yourselves before, after, or during class.

   Course Description

COURSE OUTLINE

ENGL 1A, College Reading and Composition

Lecture

PREREQ.: ENGL 88 or ESL 188 or placement in ENGL 1A

College reading, writing, and critical thinking with a major research component. Reading, writing, and research assignments are based predominantly on non-fiction texts.

Transferrable to UC/CSU

Units: 4

Credit type: Credit/Degree Applicable

 The official outline.

Advisories and Sequence

ESL 88 may be advisable. English 1A is in the native-speaking track.

A final grade of C or higher allows the student to progress to English 1B or 1C

Student Learning Outcomes

1. Analyze university-level texts.

2. Compose research-based, organized essays that are driven by an arguable thesis and that employ critical thinking.

3. Apply the major conventions of standard written English.

4. Choose and integrate credible sources for support, using appropriate citation format.

Course Web Site

Students will use the Canvas Learning Management system [for assignment instructions, submitting assignments, viewing classmates' work, sharing resources, and viewing grades].  I can help with the course material and with some Canvas issues. But, if you need help uploading an assignment or with the mechanics of Canvas, Canvas help is the number to call.

For 24/7 help with Canvas, call 1-833-249-3993.

You can visit my CCSF instructional website outside of Canvas.

Textbooks

Our textbooks relate to achieving success in school and life. Unfortunately, these books are not open sourced (free). If you are ordering your texts, do not wait, if you want to get the best price you can on a used copy. You will be working with Carol Dweck's book, mindset, the first week of school. Students tell me they have found .pdf copies of all of our texts online. I am not assigning this, though. Be cautious about whom you download files from.

• mindset: the new psychology of success, Carol S. Dweck, Ph.D., ISBN 978-0-345-47232-8.  

You can also listen to this book in YouTube. There are many slight revisions that have been made to the text of the audio book, so listening and reading simultaneously may be challenging. But listening on the bus or when walking or doing dishes will help reinforce comprehension.

• The Upside of Stress, Kelly McGonigal, ISBN 987-1-101-98293-8

• American Heritage Dictionary, 4th, or the equivalent college dictionary

• How Children Succeed, Paul Tough, ISBN 3206-22-640-356220

• Current student ID card necessary for doing library research or accessing campus support resources

   Course Technology

Canvas

Students will use the Canvas Learning Management system [for assignment instructions, submitting assignments, viewing classmates' work, sharing resources, and viewing grades].  I can help with the course material and with some Canvas issues. But, if you need help uploading an assignment or with the mechanics of Canvas, Canvas help is the number to call.

For 24/7 help with Canvas, call 1-833-249-3993

Zoom Video Conferencing

• If you schedule a conference with me through Canvas messages, this Zoom Conferencing link should work. Please let me know right away if you encounter a problem. 

• If you schedule a conference through the calendar, the link will be provided in the meeting information.

Required Software

• Adobe Reader (Links to an external site.)Links to an external site.

• Update your browser (Links to an external site.)Links to an external site.

   Course Logistics

Important Dates

Use the City College website to search for the calendar for the semester you are enrolling in

Dropping the Class

If you decide to discontinue this course, it is your responsibility to officially drop it to avoid getting no refund (after 10% of course length), a W symbol (after 20%), or a grade (after 60%). Also, for several consecutive, unexplained absences, the instructor may drop a student. If you are interested, "Is Dropping a Class in College Bad?" talks about making this decision. And just in case, "Is Dropping Bad?" looks at pros and cons of dropping.

In college, legal responsibilities such as adding and dropping a course are technically your job to manage. If you don't participate and an instructor drops you, you may end up having to repay financial aid, for instance.  Here's my drop policy, just so you won't accidentally get into problems.

If you don't participate for the first week of school by making any posts or doing other assignments (or by the first day during summer school), you may be dropped.  If you don't participate by the end of the second week (or the third day for summer school), you'll most likely be dropped. During a full semester, if you don't participate for a week, I will probably reach out to you. If you remain unresponsive, I will probably drop you. So for your own peace of mind, let me know if something is up -- if you move or get sick or have some other issue arise that keeps you from participating.

Here's my full-semester drop policy, just so you won't accidentally get into problems.

• • If you don't participate for the first few days of school by making any posts or doing other assignments, you may be dropped, especially if there is a wait list. 

  • If you don't participate by the end of the first week, you'll definitely be dropped.

  • During the semester, if you don't participate for a few days, I will probably reach out to you.

  • If you remain unresponsive, I may drop you. For your own peace of mind, let me know if something is up -- if you move or get sick or have some other issue arise that keeps you from participating. 

  • A missed midterm may be made up with a doctor’s excuse. A missed final exam cannot be made up.

  • An incomplete can be granted when a student provides a doctor’s excuse for a medical emergency during the last two week of school.

If you decide to discontinue this course, it is your legal responsibility to officially drop it to avoid getting no refund (after 10% of course length), a W symbol (after 20%), or a grade (after 60%).  So participation is something to make decisions about.  Check out the articles for more information. 

• • Is Dropping a Class in College Bad? (Links to an external site.)

  • Should I Drop a Class?

Pass‐NoPass (P/NP)

You must decide before the deadline and add the option online with WEB4 or file the P/NP form with Admissions and Records. With a grade of C or better, you will get P. If you hope to do well in order to transfer to a four-year school or to keep your GPA up in order to get into a certificate program requiring a GPA minimum (such as nursing), taking a course P/F may work against you. Talk with a counselor if you have questions.

*If taking Pass/No Pass, you still need to have passed the assigned papers and essays with an average of 70% in order to be eligible to pass.

Attendance

Your participation is your attendance. I respect your minds and your futures.  Great school habits translate directly into the workplace – which often means jobs kept and raises given.  To maintain your seat in class, it’s important to do assigned homework. Missing work has a great impact on essay performance since this is a process class where we start building toward our papers in the first reading assignments.

ESSAYS WILL BE ACCEPTED and GRADED IF A MINUMUM OF 70% of the HOMEWORK FOR THE UNIT IS DONE.

This is a process course, so homework builds toward the paper in logical steps, starting from prereading our books to proofreading your paper. If you know you have a high level of commitment, you can probably skip some or all of the below.  But if you’re not sure, and for those who like to know the details:

If you know you have a high level of commitment, you can probably speed read the following.  But if you’re not sure, and for those who like to know the details:

• A missed midterm may be made up with a doctor’s excuse. A missed final exam cannot be made up.

• An incomplete can be granted when a student provides a doctor’s excuse for a medical emergency during the last two weeks of school.

• Students not doing, or doing little or poor, homework may be dropped before midterm if the grade looks too low to be saved. The purpose of homework is to rehearse reading, discussion, critical thinking, and writing skills so that you will be well thought out and prepared to write essays. I will reach out to you before dropping you; be sure to have an e-mail you use daily in your Canvas user profile so you know when I message you.

Taking an active role in your learning and in class – stretching your leadership skills – makes the environment more energetic and teamwork based. Showing leadership also improves your participation grade. Showing leadership, reaching out for help when needed, and in general being proactive are what the participation element of the grade is based on. Self-motivation is super important in an online or remote class where you don't have the face-to-face class energy and personal connections to keep you inspired. I encourage you to connect with classmates  through Pronto or messages or other ways in order to support each other!

Late Policy

All assignments are due at 11:59 p.m. PST on the due date. A late submission will receive a 20% penalty. Submissions coming in after a week's close date are not accepted without prior arrangement. Late work will not be graded unless the student sends the instructor an email with the URL for late work. Grading

Methods of Evaluation

Each week you will complete graded assignments. There are two to three discussions and usually one Guided Learning Activity throughout the week. Quizzes may be taken three times. These assignments should be completed after reading assigned material. 

Exams

There will be online quizzes throughout the course and an online midterm and final exam. The material comes from the assigned texts, Canvas instructional pages, and any supplemental materials. If an exam is missed, a zero will be recorded as the score. 

Each week in Canvas is set up as one "module" in our course. The next week's module opens on Saturdays at 10AM if you like to do homework on weekends or get ahead.

Keeping Your Grade Strong

This is a process course—the purpose of homework is to rehearse reading, discussion, critical thinking, and writing skills so that you will be well thought out and prepared to write essays. Please stay in touch with me if you are struggling. I love conferencing and supporting students! If you can't make a deadline:

• • Let me know what happened, by Canvas message or in a Zoom conference.

  • Let me know if you need an extension on homework.

  • A missed midterm exam (but not a missed final) may be made up with a doctor’s excuse.

  How do I view my grades, teacher comments, and an assignment rubric as a student?

Grades will be assigned as follows: 

Letter Grade

Percent

A

90%

B

80%

C

70%

D

60%

F or FW

<60%

If taking Pass/No Pass, you need at least 70% of the total class points and have an average of 70% on all papers and exams to pass the class.

An “F” grade indicates that a student attended, participated, and completed the course but failed to master the course curriculum.

An “FW” grade indicates the student stopped attending a course after the “last day to withdraw” deadline and subsequently did not submit any work or participate in any exams. Please check with your counselor and financial aid advisor for possible implications of the FW grade on residency and financial aid status.

Grade Composite

Element

Percentage of Final Grade

Quizzes

5%

Midterm 

10%

Final Exam

10%

Essay #1

10%

Homework

%15

Essay #2

20%

Essay #3

30%

Academic Accommodations for Students with Disabilities

If you need classroom or testing accommodations because of a disability, or have emergency medical information to share with me, or need special arrangements in case the building needs to be evacuated, please make an appointment with me as soon as possible. My office hours are by appointment either on the Ocean Campus (9-4 p.m., Monday through Friday) or by Zoom video-conferencing.

Students seeking disability-related accommodations are encouraged to also register with Disabled Students Programs and Services located in Room 323 of the Rosenberg Library (415) 452-5481. Please see the DSPS website for more information and alternate locations.

Standards of Conduct

The school has conduct guidelines; did you know that?  They pretty much relate to common sense: treat others the way you want to be treated. No one wants to be embarrassed, suspended, or kicked out of college, so it’s important to know what’s allowed and what's not.  An important item to note is that "Threatening behavior, hostility, outbursts or other completely inappropriate behavior will result in immediate suspension, and/or being dropped".

Collaborating on or copying of tests or homework in whole or in part will be considered an act of academic dishonesty (plagiarism) and result in a grade of 0 for that test or assignment. The incident will be reported to administration. I encourage students to share information and ideas, but not to copy others' work. See these links on Plagiarism:

Encourage Academic Integrity and Prevent Plagiarism

Citing Information Sources

Expectations

Student Expectations

You will succeed in this course if you meet the following expectations:

• Successfully manage your time. This course will go fast!

• Successfully complete the assigned activities. Please let me know as soon as you can concerning difficulties you may have in getting assignments in on time. 

• Successfully complete the discussion posts and replies within the given window of time. Our discussions are much more vibrant when we all participate!

• Complete any quizzes, the midterm, and the final exam on time.

• Think critically about the weekly topics. Is something surprising? Is it new to you? How does it contrast with what you know about XYZ, or how does it compare to ABC? 

• Do your own and your best work. 

Instructor Expectations

Here is what you can expect of me:

• I will respond to your email or message within 48 hours during the week unless I am sick or inform you otherwise.

• I will treat you and your ideas with respect.

• I will grade most quizzes and discussions usually within two days. (If you have posted late work, it may take longer.) Grades on essays and exams will be done within a week and a half.

• You will see your grades in the Canvas Gradebook.

• I will work hard to make this a great class. 

The Mighty English Lab     

Improving reading speed, comprehension, vocabulary and writing skills takes practice. You should try to work with a tutor at least once for each paper, and if you are having any struggles, you may get tutor support up to twice a week. Visits are approximately ½ hour, depending on the wait list.  You can also get electronic feedback to your work; the turn-around time for this is (probably still) 24 hours, depending on current budgets / number of tutors available. Tutoring does make a significant difference in students' reading, writing, and grade.

Since you are not assigned much mandatory tutoring or workshop time, you will receive extra-credit homework points for lab work.  

Log in!

MDue Dates

Major Due Dates

Essay #1: 4-5 pages paper responding to mindset               approximately the 4th week of full semesters

Midterm                                                                                      mid semester

50" timed format, to be taken within a 24-hour period.

Essay #2: 5-6 page paper responding to How Children Succeed          

  approximately the 9th week of the semester

Essay #3: 7-8 page research paper, responding to The Upside of Stress                                                                                                         either the final week of the semester or during final exam week

Final Exam                                                                                  exam dates vary by semester

Final exam will be a timed writing during any two hours of your choice during our scheduled day.