Policies

Essential Course Policies

Notice: It is your responsibility to read these in detail and ask questions about them until you understand. To be clear: if you don't read the sections on attendance or plagiarism, you will still be penalized according to the policies listed below. (In casual language: ignorance will not be accepted as a legitimate excuse.)

Participation: This class is conducted based on demonstrating mutual respect and personal responsibility.  I will demonstrate this by never assigning busywork for our class readings and assignments, as well as by doing my best to make sure each class meeting is meaningful and worthwhile.  You demonstrate this by reading and taking notes on every assigned reading before class, doing all of the assignments to the best of your ability, and by being fully prepared to discuss the entirety of the reading in class.  This demonstrates your respect not only for the course materials, but also to your classmates, who will be putting in a lot of effort as well. 

You are not expected to be outgoing and extroverted. There are many, many excellent teachers who are introverts. Being well-prepared before class and being supportive of others' efforts during class, however,  is a basic expectation. Of course, I expect your classmates to be considerate and supportive of you as well.   I will emphasize this from the first meeting, to underline the importance of this feature of our class. While we will speak mostly in English during class, we will provide linguistic support as well as emotional support.

Basic human decency: The professor, and by extension this class, acknowledges the reality that we humans are a diverse bunch. I will treat each of you respectfully, and I expect you and your classmates to extend the same courtesy to each other. (Professionally, I also consider this part of your teacher education.) In light of this, in the first week I will send around a private survey requesting any information that you are comfortable sharing with me that will help me teach the course in a more equitable manner. 

Attendance: This is quite simple - attendance is expected for every single class. This is not a lecture-based course, but rather a course based on in-class discussion. For this reason, there are no ways to make up missed classes. If you expect that you will miss more than one class, you may want to consider taking another course this semester. (Or auditing.)

• The first absence will be forgiven (as long as it is not an assessment day). However, two absences automatically reduces your overall score by 10%.  

  • Arriving late twice counts as an absence.

  • Arriving 30 minutes late (or more) counts as an absence.

• If you are going to be absent/late email as early is possible, so I can adjust my in-class teaching plans. You are responsible for doing all of the reading and work for missed classes.