Attendance is mandatory in this discussion-based course. Arriving late, leaving during class, or leaving early, depending on the circumstance, can count as an absence. City Tech’s policy states that four or more absences will result in a failing grade. Absence is not an excuse for missing or late work; you must get class notes from a classmate and keep up with your reading and written work. If you know that you will be unable to attend a class due to an emergency or illness, please be sure to alert me. According to College attendance policy, a student may be absent during the semester without penalty for 10% of the class instructional sessions. In my class, two latenesses (of any amount) equals one absence. So if you miss more than three classes or are late more than 6 times (or any combination of the two), your grade will reflect it.
To meet course goals, you must also participate in each class. Come prepared, bring any required books or materials, and contribute to the day’s activity. Your physical presence is not enough! If you do not contribute to the discussion, workshop, or small group activity, I will assume you are unprepared. Please be respectful of other viewpoints or opinions in class and online.
We really do all learn more when many people talk. If you have a question or observation about a reading, no matter how small, someone else is also likely to have it, and your comments are important to other people’s learning. To earn participation credit, you must ask substantive questions and make substantive comments several times during the semester.
You should turn off your cell phone and/or other devices before you enter the classroom. If your phone rings once during class this semester, we’ll all laugh and I’ll ask you to turn it off. If it happen again, we’ll need to have a talk. You may absolutely use laptops for note-taking and looking at our readings, as well as to complete additional in-class assignments in our weekly Writing Lab time. (Hat tip to Ryan Cordell)
Consistent absence/lateness will lower your participation grade significantly. If you must miss a class, it is your responsibility to contact a classmate and to find out/complete missed assignments; in-class work (including freewriting, discussions, peer review, and in-class writing assignments) cannot be made up.
For every hour of college course instruction, you should spend an additional 2-3 hours on reading, writing, and other coursework outside of class. For our course, this means that you must be sure to spend at least 6 hours a week on your homework, OpenLab posts, drafts, revisions, and projects (and preferably closer to 9).
