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Dear Students,

Hi! Welcome to English 1B! We will be learning a great deal this semester and writing a great deal. Every 1B class at Chaffey must write a minimum of 6,000 words or about twenty-four typed pages. If you have trouble with writing, you will probably want to come visit me at my office hours and get a writing tutor. However, good thinking is more important in this class than good writing. Additionally, if you think clearly and logically, it becomes much easier to write clearly and logically. Thus, when you improve the logic of your thinking, your writing will likely improve as well.

The benefits of thinking clearly are immense and immediately applicable to your lives. I know that each time I teach this course, I learn a lot more about facts, arguments, and influence--and find out how much illogic and irrationality have guided my life recently that I was blind too! Learning logic can be an uncomfortable and anxiety-producing process, but it gives you more power to understand and influence the world around you.

With best wishes for a productive, healthy semester,
Cathy Decker, Ph.D.
 
 

During our first class we will determine what we will give participation points for. I have already specified a few basic things that will receive points below. When this policy is finalized, I will give a copy to each class member. Basically I will keep a running tab of the maximum number of points a person can get. Because the maximum will be indicative of giving 110%, that number will equal 110% (22 points out of a possible of 20)! I will then calculate what number of participation points earns a 100%. What percent of these points that you have is your participation-point grade. Feel free to email me or come to office hours to clarify this!

We will give participation points for the following.

1. Arriving at 1:30 ready to go

2. Attending college book events

Required Supplies

• Barbara Kingsolver's  The Bean Trees
• John D. Ramage and John C. Bean's Writing Arguments: A Rhetoric with Readings
• Folders and/or 3-Ring Binder for Portfolio, Class Handouts, Charts, Schedules, Calendar
• Three-hole punch lined paper
• Scantron Sheets as announced in class (available at the College Bookstore in the Quad)

• Expect that work turned in on time will be graded in two to three weeks.
• Expect that I won't return most weekend phone calls until Mon. and will take a few days to respond to email, snail mail, faxes, and phone calls.
• Expect that plagiarized work gets zero credit; repeat plagiarizers fail the class with an F.
• Expect that tests, quizzes, oral work, and such one-time things will not be rescheduled.
• Expect that when I don't get work at the due date, I enter a zero in the grade book.
• Expect that if you stop coming to class and don't drop yourself, you will get an F.
• Expect that I will make mistakes and that copies of all your work will come in useful at these times.
• Expect that we will deal with adult content in this course.
• Expect that you will feel anxiety about the class--this is a sign you are challenging yourself and learning new things.

Good Things We Want in This Class . . .
 

Planning Ahead Supporting Others Rewarding Excellence Cooperativeness Politeness Promptness Good Listening Assertive Approaches to Problems and Problem Solving Effective Working with Others Drinking Water Without Destroying Stuff

Things that I Avoid and that I'd Like the Class to Avoid . . .
 

Silent Anxiety Not Asking Questions When You are Worried or Confused Badgering or Brutally Questioning Others Leaving Others Out in the Cold Hostility Finger Pointing Noisy Cell Phones and Pagers Reading the Paper or for Other Classes Breaking the Food/Drink Policy

Go to Participation Points Chart