How to Be Successful in English 3000

What to Do for Week One Get the book – either hard cover or e-book Read the Orientation Materials Watch the informational Powerpoint with details about the course Browse through the folders on the Menu Bar Post and respond in the Discussion Board Take the First Timed Essay Submit the Plagiarism assignment (required for course credit!)

English 3000 consists of: Weekly Assignments Weekly Discussion Board topics Three Timed Essays (1st week, 5th week, 9th week) Two Multi-Draft Essays (links in course): Position Essay – 3 drafts Compare Contrast Essay – 3 drafts One Single Draft Reflection Essay Turnitin PDF Similarity Reports generated from the Final Draft of each essay that was submitted to Turnitin.com

Follow Directions! Read all the directions for the tasks in the course and do what the directions say. For example, If instructed to save a document with your name, save it correctly. If instructed to put the writing prompt at the top of the timed essays, cut and paste the prompt. Label each draft correctly (First , Second, or Final) on the page. If instructed to fix your Portfolio files (wrong ones or they don’t open) do it quickly and correctly. In other words – READ and FOLLOW DIRECTIONS!

Communicate Effectively Please email through Blackboard and include your section number in the subject line of the email. DO NOT email with questions whose answers are found in the course, as the course provides all the necessary information through written instructions, Powerpoints, and videos. If necessary to email, emails sent from Blackboard will be responded to within 48 hours during the work week: Mon - Fri. before 5 pm.  Before emailing, be sure to read ALL the Orientation materials, FAQs, syllabus and the Schedule folders. The class is OVER on the last Thursday when the Portfolios are due to the Testing Office. Emails received after that will NOT be acknowledged. If asking a question, be specific. Remember you’re (not your) writing an English teacher ; ) Merely saying “I’m confused” doesn’t work.

Turn in Your Work This class is Credit/No Credit (CR or NC) Assignments and essay first drafts are submitted through assignment links in the Schedule Weekly Folders The Position and Compare Contrast Essays are not accepted late; after the due date, the link will be unavailable! Second drafts with tutor comments are NOT submitted to Bb, but are saved for the Portfolio Essay final drafts are submitted to the Turnitin Essay Info/Submit links on the Menu Bar. Discussion Board posts don’t require new threads – just click reply. The Discussion Board closes on Friday night: late posts receive NO credit. Check My Grades and turn in missing work Work is not accepted after Friday of Week Nine; assignment links will be unavailable. NO exceptions!

Turnitin Similarity Reports These required reports are downloaded after uploading the FINAL draft of your essays to Turnitin. Take a look at the screenshots showing how to download the PDF file of the report. The reports MUST be the PDF reports. DO NOT submit: your essay document, the digital receipt, webarchive files, rtf or pages files.

Sample of PDF Similarity Report

Be Practical Check “My Grades” to see what work you are missing and turn it in. Submit the work correctly and on time. Contact the Blackboard IT Dept. for help navigating the technology. Do not use your personal life as an excuse to not do the work – it is unnecessary to tell your instructor why you haven’t turned in work. Keep professional boundaries in place. Check your Horizon email frequently, especially after submitting your Portfolio.

Learn to Learn Take responsibility for improving your writing. Read the feedback comments on essays and make the suggested changes. Use the assignment information to address your writing strengths and challenges. Use the writing and grammar resources at the bottom of every week’s schedule to help to improve your writing challenges.

MLA Formatting All timed essays and all essay drafts must be formatting in MLA style: Title is Centered and Capitalized Correctly Double space throughout with page numbers Double space in upper left corner: Name Class/Section Number Instructor Name Date Name of Assignment

MLA Citations Use MLA style citations for the Position Essay and Compare/Contrast Essays: Here is the correct MLA Works Cited List template for citing articles in an anthology (a collection of essays): Author’s Last Name, First Name. "Name of Article". Name of the Book. Editors. Edition number. City: Publishing House, Date published. Page Numbers Here. Print. Cite correctly in-text = in the body of the paper Here is a link: http://bcs.bedfordstmartins.com/smhandbook6e/Player/MainFrame.aspx?task=handbook&taskid=7.11

Timed Essay Info READ all the information in the Week One Folder (scroll down) about the Timed Essays Do the timed essays ON TIME The 2nd Timed Essay must be proctored and will be available at the start of the appropriate week. Cut and paste the writing prompt from the test page at the TOP of your document – the evaluators need to know what you are writing about. SAVE like this: Your Name Timed Essay One (or Two or Three) Double space throughout and format in MLA style Put Your Name, etc. on the paper. SUBMIT the timed essay IN the test window portal.

Portfolio Success… Make sure you have submitted your COMPLETE Portfolio through the assignment link. Check that ALL the required files are numbered and in the correct order in the zip file. Make sure all the files can be opened Submit the Portfolio ON TIME – no later than 5 pm Monday of Week Ten. Make ALL the required changes in the Portfolio if necessary at once. Do not ask about your Portfolio Evaluation Score results or implications: your instructor has nothing to do with them and has no information; talk to a trained counselor for assistance and advice.

How to Finish the Class Check the gradebook so you know what work is missing and submit it on time. Late assignments receive only partial credit: NOT enough to pass the course. NO work is accepted after Week Nine. NO late assignments. No late essays. NO excuses. Check your Horizon email frequently. Do not email me after Thursday of the last week; the class will be officially over then, and you won’t get a response.

How to Be an Unsuccessful Student Don’t turn in work or turn it in too late Don’t watch the videos showing how to navigate the tasks in the course Ask questions that are answered in the course Don’t revise your essay drafts using the suggestions made by the instructor and tutors Don’t bother using the Portfolio checklist to make sure your Portfolio has the correct files.