1. Mrs. Lowrance

2. During the first class: Overview of the Course Course Policies/ Additional Course Policies RaiderWriter/ St. Martin’s Handbook Class blog: http://ttu1302.wordpress.com BA 1: Due Saturday Participation assignment due next Tuesday

3. Course Policies Page xix in your textbook, First Year Writing: Writing in the Disciplines While we will cover the high points of the course policies in the textbook and in the additional course policies, we do not have time for me to read every word today. You are responsible for reading these course policies and knowing them. Being familiar/unfamiliar with course policies often impacts grades!

4. PRINT YOUR COURSE POLICIES! You will need to print these course policies and sign the last page. Please print your name and then sign. I will not accept your homework next week without this page signed correctly. Please don’t forget! Keep a folder/binder that has both the course policies and the syllabus (on RaiderWriter) printed in it and bring it to class every week. Having your required materials in class is part of your participation grade.

5. RaiderWriter (where we submit our work) RaiderWriter’s url has changed!!/ Change your bookmarks if you took the class before Spring 2011. https://raiderwriter.engl.ttu.edu Use Firefox for RaiderWriter. Download it for free from http://www.mozilla.org/en-US/firefox/fx/ Within 24 hours of our first class, you will be emailed a link to 1) activate your RaiderWriter account and 2) take a grammar diagnostic. If you ignore this email, the link for setting up RaiderWriter will expire. Set up your RaiderWriter account as soon as you get the email! (It will only take a few minutes).

6. BA 1 DUE: Saturday night (September 3) 12:00 Midnight Deadline (for dramatic purposes?) There are several steps you will need to complete in order to turn this assignment in, and some of them involve technology (technology sometimes goes wrong)! If you wait until Friday/Saturday night, it may be too late to contact the correct channels for help.

7. BA 1 Steps Register in RaiderWriter (link forthcoming in email) Take the grammar diagnostic. The link for the diagnostic should be included in the email you receive to set up your RW account. The link is also available in the BA 1 assignment directions in RaiderWriter. You should allocate two hours for the diagnostic * YOU CAN ONLY ACCESS THE DIAGNOSTIC ONCE. Do not click on the link to take the test unless you are ready to sit down and take it. If you exit the diagnostic, you will not be able to get back in and complete it. You need three pieces of information to take the diagnostic: 1) Your TTU email address 2) Your instructor’s name (Lowrance) 3) Your section number: Tuesdays 11-12:20 1302-17 / Tuesdays 12:30-2 1302-18 Your results will be emailed to me. You will be able to view your results by finding a link on your RaiderWriter homepage (“Click here to see your diagnostic score”), *but only if the email you used to register in RaiderWriter matches the email you reported in the diagnostic. To avoid confusion, use your TTU address for BOTH RaiderWriter and the grammar diagnostic. Complete your diagnostic by Thursday night so I can address any technical problems on Friday. In RaiderWriter, read the assignment description for BA 1 carefully. Type a response in Word or another program that catches errors and paste the response into RaiderWriter.

8. BA 1 Success: Answer the questions thoroughly ! Key components for success in this assignment are 1) answering all of the questions in the prompt thoroughly, and 2) putting effort into the assignment. A few short simple sentences with no expansion and very little thought and work are not what we want. Specific and thoughtful answers, especially to last three questions, will help you get a good grade. Create at least two and preferably three paragraphs. The word count for this assignment is between 300- 400 words.

9. BA 1 Grading Rubric C1—Issue Identification and Focus: Does the student thoroughly explore and reflect on his or her writing weaknesses? C2—Context and Assumptions: Does the student consider his or her writing experiences prior to this course to contextualize the identified writing weaknesses? C3—Sources and Evidence: Does the student support his or her reflection with evidence? In other words, does the student directly refer to past writing assignments? This criterion is particularly important because students tend to use vague and generic language that could apply to any student’s situation.

10. Grading Rubric- Continued C5—Own Perspective: Does the student show authority in relaying his or her perspective about the learning experiences? C6—Conclusion: Does the student provide an evaluative statement of his or her past learning experiences and what writing elements they need to focus on to be successful in the course? C7—Communication: Does the student communicate his or her reflection effectively? Is the student's tone professional? Has the student organized his or her reflection effectively? Is the reflection relatively free of grammatical errors?

11. The Bedford St. Martin’s Handbook You must purchase the e- version for this class. If you have purchased a used copy from a bookstore, take it back as soon as possible for a full refund. You can either 1) purchase an access code for the book at the bookstore, or (easier) 2) use a credit/debit card to buy the book online. A link to the e-handbook is on the class blog! http://www.ttu1302.wordpress.com under “Links” and “St. Martin’s e- handbook” If you are having trouble with the class blog, try a different browser. I’ve had some students tell me explorer works best for the blog. The screen will give you an option to either purchase the book or use the activation code if you bought one at the book store.

12. Technical Trouble If you have technical difficulty setting up RaiderWriter or purchasing the handbook, view the technical trouble information sheet on the class blog FIRST. If you purchased the wrong e- handbook from Bedford, use the link on the blog to get to St. Martin’s homepage. Choose the “Contact us- Technical Support” link at the bottom of the page and follow the directions.

13. Participation Assignment 1 Due in class next week (Participation Assignments will be due in class). Remember that I will not accept electronic copies of the work unless you miss class and have documentation for the absence. Make sure you leave yourself plenty of time to print, and know that printers are evil machines and love to stop working or run out of ink if you wait until the last minute to print your work. Don’t let a vicious, rogue printer come between you and your grades- print early! We will go over directions for assignments in class, but participation assignments will also be on the class blog under “Pages” and “Participation Assignments.” Read and follow directions carefully. Not meeting assignment directions (required formatting and length, citation, etc, will result in penalties to your grade). The most common loss of points on these assignments is failing to meet the word requirement. The first participation assignment is preparation for BA 2 as well as important preparation for the Literature Review.

14. REVIEW 1.) Buy the textbook and online handbook and activate your RaiderWriter account. 2.) Take the grammar diagnostic by Thursday night and complete BA 1 by Saturday night. Turn BA 1 into RaiderWriter! 3.) Complete Participation 1 : Preparation for BA2 (After completing BA 1, do this first!). Bring this with you to class next week. 4.) Complete Reading 2: St. Martin's Handbook Ch. 2 and First-Year Writing Ch. 1 (10 p.) and 4 (18 p). The RaiderWriter syllabus has a reading from the handbook due next week (striked through above). I’m cutting this reading. You have plenty to read this week, and I think this will work better when we begin to focus on arguments. Just complete the readings from the textbook. 5) Bring the last page of course policies (print your name and then sign). I need this to accept your participation! 6) Bring your textbook, printed syllabus, and the literature review we assessed (Read actively!)