instructor: Jentery Sayers 
~ classroom: smi 309 
& ougl 101 ~ TTh: 9:30-11:20
What's class participation, exactly?
Class participation consists 30% of your final grade and is composed of the following elements:
- Three conferences (10% of your participation)
- One group presentation (10% of your participation)
- Class discussion, to include in-class contributions, the blog , timeliness of assignments, peer review, and extra participation credit opportunities, such as (virtual) office hour visits and additional writing assignments (totals 30% of your participation)
- Completion of service-learning (twenty to forty hours for the quarter) (totals 50% of your participation)
There are three conferences? What are conferences?
During the quarter, you are required to individually meet with me twice – once during each sequence and once at the end of the quarter – to discuss your papers and your progress. The first two conferences will require that you write a conference thought piece, which will be about your final paper for the sequence and submitted to me prior to the conference. The final conference is a group conference and is intended to address any questions or concerns you have regarding the e-portfolio. Conferences give you the opportunity to get and give individual feedback. Conferences are evaluated and mandatory and, if missed, will negatively affect your class participation.
Visit the grading page for more on how participation fits into the final grade for the course.
And a group presentation?
For the second sequence, you will be asked to conduct a group presentation, which should give you the opportunity to better understand the course material. Too, you'll get to know your peers a bit better, work collaboratively, and respond to particular contexts and situations. If nothing else, the group presentations should be creative.
What if I miss class?
Attendance is strongly recommended. If you miss class, you miss quite a bit – the explanation of an assignment, the clarification of a writing strategy, in-class group exercises, a chance to have your draft critiqued, and the class as an overall learning experience.
Communication is key. Get in touch with me before you miss class (if possible), but most certainly after. I will not hunt you down to tell you what you missed.
Chronic or conspicuous attendance problems will subtract from your participation grade. If you know you are going to miss class, please e-mail me ahead of time, and we will make the necessary arrangements. And if you do miss class, always see me in order to make up missed work in a timely fashion.
What about late work?
The best policy is to never turn anything in late. But things happen. The things to remember are:
- Late work negatively impacts your participation grade. The later the work, the greater the damage to that thirty percent of your final grade .
- If you miss class on the due date of a paper, you must notify me and make arrangements to get the paper to me as soon as possible.
- Papers that are not turned in by the beginning of class on the due date are considered late and will subtract from your participation grade. However, you still need to complete late work, turn it in to me, and include it in your e-portfolio, as your portfolio must include all of your work from the quarter in order for you to pass English 121.
uw english | jentery at u.washington.edu
