Interactive Syllabus

110 Interactive Syllabus

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Hi! I'm Dr. Lindsey Albracht. You can call me Dr. Albracht, or Professor Albracht, or Lindsey. What's your name?(Required)

First Last

Is that the name you prefer to be called?(Required)

Yep.

No, I go by something else.

What name should I use?(Required)

Some people have trouble pronouncing my last name. I say it like this: ALL-brahkt (rhymes with SMALL-socked.) What's the best way to pronounce your name?(Required)

My pronouns are she, her, and hers. Some people use he, him and his; some people use they, them, and theirs; some people use a combination or other pronouns that aren't listed here. What do you prefer to use? You can also write "I'd rather not say."(Required)

Can you put an e-mail address in the box below that you're the most likely to check?(Required)

Tell me a little bit about what you already know about English 110. What do you expect that you might learn or practice in here?(Required)

So, English 110 is a class where you learn more about academic writing. The theme of this section is Bad Ideas About Writing. We'll be discussing several common myths about writing, education, and language that many people believe, but that researchers within the field of Writing Studies have actively challenged.(Required)

What kinds of “myths?”

I'm glad you asked! Stuff like "learning grammar makes your writing better" and "plagiarism should always be punished," or "there is one correct way to speak and write in English," or "texting ruins your ability to write well." These are actually not true, and in this class,we'll be reading research about these (and other) "bad" ideas about writing to find out why not.(Required)

Interesting. OK, got it.

Wait, I have a question.

Great! I love questions. What's your question?(Required)

In this section, I'm going to go over some of the learning goals for this class.(Required)

OK, got it.

What do you mean by learning goals?

A learning goal is something that you should be working on during the semester: something specific that you need to learn or practice or be able to do in order to succeed in this class.(Required)

Oh, OK. Got it.

I still don’t understand.

Tell me more. What questions do you have about the meaning of "learning goals"?(Required)

The first goal of the class is for you to "produce writing that responds appropriately to a variety of rhetorical situations with a particular focus on academic argumentation." What do you think that "academic argumentation" might mean? How might it be different than just regular arguing?(Required)

The second goal is to (2) Learn reading strategies to summarize, synthesize, analyze, and critique other people’s arguments and ideas fairly. How have you worked on these skills prior to now? Which (if any) will be new or are confusing or difficult for you?(Required)

Next up, we have "Learn research practices that will help strengthen your writing and thinking." Have you done academic research using library databases before, or will this be new to you?(Required)

OK, the next one is "Produce writing that shows how writers may navigate the diverse processes of composing including revision and collaboration." Have you had to revise your writing in the past for school or in writing for other purposes? Have you ever done peer review? What did these processes look like for you?(Required)

This last one is one that students tend to appreciate. Here it is: "Take ownership of your work and gain an understanding of their own voice, style, and strengths." How much have you been able to examine your own writing in the past? Do you have any experience with assessing yourself and what you're already good at doing?(Required)

So, you've heard a bit about MY goals for you. What are some of YOUR goals for you this semester? What do you want to learn or achieve in this class or just generally in this semester? Answers to this have been as diverse as "I want to make all As" to "I want to learn better time management skills" to "I want to make some friends."(Required)

OK. Enough of the lofty stuff. Let's talk about the basics. You know that this class meets in person twice a week on Monday and Wednesday from 1:40-3:30, right?(Required)

Yep!

There's no coursebook in here, and I use all open access materials so that you don't have to pay extra money to take this class on top of the money that you already paid. But this means that you'll be reading the coursebook online rather than a printed copy. Is that OK?(Required)

Yes, reading a textbook online should be fine.

I have a question about this.

Thanks for letting me know. What's your question?(Required)

I'm planning to have my office hours on Wednesdays directly after class from 3:30-4:30. Does that work for you?

Yeah, sounds good.

What’s an office hour?

I can’t make it then because I have a conflict.

All of your professors are required to plan one "office hour" per week. This is time that you can (and should!) come in to ask questions, go over assignments, or just come talk about what interests you about the class. You can talk to me about your questions and interests outside of this time, too: this is just a planned, official hour where you can come and talk to me.

OK, got it.

No worries! You can make an appointment with me outside of this time if you need to talk to me about a question or a problem that you're having. The best way to do this is to reach out to me over e-mail or Slack with a couple of times that you're free.

OK, got it.

I'm planning to use Slack to help you keep track of your progress in this course. This is a messaging system. It's kind of like Discord. You can use it to message me, get ahold of your classmates, share your work, and keep track of which assignments you've completed. I know this adds yet another platform to the mix, but one nice thing about Slack is that you can download it to your computer and your phone and it lets you customize which notficiations you receive. Do you have any concerns about this?(Required)

Yes: I’m worried about this.

No: this sounds fine.

Thanks for letting me know. Can you say a little more about why you're worried?(Required)

So there are three "major" assignments in this class. There's a link to the course site underneath this box. Copy and paste it into a new browser window, and read about the assignments you'll complete in here. Don't worry: you'll get much more detailed prompts for each of these, and we'll go over them in class a lot.(Required)

OK, I did this! I don’t have any questions yet.

I looked at the assignments, and I have a question.

Eek! Looking at all of these assignments stresses me out, so I’ll just follow along in class.

I couldn’t get the link to work.

Here’s a link to the assignments. Please copy / paste it into a new browser: https://110fall22.commons.gc.cuny.edu/assignments/

Thanks for letting me know. Can you say more?(Required)

Coming to class and keeping up with your work is super important in hereBut I imagine that some of us will be out sick this semester. If you can't come to class, you're going to have the option to "make it up" by reading some recaps that your classmates produce and filling out an exit ticket (a form like this one). You'll be able to find these in the #whatyoumissed channel on Slack. But this is really not as good as attending class: it's just a "better than nothing" alternative. Do you think you'll be able to come to class a lot when you aren't sick?(Required)

Yeah, I’ll be in class or read recaps and fill out exit tickets when I can’t make it.

I might need to miss class a lot, or I already know I’m going to need to miss class.

Thanks for letting me know. Can you say more about why?(Required)

Tell me a little bit about your thoughts on class participation. What does it mean to you to "participate" in class? What helps you and encourages you? What makes you hesitate to participate?(Required)

Take a look at the late work policy. It's here on the policies page: https://110fall22.commons.gc.cuny.edu/policies/(Required)

OK, I see it.

I couldn’t open that link.

How would you summarize this policy? What are the important things to know?(Required)

Can you type the address into a new browser window? If not, let me know what happens when you try to open the link.(Required)

Sometimes, you're going to write during class. Do you have a device (preferably a tablet or a laptop) that you can take with you to school to do this?(Required)

Yes, I do.

No, I don’t.

Did you know that there is a program where you can rent a device from the school for the whole semester? It might be a good idea to do this if you don't have one. The website where you can read more about this program is below this box. Just copy / paste it into a new browser window.(Required)

OK, great!

https://www.provost.qc.cuny.edu/students/devices

Sometimes, I like to do activites in class the require you to buzz in or answer a poll using your computer or phone. Do you have a phone that you have with you all of the time?(Required)

Yes, I do.

No, I don’t.

Sometimes, students stop coming to class and and turning in work, and they also stop responding to e-mails or other attempts from me to reach out. Different people are different: some students really want me to keep reaching out to them, and others feel really anxious when I do this. If this happens to you, what's the best way for me to handle it? Should I leave you alone? Keep trying to contact you? Something else? Just a heads up: I can't contact your family or friends for legal reasons.(Required)

On the second day of classes, we're going to talk about the grading system in this class, which is a little non-traditional. But basically, you will help me determine your grade, and you can earn a good grade in here by doing your work (mostly on time), revising it when it doesn't meet requirements, coming to class (or catching up when you miss), and completing all of the major assignments. I do not "directly" assess the quality of your writing in your grade, though you will get feedback from me and from your peers about things you can revise, and you'll be expected to make your own choices about revision. This style of grading is sometimes called "ungrading" or "contract grading," or a "grading agreement." Does this kind of make sense to you?(Required)

I….think so? I’m fine with waiting to hear more about it.

I’ve taken a class with you before / a class with an approach like this. I get it.

Oh no, not at all. Help!

What worries you about this system, or what questions do you have?(Required)

It is important to me to provide an accessible learning environment for all of the students in this class. I'll ask for your feedback on how to make this happen, but you may also contact Dr. Mirian Detres-Hickey at the Office of Special Services for Students with Disabilities at [email protected] or 718-997-5870 for more information about receiving additional support services and accommodations. Do you want to tell me about any accommodations that you need right now or any other accommodation requests?(Required)

Yes: I need to tell you about an accommodation need.

No: I don’t need to tell you about an accommodation need.

Thanks for telling me. What's up?(Required)

What are the three most important takeaways for you about this class or these policies so far?(Required)

You'll be able to find all of the information that you just read and learned about on our course website: the same site that you're on right now. The information about the course policies is under "policies." The schedule for reading and assignments is under "course schedule." You can find out more about the way grades work under "grading agreement." The assignment descriptions are under "assignments." After you're done with this form, feel free to look around, but just a heads up that all of the information might not be ready yet if you're filling this out before classes start.(Required)

OK, got it.

You did it! This is the last question. Is there anything else you'd like for me to know about you? Sometimes students like to tell me about their caretaking responsibilities, their job, anything that's going on in their life that might interfere with their ability to take or finish this class, their star sign, their Tik Tok handle, or their hobbies. Some students give me a link to the writing that they do outside of school. Some students share a fun fact, and others leave this blank.

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English 110: Fall 2022

Queens College, CUNY | Dr. Lindsey Albracht

110 Interactive Syllabus

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