Syllabus

Spring 2015 Course Time and Location: Tuesday/Thursday, 2:00-3:20 pm, FLB G-17
Spring 2015 Office Hours:  Tuesdays 1-2, Thursdays 3:20-4

Required Texts:

• Ferris, D. R., & Hedgcock, J. S. (2014). Teaching L2 Composition: Purpose, Process, and Practice (3rd ed.). Mahwah, NJ: Lawrence Erlbaum Associates.
• Hedgcock, J.S., & Ferris, D.R. (2009). Teaching Readers of English: Students, Texts, and Contexts (3rd ed.).
• Assorted Readings which will be available via the electronic course reserves:  (follow the reserves link on the library page, to Electronic Reserves, and EIL 445). 

Other required materials:

·  Portable storage for computers (or Dropbox!!). 

·  Copies of your work as needed for class discussion

·  An @illinois.edu e-mail account

Assignment Format:

All formal assignments should utilize the American Psychological Association (APA) manuscript format and be documented accordingly (actually, all I care is that you consistently uses some documentation format).  All assignments must be typed and should use Times New Roman 12-point type, 1-inch margins (please don’t kill my rapidly ageing eyes with tiny fonts!  ;-).

Course Policies:

Attendance:  Be here!  This course includes a great deal of in-class discussion and sharing of resources, so missing a class means you are missing part of the coursework.  Participation is part of your grade.
Be Prepared:  Part of your participation is being ready to discuss the readings, etc. in class.  Buy the books, make sure to do the readings, and be ready to discuss.  Surely teachers realize that a teacher knows when they did not read?!?!  

Tardiness:  While it is acceptable to be very occasionally late, habitual tardiness or cases of extreme tardiness is simply rude—don’t do it.  Expect to start class right on time.  When you come in late, you'll notice me making a note on that in the attendance sheet.    

Cell Phones:  Turn them off or put them on silent mode.  If your phone rings during class time, I will confiscate it and use it to make long calls to people on the Tristan da Cunha island chain during peak hours!  If my cell phone rings during class time, you get to make fun of me.  ;-)

Classroom Interaction: Come to class prepared, work with your classmates in small-group activities, play nicely during recess, and cooperate with me by coming to class prepared to ask questions. 

Evaluation:

 There are a total of 1,000 points possible in this course.  Why 1,000 instead of 100?  Why not?!  ;-)  If the thought of doing 1,000 points worth of work freaks you out, just think of the totals below as percentages instead!  The breakdown of the course totals is below.

Assignment*	Points	Due Dates (Subject to Change)
Practice Day	250	Schedule to be determined
Course Observation	100	April 16th**
Participation	100	Daily
Materials Sharing (Forum)	200	Over course of semester (note 50% due on Mar. 12th—see daily schedule)
Final Project	350	May 15th (Note: Comp takes due date April 23rd if graduating this term)
Total Points Possible	1000

*more details on official assignment pages on this blog.

**LATE MATERIALS will be graded down 5% for every day late.  

Under this system, the attainment of an “A” grade requires at least 900 points (90%); a “B” requires 800 (80%); a “C” 700 (70%); and a “D” requires at least 600 points.  A "C" grade for graduates is technically a failing grade. Work at the C level does not meet the minimum expectations of rigor as articulated for each assignment. 

Scores from -0% to -3% (e.g., 81% = “B-”) are minus grades, while scores from -7 and up are plus grades (e.g., 87% = “B+”).  I round up grades of .5% or higher, so an 89.46% is considered an 89.5%.  I would round this up to 90%, which is an “A-”