English 109 Fall 2012, T-Th, Rick Dollieslager, Thomas Nelson Community College

We're chugging toward the end of the semester, so keep on track. ("I think I can, I think I can . . . no . . . I KNOW I can!")

Last Updated, 6 December 2012, 10:30 p.m.

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Class Resources

Emotional Intelligence resources
English 109 syllabus (including graded assignments and grading criteria.)
2012 Academic and holidays calendar. Refer to this for important dates during the Fall semester.
Webster's Dictionary Online & YourDictionary.Com
Schoolhouse Rock. No, seriously: music is a very brain-compatible way to learn.
I use the On Course Student Success index as a resource for teaching and supplementing this class.
The "On Course Principles" are excellent guidelines for keeping yourself on course to academic success and to success in life!
Advice and guidelines for analytical reading of texts: SQ3R
While designed for working professionals, the Mind Tools web site has many useful self-help links, including techniques for memorizing.
"The 12 Steps to Academic Success" by Dr. Earl Bloch, Howard University Medical College
The Learning Toolbox An excellent resource site from James Madison University with information on staying organized, test taking, study skills and strategies, critical and analytical thinking, and how to be successful in the 3 r's: readin' and writin' and 'rithmatic.
Learning Links online library courtesy of New River Community College, Dublin Virginia

Contact Mr. D. by email, dollier@tncc.edu; by phone, 825-3543; or in person, room 874, first floor of Templin Hall

Extra Credit Opportunities
Earn 5 points of extra credit by attending a Student Success Seminar, writing at least two pages of Cornell-style notes, and turning them in to me along with your attendance slip. You may earn up to 15 points of extra credit this way, by attending and note taking at three seminars.

Success Seminars: Personal Development

Success Seminars: Academic Enhancement

Week One

Tuesday, August 21, 2012
In class: Foundations. 1] Introductions and information-gathering for colleagues quiz 2] On Course pre-semester self-assessment.

Thursday, August 23, 2012
In class g roup writing assignment: Describe a (real or fictitious) successful student. I will use the qualities you describe to add information to our class syllabus

Homework for Week Two:
Get your book this week, please. For future reference, check out Chegg.com, a website from which you may rent books (at about half the cost of buying them!)

Week Two

Tuesday, 8/28/12
In-class: 1] Access Chap. I of On Course online. 2] ] Power Writing workshop

Thursday, 8/30/12
In-class: Lecture/discussion on The Natural Human Learning Process

Homework for Tuesday 9/4:
1] Read On Course, pages 2-18
2] Write Journal entries 1 & 2 (NOTE: I will collect these at the start of class on Tuesday and will grade them in class because I want you to know if you will be earning full points on each journal entry.)
3] Write a Power Paragraph on the NHLP following this pattern: 1-2-3-2-3-2-3-2-3-2-3-2-3

Week Three

Mr. D's Chapter II summary: The paths our lives take are not predetermined or written in some cosmic scriptbook that can't be known to us. Rather, we create our lives by the choices we make and the attitudes we hold to. Creator or Victim choices are not "good" or "bad" per se. They direct the processes by which we arrive at the outcomes and experiences we wish to create in our lives, so make the appropriate choices to make the things happen which you desire as outcomes. Whether we want them to or not, the choices we make (and even passively deciding to do nothing is a choice we make) create our lives.

Tuesday, 9/4/12
In-class: Creators and Victims discussiontion of Instructor section is still empty. Make a list and let's discuss it. 2] Begin a Power Write on your Hartman results.

Homework for Thursday 9/6:
Read On Course, pages 19-27 (Note: we will write journal entry #3 in class on Thursday)

Thursday, 9/6/12
In-class: 1] Study Skill focus: pre-reading strategies and activities--Cornell pre-reading notes on Chap 2

Homework for Tuesday 9/11:
Read pages 29-42
Write journal entries 4 and 5
Write Cornell notes on pages 29-42

Week Four

Tuesday, 9/11/12
In-class: 1] Excuses and Reasons worksheet

Homework for Thursday 9/13: The Language of Responsibility work sheet

Thursday, 9/13/12
Practicing the Wise Choices process

Homework for Tuesday 9/18:
Read pages 43-62,
write journal entry 6,
write Cornell notes on pages 43-62,
write a well developed paragraph discussing how you will solve the problem you and your partner "wise choiced" in class today
NOTE: You may use your Cornell notes to do the Chap 2 test on Tuesday, but you may not use your book Write a paragraph explaining how you will soleve the problem that you and your partner "Wise Choiced" in class today

Week Five

Tuesday, 9/18/12
In-class: Use Chap 2 notes to take the Test on Chap 2.

Homework for Thursday 9/20:

Choose a song that you know which reflects your dominant Hartman personality color, and write a paragraph explaining why or how it does so.
Write and turn in journals 1-7
Complete the Chap 3 preview/graphic organizer sheet

Thursday, 9/20/12
In-class: C & V and the language of responsibility (Let's learn some hand gestures. Ahem.)

Homework for Tuesday 9/25: Do your own lyrics analysis following the instructions: a) Identify 6 songs that you are familiar with or that you commonly listen to to analyze the messages in the lyrics. Three will exhibit Creator messages and three will exhibit Victim messages. b) Go on line and find the lyrics of these songs; then copy a couple stanzas which exemplify the song appropriately, and paste those lyrics into an MS Word document. c) Below the lyrics, state whether the message is a Victim or Creator message and explain why. d) Additionally, give advice to the Victim messages on how to act the Creator role. e) VERY IMPORTANT: in your lyrics analyses, write your answers in complete, grammatically correct sentences. This assignment is due at the start of class on Tuesday.

Week Six

Tuesday, 9/25/12
In-class: Use Chap 2 notes to take the Test on Chap 2.

Thursday, 9/27/12
In-class: View and discuss "Celebrate What's Right in the World"

Homework for Tuesday 10/2:
Read the rest of Chap. 3 (pages 77-100)
Write Cornell notes on the rest of Chap. 3 (You will use your notes to prepare for a test on Chap 3 in two weeks, so make them thorough.)
Note: I will not require you to turn in the journals from Chapter 3 since you are taking notes on the whole thing, so take good notes!

Week Seven

Tuesday, 10/2/12
In-class: 1] Guided writing: Compose your personal affirmation 2] (Slightly early) mid-term evaluations will start in class while you are reading your homework.

Homework for Thursday 10/4:
Read "What Skills are Employers Looking For?" and "Top Ten Skills Employers are Looking For"
Read the Occupational Outlook Handbook's entry on your future professional job description and
Write a paragraph of about 150 words describing the basic reading, writing, and speaking skills you will need in order to succeed in your future career. Do not copy and paste or quote any information verbatim (word-for-word) from the OOH.

Thursday, 10/4/12
In-class: 1] Discussion (or quiz) on the "What Skills . . ." and "Top Ten Skills . . . " articles, and 2] share your information from the OOH about your future professional communication skills.

Homework for Tuesday 10/9:
Read pages 102-106
Write journal entry #12

Week Eight

Mr. D’s Chapter IV Summary: Self-management, time-management, life-management happen because of planning by people who are, or who want to be, successful at whatever they do. There are numerous self-management tools that are helpful in prioritizing goals, managing time successfully to achieve the goals that take priority, and developing habits that lead to achievement of important goals.

Tuesday, 10/9/12
In-class: 1 ] Schedule mid-term evaluation conferences. 2] Add to the Wall of Success 3] Introduction to Perfect Copy and "The Least You Need to Know about Editing" (in order to get into English 111). Here is the best way to use "The Least You Need to Know . . ." web page:

Go to the bottom of the GGW page that the link takes you to, and work one of the lessons.
Then read through that section of the GGW.
Then work another lesson, and your score should go up.
THEN (and this is the really important part) go to your paper and edit for JUST that error, nothing else.
When we edit for one thing at a time, we recognize that the brain does not multi-task, and we focus our concentration on that ONE thing. If you do not carry over the editing lesson directly to your writing, you will NOT remember the material because there is no direct application. That’s why the 5th graders always win on “Are You Smarter Than a 5th Grader?” THEY remember things that adults have forgotten because we haven’t used much of it since 5th grade. Rule of the Brain #4: “Use it or lose it.” So you MUST use it.

Homework for Thursday 10/11:
Use the Guide to Grammar and Writing to find definitions for the following terms, and then write the definitions in your own words:

Phrase
Clause
Independent clause
Dependent clause
Simple sentence
Compound sentence
Complex sentence
Sentence fragment
Run-on sentence
Comma splice

Thursday, 10/11/12
In-class critical reading activity. Making inferences and using context clues to complete the story crossword.

Homework for Tuesday 10/16:
Complete the story crossword.
Read 107-121
Write journals 13 & 14
Place the 32 day commitment into your notes folder to keep it current. Mark it every day as you work towad your goal for the next 32 days.

Week Nine

Tuesday, 10/16/12
In-class: 1] review sentence constructions: simple, compound, complex sentences

Homework for Thursday 10/18:
Complete the story crossword.
Read 121-137
Write journal 15
Turn in your six sentences from your Eng. 1 essay, following the prescribed sentence patterns

Thursday, 10/18/12
In-class: 1] Case study in collaboration: Professor Rogers Trial. 2] Professionalism and cooperation self-assessment. 3] Turn in your six sentences that we discussed on Tuesday, your professionalism self-assessment, your story crossword, and your discussion of the reading skills you used to complete the story crossword.

Homework for Tuesday 10/23:
Read 141-154
Write journal 17 and 18
Turn in journals 12, 13, 14, 15, 17 & 18

Week Ten

Tuesday, 10/23/12
In-class: 1] Registration workshop. 2] Write journal entry #16 and turn in your journals today.

Homework for Thursday, 10/25
1] Read The Goose Story, and
2] Write the Goose Story reflection (it is page two of the document); turn it in for a quiz grade at the start of class on Thursday

Thursday, 10/25/12
In-class: Registration session

Week Eleven

Tuesday, 10/30/12
In-class: Class cancelled due to Hurricane Sandy

Thursday, 11/1/12
In-class: Begin Punctuation and Grammar Presentations Project.

Homework for Tuesday, 11/6
1] Read pages 162-170
2] Write Cornell notes on pages 165-170 (I will collect them for a grade, so be thorough.)

Week Twelve

Tuesday, 11/6/12
In-class: 1] Turn in reading notes from 165-170 2] Develop the punctuation and grammar experts presentations. It may help to use this source: "The Least You Need to Know . . ."

Homework for Thursday, 11/8
Click on the Wordle image just below, and freewrite for ten minutes on the words that you are familiar with and the things you hope to learn, based on the vocabulary in the Wordle, about self-awareness from Chap. 6

Click me, please

Thursday, 11/8/12
In-class: Punctuation & grammar experts presentations

Homework for Tuesday, 11/13
Read pages 171-189
Write journals 20-22

Week Thirteen

Tuesday, 11/13/12
In-class: Begin personal study skills bibliography project, which will be an annotated bibliography of the soft skills and hard skills you will need in order to succeed through the rest of this semester and to achieve straight A's next, based on the specific courses you will be taking. (Note: Use this citation generator to determine what information is needed in your bibliography.)

Homework for Tuesday, 11/27
Begin your annotated bibliography. This project will include at least 24 sites, at least 4 of which will be specifically to help you with the course you are going to take next semester. The draft of this project will be due at the start of class on 11/27/12. You must have the content finished. Together we will "tweak" the bibliographical entries in class on 11/27.

Thursday, 11/15/12
We do not meet in the classroom on Thursday. I will be in Asheville, N.C., giving a conference presentation on brain development during learning. So we will meet again the week after Thanksgiving break.

Homework for Tuesday, 11/27
A draft of your your annotated bibliography is due at the start of class. Follow those instructions I just linked to!

Week Fourteen

Tuesday, 11/27/12
In-class: Personal study skills annotated bibliography project. Let's open them up on screen and tweak them all together.

Homework for Thursday, 11/29
Final copy of your your annotated bibliography is due at the start of class.

Thursday, 11/29/12
In-class: 1] Wordle-izing your bibliography. 2] Go-animating your best success lesson

Week Fifteen

Tuesday, 12/4/12
In-class: "Go-animate" your best success lesson

Homework for Thursday, 12/6
Finish your Goanimate lesson

Thursday, 12/6/12
In-class: 1] House keeping: checking our grades. 2] Post-semester self assessment

Here is your final exam schedule for all your classes next week.

Finals Week

Tuesday, 12/11/12 NOTE: We start at 8 a.m. (until 10:45) for our final meeting
In-class: 1] Finish editing experts presentations, and 2] Share our Go-animate lessons

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