My aUtObIoGrApHy

I was born August 25, 1990

I have felt many things but the one I dislike

the most is the feeling of sadness.

I have an amazing mother who gets me threw

everything she's my best friend
she the one who's gives me the motivation to never

give up and finish what i start.

I have no sisters but i have two amazing brothers

always there to protect me.

I've been daddy's little girl

ever sinve i stepped into this world

my dad is the one of guy that I know

will never huirt me and will always protect me.

My school's so big i got lost my first day

of school and i felt like a fish with

out water.

I've lost many people in my life in and

out they come but at the end

the most important are still apart of it

and that's all that matters.

I have many fears but that has never

stopped me in the past and it

will not stop me in the future.

I've lost my frist love but, I've never

lost myself threw out everything

i have gone threw.

Everyday i thank god for my life

and my family.

I plan to succeed and make

my parents proud

I know my family will always be here

for me threw the thin and the thick.

I became part of history when the

twin towers wre hit waking

up to the shocking.

I was so young just in the 7th grade.

I am very open to different culture and believes.

I know i like to eat and try different things all the time
is just away of exploring.

Just a kid in 6th grade. I broke a bone and gone

into surgery 3 times even though I

was wasn't the crazy child.

I was a tomboy back in the days but the high

school came and i beacame a total girly girl.

I have never stolen or been fake but I have lied

once or twice. I'm far from perfect but I'm

happy with myself. I have graduated from high

school and the next step is to graduate

from college and become a Psychologist.

syllabus

English 03: Basic English Composition
Fall 2008
M-F 9:30- 10:20

Instructor: Sarah Boggs
Course Name: English 03: Basic Composition
Control Number: 71964
Course Meeting Locations:
Monday, Tuesday, Wednesday: Bldg.3-TR Rm:2
Thursday and Friday: LRC Rm: C
Office: LRC 347
Office Hours: M-F 11:30-12:30 and by appointment
Phone: 654-6400 ext: 1266
Email: sarah_boggs@vcccd.edu
Course Website: http://english03930.blogspot.com/ OR http://english031030.blogspot.com/

Course Description:
English 03 is designed to help you develop as a writer and to prepare you for future college and university courses that require writing. After you take this course you will be prepared to take English 02, and then, English 1A. We will be doing a lot of reading and writing! Students will write multiple paragraphs, essays, and one research paper. One of the most important things this course is designed to do is to give you the confidence to be a better writer. If you work hard your writing is sure to improve!

Student Learning Outcomes:
(There are the objectives that the college has for students in this course)

Student will write 1-2 page essays that contain clear thesis statements and topic sentences that relate to the thesis.
Students will be able to successfully create well developed and unified paragraphs that support topic sentences.
Students will be able to compose two reasonably well-organized 200-250 word essays in timed situations with errors that do not distract from readability.

Required Texts:
The two required texts are available for purchase at the campus bookstore.
#1- Patterns Plus: A short prose reader with Argumentation, 9th Ed. Mary Lou Conlin
#2- The Brief Penguin Handbook, 3rd Ed. Lester Faigley

Required Materials:
In the interest of teaching students about the necessity of good organization and helping students to see their and reflect upon their development I will require all students to keep a binder in which all course materials will be kept. The complete and ordered binder will play a large role in your final grade. For the binder you will need to purchase

A 1.5 inch three ring binder ($3.70)
One set of dividers/tabs with three holes (.75)
Plenty of loose-leaf paper with the three hole punches
A stapler

For our work in the lab you must purchase:
A Lab print card (available for purchase at the information desk in the LRC- allows
you to print in the LRC)
6. A Flash Drive to save all of your work on

Course Requirements:

A Grade of Credit/ No Credit will be assigned to you at the end of the term. In order to get credit you must satisfactory complete the following requirements:

Writing:

Short Essays: You are required to compete three out of class essays. These essays will be approximately 2 pages each. We will write multiple drafts of these essays and you will have instructor and peer feedback to assist you in the writing process.

In Class Essays: You will be required to write 2 in class essays. These kinds of exercises are helpful in preparing you for essay tests at the university. These are not weighed as heavily as the short essays.

Research Project: You will be required to complete a short research paper. This assignment will give you the opportunity to learn to use the resources avalible at the library and will help you to learn more about something you are interested in. Additionally you will be introduced to academic documentation (sounds fancy, I know).

Other: We will be writing paragraphs, posting comments to the class blog, doing peer review, and writing many free writing exercises. Be ready to write at the drop of a hat (or a pen)!

Student Conduct:

Attendance: You must attend the first two class meetings of the semester to retain your enrollment in this section of English 03. Any student who is absent either the first or second day will be dropped so as to open places for those on the waiting list. Any student who misses more then one week of class will have points deducted from their attendance grade for each absence after 5. Any student who misses more then 10 class meetings will be dropped regardless of their standing in the course. If you are late on a regular basis you will be counted as absent.

Homework: In order to pass the course you must receive a passing homework grade. This means that your homework must be completed at the beginning of class. Your course binder will be the most accurate record of your ability to complete and showcase your homework and essays.
Participation: The easiest way to both learn something, develop as a writer, be prepared for college level writing, and to receive credit for this course is to be a student who participates fully. The easiest way to fail this course is to not come to class, not do the work, not see me when you have questions, and to just be a body in the room. The only way to be successful in this learning environment is to keep up with the work, ask questions when you are unsure, and take your role as a student seriously. If you want to pass you have to come to class, participate in the activities we are doing (this is not a lecture course it is a workshop) and do the work that is required outside of class.

Grading:
To receive a passing grade in this course you must:
Complete the three take home essays on-time
Complete the two in class essays on the dates they are given (TBA)
Turn in a completed binder at the end of the term with all of the work you have done for English 03 this semester
Have fewer then ten absences
Receive a passing Homework Grade (After each unit you will turn in your binder and receive a homework grade for that unit.)
Receive a passing Participation Grade (I will inform you if you are failing)

Instructor’s Pedagogy (teaching methods):
This course may be conducted differently from your other courses. For instance I will not lecture and you will not sit in the same place every day taking notes. Rather, we will be working together in groups, students will be talking a lot, presenting their papers to the whole class to get feedback, groups will present to the whole class, and there will be a lot of discussion about things that, I hope, you are interested in. Our discussion will continue when we all post to the on-line blog. You will be reading about current issues and concerns and on the days we are in the lab you will often be reading breaking news. I firmly believe that students become better writers when they #1) are given the opportunity to write about things they care about and #2) are given a safe group environment to write to and within. My goal is to give you both of these opportunities.


Important Information regarding dropping this Course:

Last Day to Add Class
Last Day to Drop with Refund
Last Day to Drop without a "W"
Last Day to Drop with a "W"

31-AUG-2008
31-AUG-2008
12-Sep-2008
21-Nov-2008

Your Assignments for the First four weeks of English 03!

Instructor: Sarah Boggs
Course: English 3
Meeting Time: 9:30
Classroom: Monday, Tuesday, Wednesday
Lab: Thursday, Friday

Schedule of Homework and Activities- First Four Weeks (August 16th- September 12th)
Unit 1: Writing the Narrative Essay using narrative, description, and specific examples
Goals for unit #1:
You will begin to realize (if you have not already) that you have stories to tell
You will become more comfortable writing narrative paragraphs
You will understand the various ways you use narration and description in your writing outside of school
You will begin to see how being descriptive and using specific examples can help you be successful on essay and short answer tests within
You will write your first major essay that will use narration, description, and specific examples
You will display your ability to organize your course materials

Graded assignments for Unit #1:
Random Autobiography
Three complete formal paragraphs (we will be writing other paragraphs that will not be given letter grades)
Rough Draft of First Essay
Final draft of first essay
Binder Organization

Week #1: Introduction to class, lab, blog, AP news, and Random Autobiography

M 8/18
In class: Introduction to the course, to the instructor, and to each other. Formulate list of writing activities.
Homework: Get the course texts (Patterns Plus and the Brief Penguin Handbook) and a 1.5 inch three ring binder ($3.70), one set of dividers/tabs with three holes (.75), plenty of loose-leaf paper with the three hole punches, a stapler.

T 8/19
In class: Introduction to Random Autobiography Assignment
Homework: Complete first draft of Random Autobiography and bring in a typed copy hard copy (remember to save this version on your e-mail or your memory stick). Write your e-mail address very, very clearly on the top of this assignment. I will use it to add you to the class blog. Please respond to the invitation as soon as you receive it.

W 8/20
In class: Small Group Workshops on Random Autobiography
Homework: Revise your random autobiography and bring the new version to class to be handed in to Sarah Boggs at the beginning of class (remember we meet in the lab tomorrow

Th 8/21
In class: Meet in the lab. Intro to class blog at www.blogspot.com. and introduction to the AP newsfeed site.
Homework: Read one article on the AP news site and post a response on the class blog.

F 8/22
In class: Meet in the Lab. Random Autobiographies returned. Work on revision of your random autobiography.
Homework: Post the final version of your random autobiography on the class blog. Print and bring 2 hard copies of your final version to class on Monday. One needs to be three hole punched as it will be the first page of your binder!

Week#2 Unit 1: The Narrative Paragraph and Essay

M 8/25 In class: Read “Learning how to Write” Page 28 in Patterns Plus, Formulate a class generated definition of a narrative essay. Free writing about when we use narration: work, social life, school. Who do we tell our stories to and why?
Homework:Read “The Movie House” on page 18 of PP. Answer all (1, 2, & 3) of the Questions About The Reading on page 19. Generate a list of stories you may want to tell in a narrative essay.

T 8/26 In class: Show don’t tell performance and crafting of a paragraph.
Homework: Revise the paragraph you started in class and post it to the blog. Bring a hard copy in for the instructor to be handed in at the beginning of class.

W 8/27- In class: In class writing day. Choose writing assignment 1,2, 0r 3 on page 19 of PP and craft a paragraph in class. Group share.
HW: Revise your paragraph, post to blog, and bring hard copy to turn in at the beginning of class.

Th 8/28 In class: Meet in lab. Study the random autobiography that you posted on the blog. Choose one story you want to tell and write the first paragraph of your narrative essay. Make sure you save this!
Homework: Post this paragraph to the class blog.

F 8/29 In class: Meet in lab. Read AP news and post one a one paragraph response to the news article.
Homework: Enjoy the break and come back ready to work!

Week #3 Adding Description to our Repertoire- Reading and Blogging Paragraphs

M 9/1- HOLIDAY! Enjoy yourself!

T 9/2-In class: Reading of “Hush Timmy-This is Like a Church”. Freewrite about when we use descriptive language. Class generated definition of the use of description.
Homework: Read “ A Perfect Dog”Page 49 PP. Choose one of the writing assignments 1 0r 2 on page #50. Post paragraph to blog and print a hard copy for the instructor. Due at the beginning of class.

W 9/3 In class: Read “Limbo” and in class work on Questions about Stratagy
Homework: Write a paragraph in which you describe your favorite room in the house in which you grew up or a paragraph about a place that is special to you. Remember to be descriptive, specific, and to show not tell! Due at the beginning of class!

Th 9/4 In class: Meet in lab. Read AP news articles and write a response paragraph to one.
Homework: Using your binder look at your random autobiography and at the four paragraphs you have written in this unit (not including responses to AP news). Look at your list of possible topic for the narrative essay. Write a one paragraph summary of the story you have chosen to tell for the narrative essay. Due at the beginning of class.

F 9/5 In class: Meet in lab. Work on your narrative essay.

Week #4- Writing Workshop on Narrative Essay
Goal: At the end of this week you will turn in a final draft of this essay

M 9/8- In class: Workshop!
Homework: Work on essay.
T 9/9 In Class: Workshop!
Homework: Work on essay
W 9/10- Workshop!
Homework: Work on essay
Th 9/11- In class: Meet in Lab and work on essay- instructor avalible for help.
Homework: Work on final draft of essay due at the end of class Friday!
F 9/12 In class: Essay due at the end of class
Homework: Post your best paragraph from your essay on the class blog!

Congratulations! You have completed the first quarter of this course!