Weekly Schedule:  One of the most helpful strategies for improving writing is to establish a writing routine.  We will use a diverse range of writing activities and strategies to broaden your writing experience and skill.  A typical week will look like this:

                Monday: Presence Question, Words of the Week, Reflection

                Tuesday: Rapid, Challenge assigned

                Wednesday: Apprenticeship, Writing Workshop

                Thursday: Rapid, Writers’ Groups

                Friday: Apprenticeship, Writing Workshop, or Celebrations

Expectations:

1.       Objectivity: Learn to take and give criticism gracefully and constructively.

2.       Collaboration: Be willing to share your work with others and be willing to read the work of others with enthusiasm and sensitivity.

3.       Reading: Expose yourself to a wide variety of writers.  Challenge yourself by choosing the best writers to read.  Reading widely will inspire your own writing. 

4.       Consistency: Come to class every day with a positive attitude.  Writing is an art form and takes practice just like learning to play a musical instrument or a sport.  Constant practice, dedication, and evaluation are needed.  Attendance is essential if you want to improve.

5.       Work Ethic: I try very hard to provide you with relevant and stimulating areas of investigation, to give you ample classroom time to work your way into the process of writing on your own terms, but what you gain from the class comes down to the issue of work ethic.  Whether it’s running long-distance, making a violin sing, taking a perfect photograph, or wrestling with words to make meaning, it can’t be done without hard work.  I can show you avenues, suggest techniques, provide structures, and give you support, but no one can teach you to write; this you must ultimately do on your own.

What to Expect from this Course:

1.       We write virtually every day of the week and occasionally all period.  No piece is ever finished.  If you complete a brief exercise before the end of the allotted time, begin another or see how you can improve the first.  If you have responded to the prompt as thoroughly as you can, go back through what you have written and find a phrase, a sentence, a fragment of an idea, a question, anything that might invite further inquiry or send you in a different direction – and begin writing again. If you feel that the well of your mind has run dry, then start writing about that.  Just keep writing.  There is no slack time in this class.

2.       You can expect to read aloud, in front of your peers, everything you write, whether it is a simple class exercise or a fully developed essay.  Thus, your purpose as a writer will be to entertain, provoke, inform, stimulate reaction; your reading audience will be the other members of the class.

3.       Expect to be held accountable for everything we learn in class.  After we learn how to use parallel structures in sentence composition, for example, there will be no excuse for errors in parallelism. 

4.       Save everything you write.  Make sure to organize your notes, brainstorming activities, free writes, rough drafts, and class exercises in your notebook.  Date each piece and file them consecutively.

5.       Papers must show evidence of extensive revision and final editing.  If your paper is full of technical errors, or if the writing is difficult to understand because of lack of coherence, I will return it to you ungraded for further revision. 

6.       One difference between Creative Writing and other writing classes is that students will do a great deal of writing that the instructor never sees.  The emphasis is on writing as a generative process.  The act of writing itself – thinking on paper, giving imagination equal time with intellect, following trains of thought without regard to destination, indulging in wild speculation, exploring startling ideas, working not toward a final product but toward an unexpected insight or discovery that might be the seed of an essay or story – is the daily bread of this course. 

Assessment Procedures: Writing is a process, and that is honored through class assessment.  Students will engage in weekly writing challenges with assessment based on engaging in the writing process, meeting deadlines, and fulfilling assignment requirements.  At the end of each unit, student will select one challenge that they wish to revise, expand, and polish.  This will serve as a summative assessment and will be graded using the Oregon Writing Guide (you may view the guide on the ODE website). 

Grading Policy: Grading will be broken down using a traditional scale (90%+ = A, 80-89.9% = B, etc).  I often use a check system to give formative feedback.  In this case:

                Check plus: 100%.  You are fully completing the assignment requirements

                Check: 85%.  Almost there, but not all requirements are met.

                Check minus: 70%.  The work needs revision or is missing pieces.

                Anything less than a check minus will be discussed with the student, and the student will have the opportunity to re-do for credit                 

Formal Written Assignments: All essays, papers, and written projects need to be typed, double-spaced with one-inch margins on all sides, and need to include the MLA formal heading.  Use Times New Roman font in 12 point at all times.  Always attach rough drafts, and print on both sides of the paper whenever possible.              

Culminating Project: All seniors will choose a topic to explore in a Multi-Genre project.  Students will engage in research and creative writing and will present their work at a public reception at the end of the semester.  We will focus on writing the research paper first quarter, and creative application during second quarter.

Tardy Policy: It is essential that you are on time to class everyday.  Not only do you miss directions and instruction, coming in late distracts other students.  When you are tardy, you will be entered into our class tardy lottery.  One student will be drawn each week to serve lunch detention in my classroom.  Bring writing or reading for this class with you—you’ve missed valuable class time, and the detention will be used to work on class material.

Leaving the Classroom: Leaving the classroom is frowned upon! If an emergency arises and you feel you must leave the classroom for some reason, you need to speak to me before you leave and sign out on the clip board at the back of the room.  Please do not leave within the first or last 15 minutes of the class.

Attendance Policy: Be here and be on time! When you are not, it has a negative impact on your understanding of class material and on your grade.  If you must miss a class, be sure you check the class website for any missed assignments. 

Late Work Policy: All graded assignments, papers, and projects are due on the date stated.  Assignments are due at the beginning of class.  If an assignment is:

a.       Up to one week late = 30% deduction

b.       More than a week late = no credit

c.        I do not comment on late papers

Please always put late work in late basket, labeled “late”, with due date and date turned in clearly written at top of paper.

Unexcused Absences: No credit will be given for work missed due to an unexcused absence.

Long-term assignments:  If you are absent for any reason, you are still responsible for turning in long-term assignments on time.  Long term assignments include essays and projects.  If you are afraid that you might become sick the night before an assignment is due, then complete it early and make sure it is handed in.  If you know in advance that you will miss class, you MUST turn the assignment in on or before the due date. Take advantage of email, friends, and siblings to deliver assignments.  If it is not possible to have an assignment delivered or emailed, please contact me to work out a plan BEFORE the due date (minimum of 24 hours in advance). 

Short-term assignments: a student with an excused absence may turn in work within two school days of his/her return.  Please label “absent”, include date due and date turned in, and place in late basket. If you know you will be absent in advance, meet with me before you leave to determine due dates and assignments.  For planned absences (field trips, family vacations, etc), work must be turned in before the deadline has passed.

Personal Electronics Policy: The Personal Electronics Policy for Crescent Valley High School will be followed in this course.  Phones must be turned off at all times.  Headphones may only be used during independent writing time.

Credit Denial Policy: Credit denial in this course may occur when a student has accumulated 10 unexcused absences and his/her grade has fallen below 59.5%.  Students and their parents/guardians will be informed in writing by the teacher of the possibility of credit denial when a student has accumulated 5 unexcused absences and her/his grade has fallen below 59.5%.  Credit denial decisions will not be based on absences due to religious reasons, a student’s disability, or an excused absence, as determined by district policy.  Students who receive a credit denial warning are responsible for taking measures to prevent the loss of academic credit.  Students who are failing a class at the time of credit denial will have an “F” entered on their transcript.  No credit will be awarded for the course.   Corvallis School District Policy IKAD.

Plagiarism Policy: The Plagiarism Policy for Crescent Valley High School will be followed in this course.  This year, the CV Humanities classes will be using SafeAssign, a plagiarism prevention program that can be accessed through Blackboard.  Submission of all word-processed assignments will be required.  Details will be sent out separately in the first few weeks of the term.

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Classroom Behavior Expectations: In order to make our classroom a positive place for everyone, I expect students to follow the Raider Way: be respectful, safe, and responsible. 

Food and Drink Policy: No food or drink is permitted during class.  You are welcome to bring water.

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