MWF 10-10:50 AM
At the end of the course, the student will:
Respect will be given to everyone at all times. If you are disrespectful to someone (especially during a presentation) the instructor reserves the right to ask you to leave the room and receive an absence for the day.
In this class, we will be reading aloud to each other. It is the hope of the instructor that each student will carefully consider the content of their reading material before presenting any speech to the class. The instructor will provide each student with guidelines for choosing presentations. There is a whole world of marvelous literature from which to choose-let us treat each other with the respect due to all persons.
Honesty is paramount. Dishonesty on homework and exams will not be tolerated. Expect disciplinary action to be sought in the event that the instructor discovers dishonesty or cheating. The instructor reserves the right to drop any student engaging in academic dishonesty from the course. Students dropped from the course by the instructor for failure to attend classes or for academic dishonesty may receive an F for the semester. By enrolling in this course, the student expressly grants MSU a “limited right” in all intellectual property created by the student for the purpose of this course. The “limited right” shall include but shall not be limited to the right to reproduce the student’s work product in order to verify originality and authenticity, and educational purposes.
Plagiarism is the use of someone else’s thoughts, words, ideas, or lines of argument in your own work without appropriate documentation (a parenthetical citation at the end and a listing in "Works Cited")–whether you use that material in a quote, paraphrase, or summary. It is a theft of intellectual property and will not be tolerated, whether intentional or not.
Cell phone use in class is prohibited. If your cell phone goes off during a class you may be asked to leave the classroom and receive and absence for the day. No texting. Again, you may be asked to leave the classroom.
Working outside of class will be required to fully develop the skills required. This is HOMEWORK!! I recommend spending at LEAST 4-6 hours a week outside of class, in a rehearsal room, working the week’s assignments. This may require you to schedule and reserve rehearsal rooms. Your scheduling problems are never a valid excuse for coming to class unprepared.
Assignments will always be due at the beginning of class. Any assignment not turned in at the beginning of class will be considered late. Late work will not normally be accepted. The instructor reserves the right to accept late work at his discretion, but will penalize students 15 points per day on any late assignments.
Grades are achieved by the accumulation of points during the course of the semester. Each assignment awards a certain number of points. The points for each assignment are then added together and the resulting sum is compared to the grade scale below. Since the total number of points will not be known until the end of the semester, the student can estimate how they are doing by dividing their accumulated points by the total points available to that point in the semester. The resulting percentage is an indicator or success or failure. The instructor reserves the right to adjust or cancel assignments as the course progresses.
100 points.....Quizzes 100 points.....Participation 100 points.....Written Work 400 points.... Exams (3 exams and the final) 50 points.......Oral Presentation 1 75 points.......Oral Presentation 2 125 points.....Oral Presentation 3 150 points.....Oral Presentation 4 1100 Total Points
Grading Scale
A.....900 or more points B.....800-899 points C.....700-799 points D.....600-699 F.....599 points or less
Attendance is MANDATORY!! I do understand life, however, so everyone is allowed one “mental health” day each semester. Use it well. We have a substantial amount of material to cover and a limited amount of time. Each day we will be covering or presenting NEW material, and very often it is material that will require the assistance of a partner. You will receive a ten-point grade deduction off of your final grade for your second absence. Each subsequent unexcused absence will deduct twenty points from your final average. The only exceptions to this policy are school sponsored events or documented extreme cases (like the zombie apocalypse.)
Role will be taken at the beginning of each class. Each student is allowed ONE tardy (not to exceed 5 min) with no deduction during the semester. After the first tardy, if a student is not present at the time role is taken they are marked absent.