For the duration of the course I would like for you to keep a journal which details your experiences and revelations of your journey through the course. Each week (excluding break weeks) I would like for you to contribute to your journal, so that a written account can exist to tell your individual story of the course. (Great for looking back on things, and also useful if you are meeting with me).

In some cases, I may present some more structured activities to be done in the journal. But in general, you are to use the journal to record insights from your epic journey you've embarked upon this semester. While I welcome off-topic banter, that should not be the exclusive subject matter of your entries. Please reference the Journal Initialization Tutorial for further information.

To get credit on your journal entries each week, you need to accomplish the following:

• journal entry is ready by the collection deadline (2AM on the Tuesday the following class week)
• minimum word count (300 words each week)
• entry is contained in the appropriately named wiki page (week1 for Week 1, week2 for Week 2, etc.)
• identifies and includes extrapolation of provided keywords for the week (if given)

Relate to what is going on in class- the topics, what you're doing with them, something you've realized, etc. Excessive irrelevant content (in the absence of any substantial class-related content) risks invalidating the entry.

Note that I am not interested in “English teacher approved” essays- in some courses and settings that is more important. For this course, I want you to be able to effectively convey your thoughts in words- a crucial ability that can later be applied to “proper English essays”.

You can never write too much in my class.

There will be no make-ups for missed journal entries. Have entries ready by the deadline or lose credit.

NOTE for those taking multiple courses with me: Journal content each week MUST reflect consideration from ALL courses you have with me.

Additionally, there are some journal achievements that can be unlocked:

• INTRO: You've filled out an intro section, minimum 192 words, so that it details who you are (x1)
• ALTER: You've customized the journal from the defaults; says your name, changed colors, etc. (x1)
• EXIST: The journal and all entries exist with at least minimum word count in each entry (x1)
• CREATE: You successfully created your journal in the prescribed way before given deadline (x1)
• WRITE: 3 journal entries exceed the minimum word count (x4)

In your journal I would like for you to detail your experiences in the course. Summary of experience/class notes; or statements/musings on questions like: Do you understand the material? Is it interesting? Anything not making sense? Any parallels to the real world? and general comments and thoughts.

Use the journal to allow me to see the course through your eyes.

Projects constitute the portion of your grade involving activities you perform in the name of experiencing and demonstrating knowledge in this class- the means by which I will be assessing your understanding of the material through directed explorations of various topics. Such projects may be comprehensive to one another.

Two key products of performing a project are demonstration and documentation. Demonstration is presenting your finished project, that meets project specifications, to the instructor and being able to respond to any questions on any particular facet therein.

Perhaps more important than demonstration of a working project is the documentation. Documentation includes the instructions for recreation of the end product from the ground up, allowing not only the original author(s), but individuals of sufficient skill to recreate and understand important concepts through reading the prepared documentation.

I reserve the right to request, for any project as terms of acceptance of project demonstration, the recreation of an equivalently functional end result through following of accumulated project documentation. If documentation fails to produce the desired outcome, it will reflect negatively upon the project evaluation.

A list of provided projects may be given, but there might also exist opportunities for additional project ideas- such projects are subject to approval by the instructor prior to starting, and are held to the same demonstration and documentation standards as standard projects.

In some cases, depending on the situations involved, a project may be conducive for group-based collaboration. This is not the default case, but is specified on a case-by-case basis. In such scenarios, all involved group members should be identified prior to starting on the project. Additionally, ALL group members in a collaborative situation must perform fairly equivalent work output into the completion of the project. Deficient members may experience reduced success.

Maintaining an ever present effort in your journey with respect to being present for class gatherings and making your presence known (both in and outside of class) is an important aspect to academic interactions.

You should regularly participate in class interactions. Participation is like the “I care” component of your grade. If you care enough to learn and help enhance the experience, you will have no trouble here. If you are disruptive or are not putting forth effort, however, then it will be duly reflected.

This isn't a “kiss up to the teacher” grade. I don't want people bending over backwards to please me. I want to see people learning and asking questions and growing, not agreeing with everything I say. Sometimes I will specifically ask questions or say things for the sole purpose of getting individual perspectives.

Participation is the contribution of YOU to the overall class, in a positive and harmonious manner to the overall group :)

For participatory currency, the following activities should also be performed:

• EMAIL: You participate on the class mailing list more than 8 times each month*
• IRC: You participate in the class IRC at more than 8 times each month*
• WIKI: You participate on the class wiki page more than 8 times each month

*: The timeframe of “month” is meant to involve only the three full months of the semester; February, March, and April. This is to allow for getting used to the environment in January, and accommodating the end of semester winding down in May. So don't worry about having to meet these requirements before the end of the month of January.

ALSO: The discrete EMAIL and IRC categories can be merged if one is more conducive to the class than another. That is, if the class shows a preference for IRC over EMAIL, for instance, participatory activities can be exclusively focused in a singular medium, provided that the sum total (ie more than “16” times) is observed.

This merging does NOT apply to Wiki activities.

Deficiency in these activities will negatively impact your performance in this area.