It also may help you to remember that this course is a four-credit class (not the normal three credits), and so the workload is 33% more--and harder--than is normally expected for a three-credit class. 3-credit college classes usually expect you to attend and do homework for 9 hrs./wk. for an "A." However, 4-credit classes usually expect you to attend and do homework for 12 hrs./wk. for an "A." In regard to attendance specifically, in this class, the expected time spent is the same as four 50-min. classes, or 200 minutes per week.

The grading for the semester is based on 100 X's (100 points or 100%) being equal to an A+.  The X's you can earn are divided as follows:

• About 46 X's (very roughly, depending on the semester) are for weekly homework papers.

• About 9 X's are for the final paper, as part of your homework.

• About 25 X's (very roughly, depending on the semester) are for D2L attendance on D2L

• The rest--roughly 10-15 X's--is attendance in real or online time at special events or meetings.

• Extra Credit X's also are allowed. (See below.)

• Participation, attitude, attention, and hard work can lower or slightly raise your final grade for the course

• At least half of all the X's/points you earn--for whatever grade you earn--must come from the regularly assigned homework and attendance. In other words, you must complete at least half of the expected assignments for your grade, with extra credit only being able to substitute for the other half.

You earn X's by completing the work.  In attendance, an "X" (or a "V") is about 100 min. of work.  The same is true for extra credit - about 100 min. of work per X.  (In weekly homework, most assignments are worth 1 X each, with a few being equal to 2 X's.)  By the end of the term, your total X's for attendance, extra credit, and homework will determine your grade as follows:

100 (or more) X's = A+
90-99 X's = A
80-89 X's = B
70-79 X's = C
60-69 X's = D
 0-59 X's = F

Basically, the method of doing well in this class is to earn as many X's as you can, depending on what grade you want.  2009 was the first year in which I have started using this system in online classes.  However, I have used this X's system of grading since 2006 in writing classes on campus, and about 90-95% of students - once they get used to it - report by the end of the term that they think it is a great system, one of the clearest and most fair they have ever used, and they recommend I use it with future classes.

How do you tell how many X's you've earned?

Basically, you need almost all X's for an "A." And if you have 3/4ths X's and 1/4th 0's, you would earn a "C." There are three ways to count your X's and 0's:

EASY WAY. Every week or two, be sure you earn this many X's:

• Earn at least three out of every five possible X's for a "D."

• Earn three out of every four possible X's for a "C."

• Earn at least four out of every five possible X's for a "B."

• Earn at least nine out of every ten possible X's for an "A."

Simply look at the X's on the attendance and weekly papers records,  see how many are possible every week or two of three, and then count each one you have earned. (If this is confusing to you, do some counting; then email me, Richard, with the results and tell me where/how you are confused.

MEDIUM-HARD WAY. At any point in the semester, you can count how many X's and 0's you have on the records. Then use this simple chart:

• With half X's & half 0's, you so far have an "F."
  (E.g., 20 X's & 20 0's would be an "F.")

• With 2/3rds X's and 1/3rd 0's, you so far have a "D+."
  (E.g., 22 X's and 11 0's would be, at the time, a "D+.")

• With 4/5ths X's and 1/5th 0's, you so far have a "B-."
  (E.g., 20 X's and 5 0's would be, at the time, a "B-.")

• With 9/10ths X's and 1/10th 0's, you so far have an "A-."
  (E.g., 45 X's and 5 0's would be, at the time, an "A-.")

LONGER, MORE DETAILED WAY. You can count your X's, and the X's you expect to get, and use this overall chart to determine your grade:

• 90-100 X's = A for the course

• 80-89 X's = B for the course

• 70-79 X's = C for the course

• 60-69 X's = D for the course

• 59 or lower X's = F for the course

How is attendance, in particular, established?

Attendance is done mostly by your attendance on the D2L discussion boards. There also are several times when you will, either online or in physical meetings (your choice), attend such events as a first-week meeting, plays/museum visits, and an end of semester individual consultation.

Remember that attendance is NOT homework. Homework is what you email to me. Attendance, most of the time, means going on the D2L discussion boards and interacting with others in the class by giving them messages--or it is attending plays and other meetings in real time or in online time. 

Anyone going 2+ weeks with no attendance activity will be dropped from the class.

Make ups and Extra Credit: See below.

Here is a brief summary of the types of attendance activities:
   

Summary of Types of Attendance Online D2L Discussion Boards: This accounts for most of the attendance. In most weeks, there will be about two online, D2L class activities per week--on two different discussion boards. 2 "event" meetings with me (Richard). The first is an in-person class meeting in a computer lab the first week of class (or you can, instead, email me a summary of the course website). The second is an individual consultation with me for 15 minutes--at school or a coffeehouse, by phone, or by Skype. 3 "event" visits--online or in person--to plays and an art museum. You can do these online, by video, in person in whatever city you are in. Or you can come to the arranged, in-person visits to the Minneapolis Institute of Arts (on a Th. night) that I (Richard) will coordinate, a play at a professional theater in the Twin Cities that we will attend as a group (a Thurs., Fri., Sat., or Sun.), and a play at Inver Hills College (or elsewhere if IHCC does not have a spring play) that you will attend on your own.

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Attendance at Museum(s) and Plays

Visit to Art Museum: (This event will be worth 3 X's.)
  
 - Option A: For 200+ min., go on a "literary-art" tour of online museums to find and describe stories in art--what stories might you know or can quickly look up (w/Google) that are based on several works of art pieces, and/or how do the works of art reflect the stories and/or improve your understanding or appreciation of it? While you are examining the art, write 400+ w. about it as if you were writing several "BA's" or Basic Analyses—about the plot elements (plot/tension/problem/solution), characters, settings, symbols, themes, et al.—that you see in the works of art. You should write these while you are looking at the works (and count your time of 200+ min. to include the writing time, as well). Do at least four or five works of art, or more, and you should spend just as much time, or more, in looking/examining visually as in writing.
 - OR Option B: Do the above in a major live art museum in the city nearest you on your own for 200+ min. (including travel time to and from). While you are examining the art, write 400+ w. about it as if you were writing several "BA's" or Basic Analyses—about the plot elements (plot/tension/problem/solution), characters, settings, symbols, themes, et al.—that you see in the works of art. You should write these while you are looking at the works (and count your time of 200+ min. to include the writing time, as well). Do at least four or five works of art, or more, and you should spend just as much time, or more, in looking/examining visually as in writing. When you send me your 400+ w., also tell me whether you went alone or on the official docent tour scheduled for the class.
 - OR Option C: Take a free group visit with me to the Minneapolis Institute of Arts on a Thurs. evening as stated in the schedule, 6:15-9 pm. Directions that you should print out (even if you have GPS--there are freeways, one-way streets, and rush hour traffic!) are on this website at MIA (Minneapolis Institute of Arts) .
        Please show up in the lobby (by the main desk) of the museum by 6:15 pm and look for me, Richard. The first tour will start at about 6:30.
        We will meet again after the first tour, and before the second tour. You'll get directions for the second tour, an independent one, when we meet between the two tours. At the end of the second tour, we'll meet once more.
        Bring a few people with you, if you'd like--family or friends. Entrance is free. But parking will cost $5 in the MIA parking ramp just to the south of the museum (unless you choose to park on the street--street parking is safe day and evening).
        As you write during (or after) the two tours, you should write 400+ w. about it as if you were writing several "BA's" or Basic Analyses—about the plot elements (plot/tension/problem/solution), characters, settings, symbols, themes, et al.—that you see in the works of art. You should write these while you are looking at the works (and count your time of 200+ min. to include the writing time, as well). Do at least four or five works of art, or more, and you should spend just as much time, or more, in looking/examining visually as in writing. You can give me your 400+ w. at the end of the museum trip, or you can send it to me later, but if you give it to me later, please also tell me whether you went alone or on this official docent. 

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Visits to Two Live, Full-length Plays (or the equivalent):

 - Attend two literary plays at a professional or college theater as described in the beginning of the "Wkly.Asgnmnt." page of this website. Write 400+ w. per play during or after each play and give them to me (only rough-draft form is needed, no matter how rough draft it may be) by mail, under my office door, or by email. Write at the top what you saw, where, and for how many minutes (include writing time in your minutes).
OR
 - Attend two literary plays at a professional or college theater on your own, choosing either the plays recommended by me (Richard) or some plays on your own for which you have received permission from me to see. You must see both plays during the current semester (or in the break time before the semester). Please include something about the actors' names and/or the video productions so I can tell that you didn't just read the material. Write 400+ w. per play as above.
OR
 - Spend 600 minutes watching videos based on literary plays. (If you're not sure whether something is okay, be sure to ask me!) The plays may be any mix of short and full-length that helps you reach your 600 min. of watching and writing time. When you're writing about them, please include something about the actors' names and/or the video productions so I can tell that you didn't just read the material. Write a total of 800+ w. about them, total. This writing time can be included in the 600+ minutes of required time. (Why do I ask for so much time watching them? It is because the typical amount of time for going to see a live play, including travel time, getting there early, intermission time, and writing time is about 400+ min. per play. In addition, it should be noted that seeing a video of a play is not nearly as much of a literary experience as actually being there when it is staged, which what plays are written for. The difference is similar to reading a poem on your own vs. hearing a poetry expert read it out loud.)

(Here are two online video plays recommended by a student:

Lysistrata-- ***. This is a student recommendation: March 18, 2004, Loyola University, https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4Qp5DP6a-2c.

Romeo and Juliet-- ***. This is a student recommendation: Angell Blackfriars Theatre, Providence Rhode Island, Nov.6, 2009, https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6idyuKJRK8c&t=3s.)

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Inver Hills Attendance Policy and Disability Services

 The IHCC Attendance Policy says, as of 2012:

Students are expected to attend all sessions of each class in which they are enrolled. If an illness or emergency results in an absence, students should meet with their instructors to determine if missed work can be completed. A student may receive a course grade of FN or NC after two consecutive weeks (or equivalent in accelerated courses/terms) of unexcused absence at any time during the semester. Students who receive an FN grade may request to have their grade changed to a W (withdraw) if done so by the course’s withdrawal deadline.  Class attendance is defined as being physically present in the classroom. Online attendance is defined as having submitted an assignment, taken a quiz, or posted/made a course content-related comment on the discussion/chat board for the course in which the student is registered.

Subpart A. Last date of attendance: Instructors issue a grade of FN for students who never attend class or stop coming to class. If a student misses two weeks of class (or equivalent in accelerated courses/terms), instructors may report a last date of attendance and issue a grade of FN. The FN grade is punitive because it counts against both GPA and completion rate.

Subpart B. Academic calendar: PSEO students and students enrolled at other colleges must follow the Inver Hills official academic calendar as it relates to their attendance and registration at Inver Hills. Term breaks, holidays, and non-class days at other institutions and vacations do not supersede the Inver Hills requirements or academic calendar.

IHCC Disability Services Accommodations: The IHCC Disability Services Office says, "It is the policy and practice of Inver Hills Community College to create inclusive learning environments, and provide students with disabilities reasonable accommodations so they have equal access to participate in educational programs, activities, and services. If there are aspects of the instruction or design of this course that result in barriers to your inclusion, please notify your instructor as soon as possible."

For further support, and to arrange specific reasonable accommodations, students are encouraged to contact IHCC's Disability Services in College Center 211. If this location changes or you want the phone number Google "Inver Hills Community College Diability Services."

Participation and Improvement

For very poor participation/improvement, you might have up to one letter grade deducted from your final grade for the course. For excellent to superior participation/improvement, you may have your letter grade at the end of the course raised slightly, especially if it is one to three points below the level for the next higher grade. 

The most important thing you can do in this course is to participate fully.  Participating fully means much more than just attending class and doing the assignments.  It also means actively putting your mind, heart, and guts into learning in this classroom.  It means talking, listening, responding, thinking beyond the text, and being interactive with the instructor and other students.