Syllabus & Success - a Graded Forum in Getting Started
For all 5 replies. Note: You did have to reply to any but the 5 that were worth points. Students frequently look at thread and replies and see which ones have the most replies already and only click on those. If I don't make sense, just ask. 	
You found only 2 of the 5 that were for points so I entered 14.9, but you worked ﻿so this averages like the full 15 points.	
Excellent, you found the 5﻿﻿﻿﻿	
You found 1 of the 5, but am entering 7.5﻿﻿﻿﻿﻿﻿﻿﻿﻿﻿	

This forum is in Getting Started. The syllabus--which you need for this activity—is also there. 

Guys, there are 5 (FIVE) things in here worth 3 points EACH--15 POINTS TOTAL IF YOU CLICK ON ALL FIVE. You should read them all anyway. Think of this as the syllabus with examples I’d explain in class.
COLLAPSE
If you post 2 only, you aren't going to be forewarned and you aren't going to get the 25 points
Contents
Syllabus & Success - a Graded Forum in Getting Started
This forum is in Getting Started. The syllabus--which you need for this activity—is also there.
This is a course where you don't have to show you know everything, but know something
Course Plan – Submit Your Course Plan to Avoid Misery  use for the forum
3 Points Prof's method lets any prof prove you plagiarized or used something you grabbed from Google.
3 Points BEFore DONE Realities about Technology – Do This Before You Start to Work on Content
3 Points DONE Realities about 8-Week Courses
Done Realities about Technology and Monitoring of Tests
How You Know What’s Where, What’s Due, and When
3 Points Honesty DONE Realities and Rules in the Course on Honesty, Firmness of Exam Dates, Dropping, and Emails
DONE Why I Attempt to Protect Student’s Grades While Helping Students Improve Their Knowledge
This is a course where you don't have to show you know everything, but know something
Done Why I Attempt to Protect Student’s Grades While Helping Students Improve Writing
3 Points DONE Realities about History Department Requirements and How I Attempt to Help Students’ Grades
Done Requirements So You MUST ﻿Have Good Habits with Evidence and I Can Also﻿Grade Accurately and Faster
DONE Mystery Words in the Syllabus (That I do not want to remain mysteries for you)
DONE What’s a 1.11 at My Grades Mean? What about Tips and Cautions?

Instruction: Read this carefully. Reply saying I understand. For a correct reply, this one is worth 3 points.

This is a course where you don't have to show you know everything, but know something
 http://www.cjbibus.com/GS_Good_Habits_What_Is_a_Question_Where_You_Show_You_Know_Something.htm
Course Plan – Submit Your Course Plan to Avoid Misery  use for the forum
For this plan, you do not fill anything in except your first and last name. Cautions: There are 2 Blackboard Assignments. Be sure you submit this one to the Blackboard Assignment stated above.
Your last name:		
Your first name:		

Was  pmyosting in 1302 FALL
COLLAPSE
1.	If you need more information, each item tells you how to use search words to find that information. 
Example: For the example, I bolded those words in the 1st items below. To find more information,
 a) click on the Syllabus, 
b) press Control-F to display Adobe’s Find box, and 
c) type a few letters from the bolded phrase, and d) press the Next button. 
Example: if you type Required Prep and press Next, Adobe takes you straight to the spot.
2.	If you have questions about this, post them to the Course Questions discussion or here.

Unlike the other plan you submit in Getting Started, I will not check the work. Your submitting the file means you get the points because you are confirming that you understand the syllabus and how to avoid misery. Caution: Make sure you:
1.	Read each statement thoughtfully.
2.	If the statement has links, click on them. The links are what I would show you if I met you on campus the first day. 
3.	If you need more information, each item tells you how to use search words to find that information. 
Example: For the example, I bolded those words in the 1st items below. To find more information,
 a) click on the Syllabus, 
b) press Control-F to display Adobe’s Find box, and 
c) type a few letters from the bolded phrase, and d) press the Next button. 
Example: if you type Required Prep and press Next, Adobe takes you straight to the spot.
4.	If you have questions about this, post them to the Course Questions discussion.

What’s Covered That Might Make You Miserable (or the Why’s and How’s That Can Help You Avoid Misery):
DONE Realities about Technology – Do This Before You Start to Work on Content
DONE Realities about 8-Week Courses
Realities about Technology and Monitoring of Tests
How You Know What’s Where, What’s Due, and When
Realities and Rules in the Course on Honesty, Firmness of Exam Dates, Dropping, and Emails
DONE Why I Attempt to Protect Student’s Grades While Helping Students Improve Their Knowledge
Done Why I Attempt to Protect Student’s Grades While Helping Students Improve Writing
DONE Realities about History Department Requirements and How I Attempt to Help Students’ Grades
Requirements So You Have Good Habits with Evidence and I Grade Accurately and Faster
DONE Mystery Words in the Syllabus (That I do not want to remain mysteries for you)
DONE What’s a 1.11 at My Grades Mean? What about Tips and Cautions?

Hi, avoiding browser torment PLUS if you are seeing weird really narrow tables in these posts, try another browser.
COLLAPSE
When I came in on a different machine/different browser, the tables (charts or whatever you were taught to call them) are really narrow.
On the other machine/different browser in my home office, the same post looks just like normal.
They are readable from both browsers I have. 
Guys, the browsers have been a torment this fall. If you can't see something that I say is there, do this (tip from Distance Education):
1. Click Shutdown on your computer and let it do its thing.
2. Start your computer.
3. Choose a different browser.
4. Go look again at that place in the course.

3 Points Prof's method lets any prof prove you plagiarized or used something you grabbed from Google.
3 Points BEFore DONE Realities about Technology – Do This Before You Start to Work on Content
	You are responsible to prepare your computer and its browser to work with Blackboard. I email specific actions to your WCJC email address before the course opens and also tell you where to find Distance Education’s resources in Blackboard. 
Tip: For your own sake, please take care of this in the first 2 days. You will forget if you do not.
Caution: For example, I have seen students use an outdated version of Safari and not even see all the work until it was too late to pass. They did not realize other people were doing the work.	
	Consistently, Blackboard continues to work even when the WCJC home page or the WCJC portal are down. You are responsible to make Blackboard a favorite or bookmark it so you can access it directly. (For the URL you need, see Class Days / Time / Location on the 1st page of the syllabus.)	
	If you think that Blackboard is not working, you need to act according to Distance Education’s policy. (See Technology Outage Policy in the Syllabus.)	
3 Points DONE Realities about 8-Week Courses 
	You have signed up for an 8-week course. Your professor follows History Department policy that means the 8-week course consists of the same work that students must do for a 16-week course. (See Attendance Policy.)
Tip: At WCJC, distance learning classes are not like an old-fashioned correspondence course where you can do the work when you want as long as you submit something before the last day. Instructors are required—and they should be—to require of you that you do work equivalent to what a student does in an on-campus class.	
	Given the speed of an 8-week course covering 16 weeks’ of work, you are to log in at least 3 times each week to work online on quizzes, resources, and student discussions. (See Attendance Policy in the Syllabus.)	
Done Realities about Technology and Monitoring of Tests
This term we will use Respondus Monitor for the Final Exam only. If necessary, I do reserve the right to use it with Unit Exams as well. The Course Schedule tells you the dates you have to take the Sample Respondus Exam and to email me that I need to check your video for whether you have met Distance Education’s requirements. Take that monitoring seriously—including with the Sample Respondus Exam—because I will take it seriously.
	Why is WCJC requiring Respondus Monitor and Lockdown Brower? (See WCJC and Academic Honesty and Monitoring of Online Exams and Your Instructor’s View in the syllabus)	
	Distance Learning classes must use Respondus Monitor and Lockdown Brower. (See Required Course Materials about the microphone and webcam, and see Course Exams for the software.) 
For some students, they found it easier to take an exam with Monitor at WCJC’s open labs. Blackboard in its help section lists those labs and their time.	
	In this course, you will not be able to see an exam on the availability date:
•	If you have not completed the setup of Lockdown Browser and Respondus Monitor
•	If you have not done as directed by email (in Blackboard Messages) about the prior exam that you took. 
(See General Information on the 1st page of the Course Schedule. Also see Reason 2: Being Able to See Exams.)	
	WCJC’s requirement for LockDown Browser and Respondus Monitor means that instructors must check the videos of each student taking an exam. Take a look at the behaviors that dishonest people use because you do not want to look like you are a cheat. In the table below, also notice the points lost for those kinds of behavior. You want to look like what you are—an honest person. (See Reason 1: Avoiding Penalties.)	

The syllabus lists these penalties.
Caution: Instructors experienced with monitoring exams recommend these penalties, and I will apply these penalties if you do these things: 

If You Do One of These Things 	The Penalty Is	
	0 for the Exam	Minus 30 percentage Points 	
Do an incomplete video for what Respondus calls the Environmental Check 		X	
Do not have enough lighting for the instructor to tell if you are cheating		X	
Do not position your Photo ID carefully. Your name must be readable and your photo must be clear. Tip: practice with your webcam so you can do this.		X	
Have anything near where you take the exam unless your instructor has told you to use specific resources during the exam.	0		
Move so you are not recorded at all by the webcam	0		
Move the webcam from where it was during what Respondus calls the Webcam Check so it no longer shows your face and upper body 		X	
Play music or other audio recordings during exams	0		
Talk with anyone for any reason at any time during the exam	0		
Turn off the microphone although it worked during what Respondus calls the Webcam Check		X	

How You Know What’s Where, What’s Due, and When
	You are to follow the Course Schedule which states the available date and the due date for all assignments. The Course Schedule is at the end of the Syllabus and also on a separate link on the menu on the left in the course. (See the Course Schedule.)
Tip: Take a look at the picture of the Course Menu and what each part is for. You will find it in Course Orientation. Also do the Course Tour in Course Orientation—on the last page of instructions.	
3 Points DONE Realities and Rules in the Course on Honesty, Firmness of Exam Dates, Dropping, and Emails
	If you do not follow the WCJC Academic Honesty Policy, my specific action is a 0 for the assignment:
•	Whether that is a 10-point assignment or 100-point one
•	Whether a test or a written assignment, including copying words from the Internet. 
(See WCJC Academic Honesty Policy.)	
	If your planning at the beginning of the term shows you cannot take an exam or submit work on its due date, contact your instructor immediately and suggest an earlier date. (See Late Work Policy.)	
	If you miss an exam or other assignment, you must have a a) verifiable and b) written excuse, such as a doctor’s note. (See Late Work Policy.)	
	If you decide to drop the course, you must do that yourself. The History Department rule is that professors cannot drop students. (See Dropping the Course with a Grade of “W.” Also be sure you understand the Six Drop Rule.)	
	Before you post or email (especially before you email everyone), think about your actions. (See Online Classroom Behavior Policy/Classroom Civility. That section refers you to the Course Tour, Tasks & Tips for specific tips on what to do and not do. Also, in this class, check the instructions for the work you are doing.)	
DONE Why I Attempt to Protect Student’s Grades While Helping Students Improve Their Knowledge
	I protect grades by encouraging behaviors that help people succeed. That is why there is an extra credit (1 point) that lets me measure and reward a bit those who are keeping up. Guys, it is persistence that saves you most of the time. Never give up when you just start to sweat. (See Your Course Plan and Extra Credit for How You Work and Opportunities to Improve a Weak Grade)
Tip: This is one of my favorite advocates for students and for how to help them.  Click on this video of a Ted Talk by Angela Duckworth (URL: https://www.ted.com/talks/angela_lee_duckworth_grit_the_power_of_passion_and_perseverance)	
	Over the last 2 years, I have been increasing worried that students were having trouble with history because they had limited background worse because they did not know concepts, such as the meaning of words, the location and traits of places, and parts of essential documents. That is the reason for creating the Learning Quizzes, and the Self-Tests and the Full-Tests. Also 8 out of 25 question each Unit Exam will come from the Learning Quizzes for that Unit.
In the surveys of students in Spring 2017, they responded that they would this opportunity to teach themselves some basics using quizzes. They can also help you prepare for over 30% of the Exam questions. (See Learning Quizzes, Concepts, and the Goal of Exam Questions.)

I am not the only one worried about students:
•	https://www.washingtonpost.com/news/answer-sheet/wp/2017/12/20/the-surprising-thing-google-learned-about-its-employees-and-what-it-means-for-todays-students/?utm_campaign=buffer&utm_content=bufferde853&utm_medium=social&utm_source=facebook.com&utm_term=.e2682a0f550c – “Broad learning skills are the key to long-term, satisfying, productive careers. What helps you thrive in a changing world isn’t rocket science. It may just well be social science, and, yes, even the humanities and the arts that contribute to making you not just workforce ready but world ready.”
•	https://www.chron.com/business/columnists/tomlinson/article/Texas-lagging-badly-in-educating-workforce-12457365.php - This line is close to the end of the article: “College administrators complain that Texas high schools fail to prepare students for college. Texas college test scores put the state at 44th in the nation with only 60 percent of high school students taking the test.”	
This is a course where you don't have to show you know everything, but know something
Make sure you look at the example in the link. Tip: These kinds of questions are best learned in the instructor’s links to Lessons in the Unit, not in the textbook.
	Because I see students memorizing random facts, I am trying to get you to focus on useful, usable facts for your life time because is about life works. In this class, questions do not require that you show you know everything, but that you show that you know something. The questions focus on your recognizing significant traits of such things as regions, time periods and their dominant beliefs or events, and historical figures. (See Learning Quizzes, Concepts, and the Goal of Exam Questions) 
Click here for an example of a question that lets you show that you know something that is worthwhile. 
(URL: http://www.cjbibus.com/GS_Good_Habits_What_Is_a_Question_Where_You_Show_You_Know_Something.htm )	
Done Why I Attempt to Protect Student’s Grades While Helping Students Improve Writing
	In Spring 2011, I became increasing concerned about students and why they were not succeeding. I began doing surveys each term to ask students:
•	what changes in the course that I could make to try to help them (and there are changes this term based on what students wrote in the survey of 5 classes in May 2017)
•	what they did not know before this course when they had a paper that I graded on evidence 

The results showed—until they were graded on evidence--50% to 60% of students from 2011 to 2017 did not have basic experiences such as having to be factually accurate when writing about reality. Click here to see what past students said they did not know before grading of their papers on evidence in this course. 
(URL: http://www.cjbibus.com/STCT_Am_Exp_quantitiesNOTrealizingPriorToFeedback_Samples.htm) 	
	Because of long term professional work in varied industries and because my Master’s degree and my doctorate degree were earned at different universities, my experience said this lack of 5 basic experiences by a large portion of students was not fair to them. They would have unnecessary difficulties:
1.	in jobs that pay well
2.	in problem-solving and in making safe decisions for their work and family
3.	in—if needed for a career they want—taking upper level courses

If you follow the 5 Good Habits for Evidence, you can practice at a freshman level the skills you need to succeed in your future. Click here if you think there is a job that does not require the 5 Good Habits for Evidence. 
(URL: http://www.cjbibus.com/GS_Good_Habits_for_Evidence_Would_anyone_pay_you_for_this_skill.htm) 	

DONE History Is Different - Read This and Click on the Links that I'd Show You in a Class  Renamed History Is Different - Read This and Click on the Links that I'd Show You in a Class
3 Points DONE Realities about History Department Requirements and How I Attempt to Help Students’ Grades
	Your professor follows History Department policy that all courses consist of a minimum of 25% written assignments. The math of 25% means that—if you want at least a C—you must do written work. Click on these examples of the math. (URL: http://www.cjbibus.com/GS_HistDept_25_Percent_Min_So_You_MUST_Write.htm)
(See Caution about the History Department’s Course Objectives and Its 25% Writing Requirement.)	
	Your professor follows History Department policy that all courses require students use primaries and “historical evidence” and they create an “argument” (not just repeat). Click here for details about those terms. (URL: http://www.cjbibus.com/GS_HistDept_Student_Learner_Outcomes.htm) (See Student Learner Outcomes.)	
	Your instructor, however, splits grades with 1/2 on writing content and ½ on following the 5 Good Habits for Evidence. Click here for an example of how a C can become a B. Click here for required Course Objectives, the separate Good Habits for Evidence grade, and how it can help you.(URL: http://www.cjbibus.com/GS_Good_Habits_for_Evidence_As_Separate_Grade_Example_of_the_Math.htm	

Done Requirements So You MUST ﻿Have Good Habits with Evidence and I Can Also﻿Grade Accurately and Faster
	For written assignments, your professor requires that your only sources are the textbook and resources that the professor provides in the course, including primaries. To be clear: No Google. (See Required Course Materials.)	
	For written assignments, you also must cite a specific page from the required textbook for your fact. (See Required Course Materials.)	
	What do these requirements mean? Your prof can quickly tell if you made things up, misread, plagiarized, “half-copy” plagiarized, changed a person’s words to match what you wished he or she said. What is more useful is that your prof can prove it. Now you may be thinking that is impossible, but Evidence Quiz 2 provides examples of students’ work (unnamed of course) and their sources so you can see for yourself. 	
DONE Mystery Words in the Syllabus (That I do not want to remain mysteries for you)
	What’s a concept? Click here for a definition and 2 examples. 
(URL: http://www.cjbibus.com/GS_Good_Habits_What_Is_a_Concept.htm )  	
	What’s a peer review? Click here for peer review and where to find more on the word citation. (URL: http://www.cjbibus.com/GS_Good_Habits_for_Evidence_What_Is_Peer_Review_and_What_Is_Citation.htm 	
	What’s a primary? A secondary?  Students in history are required to use primaries. You have an assignment to help you practice that. Click here for details about those terms. (URL: http://www.cjbibus.com/GS_HistDept_Student_Learner_Outcomes.htm) (See Student Learner Outcomes.)	
	What’s a rubric? Click here for the definition and examples of rubrics in this class. (UIL: 
http://www.cjbibus.com/GS_Good_Habits_for_Evidence_What_Is_a_Rubric.htm )
In this course rubrics are used to grade every stage of a writing assignment and to grade Learning Discussions.	
DONE What’s a 1.11 at My Grades Mean? What about Tips and Cautions?
	If there is a problem with your following the Good Habits for Evidence or with anything incomplete about an assignment, your professor enters 1.11 as a temporary placeholder for the grade and posts a comment with that grade telling you what you need to do. (See Getting Started Activities and see Grading Response Timeframe.)	
	Why are there Tips and Cautions? Click here for what these words signal. (UIL: 
http://www.cjbibus.com/GS_How_I_Try_to_Signal_You_about_Dangers_and_Benefits.htm