SYLLABUS for ENGLISH 4 --SUMMER 2020

ENGLISH 4 —SUMMER  2020—CHABOT—MCFARLAND

Instructor:  Sean McFarland   

Email: smcfarland@chabotcollege.edu         smcfarland2011@gmail.com

Please Note:

At this time there are no required texts. We may likely add some later. Meanwhile you will be given a wide variety of essays and articles to read, in addition to other media, such as videos and websites. The recent events that have rocked our country and the world, including Covid-19 and the protests for racial and community justice will be a central focus of this class. 

We will be setting up opportunities for you to take part in occasional class Zoom calls. I will be sharing possible times for you to choose from. 

Some of the focus of this class:

1.     Investigation of Project Based Learning and Group Dynamics as education tools

2.     Relationship of individual to their community and to the natural environment

3.     Urban planning, community change, climate change, sustainability, equity

4.     Community/Asset Mapping, creating focus groups, forging resiliency 

5.     Investigating the city of Hayward (and other cities like it) 

Course work and class goals:

1.     Complete 4 formal essays or larger projects. You MUST complete—and I must accept--all the essays/projects if you hope to pass the course. These projects may include things like creating websites, movies, multi-media materials, surveys,  etc. 

2.     Introduction of analysis and critical thinking, and its application to essay writing and project creation.

3.     Analytic reading & discussion of essays, articles, full-length works & other media.

4.     Review of Grammar and Punctuation.

5.     Study and review of the composing process—that is, the steps in how to write an essay.

6.     Participate in class discussion, collaborate with fellow students on ambitious projects.

7.     Conference with the instructor.

8.     In-class writing, presentations, projects, field trips, quizzes, final exam.

9.     Frequent homework assignments—these should be typed if possible. They will almost always lead directly to the formal essays and projects, so doing the homework will prepare you for the larger work. 

Requirements and Grades:

1.      Participation is vital in this class. Please share your thoughts!

2.      It is crucial that you stay on top of your work. Summer classes go VERY fast. And online courses demand that you are able to organize your time wisely and not get behind. It is very hard to catch up in an online summer class. 

First English 4 assignment--Summer 2020

For your first English 4 assignment, we will be investigating the “Staying IN: Hayward” website. This spring semester, Chabot students created the content for this website in response to the Covid pandemic, and being asked to quarantine at home. The goal of the website is to demonstrate that Hayward (and other local cities) is a "resilient community full positive examples of humanity."
You should spend a LONG time on the website...going through all the posts. Once you do this, you have 4 questions to answer below. I want you to write long paragraphs in response to the questions. I think you will be very impressed with the quality of work here. 
Here is the link to the website.  https://sicchabot.wixsite.com/stayinginhayward

Here are the 4 questions you will be answering:1. What are your impressions of the website? The look, the overall feel, how you navigate it, the layout, etc? (2 paras total)2. What are three things you learned about these Chabot students? (3 paras total. You must pull quotes from different presentations to support your points. We are interested in TRENDS here. Dont just look at 3 random presentations and talk about 3 individuals.)3. What is your favorite presentation (2 paras total. You should talk about WHY you like it. Pull quotes to support your points.)4. How successful do you think the website is in achieving the goals of “providing positivity, building community, and finding ways to support one another”?   (2 paras total.)

Once you answer these questions, hold on to them in a word doc. As soon as my Canvas site is up and running, I will have you upload your work into the Canvas site...