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...

Final English Assignment. for all Spring English classes....

Final English Assignment.

Hey all,

for this final, you have 3 questions. You will type up your responses and email them to me by this Friday, the 22nd...


1. What has it been like to transition to remote learning? (2-3 paras) You can talk about how it has been in each class you are taking...you can talk about how it has been for you mentally or emotionally... 
2. What advice would you give someone who is going to do this kind of remote learning? (2-3 paras) try to be as practical and specific as possible --what advice would you give to CHABOT teachers and administrators...
3. What are your educational plans for summer and fall?  (1 para) you can talk about your feelings about doing in-person learning vs remote learning, etc...

Home work for English 4 class

Home work for English 4 class

We will have one more zoom call... after tonights  zoom call

it will be it will be next Thursday the 21st at 6pm
--use the same zoom link you have been using

 ....by next Tuesday nite pls  email to me your answers to   Qs 2, 4, 6 ..... we will then talk about these questions on next Thursday ...,...your final draft Will be due on Saturday  the 22nd via email....

here is some guidance for each question:

Q2 is 3  paras---for sure you should organize each paragraphs by CONCEPTS, not students....0f course you will bring in students presentations to support your points about the concepts
Q4 is 2 paras or so... here you will speak honestly and with insight into how you might improve or change your own presenattoin....
Q6 is  2 paragraphs or so.... in this section you will talk about how effective you think the website is under these categories " providing positivity, building community, and finding ways to support one another”

you will email me this work by Tuesday nite..... send it sooner if you can.,...

Home work and important info for English 1 classes (3pm class and 6pm class)----

Home work for English 1 classes   (3pm class and 6pm class

We will have one more zoom call... after today's zoom call

for the 3pm English 1 class it will be it will be next MONDAY the 18th at 3pm
for the 6pm English 1 class it will be it will be next MONDAY the 18th at 6pm
--use the same zoom link you have been using

 ....by next Sunday nite  I want you to email to me your answers to   Qs 2, 4, 6 ..... we will then talk about these questions on Monday the 18th...,....of course your final draft Will be due on Friday the 22nd via email....

here is some guidance for each question:

Q2 is 3  paras---for sure you should organize each paragraphs by CONCEPTS, not students....0f course you will bring in students presentations to support your points about the concepts
Q4 is 2 paras or so... here you will speak honestly and with insight into how you might improve or change your own presenattoin....
Q6 is  2 paragraphs or so.... in this section you will talk about how effective you think the website is under these categories " providing positivity, building community, and finding ways to support one another”

you will email me this work by Sunday nite...at the latest..... send it sooner if you can.,...

Home work for English 102 class

Home work for English 102   class

We will have one more zoom call... it will be next MONDAY the 18th at 11 am ...use the same zoom link ....by next Sunday nite  I want you to email to me your answers to   Qs 2, 4, 6 ..... we will then talk about these questions on Monday the 18th...,....of course your final draft Will be due on Friday the 22nd via email....

here is some guidance for each question:

Q2 is 3  paras---for sure you should organize each paragraphs by CONCEPTS, not students....0f course you will bring in students presentations to support your points about the concepts
Q4 is 2 paras or so... here you will speak honestly and with insight into how you might improve or change your own presenattoin....
Q6 is  2 paragraphs or so.... in this section you will talk about how effective you think the website is under these categories " providing positivity, building community, and finding ways to support one another”



you will email me this work by Sunday nite...

Home work for English 4 class

Home work for English 4 class

hey there, what I would like you to do is answer Qs 1, 3, 5.....

Q1 is 2 paras
Q3 is 2 paras
Q5 is links to your social media ---with little descriptions of what you did ...("I posted the website to my Instagram story., and gave a little summary of this project")

you will email me this work by Sunday nite