Our New Discussion Board for Thesis Statement

Hi there,

This is the alternative forum I create because many of you have problems signing up to http://elearning.uns.ac.id/.
Just click the link below. No registration is needed, but make sure you give me a clear ID.

Good luck.




Discuss Thesis Statement

Please Sign Up to the E-Learning Account.

Some have told me they've got problems when signing up for the e-learning account. This morning, however, we got some new participants. This means that the problem on email verification is no longer there. 

I've also uploaded the PowerPoint Presentation I displayed in our class last Monday (Feb 23).  I could not do this last weekend, either. Again, this shows that we have no technical problems any longer. In addition, I've created a forum to discuss your thesis statement. 

We are looking forward to your brilliant ideas.  

Thanks.

Pre-test

Hi Everyone.

Well, I am in the middle of grading your first assignment for the semester, and here are some of the things I'm finding in your first TWEs:

If you received a 2, please set up a time to conference with me.

If you received a 3, here are some of the items that kept you from getting a 4:

• unclear/vague thesis statement
• insufficient supporting details
• choice of words and word forms were not appropriate
• errors in structure or usage or a lack of variety in sentece structure
• repetition of words or phrases
• spelling and grammatical errors

If you received a 4, here are some of the items that kept you from getting a 5:

• difficulty in finding the focus of the paragrph
• inability to show facility in the use of a language through a broad range of vocabulary and sentence structures
• grammatical and spelling errors
• lack of detailed support or examples in body paragraphs

So far, I've only found a couple of scores at a level 5. A few of the reasons these students were able to earn a 5 is because the paper:

• had relatively few grammatical and spelling errors
• was clearly well organized and fully developed
• had a strong and well supported thesis statement through the use of details and examples
• showed a developed and appropriately used variety of vocabulary
• presented a well developed voice in the essay

As I stated in class, you have to be pretty close to native speaker proficiency to get a 6, and I haven't seen one yet.

A few things for everyone:

• it's SMOG not FOG
• conclusions need to be longer and more thorough
• all paragraphs should have topic sentences
• and, the golden number is 25 = 5/5/5/5/5 = If you write about 5 sentences per paragraph, you should have plenty of supporting details for the reader to follow your thought process.

Overall, I'm pleased with the types of essays I'm seeing. We do have quite a few things to work on, especially the vocabulary and syntax, but not bad for your first try.

I don't know how many people have a thesaurus, but if you have one and can bring it to class, that would be great. It will help tremendously with vocabulary development as we do our peer editing and revisions. So, I know it's a burden to bring an extra book, but if you can, it will help you and your peers as we journey toward that next level of greatness.

See you in the next class. Have a great night!

Grades - Speaking III & V

There has been some concern about grades. Allow me to explain the rationale and justification behind your grades:

1. Your participation grade reflects the grade of your final for the simple reason that by the final exam, you have had ample time to practice and prepare. Your final grade should be your best grade. This is also mirrored by the university policy as demonstrated by the weight distribution of the grades. If you will notice, your final grades in all of your classes carry the most weight. As stated before, this is due to the fact that by the end of the class you should have been more proficient than when you entered the class.
2. If you received a lower grade than expected on the final, you probably did not format your paper as was stated in the blog. If I couldn't find all of the information required (your name, student ID, topic, and class) your grade was lowered. If you forgot to put at least your name (which occurred in about 10% of all of my classes), you should have been given a ZERO.
3. I chose to give you the lowest grade out of all of the people who took the final rather than giving you a zero so that you were able to at least pass the class rather than fail completely. I consider this to be a gift to you since it would have been just as easy for me to fail you.

So, as you ponder your grades, hopefully next time you will remember that you are college students who need to follow directions or suffer the consequences.

Best wishes. ~Angela