A grading contract is an agreement between student and teacher that focuses on your efforts, instead of percentages. Your final grade in this course will be based on this. You will receive no letter grades in this class, except for the midterm and final. Everything else will be marked complete or incomplete.

Breakdown

	Attendance	Complete Assignments	Journals	Participation & Improvement
A	2 absences	5	14	Above Satisfactory (Prepared & involved in class / 2 meetings with me)
B	4 absences	4	13	Satisfactory (Prepared & involved in class / 1 meeting with me)
C	6 absences	3	12	Approaching Satisfactory
D	7 absences	2	11	Well Below Satisfactory
F	8 absences	1	10	Unsatisfactory

Terms of Agreement

The default final grade for this course is a B. Your job during the semester is to maintain this grade or work for an A. You only need one column to dip for your whole grade to fall.

Your grade requirements…

• To get an “A” you need…to be absent 2 or less times, complete all assignments plus an extra one, your participation is above satisfactory, and your improvement is above proficient.
  • Above satisfactory participation means that not only are you prepared for class, add insight to class sessions, and meet with me once to review drafts (any time in the semester, inside or outside class).
  • Above proficient improvement means that your work shows the most effort into acquiring new skills and learning course outcomes. As well, you visit the Writing Center at least once during the semester.
• To get a “B” you need…to be absent 4 or less times, complete all required assignments, your participation is satisfactory, and your improvement is proficient. “B” is the default grade in this course.
  • Satisfactory participation means you prepared for and participate in class.
  • Proficient improvement means that your work shows the base level of effort into acquiring new skills and learning course outcomes. This means, for example, that assignments are thoroughly revised before submitting them a second time.
• I hope no one else will strive to get grades lower than a B.

Attendance 

• Absence means that you have missed the full class session or you have missed half of the class session.
• Late to class means that you arrive any time after the start time of the class. If you are often late, this could also result in an absence. My general rule is that 4 late arrivals to class equals an absence.

Assignments

• You agree to complete all our assignments on time, to the best of your ability, and in line with the prompt.
  • Complete means that the assignment has all of its required parts done correctly, and is submitted on time. 
  • Incomplete means that parts of the assignment are missing, parts of the assignment do not follow the prompt, or the assignment was never submitted.
• Extenuating Circumstances means that if you have an emergency or situation beyond your control, you can email me to explain and some of these penalties will not be enforced. (An extenuating circumstance includes a sickness, a family emergency, an accident, etc. It does not include situations where the student waited until the last minute and now does not have enough time to complete an assignment.)
• Extensions… Extensions are written or verbal requests from the student asking for a later due date for an assignment. Extension Requests need to be submitted at least 1 business day, 24 hours, before the assignment is due. Extensions are not retroactive and are not given after the due date. If an assignment is late, it is late. There are also no extensions for First Drafts or Peer Review comments.
• I do not accept late assignments. 

Participation and Improvement

• Grading contracts are based on effort. You agree to put effort into your participation during class sessions, and into improving your composition skills.
  • Participation is a measure of your involvement in and outside of class. Some people do participate in different ways, and this will be noted in this category by using both in class discussion and journals as part of your participation. 
  • Improvement is a measure of your growth as a writer. This is not measured by how much you improve, but how much effort and work you put into improving your writing skill.

Communication

You agree to stay in contact with me throughout the semester and take initiative to reach out.