English 9.4: Newsletter Writing

Introduction

In English 9.4, you'll be learning how to make the most of Google Docs, Slides, and other Google Tools.  You already have many of the necessary skills for this course, but we're going to make sure you're all up-to-date on the core professional features offered by Google  Suite.

After completing this course, you'll be able to do the following:

• Work Together with a group on a single Google file.

• Adjust the Formatting in a Google Doc.

• Arrange Text and Images in a Google Slides presentation.

• Create a Basic Website using Google Sites.

Teaching Note: ISBE Secondary Standards

With the updated standards from the Illinois State Board of Education, all high school students in Illinois are required to take one year (1.0 credits) of courses that satisfy digital literacy requirements.  English 9.4 is designed to introduce students to core collaborative and compositional skills with Google Drive.  English 10.4 will develop more advanced skills through Yearbook Publishing, and English 10.5 will apply those skills to Vocational Writing.

Session Attendance: 20 Sessions Total

To do well in the this course, you'll need to master a wide variety of topics.  Although you don't need to attend every session in order, you will need to attend enough sessions to demonstrate your understanding of the digital skills.

For this course, each session provides an amount of work approximating one week of high school coursework.

Thanks to technology, you'll be able to work together with your team members even if you're attending different sessions on different days.  Just keep the following in mind:

• Make Sure You Attend Class.  If you miss too many sessions, you'll be rolled back into a different section of the course.  You may lose the progress you've made and have to start over.

• Makeup Sessions Are Possible.  You can do makeup sessions with other classes, and you'll have an opportunity to learn the key concepts with those courses.  You are responsible for keeping up with your group members.

• This is not an online course.  Although the skills for this course apply to online technologies, you must attend in-person so you can demonstrate what you've learned.

• Session Times Are Flexible.  If you and your group have a time you'd like to meet, let me know so we can schedule it.  If everyone works quickly and masters the skills, we can continue to the next session to knock out two in one day.

Naturally, life events do come up.  There will be field trips and doctor's appointments, and we'll work around those.  However, success in the course requires you to be present so you can work with your classmates and demonstrate your personal knowledge of the course materials.

Plagiarism: Copying and ChatGPT Are Not Accepted

Every word you submit from this course must come from you and you alone — you may use a keyboard, voice-to-text, or handwritten materials that you upload to your project.

But you might be wondering, "why does it matter if it's my own work?  As long as I turn something in, isn't that what matters?"  Well, here's why it matters:

• Writing is just like any other skill — you only get better through practice.  Writing can seem dull.  It can seem boring.  It can even feel painful.  But why is this?  Because it's just like running a marathon — if you haven't trained to run, then you're gonna be left gasping on the track after 100 meters.  The writing you turn in isn't about checking your ability to turn something in — in fact, I'm not even checking that you are able to write.  I'm leading you through the calisthenics of literacy.  You can't get stronger if you phone in your pushups.

• Not everyone knows what plagiarism is.  I need to make sure you know the difference between real work and something you copied from somewhere else.

• Where does your information come from?  How do I know you did your homework?  Can you give credit where credit is due?  If you're doing a research paper, you need to say whose information you found — that tells us whether your information is good.  The internet is filled with bad info — I need to know that you can tell the difference between what's good and what's not.

• Every assignment is a test of your personal ethics.  If you're willing to cheat on something simple like a piece of homework, then what other responsibilities will you cheat on?  When I'm in the nursing home, I don't want a CNA who drops my heart medicine on the floor and then falsely reports that I took it.  I don't want to turn on a lamp that doesn't work because someone accidently hacked through the wires while installing drywall.  And I'd rather not lose my smartphone to a computer virus because someone "forgot" to install the antivirus app.

If I catch a student committing plagiarism, I will remove the student from the course.  All progress will be lost, and you'll be rolled back to restart the course with another group.

Here are examples of plagiarism that will result in a course restart:

• Copying material directly from other websites without citation or quotation is forbidden.  If I find that your work is too similar to another website, I'll roll you from the class for a restart.

• Using ChatGPT or other AI software is forbidden.  If I suspect you've used AI software, I may ask you to sit down and write about your topic while I sit and observe.  If you can't produce the information or writing style of the submitted work, I'll roll you from the class for a restart.

• Copying work from another student is forbidden.  If I suspect the work isn't yours, I'll quiz you on the material you've submitted.  If you can't pass the quiz, I'll roll you from the class for a restart.

• Copying your own work and submitting it multiple times to pad the word count is forbidden — and it's very easy to check.  If I find that you've repeated a couple sentences in your materials, I might call it a mistake.  If I see a pattern of words getting copied over and over, then I'll treat it as plagiarism and roll you back.

Why Does Group Work Matter?

People often say that "in the real world, you have to work with others."  This is true, but only to a degree — there are actually many jobs where you can work alone and earn a good living.  But the ability work in a group does have some practical benefits:

• The more people you can work with, the bigger the things you can do in life.  Sometimes, you'll run into people you just don't like — and some of those individuals have crucial knowledge and skills that you personally lack.  If you want work well with these individuals, you'll go far.

• You learn which people to avoid.  That's right — some groups simply aren't worth joining.  Suffering through a terrible school group experience can help you avoid a worse experience later.

Grading, Assessment, and Group Projects

For this course, you'll be working together in a group to write a newsletter on the topic of your choice.   Now, we often see tension in group projects because not every student works at the same rate, but that's okay.  Here are some key things to bear in mind:

• All Grades Are Individual.  Your grade will not be affected by the work your group members do — and Google tools will illustrate what you've done versus what your classmates have done.

• Each Student Must Learn the Core Digital Literacy Skills.  I encourage you to help each other in the learning process, but don't do the work for your classmates.  I'll have a checklist of skills, and I'll be checking everyone's skills during in-class demonstrations.  If you or your friend aren't able to complete a skill when I ask, I won't be giving points for that skill.

Healthy Collaboration: Working Together Through Thick and Thin

For this course, don't worry about what your classmates write — every student will be graded individually.  There is no curve, and there's no need to compete against anyone — the only challenge is to write better than you thought you could.

Working together on a single project can be challenging — that's why I require it.  Mistakes will happen, and I urge you to let me know in case any of your writing is missing.  If you accidentally delete someone else's work, we should be able to easily recover it — let me know immediately if that happens.

Bear in mind that you do not need to agree with your classmates on everything.  You don't even have to like your classmates.  Thanks to digital tools, you don't even have to be in the same room with them in order to work together.  Just be respectful and — if needed — bite your tongue.

Unhealthy Collaboration: Accidents Versus Sabotage

In the past, I've had a few students who've purposely rewritten materials that their classmates wrote because "it didn't sound right," or they've deleted paragraphs written by their classmates because "I didn't like it."

If your revise, rewrite, or purposely delete work by another student, you will be kicked out of the class, and your progress will be lost.  To earn your digital literacy credit, you'll have to start the class over with another section.  And yes, you do need the digital literacy credit to graduate high school in Illinois.