READING CHECK DAYS
Because reading and marking texts are a fundamental skill not just in English classes, but in all college courses, I require my students to show me that they marked their texts to get credit for the readings in the course. In a normal, face-to-face-in-person class, I can do a daily reading check of the whole class in less than 8 minutes usually, but doing so live-via-the-virtual-classroom is a lot more complicated.
On reading check days, students will be able to show up with their marked texts and hold them up to the camera for inspection. However, we probably will not get through everyone. Here are some ways you can each make this go faster:
1. Don't use a pencil: pencil marks are often very difficult to see via a web camera.
2. If you are using a book, use some kind of divider to mark off the start of each reading so that you can locate each text quickly. A series of Post-its or tabs can work, as can scraps of paper.
3. If you are using printouts of the digital editions, have them in syllabus order so we can flip through them quickly.
4. If you took notes, have your notebook ready to go to show what you said. Make sure each title is clearly indicated for each set of notes.
Alternative ways to submit the reading checks:
1. If you marked digitally, email your marked essays to Dr. Halbert. There may be a practical limit on the number of essays you can send at one time, but don't send each one individually: try to minimize the total number of emails sent with files attached to help keep documents together.
2. You may use your phone to videotape you flipping the pages. As a practical matter, you may need to make a couple of shorter films as most email programs won't let you send large files.
3. You can make one big file, save it to your Google drive, and email me the link.
If you do one of these alternatives, you do not need to go to class.
There is a possibility that some people may need to schedule an appointment with me individually if we can't get through everyone in class. My apologies for this inconvenience.