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Welcome! My goal in this course is to offer you one of the most valuable learning experiences of your entire life.  And I need your full cooperation to make it work!

COURSE PURPOSE: The subject of our class is SUCCESS...what success is for you personally and how you can achieve it. In the coming weeks, you will learn many proven strategies for creating greater academic, professional, and personal success.  We will use guided journal writings to explore these strategies, and as a bonus, you will learn to express yourself more effectively in writing.  You may never again have an opportunity quite like this one to discover how to create a rich, personally fulfilling life.  I urge you to make the most of this extraordinary opportunity!  If you do, you will dramatically change the outcome of your life for the better!

COURSE OBJECTIVES: In this course, you will learn how...

1. TO TAKE CHARGE OF YOUR LIFE. You will learn how to take personal responsibility, gaining greater control over the outcomes and experiences that you create both in college and in life.

2. TO INCREASE SELF-MOTIVATION. You will learn to create greater inner motivation by discovering your own personally meaningful goals and dreams.

3. TO IMPROVE PERSONAL SELF-MANAGEMENT.  You will learn numerous strategies for taking control of your time and energy, allowing you to move more effectively and efficiently toward the accomplishment of your goals and dreams.

4. TO ENHANCE RELATIONSHIPS. You will learn how to develop mutually supportive relationships that will support you to achieve your goals and dreams as you assist others to achieve theirs.

5. TO HEIGHTEN SELF-AWARENESS. You will learn how to understand and revise your self-defeating patterns of behavior, thought, and emotion as well as your unconscious limiting beliefs.

6. TO MAXIMIZE LEARNING. You will learn a powerful process of learning that will enable you to get better grades in college and be an effective life-long learner.  You will learn many effective study skills as well.

7. TO STRENGTHEN EMOTIONAL INTELLIGENCE. You will learn effective strategies for managing distressing emotions and increasing your inner sense of well being and happiness.

8. TO RAISE YOUR SELF-ESTEEM. You will learn how to develop self-acceptance, self-confidence, self-respect, self-love, and unconditional self-worth.

9. TO WRITE MORE EFFECTIVELY.  You will learn how to improve your writing skills through the extensive writing practice offered by your guided journal entries.

10. TO DEVELOP CREATIVE AND CRITICAL THINKING SKILLS.  You will learn how to enhance the thinking skills essential for analyzing and solving problems in your academic, professional, and personal lives.

11. TO ACHIEVE GREATER SUCCESS IN YOUR CAREER.  You will learn and develop the personal qualities and skills that employers identify as essential for excelling in the world of work.

METHOD: In this course, you will be reading, writing, and talking about how you can create a successful life (as you define it).  By reading On Course (our text book), you will learn about many powerful success strategies that have worked for other people. By keeping a guided journal, you will become more aware of your life—past, present, and future—and discover how to apply the success strategies to stay on course to your goals and dreams.  By participating in class activities and discussions, you will further deepen your understanding of and your ability to use the success strategies.  Once you make these success tools your own, you will not only do better in college, you will also have the ability to improve the quality of your whole life.

COURSE SUPPLIES:

1. Text: On Course (5th ed.) by Skip Downing

2. String-bound composition notebook for your journal writing.  (If you would prefer to write your journal using a computer, please see me for the format.)

 COURSE EVALUATION MEASURES:                 Possible Points

1. 20 Quizzes (5 points each)                            100

2. 31 Success Journals (5 points each)               155

3. 1 Success Project                                         100

                        Total possible points                       355

 1. QUIZZES (100 Possible Points)

This is a course for students who wish to be successful in college and in life.  One of the most important factors of success in any endeavor is consistent and active participation.  To encourage and reward your preparation for active participation at every class, 20 unannounced quizzes on the readings will be given.  If you have read the assignment and completed your journal entry before the class, you should have no trouble earning the maximum number of points (5) for each quiz.  Great success is created one small step at a time.  Each time that you earn quiz points you take an important step toward your success in this course...and in life! Note: No quiz may be made up.

2. SUCCESS JOURNAL (155 Possible Points)

Purpose: Your SUCCESS JOURNAL provides you with an opportunity to explore your thoughts and feelings as you experiment with the success strategies presented in our text, On Course.  By carefully examining your own experiences in your journal, you will discover which success strategies will best assist you to create a rich, personally fulfilling life.  Although I will be collecting your journals and looking through them, write your journal for yourself, not for me.

Journal Writings: During this semester, you will write in your composition notebook the 31 numbered journal entries from our textbook.  These entries will be written outside of class.  Additionally, you will write lettered journal entries based upon class activities. These entries will be written in class. At various times you will have an opportunity to read a journal entry to one or more classmates. THEREFORE, PLEASE BRING YOUR TEXTBOOK AND JOURNAL TO EVERY CLASS.

Note: If you wish, you may write the first draft of your journal entries on loose sheets of paper, but all journal entries must be written in the composition notebook when it is handed in for evaluation.  This requirement will assure that none of your entries gets lost.  At the end of this semester, you will have your entire journal to keep for years to come.  Many students come to regard their personal journal as one of their most prized possessions.  If you wish to write your journal on a computer, remember to see me to discuss the appropriate format.

Journal Evaluations:  Journals will be collected in weeks 3, 5, 8, 11, and 14.  (See schedule below.)  It is not my intention to read every journal entry you write.  Instead, I will thumb through your journal book to verify the completion of each assignment and to give credit for a job well done.  On average, I will read 3-6 journal entries that catch my eye.  This reading gives me a sense of some of the issues that you are working on, so that I may be of greater assistance to you this semester. If you want my comment on a specific journal entry, simply turn down the corner of the appropriate page.  On that page, write me a note about the response you desire from me.

Privacy: Occasionally you may write a journal that you wish to keep private.  If so, simply fold the appropriate pages over and staple them closed at the top and bottom.  You have my word that I will respect your privacy.  I do reserve the right to confirm that there is, in fact, writing on these pages.  You may lock up to 3 journal entries; more than that will require my permission.  Locked journals will be given scores equal to the average scores of all other journals.

Journal Points: Each journal entry will be awarded up to 5 points.  Thus, all 31 journal entries will be worth a possible total of 155 points.  A journal entry will be awarded the maximum of 5 points if it fulfills the following two criteria:

1. The entry is complete (i.e., all directions have been followed), and

2. The entry is written with high standards (an obvious attempt has been made to gain great personal value from the journal activity by diving deep).

Grammar, spelling, and punctuation will NOT be factors in awarding points; in this journal.  You are free to express yourself without concern for standard English conventions. 

Note: All 31 journal entries must be completed to earn a passing grade in the course.

3. SUCCESS PROJECT: 100 Possible Points (Do ONE of the following four options)

Option 1:  Creating Success (Letter)

Step 1: Write a letter to someone you love (your child, grandchild, brother, sister, etc.). Tell the person how he/she can create a successful life.  Share three or more specific strategies you have learned in this course.  If the person you write to is very young (or not even born yet), you may want to give the letter as a gift when he/she is old enough to benefit from your wisdom. Minimum length: 1000 words.

An "A" project will...

1. Begin with an introductory  paragraph explaining the purpose of your letter,

2. Continue with a paragraph explaining your personal definition of success (including your own goals and dreams),

3. Continue with three or more paragraphs that explain how to use success strategies learned in this course. Discuss only one success strategy per paragraph. IMPORTANT: In each paragraph offer your specific experience of using this strategy in your life. If you haven’t used the success strategy in your life, don’t write about it.

4. Conclude with a summary of your suggestions and a personal wish for the recipient of your letter.

5. Show a commitment to excellence in preparation of your project, including professional appearance and a command of standard English.  You are encouraged to ask for assistance from the writing center.  Grammar errors will cost you points in this project. Remember, the minimum length for this project is 1000 words (not 999).

Option 2:  A Successful Person (Interview)

Step 1: Interview a successful person of your choice. Perhaps this person has attained goals and dreams that you want (e.g., You want to be a lawyer and the person you interview is a practicing attorney). Consider interviewing someone whom you admire but don’t know, perhaps someone well known: a business leader, politician, community activist, sports figure, celebrity, etc.  In your interview, discover this person’s definition of success as well as the behaviors and beliefs that led to his/her success. (You would be wise to write out your questions before the interview: e.g., “How important have goals been in achieving your success?”) Note: Make and turn in an audio- or videotaped recording of the interview.  

Step 2: Write up your interview, including what you learned from this person about creating success in college and in life.

An "A" project will...

1. Begin with a paragraph that introduces your reader to the successful person (Who is he/she?  Why did you choose him/her?  Why do you consider him/her successful? When/where did you do the interview?),

2. Present 10 or more of the question/answer pairs from your interview; these questions & answers should reveal three or more success strategies that the person used to create his/her extraordinary life, including personal examples or experiences from the person’s life.

3. Conclude with a paragraph in which you summarize the strategies you learned/relearned from this person about creating success in college and in life.

4. Show a commitment to excellence in preparation of your project, including professional appearance and a command of standard English.  You are encouraged to seek assistance from the writing center. Grammar errors will cost you points in this project. Remember, the minimum length is 1000 words (not 999) and you must turn in an audio- or videotaped recording of your interview.

Option 3:  Learning to Learn (Questions & Feedback)

Step 1:  Create a 20-question test for a course you are now taking and write out your answers to each question.  (You would be wise to choose your most difficult course since this project is designed to help you excel in any course.)  Include 5 questions each of the following kinds: 1) true/false, 2) matching, 3) fill-in-the-blank, 4) essay questions.  Design your questions so that a student who answers them correctly will be demonstrating the essential knowledge/skills covered in this course.

Step 2: Have a meeting with the instructor of the course.  Go over your 20-question test with the teacher, asking him/her to comment on the quality of your questions and answers. Do your questions lead to the essential knowledge covered in this course?  Are there ways to revise the questions you have asked to lead you to more profound discoveries?  Are these the questions to which an expert in this subject area needs to know the answers? Make and turn in an audio- or videotaped recording of your conversation with this instructor.

Step 3: Revise your test and answers based on what you discovered in the conversation with your instructor.  If your instructor suggests another kind of question (other than the 4 kinds you prepared), substitute these new questions for ones in your first test.

Step 4: Write a summary of at least 500 words explaining the most important discoveries you made while doing this project.

An "A" project will contain...

1. The original 20-question test that you created—containing 5 questions each of the following types:     A) true/false, B) matching, C) fill-in-the-blank, D) essay questions—and your 20 answers.

2. The revised 20-question test and your revised answers (after talking to your instructor),

3. A summary (500 or more words) explaining the most important discoveries you made while doing this project.

4. Show a commitment to excellence in preparation, including professional appearance and a command of standard English.  You are encouraged to seek assistance from the writing center. Remember, the minimum length of your summary is 700 words (not 699) and you must turn in an audio- or videotaped recording of the interview.

Option 4:  Creating Your Own Project

If none of the projects above appeals to you, you may create your own project.  You must submit a written project design to me by Week 10 of the semester, and you must have my written approval to proceed. The project must contain a section in which you explain what you learned from your project and how you intend to use that knowledge to advance your success in college and/or in life.

SCHEDULE OF ASSIGNMENTS

 ***IMPORTANT: Bring your text book and up-to-date journal to every class.***

 WEEK 1:         On Course: Read “Travel With Me”

WEEK 2:         On Course: Read pages 1-14 & Write Journal Entry 1

WEEK 3:         On Course: Read pages 15-29 & Write Journals Entries 2-3.........Turn in Journals 1-3

WEEK 4:         On Course: Read pages 29-45 & Write Journals Entries 4-6

WEEK 5:         On Course: Read pages 46-64 & Write Journal Entries 7-9..........Turn in Journals 1-9

WEEK 6:         On Course: Read pages 64-88 & Write Journal Entries 10-12

WEEK 7:         On Course: Read pages 89-113 & Write Journal Entries 13-15

WEEK 8:         On Course: Read pages 114-134 & Write Journal Entries 16-18......Turn in Journals 1-18

WEEK 9:         On Course: Read pages 135-151 & Write Journal Entries 19-21

WEEK 10:       On Course: Read pages 152-175 & Write Journal Entries 22-24

WEEK 11:       On Course: Read pages 176-193 & Write Journal Entries 25-26.......Turn in Journals 1-26

WEEK 12:       On Course: Read pages 194-207 & Write Journal Entries 27-28

WEEK 13:       On Course: Read pages 208-223 & Write Journal Entries 29-30

WEEK 14:       On Course: Read pages 224-233 & Write Journal Entry 31.............Turn in Journals 1-31

WEEK 15:       No Reading or Writing Assignments in On Course.......................Turn in your PROJECT

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