Day 2 (Aug 27th) - Diagnostic Exam!!!

Yeah! Diagnostic Exam on Wednesday! Make sure that you arrive early (at least 2:55 pm for the ESL115 K class and 3:55 pm for the ESL115 A1 class) so that we can administer the exam right on time.

There are several things that you need to keep in mind in the diagnostic exam.

1. Use of cellphone, internet or dictionary is prohibited during the diagnostic exam.

2. After you are done, you will submit your exam through Compass 2g and keep no copy to yourself. The

prompt of the exam has to be remained confidential.

3. Any form of cheating or plagiarism will be punished! Don't even think about it! Or you may look like this

poor little kitty:










Remember that the purpose of this diagnostic exam is for me to find the problems you have in writing, and for you to review the basic essay structure and be aware of any potential problems you may have in writing. Therefore, treat the diagnostic exam seriously, but don't be overwhelmed or even terrified by it. Enjoy!

Since I will use Compass 2g to collect you exams, make sure that your Compass 2g works and it shows

on the right column of your website. If not, contact me as soon as you can at xinliu6@illinois.edu, and I will try to help you sort it out.

Don't forget to purchase your Writer's Help ebook online through http://pages.mail.bfwpub.com/WritersHelp/Student_Ordering_Info/.

In addition, there are severl links that might be of great help to you, and they are listed below.

Writer's Help Student Orientation: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sKQAAhEOhek



Switching Instructor: http://support.bfwpub.com/index.php?View=entry&EntryID=393 (This is very important for you when you first log in and select your instructor)

Day 1 (Aug 25th) - Welcome and Introduction

Hello everyone, welcome to ESL115 Principles of Academic Writing for the Fall Semester of 2014! Here are some things that will be covered in this class session:

1. Introduction to each other and a warm-up activity.
2. Brief description of course ESL115.
3. Go through the suggested syllabus for this course.
4. About "Writer's Help" ebook
   1) The "Writer's Help" ebook must be purhcased before the second day of class.
   2) A PDF tutorial is attached to help you go through the process of purchasing an activation code to get you an account for "Writer's Help".
   3) The place to get your "Writers' Help" ebook: http://pages.mail.bfwpub.com/WritersHelp/Student_Ordering_Info/
   4) Instructor's email account: xinliu6@illinois.edu (Note: you will need this for registration so that I can check the completion status of your exercises). After logging in, you will need to choose "Xin Liu" as your instructor and finish at least one exercise to make your name appear on my roster.
5. Connecting your "Compass 2g" account with mine so that I can collect all your assignments and papers throughout the semester.
6. Brief introduction to the procedure of Diagnostic Exam, which will be on the second day of class.

7. The following link https://drive.google.com/#folders/0B8DYMpqBp0ZmMFA5X3dVdHRoOEE will take you to my personal GoogleDrive, where you can view and download some useful files such as the 1st Day Handout, Suggested Syllabus, and the directions on how to get the Writer's Help ebook.

Once again, welcome to ESL115!