Advice from Dr. Hammond's students

Advice from Dr. Hammond's former students

At the end of the semester, I often ask my students to write some advice to someone who plans to take the class they just completed. You can read a brief page giving general advice about all my courses, but this page includes all the unedited comments offered anonymously by students who took (and survived!) ENGL 101 in the Fall 2005 semester. In all the advice, you may notice a theme: don't procrastinate and give it your best effort!

Three classes respond to the question . . .

What advice would you give a student taking ENGL 101 next year?

ENGL 101-002 Responses
Ask questions please ask questions and pay attention to the little things that she says. Listen to her when she tells you how to become a better writer and act on it. Be at class on time and turn in all your work. If you have an appointment make sure you are there at your scheduled time. Just get help if help is needed.
BE ORGANIZED!!! I am not an organized person, and I usually was able to to find everything and get most of my stuff turned in on time, but in this class, organization is way more important than I thought at first. And it was harder for me to keep up with my work. Keeping papers where you can easily get to them, keeping legible notes together and in order, all of this will make this class easier on you and less stressful.
The only advice I would give a student taking ENGL 101 next year would be not to wait around and do your paper at the last minute. If you do that you do not get a good grade. Work on your paper a little at a time.
Dont procrastinate, if you are having problems wiht the assignments go and see Dr. Hammond for help. I would tell them to revise, revise, revise their papers, until they fill confident in their work. I would tell them do not ever miss in class workshops they count for a lot of points! Turn everything in if you are not going to make it to class e-mail her, and send your assignment in with someone or by e-mail, the daily grades are really helpful!
Take her advice!! When Dr. Hammond tells you what you need to do better on for your paper, take her advice and correct it, it will make your grade better! Don't procrastinate, I always tell myself this...because it will make you also get a better grade on your paper...take the time to do it and do it well. Complete all your assignments on time, most of the assignments are easy, and can be done quickly, and she does grade them so they do count for something.
I would tell anyone taking this course to try not to miss any days of class. each and every day I learned something useful for writting my paper. I wold also advise you to take advantage of all of the opportunities to revise your paper because after all, what do you have to lose.
Some advice I would give a student taking English 101 would be not to procrastinate. There are only four main papers so do not let them sneak up on you. Manage your time and take advice from Dr. Hammond. The good thing about this class is that you are given a chance to revise three of four papers. GOOD LUCK!
First I would tell them to get ready to work then be ready to write research and I would encourge them to stay focus and make sure that you accomplish every assignment that was giving to you. Whenever you begin to write your papers if you don't do good on all of them make sure you revise when ever that is availble. Never give up a chance to revise because it can't make it worse just only better. Don't procastinate in this class!!!!!!
I would like to start by saying that you will learn a lot in this class. You will be put to the test a lot, because the papers are somewhat tough. If you begin the year an awful writer, then you are mostly likely to come out of this class a better writer. Dr. Hammond explains in detail how not to write a paper, and also explains the proper ways to write a paper and the steps to take to complete each paper. Good luck students!!
Some advice I would give ENGL 101 students is to always listen to what Dr. Hammond says. She knows what she is talking about! And DON"T procrastinate!! Manage your time.Be sure to ask questions about anything you need help on. When you are writing papers be sure to get more than one person to read it. And GOOD LUCK!!
I would say to not be afraid to rewrite papers over and over to get them to be as good as possible. Believe me I hate rewriting papers because it is just boring, but it really helped me get better grades than if I had just kept my orginal. Many times once I started rewriting and rewording I would see my paper start to take a different new turn and I would learn something else or see something else that I missed before as being a possible topic.
I would advise them to stay focused on the paper assigned and also to work on it over a period of time. Do not wait until the last minute because most of the time other things have to be turned in with the paper that take some time as well.
I really enjoy writing and English as a whole so I really did enjoy this class and felt I learned alot from it. The most inportnat thing I learned was DO NOT PROCRASTINATE!!!!!! You may be able to right a passing paper, maybe even decent. But your work could be so much better if you just spent a little more time on it. You are always given enough time, so use it wisely!
Stay organized!!! Keep everything that you do in a folder and label everything. I didn't do this, so take my advice when I say it. Also, don't be smart with her, she'll ALWAYS win. Just give up!! That's about it.
Spread out your time! The papers are scheduled to take place over a long period of time for a reason, so don't wait until the last minute to get everything together, your grade will reflect it. Complete revisions, they are easy and sure to get you a much better grade if you actually fix the things discussed in conferences. Some people move up two letter grades, anything is possible, you just have to try. The pocket style manual is your key to success, don't do anything without it!

ENGL 101-003 Responses
The advice I would give students that decide to take English 101 next year I would have to say that it is a wonderful course to take as a beginning freshman college student. Its a good class to get your foot in the door on writing papers the correct way. Dr. Hammond does a good job showing students how to write well written papers and she gives you a lot of chances to revise a paper because she wants you to see thats how you become a better writer by working at it and learning from your mistakes. I wasn't a good writer to begin with in fact I hated writing because I just could never come up with a topic to write about but now I can't stop writing! I know I might not ever use writing that much in my career but I will be able to help my children when they start writing papers like my mom as helped me.
I would tell the student to rethink how they're going to approach English 101. I went Enlgish 101 with one attitude and out with a completely different one. Procrastination is not an option in this class, always revise his/her paper and really try hard on them, come to class regularly, and have people edit his/her papers before turning them in for the first time.
I believe that I have learned more in this English 101 class than I did all three semesters. I believe that the most important thing that I have learned is how to revise. You will revise one papaer at least more than 4 or 5 times. Keep a copy of your first draft and then keep a copy of your last. When you go back through and read both of your papers you will be amazed at how much better your paper sounds in the end. Have a great semester.
I would give the advice that you should not procrastinat in this class. If yu do so then you will feel very ove helmed. Take you time and do every thing in steps. Do not wait to the night before the paper is due. If you do you will not do as well as if you were doing it all along. Make sure that you do all of your research in advance that way all of it is together. Make sure that you choose topics that you like. It really dose help. Good luck and have fun.
A student taking this class next year needs to make sure that they do not procrastinate. Most of the paper that we wrote in this class take up alot of time. They need a lot of thought in them and they also need alot details to back up you topic sentences. Some of the topics we wrote about in this class were not that difficult but they need alot of time to have a high grade.
The advice that I have is, do not wait until the last minute to write your paper. Make sure you write a little bit each day starting with the day the assignment was givin.
The advice I would give a student for taking ENGL 101 next year would be that they should listen to the advice given by then at the writers' workshop and also not to wait until the last minute to write a paper or to revise it.
My advice for a student would be don't procrastinate and do your work and turn everything in. Even if it is only half done, turn it in. It's better to receive partial credit than no credit!
Do not procrastinate. Brainstorm on all of your papers. Remember Not to wait till the last minute to work on your paper, especially your reasearch paper. Always take notes about your papers.
Some advice I would give for the people coming into the class would first be to never procrastinate. I am one of these people and believe me it just won't work out. Also, do all your homework and assinments on time. Last, no matter how aggrivated you get do not give up and keep on trying. Other than that good luck.
If I were to give any advice to students taking English 101, it would probably be to be prepared to step up to the next level of writing. By being prepared I mean a couple of things. Make sure you are ready to work harder and spend more time on papers than you did in high school. You must get a little different mind set to successfully complete college level papers.
To any students preparing to take ENGL 101 next year, I wish you the best of luck. It is a very tideous course that includes a lot of details. You need to make sure that you make enough time in your schedule to meet with your teacher outside of class because there will be times when you will need some extra advice on a paper, and your teacher will always enjoy helping with that. Make sure that you have all the required materials in the beginning of the class because the material will be used by the teacher constantly and it will be helpful to you. Another thing that is also very important in this class is attendance. If you miss several classes you will be confused and and left behind with the assignments. Overall the class is not hard, it will really benefit you in the long run. When you first start out, it seems very hard becase you don't really know what to expect from the teacher, but they are not here to harm us but to help us.
My advice for a student taking English 101 next year would be not to let nerves get to you and just learn as much as possible about the entire writing process, then express your feelings through writing.
the advice i would give some one that is about to take english 101 is to be ready to work this is not high school any more teachers expect you to do work. This is a fast pace course so you either get it or you dont
The advice I would give students taking Engl. 101 next year would be to not procrastanate. Start the assignments as soon as you know what to do. I found myself in this situtation a number of times, by just leting time get away from me. Take your work very seriously.
The advice that I would give to a future student of English 101 next year is to take every assignment seriously. Do not consider a classwork assignment to have only a minimal effect on your grade because your participation grade has a substantial percentage of your final grade. One other piece of advice that I would offer is to take time to revise your major papers over and over; the more you improve it, the better it will be.
Do your best on writing your paper the first time. If you do your best the first time, most likely it will be a less hassel when trying to correct the paper. Always go back and look over your entire paper and check for gramatical errors. Spend as much time as possible on each paper, because the more time you spend the better its going to be. Don't be the only one to read your paper, let other students and people around you read your paper and take their advice if it is serious. Don't be afraid to have a complete turn around in a paper sometimes. Make sure to follow complete directions on each paper, and stay focused on the main topic of your paper. Be sure to use detail and good support for your arguments. You need to lay the paper out where it is so easy to read there is no thinking involved. Like Dr. Hammond says "Readers are lazy, and you have to just hand it to them in the paper."

101-104 Responses
Be prepared to write some indepth papers. Do Not Procrastinate! Every word that Mrs. Hammond says is helpful.
To students in English 101 next year, I would like to tell yall to make sure that you go to all of the rough draft workshops they became very helpful for me. Also make sure you do not procrastinate because if you do this class will become a pain at the end.
One thing that I would tell an incoming student taking ENGL 101 next year would be to stay focused and stay on task. The class isn't very hard so long as you understand the assignments, and ask questions if you don't. All of the teachers here at USCL ar more than willing to help you with anything you need if you just ask. That's their job. Good luck.
People coming into English 101 next year should pay close attention to instructions for assignments given by the teacher. Another thing is ask questions about what you do not understand, or you will be lost. You will get frustrated, but do not let that frustration cause you to quit the class. You will regret it later.
My advice to the new students of Dr. Hammond's ENG 101 would be to take advantage of her help. Show up for her consults, be on time, and definitely pay attention. From personal experience, she's not trying to over work you but she is trying to help you. I know that it may not seem like it but you will appreaciate it at the end of the semester.
I would say that this course is deffinantly worth while and will help you succeed as a writer. It has helped a lot in writting papers and becoming a better person as well. What i mean by that is that it has helped to manage my time better and not get stressed out over assignments. i would make a suggestion to write every night in order to become more successful and write great papers. Don't ever wait till the last minute to do somethin because i promise you it will come back and bite you in the rear end! Trust me it has happend to me!

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