Portland Community College | Portland, Oregon

 Hello! My name is Paul Montone. I'm an instructor at PCC's Southeast Campus and a tutor at the Reading and Writing Center.

Writing 115 is a fully online college writing class that uses writing as a tool for academic success. The class is designed to offer you opportunities for practice in reading critically, locating information, exploring ideas, and writing to learn. I have designed this course with the hope that it will help you succeed in your academic work in college, and I will do my best to help you however you need throughout the course of the term. In fact, I look forward to it, as working closely with students is my favorite part of teaching.

All the learning materials for the course are provided in the online classroom, so there's no text book you need to buy. The assignments are set up so that you can work both individually and, at times, in small groups. All I ask is that you check in with the class three to four times a week and keep up with the work.

One important conisideration for my WR 115 classes is that we'll use "labor-based contract grading" in this course, an approach to assigning and grading student work in a college writing class that is meant to more be inclusive and equitable than standard numerical grading practices. This means that your overall grade is determined by how much you apply yourself and put in the work (the "labor") necessary to participate in this course. While we will work to understand the standards of college writing exepcted of students in college (grammar, proper formatting, revision practices, and so on), it's all about your effort and your willingness to put in the time and do the work.

Please note that during week 1 a self-introduction discussion post is required by Wednesday, no later than 11:59PM. This is how I take attendance for the course and determine who is active in the class. If you do not post a self-introduction on time, you may be dropped from the course per the college's "no show" policy.

If you have any questions about me, the class, or English and Writing courses at PCC, please feel free to email me: paul.montone@pcc.edu

You will need the basics for an online course. This means access to a computer or tablet with Internet access and a word processing program for composing your own writing. Using Google docs can offer a solution if you do not have a word processing program app on your computer or if you are using a Chrome book.