FREQUENTLY ASKED QUESTIONS

HOW BIG ARE YOUR CLASSES?

Classes are limited to 12 students so that each will have an opportunity to participate in interactive class discussions and receive ample individual attention.

 

HOW OFTEN DO CLASSES MEET?

Writing classes meet once a week for 90 minutes.

Literature classes meet once a week for 2 hours.

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WHERE DO CLASSES TAKE PLACE?

Classes will be conducted online on Zoom.

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ARE ONLINE CLASSES RECORDED?

Yes! All Zoom classes are recorded and available to registered students by the end of the day.

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HOW DO STUDENTS SUBMIT ASSIGNMENTS?

We use Canvas as our online classroom platform, where students will find assignments, files, discussion boards, and everything they’ll need for their classes, and where they will submit homework and receive feedback. Canvas is free for students and easy to use.

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WHAT ARE THE TECHNOLOGY REQUIREMENTS?

Many parents are rightly concerned about their children's computer use and want to limit their access. I am very sympathetic to that—I faced the same struggles when I had underage children in my house. But please be aware that for your child's success in an online class, they must be able to access their Canvas account multiple times a week to view and submit assignments, look at class notes, check for corrections, submit revisions, and communicate with me. They also must have some kind of word processing program to be able to work on the electronic worksheets I'll be sending which they will then submit as Word or pdf files to me. A regular sized laptop or desktop type computer will be best to attend our Zoom classes (phones or small screens really don't work well). Students will be expected to participate in class with video and audio on, and they'll be viewing shared documents, so please make sure they have good internet and a reliable computer to give them every chance to succeed in this class.

 

WHICH LEVEL OF LOST TOOLS SHOULD MY STUDENT TAKE?

All students new to Lost Tools of Writing must start with Level One. Even seniors in high school have benefited from a year of Lost Tools Level One before heading off to college. Its structure and tools are applicable to a wide variety of writing and thinking in every academic discipline and life.

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DOES MY STUDENT NEED PRIOR WRITING EXPERIENCE?

For Lost Tools Level One, students should have had some grammar (parts of speech, parts of sentences, phrases and clauses) and be able to write a simple paragraph.

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WHAT KIND OF FEEDBACK WILL STUDENTS RECEIVE?

Every written assignment turned in on time will be evaluated. For essays, revision requests will be clear and specific, and students will be required to complete all revisions before a completion grade will be given.

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WHAT ABOUT GRADES?

Assignments will be corrected and commented upon, and students will be expected to correct and revise accordingly, but at the end, each one will be marked simply complete or incomplete. Parents will receive an evaluation after each semester detailing the skills that were covered and the number of assignments their children completed. 

 

Why do I assess this way? Lost Tools is a skills-based writing and thinking course. Mastery of those skills will come with diligent practice, just as mastery of basketball or violin is the fruit of much repetition. Coaches and music teachers don’t give grades for drills; they patiently watch, listen, instruct, and guide their students in increasingly complex tasks, and ask them to practice many times while the movements become increasingly smoother and more natural. This is what we’re doing with these classes as well: Coaching, guiding, and thinking together to help our students become strong and steady thinkers and communicators. Growth in wisdom and virtue, which is the larger goal we’re aiming at in teaching the art of rhetoric, cannot be measured by a letter grade.

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If letter grades are needed for high school transcripts, I will be happy to advise parents on converting my assessments to a grade, but parents have the final say on their children’s grades.

 

WHAT IS YOUR REFUND POLICY?

Full refunds (minus the nonrefundable $75 registration fee) will be given if a student withdraws before the first day of class. Once class begins, students may withdraw before the third class meeting for a 50% refund. There are no refunds after the third class meeting.