First Day Presentation

2. HIST 2312: US History since 1877
• Today we will:
• Introduce ourselves
• Talk about the syllabus
• Talk about the structure of the course
• Talk about what is coming next
• Sign Course Agreement
Dr. Drew Burks

3. About Me
• From Texas
• Higher Education for ten years
• Academic Advisor (UT Arlington)
• Academic Probation Program Coordinator (Washburn University)
• Instructor (U of Kansas, Washburn University)
• Education
• BA in History and Russian (Texas Tech)
• MA in Russian and East European Studies (U of Kansas)
• PhD in History (U of Kansas)
• If you have questions, don’t be afraid to ask! If I don’t know the
answer we can find it.

4. About You
• Please take a notecard
• Write the following on it:
• Your Name
• Your Program (ex. Education)
• Why are you taking this course?
• It’s okay to say “because it is required.”
• One interesting fact about yourself
• Now, introduce yourself to the class using the notecard

5. Syllabus Exercise
• Find three things
that you think are
the most important.
• What did you pick?

6. Calculating your grade
• This is a points based class
• You can calculate your current grade by dividing your total current points by
the number of possible points (at that point in the semester).
• For example: After the first test, we will have had 275 possible points, so your
current grade would be the number of points you have earned, divided by
275.
• At the end of the semester there will be 1000 total possible points
• Your final grade will be the number of points you have earned with a
decimal in front of the last digit.
• If you have earned 935 points, for example, your grade will be a 93.5.

7. Structure of the Course
• Every week you will read one or two chapters from the textbook
• Come prepared to discuss the material you have read about
• Every class period we will have:
• Lecture on the material
• Some type of discussion or class activity
• Attendance will be taken (generally by turning something in)
• Review Days
• Come prepared with possible short answer and essay questions
• You will turn these in as an assignment (25 points)

8. Structure of the Course (cont.)
• Tests
• Short Answer
• Five Ws (and maybe an H)
• Essay
• One essay that everyone will answer
• One essay you choose from two possible choices
• Participation
• Active in discussion
• Turning in daily assignments
• Extra Credit

9. For Next Class
• Get the Textbook if you haven’t already
• Read Chapter 18 (we will come back to 17 later)
• Come prepared with questions for discussion
• If you are having trouble getting the book, let me know

10. Congratulations!
• You made it through the first day of class!
• What are the first two assignments on the syllabus?
• The syllabus exercise we did earlier will count as your Syllabus Quiz
• Please fill out and sign the Course Agreement
• On the last page of your syllabus
• Turn this agreement in on the way out, and you will already have 100
points in the course, that’s 10% of your grade!
• Also, turn in your notecard
• Have a good day, and I will see you next time!