Prof. Jane G. McElligottLS100

1. Reading2. Writing 3. Research4. Planning5. Thinking6. Organizing7. Interviewing8. Communicating

E-book for this course: Cornerstone: Building on Your Best for Career Success (2006).

Authors: Sherfield, Montgomery, and Moody; Published by Pearson/Prentice Hall. ISBN: 0-13-195825-9.

Each chapter of this book can be accessed under the “Doc Sharing” tab and in each unit under the “Reading” topic.

• Course Description/Course Outcomes• Course Calendar with Assignments• Grading Criteria/Grading Scale• Policies: Plagiarism, 5th Week Policy, Late Policy• Tutoring – Writing Center• Seminars, Discussion Boards, and Netiquette

Course consists of 10 Units (weeks) – each unit starts on Wednesday morning and ends the following Tuesday at midnight.

Each Unit (except for Units 5 and 10) has a seminar, reading assignment, a discussion question to answer, and most units contain a quiz. There is no discussion question in Unit 1 – your introduction counts as your discussion question post for this unit.

Unit 8 written assignment, “What is Your Ideal Career?” is due by the end of Unit 8 and must be submitted to the Dropbox. Be sure you have Microsoft Word for written assignments.

Campus Tour – From your KU Campus Page (where your classes are listed), click on “Campus Tour” in the column in the right column under “Quick Links”; and

Navigating the Classroom – In the LS100 classroom, click on “Course Home” in the column to the left of the screen and scroll over to the right and down a bit until you see the “Navigation” icon – click on this for a great video presentation that shows you how to find your way around the classroom.

Be sure to use the column to the left of the classroom – click on Course Home or the Unit you want to go into; then you’ll see all the icons for Intro, Reading, Discussion, Seminar, Assignments, and Quiz;

Click on the “To Do” list that shows up at the top of the classroom as soon as you click on a unit and print it to be sure you hit all your assignments;

Click on the drop-down menu to the top right of the classroom when you’re in a unit to ensure you completed all the required assignments.

Read Chapter 2, Persistence, in Cornerstone, pages 34 – 35 and 38 – 49; Introduction: Click on “Unit 1” in the column to the left of the classroom

and then click on “Introductions” to post an introduction to your classmates – be sure to provide details about your degree program and explain why you chose this degree and include some info about your life that you’d like to share;

Click on the Activities icon and click on the “Video” icon to view the video on Exploring Careers (Click on Activities icon to get to these assignments);

Take the Unit 1 Quiz (access by clicking on “Unit 1” in the column to the left of the classroom and then click on “Quiz” right below in the column); and

Attend the Unit 1 Seminar.

There are tons of possibilities for attorneys and paralegals when it comes to careers in the law … besides working for a law firm or in a corporate legal department, there are many excellent jobs in state and federal agencies. For a sampling of jobs with the federal government, go to USA Jobs Advanced Search and under “Occupational Series,” check the “Attorney” and “Legal Assistance” categories to get a sampling of careers for attorneys and paralegals with the federal government.

FBI Special Agent – what a cool job this would be! Check it out at: FBI Special Agent.

The cool thing about the law is that you can work to change things for the better, such as fighting for causes such as civil rights, domestic violence, children’s rights, animal rights, etc.

Check out National CASA (Court Appointed Special Advocate), where you can receive training as a Volunteer and stand up for the rights of neglected and abused children.

Check out the Animal Legal Defense Fund and see how you can sign up as a Paralegal Member of the Animal Legal Defense Fund at: ALDF Paralegal Application.

The Academic Support Center (ASC) contains: Math Center Writing Center (which offers Writing Tutors, Paper Review and Q & A

Services, a Writing Reference Center with helpful articles, and workshops on writing and citations)

Science Center Technology Center Disability Services Center

To access the ACS, click on the “My Studies” tab from your KU Campus page and then click on “Academic Support Center.”

To effectively argue a case or point in the law, it’s essential to support your argument with citations to cases, statutes, and other reliable sources. When answering Discussion Questions or writing papers in your classes, follow the motto, “Show me the Law!,” just like the Jerry Maguire movie motto, “Show me the Money!”

The rule for avoiding plagiarism is whenever you use words from a source, put quotation marks around those words and cite your source. In many cases of plagiarism, students do not intend to plagiarize, but take notes or copy and paste material from a source and don’t bother to keep track of the citation for the source. Plagiarism is a serious offense, whether it’s done with intent to copy or by mistake. See the “KU Plagiarism Policy” in Doc Sharing for more details on avoiding plagiarism.

Show Me the Law and Cite Your Source and you’ll be good to go!

American Psychological Association (APA) citation is required in psychology, social sciences, and similar disciplines. For your written assignment in Unit 2, here are some resources to help you get started with APA format:

See “Basic Guidelines for APA Citations” document in Doc Sharing in our classroom;

See the Purdue Owl Online Writing Center for info on In-Text Citations and click on Reference Citations in the column to the left of the screen for details on how to cite sources in your list of references.

You might want to consider getting the “Eazypaper” program for APA at: Eazypaper where you can try a demo and a free trial – it’s awesome!

Persistence is the quality of enduring and staying the course and never quitting, no matter how difficult things get. Persistence is essential for success in college – it’s that staying power that keeps you going strong even when the demands are tough and you’re feeling tired. College is like a marathon – take it one mile at a time and stick with it and you’ll make it to the finish line!

Persistence Quotes: "We can do anything we want to do if we stick to it long enough." ~ Helen Keller “The most essential factor is persistence – the determination never to allow your energy or

enthusiasm to be dampened by the discouragement that must inevitably come.” ~ James Whitcomb Riley

"Many of life’s failures are people who did not realize how close they were to success when they gave up.“ ~Thomas Edison

“That which we persist in doing becomes easier, not that the task itself has become easier, but that our ability to perform it has improved.” ~Ralph Waldo Emerson

“Big shots are only little shots who keep shooting.” ~ Christopher Morley “Decide carefully, exactly what you want in life, then work like mad to make sure

you get it!” ~ Hector Crawford “Most of the important things in the world have been accomplished by people who

have kept on trying when there seemed to be no hope at all.” ~ Dale Carnegie “Effort is a commitment to seeing a task through to the end, not just until you get

tired of it.” ~ Howard Cate "Once you learn to quit, it becomes a habit." ~ Vincent Lombardi “Never, never, never, never give up.” ~ Winston Churchill

Keeping a journal as you journey through college is a great way to reflect on your experience and learning process, thereby learning more about your inner self. You’ll be able to keep track of how your attitudes, motivations, dreams, and goals might change as you go along. You can keep track of difficulties you might run into – such as problems with time management, procrastination, etc. and write positive ideas of how you can avoid such problems in the future. Journals are a perfect way to assess your progress and keep a close track on achieving your dreams and goals. You can also keep a journal to keep track of your study time – log in your study hours to keep yourself on the road to A’s!

For more on the benefits of journaling, see: Keeping a journal can change your life Uses and benefits of journal writing Looking back & the college journal

Keeping a journal will absolutely change your life in ways you've never imagined. ~ Oprah Winfrey

I want to see you guys do awesome in this class and I’m here for any questions you may have – you can email me at jmcelligott@kaplan.edu and I’ll have an answer for you right away or come to office hours on Wednesday nights from 8:00 to 10:00 p.m. Eastern - my AIM screen name is ProfMcEll.

Here’s to a wicked good term!