Student Writing Prompt – “Respect”

“Respect” – The syllabus talks about respect. What does showing respect to someone look like? Should you always show respect to other people? Why or why not?

The idea behind this prompt is that I want to get students to think about being clear and precise in their word choices. In the syllabus, “respect” is used as a synonym for courtesy. “Showing respect” therefore means doing things such as listening to what others have to say, thinking before you speak, considering others’ attitudes and desires, sharing, waiting your turn, that sort of thing.

Student Writing Prompt – “Prediction”

Reflection 01 – Prediction: Based on your previous experiences in English classes, what do you think English I will be like? What would “being successful” in this class look like for you? Do you think you will be successful? What will you do to work toward success?

I’ve been teaching English II almost exclusively for several years. For the past two years, I’ve had English II Honors. So returning to working with freshmen is going to be interesting. I’m familiar with the course material, and I have some new ideas that I’m really excited about trying out.

The Power of Parents

At the beginning of each semester, I make an effort to contact a parent or guardian for each student by phone. I try to do this during the second week of class. Usually by that point, all class changes are final, and my roster will be somewhat settled.

I say I “try” to do it during week 2, because if I’m honest, I’m lucky to get it done that quickly. Since we’re on semester blocks, I only have half of my class load at a time, which does make it easier than if I had all of my students for the full year. But it’s still a chore and a hassle. Many of the telephone numbers that we have in our records have been changed or are out of service. It doesn’t help that some of the telephone numbers in our district require ten-digit dialing WITH a one, and some require ten-digit dialing WITHOUT a one, or that there’s now only one telephone on each hall to be shared by all teachers who use that work room.

Sometimes I wonder why I bother.

Designing a Visual Syllabus

A syllabus is a challenging document to create. It’s hard to distill all the procedural information that students need and organize it into something that’s easy to understand. It seems like everything is important! But when I was given an English I class after teaching English II for awhile, I decided to try something different!