Tuesday, September 3, 2013

And we're off! A few things to keep in mind as we begin the 2017-2018 school year...

Well, we've completed the first day of school, and I think we've gotten off to a good start.  Going through the syllabus and class rules is a necessary activity, but I will be very glad to start sinking our teeth into our coursework.  Please be patient with your teachers and classmates this week.  There is usually a lot of transferring between classes these first few days and this makes things difficult to start our "regular stuff" right away.  

Sometime this week both of my English 9 and U.S. History classes will be taking a grade-level pre-test. This is meant as a means of trying to measure and assess where the students currently are in terms of reading comprehension, analytical skills, and perhaps even composition (writing).  These are also an important tool to help us identify student growth throughout the school year.  The tests will be scored, but not graded.  Instead, we will be awarding participation points for this assignment.  Its very simple: as long as a student makes an honest effort on the pre-test and follows all instructions, that student will certainly receive the full point award.

By Friday of this week, we will definitely be ready to start the good stuff so hang in there and get ready to learn!