This is a brief post that covers the start of the 2022–2023 school year. Students and other stakeholders should rely on Schoology as the hub for assignments and materials.
Read on for the syllabus, first-day resources, course policies, and more. These are also available on the Current Course page.
Syllabus and Opening Salvos
The following is reprinted from the beginning of the 2022–2023 course syllabus.
The most important thing for you to understand is that everything in this course has been built and rebuilt in order to help students exactly like you. Invest in the reading, writing, and discussion asked of you, and you will be fine — not just in terms of each day’s lesson, but in the specific terms of your individual future. English is universally helpful. You are in this room because of our particular approach to that universality.
The more you invest in what we do, the more you will understand it. You will learn by doing. If you approach this course in good faith and with an open mind, it will always work out in your favor. This is transparent. You can access testimonials and student work to see the paths others have taken. Make this course your own.
Keep this syllabus handy, since it outlines every unit throughout the course. Required introductory materials are on this page, followed by some strongly suggested materials. The rest of this document contains the summarized curriculum, a summarized calendar, and specific calendars and materials for every unit.
COURSE OVERVIEW: http://sisypheanhigh.com/malachite/?p=3247
Includes grading policies, required reading, required materials, and other necessary information. Required.
COURSE POLICIES: Submission Policies — English 12
INTRODUCTORY LETTER: https://tinyurl.com/student-letter
Two introductions to the course that cover more policies, especially what it means to use flipped instruction. Required.
ABOUT ME: http://sisypheanhigh.com/malachite/?page_id=3343
Also contains my answers to the questionnaire given to students on the first day of school.
CO-TEACHING IN THE MAKERSPACE: http://sisypheanhigh.com/malachite/?p=2350
For students in an ICT course.
COURSE FAQ: http://tinyurl.com/2020-course-faq
ENGLISH 12 TESTIMONIALS: https://sites.google.com/brewsterschools.org/sisyphean-high/testimonials/English-12
These are all optional but strongly recommended. It helps tremendously to see how effective these innovations have been, not just how they work.
First Assignment: What Does Your Reading Life Look Like?
From Our First Unit: “What Is Literature For?”
For one of your first assignments, you will watch a video (“What Is Literature For?”) and complete questions assigned through Edpuzzle.
You will also read an article by the same people who made the video. It expands on the concepts and will help you understand how we approach literature in this space.
Both the video and article can be found here:
The writing assignment is based on the video, the Edpuzzle responses, and the article. You must write a short response to the prompt below. This is about your experience with literature, using the terms and concepts from the video and article. You will attach that typed response to this assignment.
Prompt: Identify when literature has impacted you in one or more of the ways described in the video and article. Discuss that experience, making specific references to the work of literature the concepts in the video and article.
Notes: This should be at least a full paragraph in length, but the more you write, the better. Look first to the books, poetry, and short stories you have read in school and on your own. If you are unable to find an acceptable work this way, we will expand the search to include other media. Follow the instructions given in class when we watch the video together.
If you happen to move quickly through this assignment, there is additional reading available here: