Tag: first words and last rites

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October 2, 2019

  By 2019-2020, Triage

Note: Use the comment section at the end of this post to ask questions.

Progress Reports

Your first grades were posted before school on Wednesday, October 2. We will take the class period that day to unpack those scores, process your reaction to them, etc., starting with your Q1B work-in-progress grade abatement profiles:

WIP GAP Explained

Those scores will change, one way or another, between now and October 22, when your Q1B scores are finalized. The extent and direction of that change is up to you.

Here, copied directly from the front page of this instructional site, are the links you need to unpack your scores into actionable stuff1:

For All Stakeholders: A Quick Guide to Stakeholder Involvement
Google Site: Proof of Process: Testimonials, Tours, and Student Work

ESSENTIALS PACK: ASSESSMENT (2019-2020)

*Includes updated, direct links to each period’s GAP report

Start with the “Guide to Stakeholder Involvement.” You haven’t seen that yet, and it will be sent home to parents and guardians today as part of Open House.

The rest of these resources have been distributed and reviewed already. It is your responsibility to use them appropriately to help you be successful in here. Remember that success now corresponds to success next year, when the Skinner-box logic of high school is a memory. That’s why those testimonials are included.

Current Units

Once you understand what these GAP scores are telling you, move on to our two current units of study. From the front page of this site:

CURRENT UNITS OF STUDY (SEPTEMBER/OCTOBER)

① The Age of the Essay | Study of how and why we write. Includes close reading of a central text, guided analysis, and a universal writing process.
② What Is Literature For? | Study of how and why we read. Includes close reading of different texts (video, nonfiction), guided analysis, and reader-response writing. Includes summer reading work. 

These are both about the how and why of writing and reading. They frame everything else we’ll do this year. The more work you put in now, the better. Remember the lessons of this post.

The first unit just ended, and you have a writing assignment due on Thursday, October 10. The second unit starts formally on Thursday, October 3, with a closer look at the reading process. If you have kept up with all requirements so far, that’s your focus today:

The Reading Process

You will have an assignment based on the first video in that post, so pay careful attention to it.

Remember to ask questions below.

  1. “Stuff” is used here because it’s imprecise. Some of you will need a one-on-one conference; some need a written plan; others, just a nudge in the right direction. ↩

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The Albatross’ Skeleton

  By All Junior Classes (2016-2017), AP English Language & Composition (2016-2017), English 11 Regents (2016-2017)

Today was the last day of classes, and tomorrow starts your final exams. As always, if you have questions or concerns about what to do, you should email me or leave a comment on this post. I will get back to you as quickly as possible.

At any rate1, let’s run down our work, one last time.

Regents Examination in English Language Arts (Common Core)

Juniors and seniors taking this exam should arrive to the gym no later than 8:00 AM on Wednesday, June 14. If you are in a separate location, make sure you know where to go before arriving to school on Wednesday. The exam begins at 8:15 AM, and you must be there on time.

Note: The original calendar for final exams had 9:15 AM, not 8:15 AM. The Regents begins at 8:15 AM. Set your alarm. In fact, here is a checklist in all caps:

  • DATE: WEDNESDAY, JUNE 14
  • TIME: 8:15 – 11:15
  • LOCATION: GYMNASIUM

If you are taking this test in a special location, or if you have extended time, you have already been given that information. Let me know if you are uncertain.

Review this post and your exam folder at some point Tuesday. Set aside a pen and pencil; you absolutely must have a pen, but I suggest bringing both. Your teachers will be in the gym to help you get seated and organized. The usual rules will apply: no cellphones, no bags, no papers or folders aside from the test itself.

Another note: Your teachers always bring candy to give you some energy2 and to celebrate the end of high-stakes English testing (for this year, at least). If you have a preference, leave a comment on this post, and I’ll see what I can do. Otherwise, I will put the decision in my four-year-old daughter’s hands, which means you will get something with Shimmer and Shine on it.

GAP Q4C Scores and Final Averages

Tonight is the deadline for most of you for the final GAP process. Submit your evidence and self-assessed scores, just as you always do. If you would like to share any Pareto Project work, contact me, and we’ll fold that into the scoring discussion. If there is anything else you believe is pertinent to this final cycle, make sure to attach it or share it directly.

Final exam note: If you are one of the students tackling the reader-response essay, that final essay is due by Friday. All GAP scoring and final grading will be held until that point. I’ll keep reminding you as the deadline gets closer, because there aren’t any extensions on this assignment. If you are required to do it, you have until Friday.

I will get the GAP score that fits your evidence and performance into Infinite Campus as soon as possible. When you receive that score, run the usual reflective protocol, and then reach out to discuss any concerns. If you want to conference with me, send an email to set that up. I’ll work around your schedule.

Computers are fickle creatures note: Because there were three seniors spread across your juniors classes, I was required to finalize grades on Friday. This does not mean that your current grades are final. How could they be? I am sure that there was a way to finalize just those seniors grades, but I could not find it, and all of my imprecations failed to make the computer work any differently. Again, your grades are not final, despite what the machine tells you.

Miscellanea

1. Outstanding Books

Where the adjective means both “very good” and “unresolved.” This is for anyone who still has a copy of 1984 or One Hundred Great Essays: Bring that book back in to me before the end of the school year. If I’m not around, you may drop it off on my desk in Room 210. I will take care of signing it back in and filing it away.

As always, if you fail to return a book you signed out from the school, you are responsible for the purchase price of the book. We’d always rather have the books back, though. Please return whatever you have.

2. SUMMER READING

You should already have a copy of the summer reading for BHS and any college-level courses you’re taking. If not, I’ll leave copies in the same place in Room 210 through the end of final exams. Copies of the assignments will be posted online, too, if they haven’t already been uploaded. Look to the high school’s main website for more information.

3. ROOM 210

The makerspace will be open periodically during the next two weeks. You are welcome to stop by before or after exams. In addition to copies of the summer reading, I’ll keep copies of all exam and GAP materials on the bookshelves. Let me know if you need anything.

Any further updates will be posted on Google Classroom. Good luck with your final exams!

  1. Well, not any rate. It is always at the most desultory and uncomfortable rate possible. That is the rate. Think about it: The school has collected your Chromebooks the day before final exams start. Hopefully, you have a phone or tablet or other device on which you are reading this, because it’s a little late to shift entirely to a paper classroom. Ten months of flipped and interstitial instruction and feedback, and you lose your computer right before exams. Is there a more perfect example of public education than that? ↩

  2. Fleeting, sugary energy, yes, but energy nonetheless. ↩