This post contains information on the end of the school year for senior students in English 12.
Q4: Pass/Incomplete
Q4 will close for seniors on June 15. On that day, each senior will receive a Pass or an Incomplete for the work done during distance learning.
Q4 does not factor into a student’s final GPA. GPA is determined by the grades for Q1–Q3.
Receiving an Incomplete will not affect graduation. Credit for English 12 is based on the grades for Q1–Q3.
See the letters sent home by administration for more information on grades, GPA, and graduation.
In English 12, passing Q4 originally required a final project, a final reflection, and consistent contact initiated by the student through email and the required daily check-in form. The deadline for project submissions was June 5.
To help students through this unprecedented time, these requirements have been eased. For students who have not yet completed a project:
- Google Classroom submissions will be accepted late through June 12.
- URL submissions will be accepted late through June 12.
- The Turnitin.com deadline has been extended one week to June 12.
In addition, any student who is unable to complete a project, or who needs an alternative path to passing Q4, can earn a Pass by completing the final reflection assignment outlined in this week’s post:
For most students, the focus should be on those reflection tasks. More information is available below.
Final Reflections
All forms are also posted to Google Classroom. There are three tasks.
1) Reflection: Final Project
The first Google Form is available here: https://forms.gle/HGjuBQxoTEJ9s19p6. Two of the three questions are optional.
For students who have handed in a Final Project, this is a chance to reflect on the project and to help with the student showcase explained in the next section of this post.
For students who do not have a Final Project, it is a chance to reflect on Q4.
2) Reflection: Senior Year
The second Google Form is available here: https://forms.gle/TBLjHfqaiPxL1Z5h7. All questions are optional but strongly encouraged, since they help with the third task.
For all students, this form invites insight into the last ten months, especially the strange three months we’ve just experienced, in terms of learning and growth.
Each prompt explores one of the paired universal skills and traits of learning seen here: https://tinyurl.com/universal-skills-traits. For each, students can write reflectively about experience and growth in those areas.
This form is built as a brainstorming and outlining exercise. It should lead directly into the final essay.
3) Final Reflection Essay
Use the second form to brainstorm ideas for the essay you will submit through Google Classroom. The prompt: Write about your growth as a student and person this year.
This essay should reflect the universal guide to writing: http://tinyurl.com/sisyphus-writes. In the spirit of that “river-like” method, you should experiment with the length, structure, and approach of the response. It does not need to be a traditional essay.
In other words, this is an “essay” in Paul Graham’s sense of the word. It’s also the last thing you’ll write in high school, and it is meant to help you find some insight into who you are and how this year might have changed you.
The key, as always, is to find the interesting and surprising approach to the subject; to write for an audience (which can be as small or large as you choose); and to publish, if possible, for that authentic audience.
Sharing this final writing response will be part of the student showcase, which is explained next.
Student Showcase
All sharing is optional and entirely up to each student. See the makerspace’s BHS site for examples from previous years.
The showcase will begin this week, as projects are submitted and we collaborate on final edits and revisions. It will continue through graduation next week.
After the graduation ceremony, authentic work still matters; we will continue, therefore, to share and showcase the final projects, essays, and other thoughts through the end of June.
Ask questions about any of these final elements below. You can also send an email or communicate directly through shared documents.