Hi students! 

On Thursday, I took some time to speak with each of you about your MAP Reading 6+ scores, and the three subcategories within your scores (Literature, Informational Text, and Vocabulary). I also discussed what your Lexile score means and what grade levels those scores correspond to. We discussed the importance of reading books at or a bit higher than our Lexile scores in order to further ourselves as thinkers. As honors students, sometimes you may feel that the goal is to get an A in the class. However, I want you to shift your mindset and make GROWTH your goal this year. Let's set some goals for ourselves, called PERSONAL LEARNING GOALS and see how we reach them as the year progresses. 

This year, what do you want to achieve? What are you short-term goals, medium-term goals, and long-term goals? I want you to reflect on those three ideas and write them down. Try to think about both academic (school-related) and non-academic (personal) goals. Remember, goals are ideals that we make for ourselves because it takes work to achieve them. 

Here's an example of my short-term, medium-term, and long-term goals for this year. I put both personal and professional goals. A short-term goal is something you want to achieve THIS MONTH (or by the end of October), while the medium-term goal is something you want to achieve by second semester, and the long-term goal is something that you'd like to achieve by the time you enter high school as a freshman (so think, short term = 1 month, medium-term = 6 months, and long-term = 1 year). You can design your goals however you want. There are many awesome graphic design online platforms out there for you to use.
​
spark.adobe.com
https://piktochart.com/
https://www.canva.com/

Just save the image and upload it on your "About Me" pages. I will be doing the very first BLOG + RL check by Friday. Please be sure that your 2 reading logs, 2 blog entries, and your About Me page are well-written and published on your websites! This is due by this Friday, but if I were you, I'd get this done as soon as possible because you will have other homework assignments that will start building up as the week progresses. 

Hi scholars, 

Today, as we prepared to fill out the D&C Frame with textual evidence from the various websites and texts provided to you in the Flowers for Algernon Supplemental Reading packet, we discussed the different between multiple perspectives, ethics, and judgment. Many of you brought forth great insight into this discussion! Thank you for participating! We looked at the differences through the example of the mental health patient (to prepare for Flowers for Algernon) and in the metaphor elaborated in class about the lawyers, suspect, law, and the judge. I hope that through those two illustrations, you were able to understand the difference between multiple perspectives, ethics, and judgment. If not, it's okay. You will still have a lot of time to learn, but by the end of the year, you'll totally understand it. I have included the diagram and information discussed in class in the figure below. 

By Thursday, September 22nd, please be sure to finish the entire packet. It must be done before you walk into class! If you forgot what tasks you were to complete, I've included them below: 
-- Annotate ALL the articles in the packet (using the Steps #1-5 on your yellow resource page) 
-- Finish the D&C Frame (color-coded by source and every single piece of information should be textual evidence taken from the articles or links provided) 
-- Complete page 17 by attaching your notes from the online sources A, B, or C, or your own research, and complete page 16 by conducting your own research about Daniel Keyes and adding some more significant details about the author and the origins of the story, Flowers for Algernon
-- Complete the Station Rotation activity (answering three questions in the margins) for Document "D" -- The three questions are as follows: 
1. Do you believe intelligence is static or dynamic? static - stays the same// dynamic - changes 
2. What is YOUR definition of intelligence? 
3. In your opinion, how is intelligence similar or different from mindset? 

Have a wonderful day of learning! Be sure to study for your WPW test on Wednesday! 

Hi students! This week, I introduced you to two different on-going ELA routines that we will be doing all year long. The first one was the WPW - Word Part Wednesday notecards, lessons, and quizzes. Please note that all of the notecards are to be completed with the quadrants. The directions are posted in the ELA-H Resources page on this website, on our Textbook folder on google, and on the Canvas module for this course. The practice quiz (which gives you two attempts) as well as the Practice Assignment (where you choose one of eight different options) are both due on Canvas on the Tuesday before the the date of the test. This will be consistent throughout the entire year! 

Furthermore, I introduced you to the Reading Log, which I call "RL." The directions for the reading log were posted on the ELA Textbook Folder on google drive, as well as on this website (in the Resources section). Remember, the reason why we do Reading Logs is so that we can be accountable for our reading we do outside of school. I explained in class today that reading on your own time is so essential for you all to develop as critical readers! I am very excited to watch your vocabulary develop, your ability to understand new words through context clues and your understanding of word parts, and your ability to read with vigor and joy. 

Good luck, everyone! Let me know if you have any questions.