Welcome 2015!

My vacation flew, and like I do so often, I wonder where the holiday season went.  I took time to read over your end of the semester letters, and I'd like to share a few things I learned.

First, a number of you expressed a desire to review rules of punctuation and grammar. Notice the new links on the right side of our home page; these will take you to a web site called Grammar Bytes.  There you will find interactive exercises which will review many of the writing challenges we all face.  We will start with punctuating a sentence, and though that seems a simple place to begin, it is indeed an area of concern:  sentence fragments and run-ons or fused sentences.

The exercises games are fun, and you'll get credit for completing them by recording your scores on  hand-outs to go with each.  Our class will complete an exercise link each class, and then we'll quiz over the material.  This means that our first day back, which is January 5th, we will begin with exercise 1.  On Wednesday we'll complete exercise 2, and on Friday there will be a quiz.  We will continue with grammar during the following weeks, but this will get us started.

Next,  I'd like to address the area of late work.  In many of the year-end letters, students voiced a concern about kids who hold us back, students who come in unprepared, or distract us with off-task behavior, or don't participate.  There will be no more credit assigned for late work.  Period.  Unless you have an excused absence due to illness, there is no late work.  If you have a school related activity and have to miss class, hand in your paper ahead of time!

I thought it went without saying, but I'll say it again:  plagiarism will result in a score of a zero, and the work cannot be made up. 

On a lighter note, we will freewrite at the beginning of each class, which will give you a great jump start on your writer's notebook.  Your first installment will be due on Friday, January 23rd.  Who knows?  If you really buckle down during class, you probably won't have as much to do outside of class toward your notebook!

Reading responses will come in the form of articles posted to our blog, which you can read and respond to.  They may not necessarily be due on Friday.  We will read and post as we go.  The dates for responding will be the beginning of the next class unless otherwise noted.  Several of you commented about the difficulty to balance the writing projects we did along with the writer's notebook and the reading responses.  This should help.  I'll post an article, and you'll have some time to read during class and post your response.  If and when you don't have time to finish, it becomes homework to complete before the next class.

So there it is, my response to your concerns!   Let's have an awesome 2015.  My word for the year is "tranquility," or at least that's my goal.  I will get there by working ahead, finding some quiet time for contemplation, and sharing a peaceful classroom setting with self-directed, motivated, and engaged students dedicated to success.  Happy 2015!