English 11

Dear Students,

Welcome to English 11: American Literature! I am very excited to meet you all. This is your third year in High School. Congratulations on making it this far. I know you all must be exhausted with school by now. Just think, you are halfway to the finish line. This is the time to persevere. In this class, we will be reading a few novels, but we will also be watching some films and writing some narratives. Your voice is going to be very important. I can’t wait to work with you all this semester.

Sincerely,

Teaching Philosophy

"The only way to truly fail is to stop trying."

Overview: This semester, we will be exploring American literature and the idea of Voice. Though this is an English class, the purpose of this class is to help each student find their individual voice and to provide students with the tools necessary to efficiently use their voice. We will be exploring this concept through an examination of American literature as well as various films, art work, and more. At the end of the year, students will have the opportunity to share their voice through a medium of their choice.

Objectives:

Students will…

Discover their individual voices by exploring different forms of expression while commenting on and deconstructing various novels, films, and more.
Articulate their voices through a variety of mediums.
Compare and contrast different authors' views of the American dream and draw correlations, if any, between various perspectives and the students’ own thoughts on what it means to be American.

Note: There are many more objectives for this class, but I hope these will give you a small glimpse into what lies ahead.

Grading Policy: This class will follow a new grading practice called Grading for Equity. This means this class has only two types of assignments: Practice and Mastery. Practice assignments will account for 20% of your grade; mastery assignments will account for 80% of your grade.

Every assignment is scored on a 0- 5 scale.

Participation bonus points may become available at random moments. These will be added at the end of the semester to your final grade. These bonus points are not guaranteed and cannot be requested. They are given when deserved.

Late Work Policy: All assignments, both mastery and practice, have an unlimited amount of redos. This means if you wish to strive for a 5 (100%), you may redo the assignment as many times as necessary to get the score you want. However, no assignments will be accepted after the grading period has ended.

To clarify, any assignments given during the first six week grading period will no longer be accepted once the second grading period begins and so on.

Mastery Tests: If you wish to redo a mastery test, you must come in during lunch or after school to retake the test. Tests are to be done in class only. If you are absent and miss a test, you must also come in during lunch or after school. Remember, you have until the end of the grading period to make up any missing work in order for it to count towards your final grade.

Absent Policy: All assignments and lessons will be posted on google classroom. If you are absent, you are expected to look on google classroom to know what you missed. The grading policy allows for plenty of time to make up work. Exceptions will only be made for extenuating circumstances to be approved by the instructor.

Attendance: In the beginning of class, students will check themselves in on Class Dojo. You will be responsible for making sure you are checked in. If you are not checked in on class Dojo, you will be marked absent. If you are tardy, you must check in with me to be marked present. Only students with a pass will be excused.

Plagiarism: With no exceptions, plagiarism will not be tolerated. Anyone caught cheating on an assignment or plagiarizing will automatically receive a 0% on the assignment. This is the only exception to the grading policy explained above. To assure this does not happen, just remember to give credit when credit is due.