- THIS
IS YOUR CHILD'S MOST IMPORTANT CLASS!
- GATE
Core
Because...
- 1. It's twice as long
as any of your child's other classes.
- 2. It results in TWO
of your child's report card grades
- 3. This is the class
that focuses on your child's reading and writing skills.
- 4. It is the most challenging
class your child will have this year.
CORE: The
concept behind the seventh grade Core classes is to integrate
Social Studies, English, and Literature as much as possible in
one two-period class. This has a number of advantages, but it
also results in the seventh grade student having basically one
teacher for some two hours and moving around from class to class
during the rest of the day. For most students, this represents
a comfortable transition from coming from a one-teacher, self-contained
class in the sixth grade and eventually going to a wholly departmentalized
schedule in high school.
The GATE core is built around
a framework of Cultural Anthropology and includes Cultural Anthropology,
Advanced English, and Advanced Literature. Note that English
also includes Spelling and Vocabulary, while Anthro includes
Geography.
HOMEWORK: A successful
school year usually depends on the student, teacher and parent
working as a team to ensure that both the student's needs and
the class requirements are met. I encourage you to contact me
whenever a need arises and to monitor (closely, if necessary)
your child's work and progress in the class. The latter is especially
important since
homework not being completed is the single biggest academic
problem at this grade level, and five missing assignments in
any one subject area in this class is an automatic fail.
We average
about one homework assignment per subject per week, but students
will always have something they could be working on. Most of the homework
in this class consists of "long range" assignments
given out one day and not due for several days or, in some cases,
several weeks. Under such a system, it is imperative for students
to pace themselves and not simply to leave it all until the night
before! Similarly, if your child is absent for more than a day,
please call the school office (823-6106, Ext. 210) and
leave a message for me to leave homework for you to pick up,
or simply e-mail me. A weekly schedule of class activities and
assignments is printed and distributed to students at the beginning
of each week; the schedule is also posted in the room; the same
schedule is also posted here on the web site; my gradebook is
posted in the class each Monday, and current grades are posted here
on the web site each Friday evening; each student has been teamed
up with a "study buddy" in class (someone who can be
contacted in case of absences, questions, etc.); each student
has also been given my home phone number and has been encouraged
to call me if any help is needed, or e-mail me through the web
site....... Consequently, "I didn't know" is never
an acceptable excuse!
WEB
SITE:
Your
child should be working through the Guild levels on this site.
The system is designed to guide the student through additional
challenges, information, and skills, while supporting what we
cover in class. Along the way, the student picks up a significant
amount of extra credit that will also enhance his or her grades.
You
can look at the system by going to the Hall of Guilds and Guild
Rules.
At the same time, the web site is designed to help students with
whatever is going on in class at the time.
TEACHER/ROOM
ACCESS:
I
give my phone
number and e-mail address to students and parents (via students)
on the first day of class. Students are encouraged to e-mail
me at home for help when necessary. Parents are encouraged to
e-mail when questions or concerns arise. All e-mail links on this site go directly
to my home address, which I check frequently (that's usually
the best way to contact me). The room is normally closed at lunch,
but it's open before school, starting at around 7:15 AM and after school
on those days that I have tutoring. Students are encouraged to come
in
and 1) get help, 2) study, 3) do homework, 4) do extra credit,
5) work on the web site, and/or 6) help with odd jobs in the
room.
Half
the battle in any class is simply finding a comfortable groove
to work in. Once good work habits are formed, they will carry
the student through most academic trials. |
