Day 1: Practicing procedures and a bit on theme

Hello parents, students, and families! The first day of school was glorious in room T103. Here’s what happened:

1. Procedures: We reviewed the class Syllabus and Procedures (download available). Everyone should read over the handout carefully. You will find it in the left-hand pocket of your English homework folder.
2. Race to save time: Throughout the year in all your classes, you will waste countless minutes passing papers, staplers, and forms willy-nilly. If we cut down on the time it takes to do these mundane but necessary tasks, we will have more time to discuss great literature, ask and answer questions, and learn. The time we invest in practicing these routines in the first weeks of school will pay us back tenfold in time saved later in the year. At the end of the day, 4th period English only took 35 seconds to pass out papers, and 18 seconds to pass them in. Typically it takes at least 1-2 minutes if you’re not thinking about it. But, let’s not forget 7th period won the stapler-passing race, having stapled all their summer assignments with only two staplers, all in just 39 seconds. Congrats! Looks like we’ve got some work to do to beat those times! One of the things we passed out was the Weekly Syllabus (Honors and Standard ). This tells students all the homework and class topics for the week. It also includes a handy checklist. Keep this in the left pocket of your homework folder, checking off homework as you go.
3. Notes on Theme. We began a review of theme so students can begin thinking about what life lessons they would like to impart to readers in their own memoirs. We took notes on the Theme in Memoir (download available) graphic organizer. (There are drawings in the blank spaces in the .doc, so it’s best to pick up an extra from me if you need one.) Most classes got through the basic definition and parts A and B. We will pick up with this on Friday.

HW: Return signed and completed Syllabus and Policies by Friday.

Make sure you have all the English supplies: a binder (which you can leave at school), a homework folder (which you take home each night), looseleaf paper, and index cards (which you can leave at home until I tell you).

Any student who received the Summer Assignment over the summer but has not turned it in yet will lose three points for each day it is overdue.

Tomorrow we will be taking a Diagnostic Test, which does not count as a grade. You do not need to bring your memoir reading book to class.