My philosophy on Language Arts education is that students should be intrinsically motivated to learn (which means that you are driven by your thirst for knowledge and not your grade) and become so engaged and excited about what we are doing that you forget you are actually learning.
I am not as concerned about your grade as much as I am concerned with the knowledge, skills and ideas you gain from this class. We have a rich curriculum of literature, writing and speaking opportunities. Freshman year is a very crucial foundation year, where you will establish study habits and develop key skills needed to score well on state standards, SAT, ACT and AP tests in the future.
Quite a few of the lessons are based around the concept of social responsibility and principle of "utilitarianism" which means "the greatest good for the greatest number of people." We will use this lens to view literary characters, themes, and conflicts within the context of history. All literary themes have relevance to our lives today. We will apply these to our writing and speaking opportunities.
I hope that all of you have completed your summer reading of Elie Wiesel's, Night. Please come to class ready to take a reading comprehension test and to discuss the timeless lessons of this haunting memoir.
We will be using this blog page for discussions, homework links/posts and general dissemination of information. Please check this page regularly and share it with your parents. And please feel free to comment about class assignments, post questions, etc.
