freshmen transition night
DESCRIPTION
Freshmen Transition Night. Thank you for coming!. Purpose To inform parents of HS expectations. To strengthen the parent-teacher bond. Transition Items. Texts. The Americans To Kill a Mockingbird Of Mice and Men Ragtime Johnny Got His Gun If I Die in a Combat Zone - PowerPoint PPT PresentationTRANSCRIPT
FRESHMEN TRANSITION NIGHT
THANK YOU FOR COMING!
Purpose To inform parents of HS expectations.
To strengthen the parent-teacher bond.
TRANSITION ITEMS
TEXTS The Americans
To Kill a Mockingbird
Of Mice and Men
Ragtime
Johnny Got His Gun
If I Die in a Combat Zone
House on Mango Street
GRADING
FormativeSharedAssessment
30%35%
35%
We use formative items to inform us where kids are getting it and where they are not!
Adjust instruction based upon trends in formative work
Won’t do well in the big game without practice Summative work without the formative practice
Won’t earn a scholarship without playing in games Doing the formative work with low performance
on the summative items.
PROJECTS AND ASSIGNMENTS
INFINITE CAMPUS CODES
Assignment is Missing
Not counting for or against grade, yet.
Assignment is Missing
Is counting against grade.
Exempt
Student is not required to do this assignment.
Rewrite
Student is to rewrite the assignment and resubmit
STANDARDS-REFERENCED GRADING Will break down assignments by “writing
traits”
Assignment will read as follows:
Paper – Ideas and Content Paper – Organization Paper – Conventions Paper – Style
Offers more specifics in terms of feedback
RETESTING On quarter exams students may retake
specific parts of the exam
Literal-level Reading Grammar / Usage / Mechanics
Must attend Interventions to be eligible!
REVISING Writing is a process.
Understand that students may not “get it” the first time.
Revision option available on large papers and projects. As delineated by individual teachers
Conference or Cover sheet to submit a rewrite.
GRADING PERIODS Quarters 1 and 3 – Progress grades
Quarters 2 and 4 – Grades of Record On transcript “Count”
Eligibility / Interventions – Pulled Thursdays
GRADES They do “count” now.
On the official transcript
Earn credits for passing courses Need 23 to graduate 4 must be English
FAILURE TO EARN CREDIT? Think economically to motivate students.
Now….these classes are FREE!
Make-up credits….have to pay for them! On-line courses Summer school Squishing additional courses into a future year
Can’t take something they “wanted” to take
ALIGNMENT IN ENGLISH DEPARTMENT Horizontal (within a grade level)
Vertical (between grade levels)
We do talk to one another about….everything. Past performance in class Lessons that work well Assessments Data
BUT…. There will be variation between classes
Not all AS classes are exactly the same.
Not all Junior English classes are exactly the same.
EXTRA CREDIT Like a Hail Mary pass
We don’t give EC opportunities
Focus from our side is more about the learning than the points.
DROP FROM MIDDLE SCHOOL GRADES? Middle schools ARE preparing kids well
academically!
Learning curve increases in high school
Students adjusting to….
DROPPED GRADES? (CONT.) Size of school
Speed of assignments Long-term AND short-term going on at same time.
Freedom of choices
High expectations
Learning curve
Skill development (not just content)
WHAT DO WE DO? A lot of reading
Novels Short stories Poetry Non-fiction items
A lot of writing Essays Poetry Paragraph responses Note taking
WHAT ELSE? Public Speaking
Short and long speeches Impromptu and prepared
TechnologyWill useWill produce
LIFE LESSONS Forming an opinion on an issue
Using evidence to defend said position
Taking risks
SELF-ADVOCACY To take responsibility for choices
To practice time management
To experience challenges
To speak for themselves
HOW YOU CAN KEEP UP Access Infinite Campus
Grades Messages
Class dependent – Course Schedule
Ask your student
Date of Class
Reminders
Handouts from Day
Assigned Work
Lecture Material
OBSERVATIONS OVER 15 YEARS Students struggle with work load and
expectations at first.
Students DO figure it out. Give them time.
Find their currency (video games, sports, phones)
Many students can be believed. Some cannot. We are competent individuals.
Grading papers takes time….100 students at 15 minutes each = 25
hours
Planning time we receive each week = 6 hours Includes planning, prep, hall duty!
COMMUNICATION Email is best
Phone is less good (never at desks)
Contact anytime
Will push for student involvement in process
ACADEMIC WRITING
ART OF WRITING Some items are up for interpretation (Art)
Word choice Sentence variety “Voice”
SCIENCE OF WRITING Some items are non-negotiable (Science)
Punctuation Spelling Organization (somewhat) That examples are needed!
Sets of three!
THEY SAY….I SAY STRUCTUREOverall structure of academic writing. Idea that much discussion already
exists about any assigned academic topic.
Students are entering into that conversation through their writing.
Not seeking to write the “Right” response / paper.
Seeking to write a “valid” response
THINK OF IT AS…. Superhighway of
Ideas
People long before and long after the students’ assignment WILL be debating the same questions we ask!
THEIR PAPER SERVES AS…. The on-ramp to that
highway.
They are taking what they have learned, forming their opinions, and writing their thoughts for all to see.
“VALID”Freaks kids outThey want to find the ONE right
answerThey want to give the one answer that
the teacher has in his or her head
But…
There are oftentimes many possible interpretations to any given text.
THEY SAY…I SAY Arguments are already out there.
We want them to do the following:1) Gather information2) Form an opinion / interpretation3) Write and support why their opinion /
interpretation is VALID
SUPPORTING THEIR OPINION / INTERPRETATION Students often think that just because they
say it, that it will be believed…..
Example: taking the car out on a Friday night
Thesis: they should be able to take the car out
SUPPORT? WHY should they be able to take the
car out?
They are 16. They have their driver’s license. They need to be popular.
What is clear in the kids’ minds with these examples?
What leaps to the adults’ minds with these example?
CLEAR SUPPORT The evidence the students provide must be
CLEARLY tied to HOW their thesis statement is proven valid
The task… Explain how it is clear to OTHER people A certain amount of explanation is required!
POINT OF ACADEMIC WRITING?To share a writer’s perspective on a
given prompt.To think about the topic and what it is
asking first.To formulate THEIR responseTo share THEIR responseTo offer a VALID interpretation of the
text
NOT to write and think at the same time
PROVE A POINT / TAKE A SIDE Topics:
Dropping the atomic bomb during WWII was essential in ending the war.
Interning the Japanese-Americans during WWII was a necessary evil.
The Allies followed the advice of Sun Tzu and The Art of War during their invasion of Normandy.
ACADEMIC PAPER REQUIREMENTS Write in 3rd person
He, him, his, she, her, hers, they, them, it, one NOT first person
I, me, in MY opinion
Write in past tense – history papers
Write in present tense – literature papers At minimum – stay in same tense throughout Upper-level skill!
WRITING / REVISION PROCESS1) Pre-writing
a) Outliningb) Webbingc) Free writing
2) Drafting
3) Revisinga) Shifting ideas / contentb) Filling in gaps with ideas
4) Drafting…revising…drafting…..a) Students get stuck hereb) They feel that EFFORT should be enoughc) Perhaps at one time it was enoughd) NOW they have to work a little more!
5) Proofreading / Editinga) Word choiceb) Sentence structuresc) Voiced) Punctuation
6) Publishinga) Turning it inb) Class wikic) Class blog
COMMON ISSUES Students “vomit” on paper – turn that in. Teachers have expected students to do some
revising on own time!
Teachers give comments – may correct / point out a few mistakes that are in ENTIRE paper.
Students correct only those items that are marked!
Students feel that effort = success in writing. Teachers look for logic of thought and
coherence of arguments regardless of effort.
Teachers offer rewriting options. Students do not take advantage of that
opportunity.
MLA FORMATTING
We focus on MLA at Legacy in ALL disciplines.
The nuances of MLA, in specific, are not the point.
The point is CITING sources and information!
WHEN TO CITE? Borrowing ideas from previously released
texts. Paraphrase
Take meaning of the original text and place in own words into their paper
Borrowing words from previously released texts. Direct quote
Take exact words from original text and place in own paper
HOW TO CITE In-Text Citation
“sas;ldkfjwie;asldkfjiwa;slkdj” (Smith 56). “asldfkjasd…as;lekrjeia;sd” (Jones 18). “asdlfkjas;dlfkj [ he] aslfjiewa;l” (Wilson
34).
For every text that has been used IN the paper, a works cited entry must be created on the Works Cited Page
Found at end of essay Strict rules about HOW to cite
TEXT FORMATS IN WORKS CITED PAGE Book
Smith, John. Writing Can Be Fun. Boston: Heineman, 2005.
Website Jones, Tim. "Writing Suggestions for Freshmen."
The Writing Center. 10 Oct 2007. Northwestern Writing Center. 17 Nov 2008 <http:// www.writingcenteratnorthestern.com/writingtipsforfrosh>.
TURNITIN.COM Web-based paper collection system
Three components
Plagiarism checker
Grademark
Peer Review
GRADEMARK VIEW
COMMON ISSUES WITH TURNITIN.COM Students claim that home computers are not
compatible with Turnitin.com Does not take WordPerfect formatting
Students claim a paper has been turned in. Students must finish the submission process.
COMMON ISSUES WITH TURNITIN.COM Students look only at numerical grade they
earned Teacher / peer comments are more valuable in
the learning process than just a number.
Students sit around and wait for their grade to be emailed to them. Students must logon to website to see grade /
comments
EVALUATION Writing assessment will always be subjective! Not based upon effort
Try to increase objectivity by Using a 6-Trait rubric Benchmarking
Needs to be an inherent trust with the evaluator
Credible? Years of experience
As teacher As writer
WHAT ELSE DO YOU WANT TO KNOW??
Thank you so much
for coming!