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I usually post materials needed for the period on the board for each class, but in general, below is a list of items each student should bring:

 

RELIGION SUPPLIES

  • Homework folder & Planner

  • Notebook paper

  • Pen or pencil

  • Life in Christ Jesus book

  • Bible

 

ELA SUPPLIES

  • Homework folder & Planner

  • Notebook paper

  • Pen or pencil

  • Language arts interactive notebook

  • A book for reading & sticky notes

  • Bible

 

OTHER HELPFUL SUPPLIES

  • A separate folder or binder to store year-long needed papers (i.e., copy of syllabus, spelling & vocabulary directions, etc.)

  • Highlighters in multiple colors

  • Colored pencils/crayons/markers

  • Scissors

  • Glue stick or Elmer's School Glue <--School glue sticks better. The Dollar Tree has Elmer's School Glue pens to help cut down on the bulk students have to carry.

Class Supplies

Basics of Mrs. Mason's Class

Supplies? Check. Expectations? Check. Study tips? Check.

Socratic seminar, Harkness method a la Phillips Exeter Academy, or classroom discussion...there may be different names for it, but students having the ability to voice their thoughts about what they read and learn is something we will be working on throughout the year. John Hattie, a researcher in education, conducted a synthesis of over 800 meta-studies and created a list of more than 150 items that impact student learning, and classroom discussions made the top 10 most effective list. Since the ELA program is novel-based, I love to use Ariel Sacks' Whole Novels for the Whole Class: A Student-Centered Approach as a reference for conducting novel-based classes. Once we read our novels, we will engage in multi-day group discussions. The first day, students will express authentic surface-level responses and ask questions to clarify their comprehension. We will then move on to evidence-based analysis of the novel the next day. The final discussion will be focused on critical understanding of the text where we will step back from the story and consider the author in crafting the novel. 

General Info

  • Do your personal best on each assignment. I gather information from each assignment and use that information to determine if I need to reteach something, provide extra practice, or decide if we can move on. This is why it's super important for you to do your best on each assignment. I can't effectively assess your work if you are not showing me what you can truly do. 

  • Follow ALL assignment directions. This may mean rereading them after you completed the assignment and checking off each part you finished. When an assignment is not fully completed, it's hard for me to determine if you didn't understand what needed to be done or simply didn't complete it. If you're unsure of what you're supposed to do, it's okay to write that on your paper ("I don't know if this is correct." or "I don't know what I'm supposed to do for this part."). Please do not leave parts of assignments blank or ignored altogether. Thanks!

  • Turn work in on time. When assignments are late, the teacher has to look up the directions for that particular assignment to make sure all parts have been answered, find the rubric/answer key, make sure the score is recorded accurately in the grade book, and be sure to get it handed  back to the student. If there are multiple late assignments by multiple students, this can take up quite a bit of time for the teacher. I know that you all live very busy lives, so if you feel you cannot turn in an assignment on time, please talk to me AHEAD of time so we can work out a plan. It's always better to be proactive. 

  • Love your classmates, your teacher, and yourself. As written in Matthew 22:35-40:

 

One of them, a lawyer, asked Jesus a question to test him. "Teacher, which is the great commandment in the Law?" And he said to him, "You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind. This is the great and first commandment. And a second is like it: You shall love your neighbor as yourself. On these two commandments depend all the Law and the Prophets."

 

In other words, you should love God first, your neighbor second, and yourself third. But love can have a lot of different definitions, which is why we again turn to the Bible to help us figure out the meaning of the word "love." 1 Corinthians 13:4-8 defines love as:

 

Love is patient, love is kind. It does not envy, it does not boast, it is not proud. It does not dishonor others, it is not self-seeking, it is not easily angered, it keeps no record of wrongs. Love does not delight in evil but rejoices with the truth. It always protects, always trusts, always hopes, always perseveres.

 

 

So, if we always act out of love, all of the top classroom misbehaviors disappear. We no longer think about our own needs but of the needs of our classmates, which is to make sure each one is able to recieve a great education.

Classroom Expectations

Grade Descriptions

There is a lot of information out there on grade inflation and how grades don't have the same meaning has they have in the past. At the beginning of the year, I review the definition and meaning of the different grades. Below is the chart I display when I go over this. This chart is also in the syllabus handed out at the beginning of the year.

Study Tips

I strongly recommend reading the book Make it Stick: The Science of Successful Learning by Peter C. Brown, Henry L. Roediger III, and Mark A. McDaniel. This book uses scientific research to provide tips on how to become better learners. 

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