Welcome to the second semester of Writing 1 at CHAT. ("Spring Semester" is a little hard to say when we have 2 inches of fresh snow on the ground!)
I had a great first semester with these wonderful students and am looking forward to getting back in the classroom. I have a fresh pile of books and handouts to fuel our learning. Students should bring to class a folder to keep track of their work and paper/pens/pencils for in class work. Students will not need a laptop or other device for this class; if one is needed for any reason, parents should contact me before the class. Otherwise, all devices should be put away during class.
If you are continuing from the first semester, you already know that I will send out regular emails to help us all stay connected with the classroom contact, assignments, class handouts, and any other information I feel is helpful to the class. For those who are new to Writing 1, let me introduce you to my online resources:
Class Updates: Following our classes, I will send out an email that explains what we covered and class and what the assignments are. Occasionally I will include links to interesting or pertinent sites that connect to our class discussions. Any handouts from the class will be attached to these emails. Double check to make sure these emails are making it to your Inbox and not the Junk/Spam folder.
Writing 1 Blog: The Weekly Class Updates and any other email messages will be posted on this site. If you need to see a number of the updates at once, this is an efficient way to do it. Copies of handouts, including links to pdfs on Google Drive, will also be posted. Photos, images, videos, and links to other related websites will appear on this site. If you're curious, you can peruse the blog for past posts in order to get a feeling for what to expect this year. (Follow this link for this message!)
Google Drive: This is an online storage site, and I have folders with all of the documents that I use in a larger folder labeled 2020 CHAT Writing 1 Spring Student. If a student loses something handed out in class, this is another place to find it. Most of the documents are as pdfs, but there are a few Word documents and Google docs mixed in. (Note: This is a new folder and not the same one that I used for Writing 1 Fall.)
My GradeBook: This is the online grade book that I will be using this year. I've used it for a couple of years now, and it is pretty straightforward. I also use an old-fashioned paper grade book that is up to date with every assignment, but it may take a week or so to get the grades onto this site. That said, it should be a pretty accurate picture of what homework is missing and of ongoing scores for work handed in. (Note: You will be getting another email with specific instructions about signing in to the class.)
These resources have helped solve some of these problems:
If a student isn't sure of an assignment, he/sh can check
-- the syllabus that was handed out
-- the Class Update
-- the Writing 1 blog
-- the list of assignments on My GradeBook
If a student is missing something that I handed out, he/she can find it
-- as an attachment to a Class Update
-- on the Writing 1 blog
-- in the appropriate folder on Google Drive
-- follow the link in My GradeBook to the Google folder with the assignment
If you have questions about grades or missing homework, you can
-- check My GradeBook
-- send me a personal e-mail.
Thank you for entrusting your children to my teaching. I'll do my best to communicate with you, and feel free to contact me if you have questions.
Tammy Prichard
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