I spent 20 years as a paralegal with private firms and the federal government before changing careers. I enjoy teaching!! For the last eighteen years, students have helped remove some of the cynicism engraved from years in the legal jungle. It's a fascinating and wonderful world again!! I also agree strongly with William Arthur Ward who said, "If you can imagine it, you can achieve it. If you can dream it, you can become it.
TEXTBOOKS ARE REQUIRED-- YOU MUST CHECK OUT THROUGH BOOK ROOM (WE WILL HAVE A CLASSROOM SET FOR USE IN CLASS). IF YOU LEAVE THE BOOK IN MY ROOM, IT IS STILL YOUR RESPONSIBILITY.
TEACHER ASSUMES NO LIABILITY OR RESPONSIBILITY FOR ANY STUDENTS' TEXTBOOK.
My Teaching Philosophy
Someone recently pointed out to me that Maslow's list of needs (physical safety, a sense of belonging, and self esteem) were originally penned as educational needs. Captain John L. Chapin High School recognizes those needs. We strive to make certain all students pursue their right to the best education possible, under the best conditions possible. Thus my mission:
". . . to inspire and motivate students to achieve excellence and become productive citizens."
To achieve this mission, I ask that you join me in providing a life-long, positive experience for your students. Children and teens adapt to the expectations of their environments. Help me make the most of that environment at school and at home.
Caveats of my class:
Good work is work that cares about the details not just inside but out.
ABOUT STUDENTHOOD:
While teaching trends change each generation, and while social tastes and abilities change with the times, I believe student hood does not itself change. True learning only begins in the home and is enriched, nothing more, by the classroom; it occurs when a student finds a reason to learn--be that by virtue of nurturing, adversity, boredom, challenge, or anything. But, a student must have a reason!
While the "student-centered classroom" is a valuable concept, I do believe that a teacher's duty is to first set a high academic standard to which the student must conform--otherwise, all other basis for trust in a teacher become pointless. In return, the teacher must learn to conform to the student's learning needs, teaching the student humility through demonstrating humility. Nothing can be learned by a head that is full of itself.
ABOUT THE ADVANCED PLACEMENT MODEL.
I treat my classroom like an "AP Prep" class, regardless of what level of class I may be teaching, as this directive helps me maintain the highest possible standards and give the class an intellectual premise from which to start. By this, I mean I use tools and methods that help make students college-ready who wish to pursue college; for those who are not interested in college, my class provides them with a venue to develop the critical-thinking and real-world skills they will need as entrepreneurs in whatever trade or vocation they wish to pursue.
As well, the "advanced placement" student is not always the student labeled "gifted" or "honors." The AP student is the student who has his or her interest in language and literature sparked, the flames fanned, and who pursues such fires of knowledge into the future. I do not teach every class like a Gifted class--I teach every class like a potential Advanced class.
ABOUT TECHNOLOGY:
I also believe that use of up-to-date technology and classroom management techniques should be embraced and tried--the classroom is, after all, an ongoing and evolving social experiment before it is an academic establishment. The teacher must negotiate modern classroom management techniques while remembering that, no matter the trends, the student needs a classical Socratic dialogue and intrapersonal discipline if the material at hand is to become meaningful to the student.
ABOUT QUESTIONING:
The student must learn questioning and doubt. Without doubt, that which is learned comes at no personal risk--and that which involves no personal risk has no emotional value or relevance to anybody. And if research has given us anything, it has given us the truth that if a student doesn't believe learning is important then the student cannot truly learn.
ABOUT MENTORING & THE VALUE OF FAILURE:
Ultimately, learning is an emotional process (or "affective," to use the jargon), and this emotional process begins with the student's trust in the teacher as an expert in the material, particularly in core subjects, and as a mentor to whom challenges may be made. From there the teacher's role moves into advocacy--the teacher is a student's advocate and mentor, not the student's nanny or pastor. For the teacher to challenge a student, the classroom must be free of baggage.
On the subject of discipline, the student must learn to fail gracefully. Just as the student who fails constantly will come to rely on the security of failure, the student that succeeds constantly will come to value nothing. There is no poorer hand to deal the student than to lower academic standards out of pity or to allow a student's behavior to lower that standard for others.
Different teachers find their unique methods and styles for facilitating this balance daily--it is this balance that makes teaching so difficult. Yet when this balance is achieved, the student has no choice but to own his or her education out of respect for themselves, respect for the teacher, and respect for the classroom itself.
NO "EMPTY VESSELS":
Finally, I do not believe that students are "empty vessels." The student mind, like anyone's mind, is far from empty. The student mind is a cluttered house. The teacher's job is not to impart knowledge--it is to help the student rearrange the clutter in such a way that the material finds a home and makes room for more.
HOMEWORK: Homework for the sake of homework is non-productive and frustrating; I will not simply assign homework because I am the teacher. Therefore, when students are assigned homework, it is imperative that they complete the assignment.
Assignment categories will be weighted as follows:
Description Weight
Daily work/homework/drafts/ 45%
discussions/revisions/notebook
Final Writings/Projects/Unit Tests 45%
Nine Weeks' Exam 10%
Student Responsibilities:
1. Students should come to class prepared and with an open mind willing to learn
2. Students will be responsible for checking the board for the day’s itinerary
3. All work must be turned in on the day it is due. Late work can be turned in up to two days after the original due date for a maximum score of 50%. After two days, you will receive a zero for the assignment. This policy also applies to essays that are not printed out and ready to turn in at the beginning of class [“No, you may not go to the library to print out.”] Any ‘corrected’, ‘re-dos’, or late assignments (including make-up work) must be turned in by the end of each 3 week grading period—this means, once grades are uploaded for progress reports NO MORE CORRECTIONS AND/OR RE-DOs WILL BE ACCEPTED FOR THAT GRADING PERIOD.
4. Students are responsible for obtaining all necessary make-up work. Make-up work is only accepted in the event of an EXCUSED absence; students are allotted as many days as they were absent to complete missed assignments. Again, it is the student’s sole responsibility to obtain the work. PLEASE NOTE ITEM #3!
Classroom Rules: Our classroom will be a comfortable and safe place for all who enter. No one will be allowed to interrupt your learning. Each of you deserves a place to work that can sometimes be quiet and peaceful and at other times be fun and interactive. I fully expect each of my students to know what is appropriate; and if you are not sure, I will teach you.
1. Use respect at all times. [This means you will treat your instructor, classmates, and school property with respect.]
2. Adhere to the Student Code of Conduct at all times.
3. Abide by Chapin’s Academic Honesty Policy (plagiarism)
Consequences:
1. Teacher/student conference (noted in agenda)
2. Teacher/parent conference
3. Office Referral
All serious infractions will result in an immediate office referral.
TEXTBOOKS ARE REQUIRED-- YOU MUST CHECK OUT THROUGH BOOK ROOM (WE WILL HAVE A CLASSROOM SET FOR USE IN CLASS). IF YOU LEAVE THE BOOK IN MY ROOM, IT IS STILL YOUR RESPONSIBILITY.
TEACHER ASSUMES NO LIABILITY OR RESPONSIBILITY FOR ANY STUDENTS' TEXTBOOK.
My Teaching Philosophy
Someone recently pointed out to me that Maslow's list of needs (physical safety, a sense of belonging, and self esteem) were originally penned as educational needs. Captain John L. Chapin High School recognizes those needs. We strive to make certain all students pursue their right to the best education possible, under the best conditions possible. Thus my mission:
". . . to inspire and motivate students to achieve excellence and become productive citizens."
To achieve this mission, I ask that you join me in providing a life-long, positive experience for your students. Children and teens adapt to the expectations of their environments. Help me make the most of that environment at school and at home.
Caveats of my class:
Good work is work that cares about the details not just inside but out.
- Differentiation between Regular, Honors, and Gifted occurs via instructional methods, not via curriculum: difficulty of formal assessments (tests), pacing, repeat instructions, enrichment, remediation, selection of instructional materials and texts, and complexity of assignments and models.
- My class requires weekly reading (students simply must read assigned material, and turn in all assignments, to expect to do well).
- My class involves in-class, guided writing as well as outside of class writing based on models and written instruction (this includes simple to complex directions).
- It is fast-paced and offers a variety of instructional modes, engagement in research, online literacy, and higher order thinking skills.
ABOUT STUDENTHOOD:
While teaching trends change each generation, and while social tastes and abilities change with the times, I believe student hood does not itself change. True learning only begins in the home and is enriched, nothing more, by the classroom; it occurs when a student finds a reason to learn--be that by virtue of nurturing, adversity, boredom, challenge, or anything. But, a student must have a reason!
While the "student-centered classroom" is a valuable concept, I do believe that a teacher's duty is to first set a high academic standard to which the student must conform--otherwise, all other basis for trust in a teacher become pointless. In return, the teacher must learn to conform to the student's learning needs, teaching the student humility through demonstrating humility. Nothing can be learned by a head that is full of itself.
ABOUT THE ADVANCED PLACEMENT MODEL.
I treat my classroom like an "AP Prep" class, regardless of what level of class I may be teaching, as this directive helps me maintain the highest possible standards and give the class an intellectual premise from which to start. By this, I mean I use tools and methods that help make students college-ready who wish to pursue college; for those who are not interested in college, my class provides them with a venue to develop the critical-thinking and real-world skills they will need as entrepreneurs in whatever trade or vocation they wish to pursue.
As well, the "advanced placement" student is not always the student labeled "gifted" or "honors." The AP student is the student who has his or her interest in language and literature sparked, the flames fanned, and who pursues such fires of knowledge into the future. I do not teach every class like a Gifted class--I teach every class like a potential Advanced class.
ABOUT TECHNOLOGY:
I also believe that use of up-to-date technology and classroom management techniques should be embraced and tried--the classroom is, after all, an ongoing and evolving social experiment before it is an academic establishment. The teacher must negotiate modern classroom management techniques while remembering that, no matter the trends, the student needs a classical Socratic dialogue and intrapersonal discipline if the material at hand is to become meaningful to the student.
ABOUT QUESTIONING:
The student must learn questioning and doubt. Without doubt, that which is learned comes at no personal risk--and that which involves no personal risk has no emotional value or relevance to anybody. And if research has given us anything, it has given us the truth that if a student doesn't believe learning is important then the student cannot truly learn.
ABOUT MENTORING & THE VALUE OF FAILURE:
Ultimately, learning is an emotional process (or "affective," to use the jargon), and this emotional process begins with the student's trust in the teacher as an expert in the material, particularly in core subjects, and as a mentor to whom challenges may be made. From there the teacher's role moves into advocacy--the teacher is a student's advocate and mentor, not the student's nanny or pastor. For the teacher to challenge a student, the classroom must be free of baggage.
On the subject of discipline, the student must learn to fail gracefully. Just as the student who fails constantly will come to rely on the security of failure, the student that succeeds constantly will come to value nothing. There is no poorer hand to deal the student than to lower academic standards out of pity or to allow a student's behavior to lower that standard for others.
Different teachers find their unique methods and styles for facilitating this balance daily--it is this balance that makes teaching so difficult. Yet when this balance is achieved, the student has no choice but to own his or her education out of respect for themselves, respect for the teacher, and respect for the classroom itself.
NO "EMPTY VESSELS":
Finally, I do not believe that students are "empty vessels." The student mind, like anyone's mind, is far from empty. The student mind is a cluttered house. The teacher's job is not to impart knowledge--it is to help the student rearrange the clutter in such a way that the material finds a home and makes room for more.
HOMEWORK: Homework for the sake of homework is non-productive and frustrating; I will not simply assign homework because I am the teacher. Therefore, when students are assigned homework, it is imperative that they complete the assignment.
Assignment categories will be weighted as follows:
Description Weight
Daily work/homework/drafts/ 45%
discussions/revisions/notebook
Final Writings/Projects/Unit Tests 45%
Nine Weeks' Exam 10%
Student Responsibilities:
1. Students should come to class prepared and with an open mind willing to learn
2. Students will be responsible for checking the board for the day’s itinerary
3. All work must be turned in on the day it is due. Late work can be turned in up to two days after the original due date for a maximum score of 50%. After two days, you will receive a zero for the assignment. This policy also applies to essays that are not printed out and ready to turn in at the beginning of class [“No, you may not go to the library to print out.”] Any ‘corrected’, ‘re-dos’, or late assignments (including make-up work) must be turned in by the end of each 3 week grading period—this means, once grades are uploaded for progress reports NO MORE CORRECTIONS AND/OR RE-DOs WILL BE ACCEPTED FOR THAT GRADING PERIOD.
4. Students are responsible for obtaining all necessary make-up work. Make-up work is only accepted in the event of an EXCUSED absence; students are allotted as many days as they were absent to complete missed assignments. Again, it is the student’s sole responsibility to obtain the work. PLEASE NOTE ITEM #3!
Classroom Rules: Our classroom will be a comfortable and safe place for all who enter. No one will be allowed to interrupt your learning. Each of you deserves a place to work that can sometimes be quiet and peaceful and at other times be fun and interactive. I fully expect each of my students to know what is appropriate; and if you are not sure, I will teach you.
1. Use respect at all times. [This means you will treat your instructor, classmates, and school property with respect.]
2. Adhere to the Student Code of Conduct at all times.
3. Abide by Chapin’s Academic Honesty Policy (plagiarism)
Consequences:
1. Teacher/student conference (noted in agenda)
2. Teacher/parent conference
3. Office Referral
All serious infractions will result in an immediate office referral.