Course description
The English Language Arts are about how we understand and connect with ourselves, others, and our world through language, images, and symbols. This year, juniors will pursue two primary goals: to explore and understand historical and contemporary American issues and perspectives and to develop and express their own personal views on these topics. Forms of journalism, media, and the internet-based communications will be emphasized throughout the year. Throughout the term we will ask “to what tasks and in what ways may we direct our talents to contribute to our world.”
Our material will be drawn from literature, film, and media which emphasizes cultural analysis and critique, and the exploration of American and contemporary issues. Principle readings may include Mark Twain’s Huckleberry Finn, and Toni Morrison’s Beloved, George Orwell’s 1984, and contemporary writings such as Malcolm Gladwell’s Outliers, and Lee Siegel’s Against The Machine.
Classroom Practices and Guidelines
Atmosphere. The atmosphere of the course is of a colloquium: a conference of peers and experts who gather to analyze and discuss a specific topics. Student-scholars are invited to shape course direction, design and engage in thematic and project-based learning.
Responsibility and Organization Be prepared for each class session. You must have all readings and assignments with you and completed prior to the session in which it is due. You are responsible for managing and performing your work and for your grade. Since this is a challenging program with many assignments, use your planner to manage your workload.
Academic Honesty All opinions, honestly presented, are worth our consideration. Our ideas are not us, we adopt them when we believe them to be true, but we remain open to finding better ideas to take their place; and thus our knowledge evolves. Since this knowledge frames our decisions, and our decisions shape our lives, we continually seek to improve the knowledge we hold. Our knowledge develops by adopting the acceptable ideas of others until they become our own. In our writing and speaking, this means that you do your own work, and that any work of others you use in your assignments be properly cited.
Timeliness Classwork and homework may not be submitted late unless the student has made a prior arrangement with the teacher. Students are responsible for retaining all class handouts and returned coursework until the semester has been completed. If you lose course materials, you are responsible for getting another copy from another student.
Initiative. A benefit of a small school to students, as well as for teachers, is the opportunity to pursue individual interests. It is my ‘holy grail’ as a teacher to fully meet each students individual learning needs, as well as to advance each student on their own path to success, however that may be defined. Flexibility is afforded to students who take independent initiative in the pursuit of their own academic interests, and demonstrate responsibility in those pursuits.
|
