Students are expected to do the following:

 

Be prompt.

Be prepared.

Be courteous.

Be ready to learn.

 

Our class is structured to encourage students to frequently work collaboratively in small groups.  As such, talk and listening skills are an essential component of what we do.  However, students must learn that there are times for quiet, individual work, as well.  Besides talking and listening skills, writing and reading are almost daily areas of focus for students.  The new core curriculum is asking teachers to infuse technology into our classrooms and to have students read for information across genres and disciplines.  As a result, our ELA study will often include multimodal forms of reading and composing; therefore, students in our classes will 'read' and compose movies and other media rich 'documents' as they learn to read and write for the 21st century. Similarly, today's technologies provide tools that make it easier and easier for students to create professional quality products. Our students should be able to create products that are authentic--magazines, movies with special effects, digital audio recordings, and animations--that help them to feel that their work is significant and that they have access to tools that help them more fully express themselves.