HW 11/11

Hello. I hope you are all enjoying a day away from school. You should be hard at work completing your college applications, essays, supplements, etc. You should also begin researching book ideas for your independent reading assignment. Please read the handouts on annotations and study your materials for the unit test next week.

I do need to mention a few things that I feel are extremely important. As I walked around the room yesterday, I was disappointed to see that the vast majority of you did not close read the story by Kincaid. This is not a choice. This is an important part of the process and one that is required by all honors and AP students. You need to actively engage with the text and begin reading with purpose. This is not a pleasure read course and your close reading of the text is the key to success in the course and on the AP exam. Now, I must take some of the responsibility as I must not have conveyed the importance of this clearly. I tend to take for granted that AP students will do these things automatically. So, from this point forward, I will periodically (unannounced) check to see that you have done the reading, closely. In addition, please make sure that you have done the reading before each class. If I need to give quizzes on a daily basis, I will, but this takes up valuable time that we really don't have.

Finally, talking. It is not okay to talk while other people are talking. That would include me, or other students. It is rude, disrespectful, and immature. I really believe that AP literature is a course that is built on mutual respect. I want to avoid treating you the way I do other classes, but that is up to you. Please do not take advantage of my good nature and the privileges that I give your class. I am asking you all to self-govern and show academic respect and maturity. I know that some of you are legitimately discussing the text, but doing so while I am talking is inappropriate. I have a lot of respect for all of you and I ask that you respect the class and your classmtes. I want to avoid classroom confrontation as this only serves to weaken a class and create a negative tone. I can handle a little talking, but please pick appropriate times. I am confident that this will be all that is necessary to solve this issue. If it is not, then I will have to take additional measures.