Grades Update and Course News
Ms. Crace's AP English Lang and ELA8
Congratulations to 18-week Students!
For those of you on the 18-week schedule, you have made it through your first two-week work period - congrats! Many of the rest of you have been working ahead. Keep up the good work! I am enjoying getting to know you all better.
Grades Are Current!
I have updated grades for 18-week students for everything due as of Friday, August 16, for AP Lang and ELA8. All assignments have been graded and zeros have been entered for work that was not submitted. Don't forget that work can be submitted up to 5 school days late with a 10% reduction for each school day late.
Check your grade (in the course grades area) to make sure it is accurate. Submit any late work before the Friday, August 23 deadline.
Office Hours Established
Thanks for your patience as I waited for more responses to the Synchronous Sessions Survey. Based on the current results, I am setting my office hour for both ELA8 and AP Lang on Tuesdays, 8:30-9:30 pm in my virtual office. The link is in the "Course Links" widget in the righthand column of the Course Homepage.
This will be your chance to ask questions about content, assignments, grading, rubrics, etc. Please don't be timid; I love answering questions. See you Tuesday night!
Synchronous Learning Sessions Schedule
Later this week I will also publish a schedule of learning sessions based on topics former students have struggled with and which you may need more support. Again, based on the survey results, these sessions will take place periodically on Wednesdays/Fridays at 11am and Mondays at 8:30pm. Look for a news announcement with this schedule later in the week!
Discussions, Discussions!
I posted a news announcement about discussions this week, but after assessing discussions for this first grading period, I thought I'd share the GaVS rubric for discussions, which is below.
Here are some tips for doing well in discussions:
- Make sure you answer all parts of the discussion prompt and that you make reference to the readings, content, etc. to explain and support your statements.
- Make sure you respond to at least two classmates' initial posts, even if the prompt doesn't say anything about responses. Your responses to your classmates should be respectful and show that you have read and thought about what they have said. Your responses should also be more substantive than something along the lines of "I agree."
- Make sure you check back frequently to read other posts and respond to what your classmates have written to you. While I grade other assignments as they come in, I wait until after a deadline has passed to assess discussion participation to give you all a chance to build an engaging discussion! You can even subscribe to a discussion to get updates as classmates post.
- Don't wait until the last minute to post so that you won't have to engage much with others. Apathy doesn't foster good thinking and learning! If posting late in the work period is unavoidable, at least make a good faith contribution by responding to more classmates than are required.
- Have fun with these and take time to consider what your classmates have shared! I am always amazed at the insight I gain from students through their discussion posts, and a GaVS study last year showed that the highest correlation with doing well in one of our courses is participation in discussions!
GaVS Rubric for Discussions
ELA8 Required Text
If students have not already done so, they should get their hands on a copy of Agatha Christie's And Then There Were None. Students will begin submitting work based on their reading of the first few chapters during September, which will be upon us before we know it!