Students and Parents:
Welcome to the 2014 - 2015 academic year at Jasper Middle School. This year promises to be an exciting experience for students at Jasper Middle School as we face the challenges of an ever-changing educational world. Gone are the Georgia Eighth-grade Writing Assessment and the CRCT. In their place, the Georgia Milestones test will provide students the opportunity to demonstrate their abilities in regard to more in-depth learning and constructive response that will take place throughout the school year. At first thought, this assessment might seem daunting; but the bottom line is that, as educators, we must utilize a continuous process of self-regulation regarding how we educate young people. Core Curriculum and the Georgia Milestones, while more demanding, promises greater returns in the long-run for our educational system, for a more promising future, and, most importantly, for our students.
This is my twentieth year with the Pickens County school system, during which time I have always taught eighth-grade ELA and literature. After two decades in the field, it is wonderful to still be able to say that I enjoy my career. A native of Pickens County, I have a vested interest in the success of our young people and the viability of our community. It is a pleasure to assist our young people on their educational journeys.
Here's to a great year,
Mr. Petty
Class Expectations: My class expectations are simple. Students should do their best academically and refrain from disrupting the learning environment. Key to this is that all students respect one another, and I attempt to lay the foundation for this respect early on. It is incredibly important to me for my students to know that once they enter my classroom, they are on common ground. Their race, gender, religion, socio-economic status, size, physical appearance, and a host of other superficial considerations do not matter to me. Each student is a human being who deserves respect and dignity, and students will only be judged on two aspects of themselves while in my classroom. Those two aspects are their academic effort and their behavior. I want students to succeed, and I want them to behave in such a way that they and those around them can succeed.
Course Description: ELA and literature are highly integrated this year. Students will read various fiction and non-fiction texts and respond constructively through short answer, discussion, and essay type questions. Students will develop the ability to respond to questions and tasks using sufficient information and citing evidence from the text in order to support their personal opinions and inferences. In conjunction, students will learn to master grammar usage, capitalization, punctuation, sentence construction, and incorporation of advanced vocabulary within their responses to literature.
Selected Texts: To Kill a Mockingbird - Harper Lee; The Member of the Wedding - Carson McCullers; The Hunger Games - Suzanne Collins; selected short stories, poetry, and drama.
Resources:
http://docsouth.unc.edu/southlit/
Welcome to the 2014 - 2015 academic year at Jasper Middle School. This year promises to be an exciting experience for students at Jasper Middle School as we face the challenges of an ever-changing educational world. Gone are the Georgia Eighth-grade Writing Assessment and the CRCT. In their place, the Georgia Milestones test will provide students the opportunity to demonstrate their abilities in regard to more in-depth learning and constructive response that will take place throughout the school year. At first thought, this assessment might seem daunting; but the bottom line is that, as educators, we must utilize a continuous process of self-regulation regarding how we educate young people. Core Curriculum and the Georgia Milestones, while more demanding, promises greater returns in the long-run for our educational system, for a more promising future, and, most importantly, for our students.
This is my twentieth year with the Pickens County school system, during which time I have always taught eighth-grade ELA and literature. After two decades in the field, it is wonderful to still be able to say that I enjoy my career. A native of Pickens County, I have a vested interest in the success of our young people and the viability of our community. It is a pleasure to assist our young people on their educational journeys.
Here's to a great year,
Mr. Petty
Class Expectations: My class expectations are simple. Students should do their best academically and refrain from disrupting the learning environment. Key to this is that all students respect one another, and I attempt to lay the foundation for this respect early on. It is incredibly important to me for my students to know that once they enter my classroom, they are on common ground. Their race, gender, religion, socio-economic status, size, physical appearance, and a host of other superficial considerations do not matter to me. Each student is a human being who deserves respect and dignity, and students will only be judged on two aspects of themselves while in my classroom. Those two aspects are their academic effort and their behavior. I want students to succeed, and I want them to behave in such a way that they and those around them can succeed.
Course Description: ELA and literature are highly integrated this year. Students will read various fiction and non-fiction texts and respond constructively through short answer, discussion, and essay type questions. Students will develop the ability to respond to questions and tasks using sufficient information and citing evidence from the text in order to support their personal opinions and inferences. In conjunction, students will learn to master grammar usage, capitalization, punctuation, sentence construction, and incorporation of advanced vocabulary within their responses to literature.
Selected Texts: To Kill a Mockingbird - Harper Lee; The Member of the Wedding - Carson McCullers; The Hunger Games - Suzanne Collins; selected short stories, poetry, and drama.
Resources:
http://docsouth.unc.edu/southlit/