STUDENT QUESTIONS
In this post I'll answer questions students asked me in the Welcome survey.
Q. How long have you been teaching? Do you really enjoy teaching here at PSHS? Why did you want to be a teacher?
A. This is the most-asked question by far.
When I finished college at age 21, I didn't know what I wanted to do, so I worked in call center customer service for the American Association of Homebrewers in Colorado, then for Nordstrom's catalog in Seattle, then for Holland America Cruise Line in Seattle.
One day it hit me that I should be teaching students—not working to help other people make money. (Nothing wrong with that—it's just not me.) To become a teacher I had to go back to college and earn my Master's degree at age 28.
Bike selfie
The only other thing I've wanted to do is write. I do, and I'm published. Even if I could make a good living as a writer—who knows, maybe I could!—I would still want to teach high school. I can't speak for anyone else, but teaching is my passion, not a career I chose because I couldn't do something else.
This begins my 19th year of teaching (WOW. Can't believe it.) I love PSHS—now more than ever. This is my 12th year here and our faculty and administration are better than ever. My colleagues and I genuinely care about our students, even if we don't always show it when we're overly focused or distracted. My purpose here is to help students become better writers. I care about that more than anything except your safety.
Q. What is your type of teaching style?
A. I try to minimize lecture and maximize conversation, reading, and writing. The class needs to be about you, not me, as often as possible. Also, I value the improvement of skills over the completion of tasks. Think about that.
“I value the improvement of skills over the completion of tasks.”
Q. Is your class something I would be looking forward to? Can I expect to learn more than what you are teaching us right now?
A. It's day 4 and it's true—we haven't done much yet! When the Rosterquakes finish we are going to roll and every student should feel challenged. In the meantime, there are several homework assignments including vocabulary that you can work on.
I will be administering diagnostics the next 3 days in order to ascertain where you are as a reader and a writer. Then: buckle your seat belt.
Q. Is it possible to get an "A" in this class if I put in all my effort because students last year said it was impossible.
Q. What are the tutoring hours in your class?
Q. How would you define a good student?
Q. What are your expectations of me?
Q. If I'm ever in a situation when I struggle with something, are you willing to help me raise that grade up or will you let me get what I get without the intention of making me want to do better? Essentially what I'm asking is do you care enough about my grade that you'll help me raise it and maybe occasionally offer extra credit of some sort?
A. This answers all these questions.
I think the main thing students want from me is to know that I will help them—that I am dedicated to all of you equally.
But I will add:
No one who put in "all their effort" received lower than an A. I realize in other classes there are shortcuts available to clever or dishonest students: copying homework, for example. In this class there are no such shortcuts. Either you give it your all and demonstrate significant improvement, or you fall short—not necessarily because you're lazy. In the end, you decide what your priorities are. You decide what matters. You decide how to spend your time. I don't judge, but I also can't give As to students who don't improve much as readers and writers. It takes time and effort.
“You decide what matters.”
I will do my best to motivate you, but I can't make you want anything.
As far as expectations: I know you have not yet seen a syllabus and don't yet have a clear idea of my expectations. That is coming soon.
Q. I want to know how you're going to invest in us the students and how you're going to prepare us for the AP exam. I also want to know what kind of help you offer to people that may struggle throughout the year with certain areas in English.
Q. How will you prepare us this year not only for the AP exams, but for life in the future such as college?
A. This answers both questions.
I am going to invest as much time as I possibly can teaching all of you. I use my training and my experience and my formal and informal assessments of your abilities in order to guide me in preparing lessons. Much of my time outside class is spent reading your writing. I will give you as much extra help as I can, but I do rely on you to ask for it, and to let me know when you don't understand. Also I expect you to be able to read and follow written directions. I do not spend a ton of time talking at you, because like me, many of you won't listen, or won't remember what I say.
To prepare you for the Advanced Placement Language & Composition exam, I am going to make you a better reader and writer, and we will have a great deal of practice answering the kind of writing prompts asked on the exam.
To prepare you for college and "life"—same thing: I am going to make you a better reader and writer.
“I am going to make you a better reader and writer.”
Some things that inhibit my ability to be the best teacher I can be: (1) There are over 220 of you... if there were 120 I'd be even better at this... and if there were 5 of you I'd be the best who ever lived! (2) My health is good and I'm trying to take care of myself so that I can be there for you... but things can happen, as you know. (3) The Authority sometimes directs me to do things that interfere with your instruction (examples: benchmark testing... school pictures...). I will say NO whenever I think I can get away with it—your education is more important than these bloody chores.
“I rely on you to ask for help.”
Q. Do you have any dogs and if so how many and what breeds?
A. Diego died July 2017 at age 13. You'll see his picture if you click HERE. He was chow-lab-shepherd. He was extremely well-trained. He even saw Cesar Milan in Los Angeles when he was young. He could hike off leash with me and obey my voice commands. The only thing I could not do was keep him out of the water—especially swimming pools. His ears were amazing: he could turn them, flatten them, anything. So his other names were: Rabbit and Whiskerpig. He was bonded to me. We have not replaced our Rabbit because we don't think any other dog could measure up to him. And, we do not miss the hair everywhere. We'll never have cats even though I do like them.
Q. Will this year be hard for a Christian like me?
A. This is a bit of a strange question. The curriculum is not "harder" for any particular religious group. It is far more difficult for folks who grew up speaking a different language.
Now if you're asking about my biases, you will learn more about them as you get to know me, but I strive to be objective, transparent, and equitable. You can expect to be treated with dignity. It would be unprofessional of me to treat any student differently because of their religion, race, gender, sexual orientation, or any other characteristic.
I will never judge you by any aspect of your status—but your conduct is another matter.
Q. Any skills that someone can work on to DO better in this class?
A. Yes. Pay attention to what's happening in the world. I do not mean pay more attention to whatever is going on with the president—some news channels talk about that and nothing else. I mean: what is going on in Syria? Myanmar? Germany? Mexico? What is going on in this country (besides everything to do with the president)?
Also, read more. I am not talking about reading for pleasure, although that is lovely. I will elaborate more in class about what you could read in order to help you in this class, and in your collegiate future.
Q. What made you want to teach AP Lang?
A. I especially love teaching AP Language & Composition because it's about argument and rhetoric—the power of language to persuade other people. I have more to say about my passion for the power of language here.
Q. Do you have us play games if it is helping us learn?
A. I LOVE games and contests. We will be doing that!
Q. How difficult will the essays be in this class?
A. Good news: you don't earn a "grade" for each essay. Your grade is a reflection of your improvement as a writer (or lack of it) by the end of the semester. So it's also good news that we write a ton.
Q. What is your favorite part about teaching?
A. I love my students. It's because of all of you that I feel like I am doing something important.
Q. What inspired you to read?
A. I love reading about things that interest me. I do not love reading things that do not interest me. This is true for everyone. If you "hate" reading, we need to do two things. (1) We need to find what interests you. (2) I need to try to convince you that sometimes work isn't fun and you do it anyway because it's your job. Right now, school is your "job." You aren't getting paid yet in terms of dollars—but you will.
Q. Are you happy I'm in your class again :D
A. One of the best parts about what I'm doing this year is that I get to have last year's sophomores as juniors. I take seriously the responsibility of being your English teacher for half of your years in high school. I'm glad the community is trusting me to do it well.
And, I like most of you. JK! I like you all. But not in a creepy way.
Q. How many books are we going to read this year and what is/are the title(s)?
Q. Can you make a physical copy of the reading lists because I had a hard time accessing it last year?
A. This answers both questions.
Mostly you will be reading articles and shorter pieces I give you. There are too many to list here. Many of them appear in your textbook, The Language of Composition. As I said, I will be going over the syllabus once these Rosterquakes settle down.
As far as printing it out, I don't want to do that because in college you will be expected to stay organized by accessing information online. I am also trying to save trees, which is why I will only print out a syllabus if you ask me for one; otherwise it is accessible in Google Drive. If you need something else, or if you're dissatisfied with this answer, let's talk outside class.
Wikimedia Commons
Q. What was your first car?
A. The first car I owned was a pale blue 1986 Honda Civic sedan. It drove like a slow golf cart and the heater/AC was lame, but other than that it was super reliable. The first car I ever drove to school was my parents' Fiat Strada hatchback. No one was impressed.
Q. What is your main focus in life? Is it family, friends, or do you just really love money?
A. Lord, if I loved money I wouldn't be doing this! But I have no complaints and my pay is good. Any teacher who cares more about money than people is in the wrong business. Beyond my students, my main focus in life is trying to be responsible, authentic, and joyful. My friends and family bring me great joy.
Q. Did you know that an elephant can poop out up to three hundred pounds of fecal matter?
A. I did! One of my good friends is an elephant keeper at the Oakland Zoo.
Q. Will we be typing on our computers much? I would rather type than write by hand.
Q. Instead of essays, will we ever get to make a short video instead?
A. For anything like this, see me outside of class so we can come up with a solution together.
“If you need something from me, let’s talk about it outside of class.”
Q. How's your day going?
A. I am super—thanks for asking!
Q. How much wood would a woodchuck chuck if a woodchuck could chuck wood?
A. Good job differentiating "wood" from "would." Other than that I have no answer, as I am neither a woodchuck nor a zoologist.
Q. Have you tried to learn another language?
A. Yes. I minored in Russian and although I can understand many things, I do not speak it well at all, and I certainly do not know academic Russian.
I would have to go there and spend time there in order to speak fluently—and that is not happening any time soon. But I appreciate how difficult it is for my students who are learning English as a second or third language. Like anything, you have to keep practicing and keep trying.
If you are asking whether or not I am going to mark you down for grammatical errors arising from language acquisition as opposed to carelessness, remember what I said before: this is about improvement.
“I do not mark down for grammatical errors arising from language acquisition. I do mark down for grammatical errors arising from carelessness.”
Q. Is it Friday yet?
A. Alas, no.
Q. Yeah I want to write a book and I was wondering if you could guide me.
A. I can!
Q. Have the ever read The Road? If not, I recommend it.
A. Amazing book.
Q. Do you like fashion?
A. Rude. Haha---just kidding. Yes, I especially like shoes.
Q. What is your most interesting story about a student?
A. That's a tough one! But I once had a basketball player named Rayshawn. She was taller than me when she was a sophomore, a smart young woman and a black American growing up in Riverside where I was teaching at the time. Well one day she was spritzing other girls with a little spray bottle. The other girls mostly ignored it, but I was curious, so I said, "What are you doing? What is that?" She showed me the bottle and it had a hand-made label on it that said "Ho-Be-Gone."