Pathways
to Success
Work Habits and Cooperation
Work Habits and Cooperation
- Present and punctual: Come to school
every day, all day. Attend every class on time. Each day, we do a great deal of
reading, discussing, note taking, and writing, so your attendance is essential!
Be aware that there is no way to make up missed class participation time.
Absences and tardies, even if excused, are likely to have a negative impact
upon your participation grade. You must ask Mr. Ward for permission beforehand to be absent from his class
for any reason other than illness.
- Prepared: Each day be sure to have your
own pencil with an eraser (with extra lead or a covered sharpener), a
highlighter (any color), plenty of lined paper, and tissues or a handkerchief
for emergencies. Any non-classroom materials and lending or borrowing while in
class will result in those items being immediately confiscated. Electronic
devices are turned off and out of sight or they will be taken away.
- Pay attention: Listen attentively and
think deeply so that you begin to understand, formulate your own opinions, and
discover connections and patterns. Everything that we learn in this class is
important and will be revisited several times this year, so be alert! Stay focused
by keeping your eyes only on your teacher or your work. Always follow along in the right place with your notes or your
book so that your mind is actively focused on what the class is presently
discussing. Be thoughtful, not thoughtless.
- Poise: Practice self-discipline by silently
sitting up straight, sitting still, and remaining seated at all times. Take
advantage of class stretch breaks to refresh your body and refocus your mind.
- Pioneer spirit: Develop drive,
ambition, and initiative. A personal invitation and reminders are not necessary
for a self-starter who is trying to achieve his/her dreams and goals.
- Perspiration and power: Work hard and
diligently to build up your endurance for the marathons of life. Sustain your
best effort. Constantly strive to increase your stamina. Each day, push
yourself to go a little bit further until maintaining focus comes naturally to
you. Develop concentration and resist laziness. Serious students do not allow themselves
to become distracted, to daydream, doodle, or dawdle. Be quick and on the ball!
Be responsive and actively engaged. Be mindful, not mindless.
- Persistent: Always try your best,
believe in yourself, and do not give up! Practice brings improvement.
- Persevere: Bounce back quickly from
mistakes, setbacks, or bad luck. Be resilient so that you do not let one bad
event hold you back or keep you down. Focus on the right now and on the
positive!
- Professional: School is your main job
right now and must always be your top priority. Succeeding in school is the
best way to help yourself, your family, your culture, and your country; so your
success or failure here affects everyone around you and the quality of life
that you will have. Silliness, socializing, foolishness, and immaturity have no
place in this classroom. Rudely distracting others selfishly steals everyone’s
learning experience. A cooperative and respectful attitude is a vital life and
work skill.
- Proud: Take pride in a job well done
and in adding to the peaceful, positive, and productive atmosphere of our class
community. Allow yourself to experience the pleasure and satisfaction of being
recognized and rewarded for your intelligence and effort. Also learn to balance
self-esteem with humility.
- Purpose and passion: Strive to make
your school experience meaningful. Boredom has no place in the life of a
curious, committed, and caring person. Write with a sense of importance and
genuine concern.
- Protect yourself: At the appropriate
time, let Mr. Ward know if there are any problems with your desk, work area,
books, or class materials so that you do not get blamed for something that you
did not do. If you neglect to inform Mr. Ward, be prepared to pay the
consequences as if you were guilty. If someone looks at you or speaks to you in
a way you do not like, the best choice is to ignore them. Do not talk or look
back and do not tell Mr. Ward. Protect yourself by doing nothing! If, however,
someone touches you on purpose, threatens, bullies, or takes your possessions,
tell Mr. Ward in private after class.
- Proactive: As a young adult, learn to
visit the bathroom or drink water at the appropriate times and plan ahead to
prevent emergencies. Check under your desk before you leave any classroom! Once
you know better, then do better. Surround yourself with positive, supportive,
and successful people. Be in the right place at the right time with the right
people doing the right thing, and you will have no problems.
Education is a Partnership: As excellent a teacher as Mr. Ward is, that alone is not enough for each student to achieve excellence. If students choose not to follow all of the pathways at all times, then of course they will not be as successful as they could be. Expect that your teacher will work no harder than you. You get what you give, and help is always granted to those who are already helping themselves. If you pay attention, however, your questions will be few, and repetition or further explanation will rarely be necessary. You must rise to the occasion and apply yourself in order to achieve. Individual effort and focus are crucial to success!
Authentic Assessment: Each school day, all students must provide evidence that proves that they deeply understood some things that are important, meaningful, and/or useful by speaking or writing about what they learned in a clear, confident, and thoughtful way and by explaining their ideas using the words and the ways of an educated person. It is neither possible nor necessary to know or to be able to do everything; however, reading, speaking, listening, and writing well are essential to every aspect of life. Be prepared to show off the things that you do know and what you can do today. Each day is a fresh chance to increase your star status!
Speaking and Listening - Participate: Volunteer and participate
actively, intelligently, and often. Confidently sit up and speak up using
Standard English and complete sentences. Think, speak, and act like a scholar
and an intellectual.
- Present yourself: Show your teacher,
classmates, and yourself who you are: what you know, understand, think, and
believe. Your thoughtful ideas and opinions matter, especially when backed up
with evidence and explanation. Step up and volunteer so that you do not allow
yourself to fade into the background.
- Predict: When Mr. Ward speaks to one
student, he is always expecting the entire class to be vigorously and seriously
paying attention and staying involved. Constantly be listening, thinking, and
evaluating so that your mind is always actively seeking more clarity, a deeper
understanding, or an additional, better, or more exact answer. Always look for
more examples, evidence, and explanations for all ideas. A logical, educated
guess supported by evidence are the first steps in leading you to a correct
answer.
- Primed: Expect to be called on often. Be
prepared with your best, most reasonable answer to show the class how
intelligent you are or how thoughtfully you tried. Scrutinize your answer for
logic before being called on. Listen
attentively so that you do not ever repeat what another classmate has already
said.
- Patient and positive: When called on or
volunteering, be relaxed and be excited to shine and to show off because you
feel safe in knowing that your teacher and classmates are completely on your
side! While respectfully listening to others speak, be supportive by staying
silent, sitting still, and staring straight ahead. Make others feel respected,
appreciated, and valued.
- Partnership: The only reason that we
work with partners is because two people collaborating properly on something
challenging should produce better results than one person working individually.
Be wise in your choice of partners and be a worthy partner yourself. Choose a
partner (and be the partner) who brings out excellent behavior in and offers
the most help to others. Make others feel welcome and included, no matter whom
you may be paired with. Focus on work, not socializing. Whisper so that no one
steals your brilliant ideas.
Writing - Produce: Class composition books (notes
and practice assignments), essays, and assessments show evidence of your best
work and most thoughtful writing.
- Proper: Follow directions and be
certain that your writing conventions (neatness, mechanics, usage, grammar, and
spelling) show quality and care. Appearances matter! Be careful, not careless.
- Precise: Take neat, exact, and
meticulous notes. Correct, complete (yet concise), and comprehensible notes
means that you wrote all of the right (but only the most necessary) information
so that it is easily readable and useful at any time you may need it. You
cannot remember everything, so good notes matter!
Reading - Practice: Homework is required for all
students. Being an engaged, thoughtful, and experienced reader is the best way
to increase your achievement in every aspect of school! Independently read at least one grade-level novel (pre-approved
by Mr. Ward) per month. Complete a four page bookmark and a Book Jacket Report
for each book that you finish and turn in all homework by the end of each
month.