Class Culture
Judgement, negativity, cynicism and apathy all shut down creativity, innovation and learning - the very things that will make our class engaging and dynamic. Therefore, it is important to establish and daily strive towards the following values and ways of being in our class:
- Every person's perspective will be valued; everyone's story will be respected. A single story (constructed narrative) about places or groups of people will always be too limited and promote stereotyping and implicit biases.
- Being wrong is part of learning, and risking being wrong by making your thoughts and ideas transparent will be valued and affirmed.
- To that end, making fun of any student's response, comment or answer during class discussion goes counter to our classroom culture and will be addressed as undesirable behavior.
- Feeling uncomfortable is part of learning and all students should experience some level of discomfort this year. This is normal and is not a sign that there is anything wrong.
- All students will be pushed towards an evidence-based worldview. If evidence challenges your narrative, don't take it personally. Stay open to new evidence even when it calls your current understandings into question.
- There cannot be growth without feedback. Feedback on your work or answers should be viewed as opportunity to pinpoint areas to work on, and is never a judgment of your intelligence or worth as a student. Feedback will always be constructive and aimed at helping you improve. You will be asked to give others constructive feedback.
- Your final grade will reflect your demonstration of effort, engagement and growth as a learner.
Class Participation
Class participation will be evaluated informally by me on a regular basis. Ask me any time you'd like to know how you are doing.
These are the things you can do to make this a better class and show your participation:
These are the things you can do to make this a better class and show your participation:
- Stay on task during class time whether during lectures, group work, or independent work time.
- Ask questions. This shows you are engaged and know what is going on. Thoughtful questions will impress me.
- Show up to class on time, ready to begin when the bell rings. I will notice when you don't do this, and even if I don't say anything each time it will come up in our conferences about your progress if you regularly show up late.
- Click Here for the class discussion rubric.