"And in the eyes of the people there is the failure: and in the eyes of the hungry there is a growing wrath. In the souls of the people the grapes of wrath are filling and growing heavy, growing heavy for the vintage."
--John Steinbeck (above, as a child in Salinas, California)
--John Steinbeck (above, as a child in Salinas, California)
A Letter to the Tamalpais High School District School Board and Administration
For the full text of this letter, click on the link below this excerpt.
...The rewards of the journalism adviser are few and mostly come from the relationships developed with students, the recognition given by others in journalism, and the joy of seeing the successes of the students. The stresses were high. I paid for pizza. I served as a cushion between angry adults and the students. I was forced to beg for funding and wrote grants, then went hat-in-hand to justify those requests, to community members and officials who thought they knew better what the journalism program needed. Did I mention that I was also an English teacher with papers to grade and novels to teach?
There was a stipend. It was not worth it. ...
I would predict, before I retire in two years, if you eliminate the adviser stipend:
The students will print or broadcast something embarrassing. An inexperienced administrator will over-react and try to curtail the students’ First Amendment rights. The students will seek free legal help from the ACLU or one of the student press law centers. The students will win their case. The students will write about it in their college application essays—how they fought for their rights against freaked-out adults, learned about the law, learned to work in the adult world, learned how to stand up for themselves, learned that even in liberal Marin, not everybody is liberal, etc.—and the students will get into their colleges. Across the country, students, even rag-tag pirate publishers tend to win these cases, or even if they lose, they tend to be rewarded by colleges that seek iconoclastic students with spunk and passion. School districts don’t get much from fighting student free speech.
Of course, if an administrator wanted to take on the role of adviser...
For the full text of this letter, click on the link below.
For the full text of this letter, click on the link below this excerpt.
...The rewards of the journalism adviser are few and mostly come from the relationships developed with students, the recognition given by others in journalism, and the joy of seeing the successes of the students. The stresses were high. I paid for pizza. I served as a cushion between angry adults and the students. I was forced to beg for funding and wrote grants, then went hat-in-hand to justify those requests, to community members and officials who thought they knew better what the journalism program needed. Did I mention that I was also an English teacher with papers to grade and novels to teach?
There was a stipend. It was not worth it. ...
I would predict, before I retire in two years, if you eliminate the adviser stipend:
The students will print or broadcast something embarrassing. An inexperienced administrator will over-react and try to curtail the students’ First Amendment rights. The students will seek free legal help from the ACLU or one of the student press law centers. The students will win their case. The students will write about it in their college application essays—how they fought for their rights against freaked-out adults, learned about the law, learned to work in the adult world, learned how to stand up for themselves, learned that even in liberal Marin, not everybody is liberal, etc.—and the students will get into their colleges. Across the country, students, even rag-tag pirate publishers tend to win these cases, or even if they lose, they tend to be rewarded by colleges that seek iconoclastic students with spunk and passion. School districts don’t get much from fighting student free speech.
Of course, if an administrator wanted to take on the role of adviser...
For the full text of this letter, click on the link below.
| a_journalism_letter.docx |
Important! I sometimes fall behind on keeping the website up to date.
Remember, you are the most connected human generation ever.
Call a classmate. They can inform you and even send photos of assignments to you.
Seven easy digits: HW Bah? Much of the literature we study is online.
A title and an author's name will get you far. Use the phrase "full text"
in your search (example: Conrad Secret Sharer Full Text). When I was in high school,
if I didn't have an assignment or a book, I often had to go somewhere.
That is something else you can still do. Visit a classmate, the library, a bookstore
(while we still have them). But if you don't want to leave the house,
figure out how to use the technology to best solve the problem you are having.
You can tell me how you solved the problem of not knowing what the homework was.
But even "good reasons" for not doing your homework usually carry a component of
"leaving it until the last minute," so don't spend too much time preparing excuses unless you
had a multiple day, actual disaster, or family upheaval.
Welcome.
Remember, you are the most connected human generation ever.
Call a classmate. They can inform you and even send photos of assignments to you.
Seven easy digits: HW Bah? Much of the literature we study is online.
A title and an author's name will get you far. Use the phrase "full text"
in your search (example: Conrad Secret Sharer Full Text). When I was in high school,
if I didn't have an assignment or a book, I often had to go somewhere.
That is something else you can still do. Visit a classmate, the library, a bookstore
(while we still have them). But if you don't want to leave the house,
figure out how to use the technology to best solve the problem you are having.
You can tell me how you solved the problem of not knowing what the homework was.
But even "good reasons" for not doing your homework usually carry a component of
"leaving it until the last minute," so don't spend too much time preparing excuses unless you
had a multiple day, actual disaster, or family upheaval.
Welcome.
Here are a few links that might be useful.
Syllabus:
| ap_lit_syllabus_2019_20.docx |
Expectations:
| apliterature__expectations_2019_20.docx |
The District's Student Parent Handbook:
| studentparenthandbook2016-17.pdf |
Materials
You are in a college level, honors, AP course. Bring your stuff:
I know I have probably left something off the list, but this is a start. And if you want to be a good citizen, bring two boxes of tissues for us to share.
You are in a college level, honors, AP course. Bring your stuff:
- Your book, handouts, etc.
- Lined, college rule, loose leaf paper (not the kind that has the reinforced edge) in a--
- Binder
- Blue or Back Ink (I recommend erasable ink). Have several pens appropriate for class.
- Pencil for scantron tests and notes (Please do not write essays in pencil.)
- Highlighters, two colors
- Post-its. You will need to use the post-its to make annotations in your texts. Have plenty. Sometimes I check your reading by checking your annotations.
I know I have probably left something off the list, but this is a start. And if you want to be a good citizen, bring two boxes of tissues for us to share.
Links Page
On the "Links" page, I include articles I think are interesting or in some way connect to class discussions, texts we have read, studying, or the school or college experience. One article explains why I don't allow listening to music while reading or writing in class.
Take a look at these articles on the "Links" page.
On the "Links" page, I include articles I think are interesting or in some way connect to class discussions, texts we have read, studying, or the school or college experience. One article explains why I don't allow listening to music while reading or writing in class.
Take a look at these articles on the "Links" page.
| notesocea.jpg |
| notescomparisonanalysisdevices.jpg |