Bryne Creek Summer Session 2013, English 12 Course Outline

English 12 Summer Session 2013

Bryne Creek Secondary

“It’s the question that drives us.”

Course Description
The English 12 curriculum provides students with opportunities to experience the power of language by dealing with a range of texts and with the full range of contexts and purposes associated with the use of language.  This course provides you with many opportunities to develop skills in the six key areas of language arts:  speaking, listening, reading, viewing, writing and representing.  We also explore a variety of source materials including: poems, non-fiction, essays, novels, short stories, films, visual art, music, etc...

Positive Learning Environment
Students co-create positive learning environments by resolving conflict in healthy ways, expressing appreciation of each other and oneself, listening attentively to teacher and peers, avoiding put downs of any type, respecting all human beings at all times, demonstrating care of classroom equipment and supplies, obeying all safety rules, accepting and using constructive criticism to their advantage.  

I have built my teaching practise around several evidence based theories including: Neuroscience, Maslow’s Hierarchy of Needs, Bloom’s Taxonomy, Metacognitive Strategies; I also incorporate the Mulitple Intelligences model not because it’s evidenced based but because it provides a useful model for demonstrating learning.  I also encourage students to take responsibility for their own learning by proposing alternatives to coursework provided adaptations meet the course’s learning objectives.  Basically, I believe learning requires the active participation of the student; people learn in a variety of ways and at different rates; learning is both an individual and a group process; learning is most effective when students reflect on the process of learning and setting goals for improvement.

Assessment
Your final mark is 60% course work and 40% provincial exam.  The exam is skill-based rather than content-based and is designed to allow you to demonstrate your ability to read, analyze and comment on selected poetic and prose writings.

5%  Silent Journal
15% Self Evaluations
15% Reading Response Journal
25% Portfolio
40% Provincial Exam

My assessment practices are “formative” in nature which means that they are meant to help you learn throughout the entire process of learning; i.e.  “Formative assessment aids learning by generating feedback information that is of benefit to students and to teachers. Feedback on performance, in class or on assignments, enables students to restructure their understanding/skills and build more powerful ideas and capabilities.”

Two notes about submitting late work:  While I do not generally deduct marks for late work, however, I may run out of time to complete marking if you submit work past the due date.  If this should happen, I will assign a mark of no more than 50% for any work I run out of time to actually mark (provided that a quick perusal of the work shows you’ve minimally met expectations.)  Also, with late work, you run the risk of missing out on comments that are generally useful to students.

Materials
1 Spiral bound notebook (81/2”X11”, 80-100pgs)
1 Response Journal (½ blank pages, ½ lined pages)
Pens, pecils, paper, binder, general art supplies (pencil crayons, scissors, markers, etc...)

Creativity “is the ability to successfully respond to a situation or solve a problem when no set pattern for responding exists.”

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