Welcome back!

 Most of our assignments for this year will be posted and submitted via Schoology.  However, I strongly recommend bookmarking this page for easy access to the assignment calendar, useful links, and important announcements. 

Note: If you plan on accessing this page on your phone, you will need to scroll down to the bottom and click on "Web View" in order to see the calendar. 

Assignments during our online instruction time

All materials for my students are available on Google Classroom.  Please see the posted plans so you know what you are responsible for.

Guardians - please email me with your name and your student's name, so I can share information with you from Google Classroom. 

Contact me via email or REMIND with questions.

Senior Project Office Hours

Now that we've started the Senior Project, I know you are going to have lots of questions.  

You are welcome to talk to me about about your questions and concerns during class or before/after school.  You can also contact me via email, through the Help Thread on Google Classroom, or by text via Remind*.  Please be aware that, while I am happy to help you with the project, there are limits to my availability outside of school hours.  College professors refer to their available time as "office hours," so here are mine:

During my Prep Hour: by appointment only
Monday: 2:30 to 5:30

Tuesday-Thursday: 2:30 to 6:00

Friday: 2:30 to 2:45

Saturday: 10:00 to 4:00

Sunday: unavailable

I will make every effort to answer questions in a timely manner, but patience is a must - I have a lot of students sharing my time so messages will be dealt with on a first come, first served basis.  Your best bet for a quick response is to take advantage of in-class work time or our weekly student/teacher conferences during the Senior Project process.

*Everyone is required to sign up for the Senior Project Remind, by texting @shiersp20 to 81010.

Important things to keep in mind for the Senior Project

1) Every step builds on the step before.  Failure to complete the annotated bibliography means you won't be able to do the outline, failure to complete the outline means you won't be able to do the essay, etc.

2) Deadlines are put in place for a reason - the project is laid out so you have a reasonable amount of time to complete each stage.  Keep track of due dates and use the time you have been given wisely.

3) There is absolutely zero tolerance for plagiarism or other forms of academic dishonesty.  There is an established precedent in place that starts with a zero on the assignment and disciplinary action and escalates from there, up to and potentially including failing the class and not receiving your diploma in extreme cases.

4) CHECK YOUR SCHOOL EMAIL REGULARLY.

Materials for the Senior Project are posted here and on the ELA 12 Google Classroom page.  If you have questions about the project or any of the components, use the "Senior Project Help Thread" on Classroom.

"The Great Gatsby" online assignments

The online assignments for our study of "The Great Gatsby" is available via the ELA 12 - Second Semester class on Google Classroom.  

In order to access announcements, assignments, and other postings on the class page, you need to be logged into your school email account.

The ebook and audiobook links are available on the right side of this page.

Poetry Unit Materials

Looking for the poetry unit?  

Go to the ELA 12 - Poetry Unit class on Google Classroom.  In order to access announcements, assignments, and other postings on the class page, you need to be logged into your school email account.

Sample Annotation

This is a sample annotation:

This article was written by three medical professionals and published in a well-known academic journal. It focuses on the level and frequency of caffeine consumption in high school students. It also discusses the correlation between caffeine consumption and behavioral problems, as well as the correlation between caffeine consumption and other mental health issues. Additionally, the authors discuss their findings in the area of gender and levels of caffeine consumption, finding that young males are far more likely to over-consume caffeine than young females. The article includes detailed statistics on caffeine consumption that would be useful as evidence to support my essay thesis.


This annotation includes:
2-4 sentences summarizing the source (no quotes)
1-2 sentences evaluating the source's reliability/objectivity
1-2 sentences reflecting on the source's usefulness for an essay on the topic