Opening Day Notes:  February 2004

MacIntyre’s Home Page:  http://hrsbstaff.ednet.ns.ca/waymac/

Email address: waymac@staff.ednet.ns.ca

J L Ilsley Home Page: http://www.jlihs.ednet.ns.ca/pages/perm/home.html

  1. WELCOME ALL!
  2. Administration notes: Attendance Policy (if you’re not here, you can’t change another’s opinions and life), late policy, fire exits (on wall near entrance inside the room).   Mental Health.  Tell me when you are on a Field Trip.  Bring notes to the main office.  Specify your name, the date you are absent, the periods you missed.  MY COURSES ARE EASIER IF YOU ARE  PRESENT IN CLASS.
  3. My poor vision: sorry if I don’t wave to you in the hall.  Avoid writing in pencil and gel pens please. 
  4. ALWAYS BACK UP YOUR WORK THAT YOU HAND IN.
  5. Outline for the course: outcomes are online, I will go over them with you before we begin each unit  You should refer to them frequently if you want to know the direction the course is taken and what is expected of you.  In my outcomes, both attendance and punctuality are included.  You are expected to be in class every day and on time unless you have a valid excuse.
  6. Rubrics for papers and assignments.  When I do them, when you do them?
  7. No smoking at all on the property. 
  8. RESPECT = FAIRNESS.  Teacher can’t fail a student just because s/he wants to do so.  That would not be fair.  Anybody would be upset by such behaviour.  People don’t like unfairness.  That means that you have to act fairly too, towards yourself and others.  If you don’t, you give others permission to treat you unfairly too!!  This is true for everything in life, if you do something to others, you give them permission to do it to you!!  Think twice about what you want done to you!!
  9. Everyone has something to offer in class.  Think of the Einstein “mountain of intelligence” analogy.
  10. I am here to help.  Seek it from your teachers when you need it.  Check my prep periods or catch me in the hallway to talk with me.  Plants take from the soil what they need to grow, they don’t care if the plant beside them is wearing designer leaves.  The suck up all the nutrients (knowledge) they can.  The answers to how this universe works are in the garden.  Reach around any teacher and take the information you need, especially if you don’t particularly like the teacher.
  11. Peer pressure: it is important that you know why you are doing the things you do.  Be aware of who your friends are.  If they make fun of you because you won’t don’t feel right doings something, then you should question how good a friend that person is.  Wouldn’t a friend want you to do things that make you grow, and have success?  If you were trapped on an island for the rest of your life, alone and with only enough to survive, would you still engage in the behaviour you are now?  This separates what you do for you, and what you do for someone else.  Know the difference.
  12. Why is growing (education) important?  RELATIONSHIPS AND JOBS.  There is no such thing as useless knowledge, there is, however, knowledge that is waiting to be used.
  13. What do schools exist?  To give you a chance to gain knowledge in a concentrated and fast manner.
  14.  Read and write often.  Are you reading books or magazines or newspapers?  If not, why not? These help your vocabulary and thought processes develop.  Journal time: write or draw what you learned at the end of most classes; it helps with learning.
  15.  CBC radio 1: interesting talk shows. 90.5 FM  (you always come away knowing much more than when you started.)  Helps you offer interesting stories at parties.
  16.  CBC radio 2: 102.7 FM.music: jazz, blues, oldies, classical, modern http://cbc.ca/
  17.  Get involved in school: you’ll find the time passes better and more quickly.  If you do nothing, nothing happens!  You have nothing to feel good about.
  18.  Be reflective: ask yourself what you learned each day.  In any situation, ask yourself how you can help things.  Ask yourself the question asked in American History X: “What are you doing to help yourself?”
  19.  Once you break the trust of another person, it is extremely hard to gain back, and trust is the backbone of all relationships.  Be truthful in your dealings with others.  Remember: what goes around, comes around.  The universe will pay you what you have earned, even if that is bad.
  20.  Between the angels you have a “safe zone”.  This means that I will do my best to make sure you feel safe: safe to express yourself and sit in peace without fear of being hurt in any way.  We can challenge ideas without challenging people.  For example: “I think that idea is wrong because…” is not attacking a person.  But if one says: “How could you be so stupid for thinking that!” this does attack the person.
  21.  No drugs.  Come to school with a clear mind and ready to learn.  If you are unable to sit in class, see me before hand if possible so we can make sure you are safe.  I must report anyone I think smells of drugs.  Ask yourself why you need drugs if you are using them!
  22.  My info.
  23.  Scholarships: we raise more money for you than probably any other school in the province.
  24.  Read the Student Handbook and the Student Behaviour Handbook.  It’s also online.
  25.  If you miss a test, the make up is worth 50% after I have returned it.  If you have to miss a test, see me first if possible.
  26.  Papers become late after I hand back the corrected papers.  Late papers are worth 50% of original value.  Late papers will not be accepted any later than one month after the due date. 
  27.  I need time for names.
  28.  The cost to educate you = circa $5000 per year.  When you drop out, you take with you $5000.  Last year, many schools lost more than 100 students before year’s end.  That means one half of a million dollars was lost of your parents’ money in just one school!!  That means millions were lost in the entire province.  If we could keep students in school and finish their courses in three years, we could put the saved money towards other needed services like shelters for battered women, MRI machines for the hospital, hiring nurses and doctors to reduce the waiting time in Emergency rooms, etc.
  29.  patterns and innovations=money and education. (cornflake suckers. Velcro)  There is no useless knowledge, it’s only knowledge you have not yet learned how to use.
  30.  Why do people spray paint who they love on the sides of walls, etc.?  Keep the desks clean. 
  31.   Do not eat in class!  Eat before you come to school in the morning.  The only time is at lunch time.
  32.  The hunter analogy: a tribesman goes out with only one arrow and leaves the other 15 behind.
  33.  Blue box – paper in one, cans and bottles in the other only. 
  34.  The Wright Family.  Tell me the story.  Now you understand how to avoid plagiarism.
  35.  Student information.
  36.   Marking: lego in a bucket analogy: how knowledge keeps growing.
  37.    Flexibility: stay over lunch, get next class off ( or negotiate for one that you choose).  This accommodates guest speakers.
  38. The star on the TV reminds you of the “LAWS” in the universe.  One law is: The Universe pays you back what you deserve.  It doesn’t know you or care, you have to teach it who you really are and that you are worth caring for. 
  39. You get what you earn.  If you put your work in a bucket, at the end of the term that work in the bucket is worth points.  The more you do, the better your marks.
  40. Focus on how to write an essay.  I will help you in the beginning of the course.
  41. Always add a work cited page.  I take off two points without it.
  42.  ACS and SOCIOLOGY are very flexible courses.  You have to be prepared for small changes in when we meet as we go along.
  43.  If you are unsuccessful, consider taking another course to prevent boredom, or to help you find where you heart is happiest.
  44.   COURSE SYLLABUS.  (ONLINE)
  45.   MOST NOTES ARE ONLINE, YOU ARE RESPONSIBLE FOR THEM.
  46.  You can access your marks online.  Tell your parents!
  47.   Feel free to talk to me privately any time about things that help or hurt your learning.
  48. Why take this course?  What’s it all about?

 

 

 

 

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