*What English Class is For

*Necessary Skills

“No matter how busy you may think you are, you must find time for reading, or surrender yourself to self-chosen

ignorance.” — Confucius

*Reading Skills

*Become more incisive, sophisticated readers, able to deal with the complex texts and arguments that make our culture go:

*Effective Communication in daily life with/as adults

*Civic Responsibility (ballot measures, political statements, etc.)

*Preparation for College

*Preparation for Career (in the modern workplace, even blue collar professions require skilled readers)

*Necessary Skills

“Reading maketh a full man; conference a ready man; and writing an exact man.” -Francis Bacon

*Writing Skills

*Learn to write with clarity, concision, coherence, and depth for:

*Effective Communication in daily life with/as adults

*Express yourself with power

*Preparation for College

*Preparation for Career (in the modern workplace, even blue collar professions require skilled writers)

*Don’t be the fool who does this type of thing…other adults WILL mock you, and we will NOT respect you:

*Understanding

"Words are the voice of the heart."  -Confucius

“Art is the nearest thing to life; it is a mode of amplifying experience and extending our contact with our fellow-men

beyond the bounds of our personal lot.” –George Eliot

*Understanding your culture and the culture of others helps you make sense of this crazy world.

*Understanding the Human Experience from a variety of perspectives helps us gain empathy for others.

*Understanding literature helps us understand life, others, and ourselves.

*Learning How to Learn

"... in the world of the future, the new illiterate will be the person who has not learned how to learn." -Alvin Toffler

*The brain is like a muscle; it must be trained in a variety of different ways to work at its best. Solving mathematical equations works it in one way, memorizing dates works it in another way, and analyzing literature works it in yet another way. These are TRANSFERRABLE skills, meaning, they will help you solve “real world” problems by making your brain agile, sharp, fast, and efficient.

*To succeed, you must learn HOW to learn, and reading is the fundamental skill of learning.

*Goals

"Never regard study as a duty, but as the enviable opportunity to learn to know the liberating influence of beauty in the realm of

the spirit for your own personal joy and to the profit of the community to which your later work belongs." 

-Albert Einstein

*Nothing worthwhile should be attempted without a goal in mind.

*In this class, there are really four sets of goals we have to consider:

*The goals of the State of California

*My goals for you

*Your parents’ goals for you

*Your own goals

*Goals

*State Goals: Common Core Standards

*Read, Write, Speak, and Listen for “college and career readiness”

*My Goals

*Each student will improve his or her ability to read and analyze complex texts, write with clarity and depth, speak clearly with confidence, and use the English language with skill.

*Each student will encounter the world and the self in a new and enlightening way.

*Each student will learn how to learn

*NOTE: my goals for you have nothing to do with grades. I don’t care about them. They turn out how they turn out, and that is up to you. What I do care about is the list above.

*Goals

*Your Parents’ Goals

*I suspect their goals include something about grades and something about learning, but I don’t know for sure.

*You should speak to them and find out.

*Your Own Goals

*Spend some time thinking about them.

*Understand that your goals for this class are determined, in part, by other goals you may have. For instance, you may want to play sports, so you need to stay eligible. You may want to be an attorney, so you need to learn how to speak better. Also, here’s a handy chart about post-high school plans:

*UC / Private University: You need an A in this course

*CSU: You need a B or better in this course

* JC or Technical School: You need a C or better in this course

*Graduate HS: You need a D or better in this course