Before you do anything else...
Watch this video and make sure you have (or start developing) a growth mindset:
And read this:
It is important to me that you know that one of my highest priorities is providing you an environment where you feel safe and comfortable and encouraged as a student. I want you to feel challenged, of course, but I don't ever want my class to be a place where you feel like you are not seen, heard, understood, or valued. I take very seriously any concerns my students might ever have about the words or actions of others--be they mine or those of other students--that work against the priority I've outlined above. I will not always get everything right (unfortunately), but I want you to know that I care immensely about issues and questions of fairness, justice, and safety, and I will always be open to learning from you anytime you have a concern that that is not abundantly clear. Please never hesitate to contact me (either directly through email or in person--or by completing my Do Tell Form if you'd prefer to remain anonymous) so that I can learn from what you have to share.
And note this:
It is extremely important that you properly name every file you create for this class (particularly any documents related to our literary analysis essays). By this, I mean that you should place your name (last, then first) at the beginning of the document's file name and then follow that with sufficient details to help you clearly identify the document (e.g., Doe, Jane Orwell Essay Workshop Copy). Properly naming files will help avoid confusion at various key points between now and graduation (most important among them being the point at which you will need to upload your Higher Level Essay--aka HL Essay--to IB).
This course is about analyzing the choices made by authors. As Marjane Satrapi once noted, "Everybody has something to say, of course, but the art is not about having something to say. The art is about how you say this thing." That's what we're analyzing this year: how the authors we're studying have chosen to say the things we see in their work. What's the interesting thing (related to structure, style, language, and/or technique) you've noticed the author doing in the way they've chosen to craft their writing? That's what your papers in this course have to focus on: the interesting choices made by the authors we study. This is important. Don't forget it.
And this course is also about writing, which, it turns out, can be difficult--or at least it can if you're hoping to become very good at it. Consider this quote by novelist Viet Thanh Nguyen: "Sometimes people ask me what it takes to be a writer. The only things you have to do, I tell them, are read constantly [and] write for thousands of hours." Although we may not reach the "thousands of hours" mark this year, we're going to knock out as many as we can. Buckle up and get ready to see some serious improvement in your craft.
And speaking of writing, consider this insightful observation of Adam Grant's related to the role writing plays in our journey as learners: "Writing isn't what you do after you have an idea. It's how you develop an inkling into an insight. Turning thoughts into words sharpens reasoning. What's fuzzy in your head is clear on the page. 'I'm not a writer' shouldn't stop you from writing. Writing is a tool for thinking."
Plagiarism/Academic Integrity Policy
Plagiarism is just a fancy word that means presenting someone else’s words, thoughts, or information as your own. It’s a serious problem. I don’t take lightly any instance of plagiarism (i.e., you should expect that I’ll be referring you to an administrator if this happens), so please, please, please make sure you’re never stealing work from some other source (e.g., a book, a website, a friend, AI, etc.) when you know that I’m expecting you to come up with something on your own (and just so you know, plagiarism is super easy to spot and track down). There will be some times when it’s appropriate to quote someone else’s words (or talk about their ideas). When you do use someone else’s words or ideas as a part of your own work, just make sure you give that person (or AI or chatbot or whatever) credit. If you’re not sure how to do this, come see me and I’ll help you out with that. I've made some information available to you (click here for that info) to help you understand what plagiarism is and how you can avoid it. I suggest you take some time to look through those materials to make sure you know your stuff in this area. Remember, saying you didn't know the rules on plagiarism won't keep you out of trouble if you've broken those rules.
Should you collaborate with classmates on your coursework for this class? The short answer is no. There are some ways in which this course is designed to be collaborative, but those things are always explicitly directed by me (e.g., our class discussions are collaborative, our literary commentary assignment is designed to be collaborative in some way, our writing workshops are collaborative to some extent). Outside of those specific, somewhat collaborative elements, though, it is my expectation that you will do all of the work for this course on your own. So to be clear, you should never work with another student outside of class to develop an essay (or the ideas upon which it is based), nor should you work with classmates on (nor communicate with them about) article response assignments and such. Is it ok to study with a classmate in preparation of one of our tests or quizzes? Sure. Should you ever talk with a classmate about a test or quiz after the fact if they've not yet taken it? Certainly not.
And when it comes to acceptable and unacceptable uses of A.I. in our class, as a general rule, the following is true:
Using A.I. tools to fine tune and edit minor details about the writing you’ve already done is acceptable (e.g., correcting minor/basic technical, grammatical errors).
Unless otherwise (and specifically) indicated, using A.I. to generate ideas and or writing that will then be incorporated into your work for my class is not allowed. Likewise, having A.I. rewrite and or make substantive changes to the way your own work was written or worded is also not allowed.
Furthermore, in order to help assure academic integrity, all work for my class (including any drafting for papers) must be done using Google Apps for Ed. (e.g., Google Docs) that are then properly filed in the student's official folder for my class on the student’s official school account. Any failure to comply with this policy will be presumed as an indication of a breach of our class's academic integrity policies.
And last, but not least, students who wind up on Mr. Lochamy's Academic Integrity Issues list should expect to be barred from certain trust-based opportunities (e.g., Independent Reading extra credit, etc.) the rest of the school year.
If you're serious about doing well in this class, you should be in the habit of taking notes. You should be annotating your text (as I promise, you're going to be happy you did when it comes time to collect evidence for your essay), and you should be making notes of interesting observations/thoughts that come up during our class discussions.
While it's a good idea to familiarize yourself with the basic narrative elements of a text before we read it as a class (e.g., the plot, characters, setting), you should not, under any circumstances, read any analysis of the work until after you have completed any and all writing you're EVER going to do about it. Reading analysis robs you of the opportunity to practice the skill of developing your own analysis, and even worse, it puts you in very serious jeopardy of committing plagiarism--even if you're not intending to.
The official course syllabus for my IB English 11 class can be found here. (Note: There's nothing you're required to do with this document, but it's here for your perusal should you like to see it.)
Classroom expectations
Be respectful (of the other students, of yourself, of the rules, of the expectations for IB students, etc.)
Make a good-faith effort to be a good student
That’s pretty simple and easy. If you do those things, you’re going to have a smooth (and fun) year with me. If you struggle to do those things, I’m going to help you do a better job of them (gently at first, less gently over time).
Shabby and Not Too Shabby Jars
One of the best things that can happen to you in life is to be selected as a member of the Not Too Shabby club. Good luck.
At the end of each month, we’ll select the newest member of the club by drawing their name out of the Not Too Shabby jar, and that person will then go on to be envied by everyone else, will receive an official Not Too Shabby bracelet, and will be privy to all sorts of stuff that regular people know nothing about (and never will).
Every time you do something that’s impressive, your name goes in the Not Too Shabby jar. Every time you do something that is particularly unimpressive, your name goes into the Shabby jar (the worst place a piece of paper with your name on it can be). What’s so bad about being in the Shabby jar? I’ll tell you what’s so bad about it. Every month before I select a name from the Not Too Shabby jar, I’ll pick a name from the Shabby jar. Whoever’s name is on the Shabby slip will be officially barred from entering the Not Too Shabby club that month, even if their name is pulled from the Not Too Shabby jar. Tough stuff. Stay out of the Shabby jar, my friends.
Do Tell Form
If there’s ever anything you need me to know (but for whatever reason you don’t want to tell me in person), you can let me know by completing the Do Tell Form. Great thing about the Do Tell Form: it’s completely anonymous. There’s a place to put your name if you’d like, but you don’t have to. And if you don’t, none of your personal information (i.e., email address, name, student ID, etc.) is collected. Is there a dangerous situation you need to report? Is there someone who needs help from a counselor? Do you have constructive criticism about the way my class works? These would all be good reasons to use the Do Tell Form. You can always find a link to the form at the bottom of the home page of my site.
Required Texts
There are seven works we'll be studying this year. To see what those are (and the specific editions you need to purchase), visit the Required Texts page of our site.
Class Policies
You're responsible for knowing (and following) our class policies. Make sure you visit the Class Policies page and familiarize yourself with everything there.
Bathroom Policy
When class is in session, I expect you to be there and working hard. I don’t expect you to be leaving class for any reason unless you have a legitimate emergency (i.e., you’re going to have some sort of potentially embarrassing situation if you don’t leave the room). Emergencies happen, and that’s why I’m happy to let you leave class whenever that’s the case. I figure, though, you’re not likely to have more than one emergency per month, so that’s how many times I let you leave class each month. My advice: use the bathroom between classes; save your mid-class exits for true emergencies. Do you need to leave class to run some sort of errand? OK, but you should expect that excursion to count as your one pass for the month.
Technology Policy
We’re going to use technology in class on pretty much a daily basis. You’re expected to have your Chromebook/device with you (and fully charged) each and every day. In addition to that, there are going to be times in class when you might have time to be doing some reading, and you’re welcome to bring a tablet sized e-reader (Kindle, Nook, iPad, etc.) for that purpose. You’re not allowed, however, to have your phone out in class (unless I've specifically sanctioned your doing so--like to take pictures of your handwritten essay for inclusion on your portfolio). Furthermore, the only time I should ever see you in class with headphones out/in-your-ears is if I’ve given you specific permission to be using them.
Study Sessions
I am more than happy to offer extra academic/tutoring opportunities to students who might need a little help keeping up with concepts or assignments from class. In order to request a study session, students need to fill out this form.
Make up/Late work Policy
Here’s the way this works on a basic level: I expect you to turn things in on time, and when you don’t, I count 10% off of your grade for that assignment for each day that it’s late (up to five days after the due date, at which point the most you can earn for perfect completion is half credit). My due dates are well publicized and everything you need to complete your assignments (whether you’re at school or not) is available on my website. Please do your work and turn it in on time, and please know that if you don’t, I’m going to bug you about it until you do. When a student misses work that can (and should) be made up, a score of 0 will be entered into the grade book until the work is completed. (Note: a score of .01 in the grade book signifies that either the student has completed the work/assessment and, unfortunately, failed to earn any credit for it or a crucial deadline of some sort has passed beyond which a student cannot receive partial credit for late work.)
Four Helpful Resources
Are you the type who sometimes has a hard time managing the stress associated with school? Check out my Friends of P Stress Management System.
Do you feel like you sometimes have a hard time fully comprehending what you've read? Do you find yourself not enjoying reading? Check out my Read Like a Champ guidelines.
Are you concerned that you don't do as well on tests as you should? Do you feel like you know more than your test scores usually indicate? Check out my Michael Jackson Method for Succeeding on Tests.
I've collected quite a few writing-related resources on our Documents and Resources page that I think you might find helpful throughout the year in this class as we hone our ability to craft an effective literary analysis essay.
Extra Credit Opportunities
There are two extra credit opportunities that students can take advantage of each nine weeks (plus a third option that students can take advantage of in lieu of one of our standard extra-credit assignments during the first semester). They're purely optional, of course, but I always recommend students do them anyway (for a variety of reasons). You can read all about them at the bottom of the Assignments/Grades page of our class site.
Class Website (bit.ly/lochamyib11)(bookmark it) and some things you'll find there:
This is the page where you can get detailed information on exactly what we’re doing in class on any given day.
This is the place to go to find important due dates, test dates, etc. Add this calendar to your own Google calendar to be sure you’re on top of everything that’s going on in IB English 11. (See me if you don’t know how to do that.)
This is the place to go to find any important documents and resources you might need while working on an assignment or studying for a test in my class.
This page of my site gives you detailed information the major assignments we’ll be completing this year.
Are you finished with your work before everyone else? Got some free time on your hands during class? This is the page to go to in situations like these. Here you’ll find the approved list of things you can be doing with any free time you have during IB English 11. Just as important as what is listed here is what’s NOT listed here (e.g., working on homework for some other class, playing a game on your Chromebook, getting out your phone, etc.). Be sure to stick to the items on the official list of Extra Time Activities (lest ye find yourself in the Shabby jar).
This is the place where you’ll find any information you could possibly need when it comes to how to turn things in electronically for my class. If in doubt when turning something in, go here and make sure you’re doing it right.
Every month, I post a new riddle on the Riddle of the Month page of the site. The first student to email me the correct answer (in their own words, written in a way where it’s clear to me that the student understands the riddle and how to solve it) will be placed in the Not Too Shabby jar FIVE TIMES!