I am very pleased that I have the opportunity to be able to work with your student this year.  I am your student’s Advanced Placement Environmental Science teacher.  My name is Diana Johns and I am a graduate of Michigan State University (B.S.) and the University of Michigan (M.S.).  I have majors in Environmental Science, Biology, and Earth Science and I am certified by the State of Michigan to teach any high school science class.   I advise the Crestwood High School Chapter of the National Society and mentor CHS students in independent GLOBE research through the Science Club.

AP Environmental Science is a year-long class and I will be your student's teacher for the entire school year.

There is information about AP Environmental Science on "All About AP Environmental Science" page.  All content will be posted on this website under the chapter links and all assignments will be posted on google classroom.  

Many parents in the past have asked for strategies they could use with their son/daughter to get more out their science experience.  The following is a list of suggestions.

 Ask your student:

1. To share the information we are studying in class with you each day.  Check to be certain they are entering assignments and due dates in their planners/ phone calendars.  All of this will help you to encourage your student to be better organized.  To keep you and your student up to date in class, I will provide a schedule of events on my AP Environmental Science  home page and on the stream on google classroom.

2. To set up a space to keep all of their school work organized.  Make sure that they have a central calendar that they mark all of the assignments on so they do not lose track of due dates.  They should write down their work that needs to be completed as soon as they receive the weekly schedule from thier teacher..

3. To check their email, Remind, and Google Classroom each day.  A lot of communication will be coming to them digitally.  Have them delete anything that they do not need and flag important emails so they do not get lost.  At the end of the week, they should look through the emails that they received and clear out anything they do not need so they are ready for the next week's work.

4. To ask for help AS SOON AS THEY NEED IT!  I am available most days before or after school.  AP Environmental  concepts build on one another and it is best to ask for help early because the concept will not be going away.  We will just be adding to it in future chapters.

5. To make sure to keep up with the assignments.  Again, AP Environmental Science concepts build on one another and it is best learned in small chunks, not all at once.

6. To explain the concepts that we are learning in class to you.  AP Environmental Science is a laboratory and field-based class.  Although it will be difficult to do some of the labs first trimester, once it is safe to meet face-to-face students will complete many of the regular laboratory investigations for the course.  I believe in hands-on learning and real life examples.  There are many opportunities to explain AP Environmental Science concepts in real life.  Research demonstrates that most people retain 95% of the material when you teach it to someone else.

I believe that one of the main keys to your child’s success is parent-teacher communication.  I update the weekly schedule each week to let you know what learning should be taking place during the week.  

I will also periodically e-mail parents through MiStar.  Please make sure your e-mail is up to date with the main office.  

This year parents will be again able to check their student’s test grades, missing assignments, and overall grade from MiStar.  Please contact your student’s counselor if you need more information about this service.  

Your student is encouraged to sign up for text messages from me through Remind.  I will be sending out quick reminders or helpful hints on Remind.  All of the weekly announcements will be posted on here and on the Google Classroom stream.

Please also talk to your student about academic honesty.  I have seen a rise in students using their phones to take pictures of homework assignments and tests to send to other students.  Sending or receiving other people’s work is academic dishonesty and could result in a zero for the assignment/test, no credit in the class, and/or academic dishonesty written on their report card.  It is important for students to do their own work to be able to properly learn the material.  Your student has signed an academic honesty agreement that said that they understand what it means and will not engage in any dishonest behavior.

In order to be successful in AP Environmental Science, students need to be able to demonstrate that they have learned the content, not that their lab partner or friend has learned the material.