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Welcome to ELA with Mr. Molloy
Welcome to ELA with Mr. Molloy
ELA
ELA
What can you expect this year in ELA?
Well, in short, lots of writing. My philosophy is governed by trying to provide as much access to a wide range of texts of varying complexity and to continually practice with authentic writing tasks.
Our focus in ELA will be mostly on literary analysis, which is a style of writing where the writer makes a claim (often called a thesis) about a text and provides evidence and reasoning to support their interpretation. While we also take on some argumentative and narrative-style tasks, as well as some group projects, the bulk of your work this year will be on the literary analysis, and so, it is also the biggest part of your grade.
Every year I like to read something a little different than the year before and I've developed a little repertoire of articles, short stories and books to choose from. While I can't precisely predict what we will read, I can promise that each one will be chosen to address the Common Core skills we're working on. To give you an idea what to expect, some popular stories and texts I've repeated a few times include: Flannery O'Connor's "A Good Man is Hard to Find", "Apollo" by Chimamanda Ngozi Adicihie, Outliers by Malcolm Gladwell and The Omnivore's Dilemma by Michael Pollan.
Grading
Grading
My Grading Philosophy
My Grading Philosophy
Learning doesn't look like immediate mastery. Learning is a process that involves mistakes, revision, and re-approaching. It's not only okay to be wrong while learning, it's essential to be wrong. To facilitate that, it's important that you and your parents know that there are always going to be opportunities for improvement built into assignments. For example:
For each essay rubric in ELA, 70% of your grade will come from having passed it in on time, meaning that you can't get below a C on an essay if you complete it on time, regardless of what in your writing we need to focus on. Another example:
For every type of assignment, you will find opportunities to improve your grade if you are willing to put in the time.
ELA
In ELA, your grade is mostly split between written projects. As the organization of the school week is new and ever-changing, this is a rough explanation and not set in stone. As we adapt to the hybrid model, I may make adjustments on weight to reflect the needs for remote learning.
Essays 25%
Projects 20%
Text-based Narratives 15%
Creative Writing/Personal Narratives 10%
Homework 10%
Classwork 10%
Participation/Effort 10%
These category weights should reflect the focus of our learning, so that which is weighted most heavily will account for a larger chunk of our time and so on.
Late work
Late work
In term 1, there is no penalty for submitting work late. In term 2, there will be partial credit for late work. In term 3, all assignments must be passed in within a week of its due date; no assignment will be accepted outside of that time frame.
My Educational Philosophy
My Educational Philosophy
Learning is about making mistakes and striving towards accomplishing goals. My classroom is a space where you should feel comfortable failing at new skills and being wrong. We must approach each other with mutual respect. Some people believe that respect is earned, but I don't operate that way. To me, respect is given freely because all people are deserving of consideration and kindness. While I can have a lot of protocols and procedures in the room that I expect you to try to master, I will always correct you with respect. I expect students to be kind to one another.
About Me
About Me
This is my second year at the Hunking, but my fifteenth year as an educator. Before coming to Haverhill, I taught for 11 years in Lawrence, which is where I was born and raised. I graduated from Central Catholic and Boston University. I live in Lowell with my husband and our son Felix, who is a year and a half old.
I have lots of hobbies and interests! I am a big-time movie buff and got my degree in film theory. I love all kinds of movies from all eras and countries. If you like to watch movies, especially ones outside of the stuff everyone watches, let me know! I'm a huge bookworm and typically read a new book every week or two. I like prose that's well-written and I enjoy high-concept genre stuff, like horror and sci-fi. While I don't play any competitive sports, I have been skiing since I was little. I love the outdoors and camping trips make me happier than almost anything else. I am an avid music lover; I have pretty eclectic taste and listen to a lot of different stuff, but I spend most of my time with indie rock and pop. I have a pretty big record collection and my prized possession is Frank Ocean's Blond, which is worth about $600. I also collect Legos (look closely at my Bitmoji classroom for a little Easter egg) and I love to knit.
I'm looking forward to getting to know you this year!
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