Ms. Garcia

8th Grade Language Arts, Creative Writing & Alliance Club Advisor

A little about Ms. Garcia:

Melissa Garcia is a born and raised San Jose native with ties to the Willow Glen community. She attended Oak Grove High School where she was active in activities and theater. After graduating, she attended San Jose State University where she majored in Communication Studies and minored in English.

This is her 11th year teaching at the school her mom and dad attended in the 60’s, and nephew will attend in the future. Melissa believes her job as English teacher and Speech and Debate coach is incredible because she gets to support the academic and emotional development of the young adults of tomorrow.

In her free time she likes to spend time with her family and friends, go to the movies with her boyfriend, and create superbly designed crafts of all sorts.

Some wacky facts about Ms. G . . .

• she can say the entire alphabet backwards

• she has swam in the Pacific ocean, Atlantic ocean, and Alaskan glacier water

• she has painted 20 pieces of pottery

She loves communicating with parents and the best way of getting in touch with her is via email at mgarcia@sjusd.org.

Academic Support

I am available for academic assistance most weeks Tuesday through Friday. Students must let me know when they are coming in.

Room: C109

Phone: 408-535-6277 Ext. 55339

Email: mgarcia@sjusd.org

Prep period: 6

Before School: By appointment

Lunch: By appointment

After School: By appointment

My Teaching Philosophy & Educational Vision

As a teacher I have a responsibility to serve my students, colleagues, school, and subject matter. To meet these responsibilities and reach our diverse students population, I teach an inclusive curriculum that is aligned to the California state standards for eighth grade English-Language Arts. To obtain to most from my students I draw on multiple intelligences and assess content through various measures. These are all attributes that enable students to have the most success—and success is the greatest motivator.

My societal duty as an educator is manifold. I strive to create critical thinkers who question, inquire, and see an intrinsic value in education and knowledge. I hope to build respectful members of the human race equipped with the tools needed to be a contributing part of society. I challenge myself to inspire writers and poets, and foster lovers of the written word. Lastly, I encourage courteous interpersonal communication that roots itself in acceptance, tolerance, and reflection.

Although my expectations are high, I believe high expectations create greater reward. In my four years and hundreds of students, very few have let me down. My students realize early on that I accept nothing but their personal best. They appreciate my love of teaching, sense of humor, and become enthused in response to my genuine excitement for all things English. I know this will be a fantastic year. Here’s to a new school year!

Reading is Everything

I have built a tremendous classroom library over the last 4 years at WGMS, and allow students to check out books at the end of class or after school. The books range in reading level and genres. I also have several issues of SCOPE magazine, a fabulous periodical from Scholastic books dedicated to supporting literacy by making the hottest topics today accessible to teens.

Also, every few months students can order books/software from the Scholastic book orders available in class. The book levels range from 6th grade to teen.

Grades & Progress

In an effort to promote academic rigor, and increase test scores, San Jose Unified School District is focusing on data. Our hope at Willow Glen Middle School is that this quantitative data coupled with researched-based best practices for teachers will help our students reach their academic bests.

At the “Grades & Progress” wall students can:

• check their grades (updated weekly)

• check their Benchmark progress

• keep track of “The Battle of the Classes” (Indicates the winners for highest averages in: Reading Logs, grades, and participation. The class with the most “trophies” will get a party at the end of the semester/year.)

• remove returned work/check for missed assignments during an absence in their personal folders

Students can also request a request a grade check, borrow pens, sharpen pencils, grab a tissue, use hand sanitizer, and check the date, dress code, schedule and Ram Way in this area of the classroom.

The Road to Success begins…

HERE…with stellar student work. Students can sit pretty knowing that their hard work is posted on the wall for all to see!

English is Great!

Need help writing it right? Are you confusing your predicate nominatives with your appositives? Not to worry…the Guide to Grammar and Writing wall is here. It’ll help you through the tough stages of grammar (gerunds…blah); and the multiple elements of genre writing (750 words…ugh). Have no fear, the wall is here!

Report abuse