MS. BALIAL

ON RAMPS: RHETORIC

Click the image above for On Ramps information, including course objective, lesson plans, and calendar.

ENGLISH III

Click the image above for information on English III, including course description, lesson plans, and calendar.

TEACHER BIO

Hello! My name is Nandini Balial, and this is my 2nd year at Carter-Riverside High School. I was born and raised in India, and moved with my family to Fort Worth when I was 9. I went to William James Middle School and graduated from Paschal High School in 2008. I graduated from New York University with a BA in cinema studies in 2014. I spent approximately ten years in New York and Los Angeles, working as a nanny, bookshop assistant, cook, dishwasher, housekeeper; I also worked in Hollywood in post-production.

When I moved back to Fort Worth in 2018, I realized I wanted to do what my mom has done her whole life: teach! Inspired by her career as a Language Center teacher and then an assistant principal, I started off as a Language Center tutor at Polytechnic High School in spring 2019. From August to December of 2019, I taught the freshman study skills class at Carter-Riverside, but in the spring of 2020 I took over for a departing English teacher and taught English III and IV. I also became the faculty sponsor for the Live to Eat Club, a student organization that promotes diversity and respect via the cuisines of cultures from around the world.

For the 2020-2021 school year, I will be teaching English III and a dual-college credit class called On Ramps, which will focus on rhetoric. Even though this is a strange time for everyone, it's my goal to give your students what I was lucky enough to get in this district. They deserve it, and so do you.

HOW TO CONTACT ME

If you ever have a question or concern, please email me: nandini.balial@fwisd.org

Please allow 24 hours for a response from Monday to Thursday and 48 hours on Fridays to Sundays. I can also arrange for a translator if you'd like to set up a teleconference.

CLASSROOM SAFETY PLAN

All Carter-Riverside H.S. teachers have been asked to create a classroom safety plan. I am listing mine below.

2nd and 5th period students will take their own temperatures before they enter the classroom. Our school nurse will be posted to my classroom (Room 220) every morning to perform this task. Students who have a temperature of 101.4 or higher will be sent home immediately.
Upon entering the classroom, all students will be given a sheet of paper towel. They will then pass along a spray bottle, the cleaning solution in which they will spray onto their desks. All students will wait for 20 seconds so the spray can cut through the germs that may be on the desk surface. (I'll time the 20 seconds.) Students will then wipe their desks and dispose of the paper towels.
I will issue restroom passes on paper. Students will dispose of passes immediately upon re-entering the classroom. I am trusting all students to wash their hands in the restroom—out of consideration for everyone's safety, not just their own—before returning to the classroom.
All students will wear a mask at ALL TIMES. If a student refuses to wear a mask, they will be sent to the assistant principals' offices for disciplinary action.
If a student shows any symptoms—including but not limited to trouble breathing, a cough, a fever equal to or higher than 101.4, lightheadedness—I will send the student to the nurse's office for further assistance.
I will keep the classroom door and windows open at all times unless the weather outside is impeding the lesson. Airflow is crucial in trying to make sure that any germs/bacteria in the air have a chance to leave the room.

A few students' parents have offered to provide cleaning supplies for the classroom. This is very, very kind of you, and the gesture means a great deal to me. However, it is not fair to you and your family to have to provide this to teachers. The school district is supposed to provide all supplies, and if they run out, I will obtain them myself. Thank you very much, however, for the offer! :)

If you have any questions about what you read above, please let me know, and I'd be happy to explain further.

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