Students will read and analyze stories and poetry for theme, summary, word choices and style as well as learn to write a responses to literature, a poem, character 

The standards covered for this course are:
➡️Cite textual evidence to support analysis of what the text says explicitly as well as inferences drawn from the text.
➡️Determine a theme or central idea of a text and analyze its development over the course of the text; provide an objective summary of the text.
➡️Analyze how particular elements of a story or drama interact
➡️Determine the meaning of words and phrases as they are used in a text, including figurative and connotative meanings
➡️Write shorter and longer pieces of writing for different audiences, topics and purposes.
➡️Writing informative/explanatory texts  to examine a topic and convey ideas, concepts and information through the selection, organization and analysis of relevant content.
➡️Writing narrative texts using literary techniques such as dialogue, figurative language and plot elements.

After graduating from University of South Florida in 1994 with a Bachelor of Arts degree in English with an emphasis in Creative Writing, I worked for USF for several years and decided to become a Language Arts teacher. In 1996, I became an English Language Arts teacher for middle school students grades 6-8. I took post graduate credits for my education certification from USF.

Teaching Certifications from the state of Florida include:
English Middle Grades 5-9
English 6-12
ESL
ESE
Business
Media Specialist

Teaching Experience: (28 years)
1996-2018 English Language Arts teacher Middle School grades 6-8
2004 Fellowship with Tampa Bay Area Writing Project, part of the National Writing Project

2005 I.C.E. Writers Camp mentor teacher - a creative writing camp for kids ages 7-18

2018-2022 Creative Writing and Digital Design - offered online as well as in class through my school's learning management system, so I am well-versed in offering and teaching online courses.
2019-2022 Teaching Digital Design (as well as Creative Writing) using Canva graphic design app

Teaching Philosophy:
My philosophy behind my teaching is I consider my students to be writers before they take any of my classes. They might be at different levels of proficiency, but most students are required to write from the time they can hold a crayon throughout their school years. I want to give my writers the agency to express themselves creatively through poetry, short stories, and creative non-fiction (personal narratives, blogs, podcast scripts, etc.) 

Homework Offered
Each week, students will read an assigned personal narrative to read and specific questions to answer, based on the skills we are studying that week.

Each week, students will also work on writing their own personal narrative. 

There are 2 assignments due on Fridays of each week to be turned in to me inside the Outschool classroom.

Time Commitment for this course: 1 hour 40 minutes per week in LIVE class, and an estimated 1 - 2 hours per week outside of class. for reading and finalizing assignments.
1 - 2 hours per week outside of class
Assessments Offered
Learners will be assessed using both informal assessments via discussions as well as rubrics associated with each standard studied. Students will have the opportunity to revise for higher scores. Written reports and letter grades available upon request.
Grades Offered