from Fletcher: I'm workin' in 508

Hi Kids:

Just thought I'd let you know that I'm working in my classroom tomorrow between 11:00 a.m. and 2:00 p.m.  If you want to stop by and show me your work, ask me a question, whatever -- I'll be there and glad to see you.  You may end up having to dust something.

I've been tutoring a student from the neighborhood for about a year now, and this summer, he's doing the AP English Language summer homework from another high school -- and I'm going to give you the same advice that I gave to him.  Start writing.  He's done with all of the peripheral parts of the assignment, but the writing...oh gosh, he just has a lot of writing to do between now and the first day of school.  We've had to make an aggressive schedule to ensure that he will 1) finish on time; 2) turn in decent work, and 3) ease into the school year with as little stress as possible.

Make no mistake.  You have a busy year in front of you, so if you haven't put your energy into your essays yet, you are entering the danger zone.  Every summer, I end up dropping kids who satisfactorily complete the blog requirements, but turn in inadequate notebooks.   Finishing the work is a requirement, as is writing coherent sentences.  Nonsense doesn't fly.  So if you haven't started, start.  Start right now.  I know some of you like to flirt with the edge, just to see how close you can get and pull it off, but let me tell you, this is the year that you are going to develop healthier and more sustainable work habits.  Start today.