The First Five Weeks

If you were a puppy, this is how big you'd be in 5 weeks.

I am looking for a typed, single-spaced, one-page response to the question, "How are you doing in this class so far?"  Set it up in MLA form, but do everything in single-space:  heading on the left, four lines, centered title, one-inch margins.  YOUR CHALLENGE will be that bottom margin.  How are you going to get it to exactly one inch?  Consider this part as a little puzzle piece:  just exactly enough words to create that margin:  no more, no less.

Here are some things to think about.  DON'T write a response that slavishly moves through this list, answering the questions.  These are here to help you see what I am thinking about when I look at you.

PARTICPATION:

• Do you follow instructions the first time you are asked?  
• Are you contributing to a collegial and collaborative atomosphere?
• Are you sharing your ideas and your questions at the table?
• Have you participated by speaking out publicly?
• Did you contribute to our Socratic Seminar?
• Are you writing in your writer's notebook with full, focused attention?  Are you filling pages?
• Have you taken good notes when I've given you notes?
• Did you complete your summer homework to the best of your ability?
• Are you working to keep the classroom focused and on track, or are you one of the people who make the classroom excessively loud and chatty?
• Have you chosen an appropriate book for your first quarter book project?  Did you remember to bring it on Monday?
• Does the inside surface of your portfolio offer a glimpse into your personality?
• Do you have your notebook in class every day?
• Is your notebook in good order?  Is your Table of Contents up to date and accurate?
• Is your vocabulary homework finished, or will it be by Wednesday?

PROGRESS:

• Have you learned anything so far?
• What goals do you have for yourself?
• What kind of things are you going to be working on as a writer this quarter?
• (Progress will be hard to measure at this point.  This is going to be pretty subjective.  That's OK for now.)

PERFORMANCE:

• What grade did you get, or do you expect to get on your summer homework?
• What score did you receive on your Postman timed write?  Do you understand WHY you received the score you did?  
• What score did you get on your vocabulary test?  (You'll know the answer to this on Wednesday.)
• How did you do on the writing assessment, "Is there a downside to technology?"   Are you citing sources?  Are you integrating the words of others into your own sentences?  Is your argument central?  Did you craft an argumentative thesis?