Excellence: in 2014, and 1914

Today in class, I ranted.  I ranted on behalf of Elbert Hubbard, who wrote A Message to Garcia 100 years ago.  (This essay is linked under the Essential Links sidebar on the right hand side of my blog.)  I ranted about people who don't work hard, and I raved about people who do.  In short, I ranted about excellence.

Your follow up assignment is to construct a five point action plan, describing five specific ways that you will ensure that you have a successful and excellent freshman year at John Carroll.  Post this action plan to your blog by midnight Saturday night.

slowly but surely

Thanks to your hard work and patience, more and more of you have successfully started your blog and sent the URL to me.  Good job!

Here are a couple things to keep in mind: you need to blog every time your class meets, and you do not need to email me every time you post a new blog.  Once I have your blog address, and you see your name listed on my blog, you are good to go.

Remember to bring your composition book to class tomorrow.

another Day One

After meeting two of my sections yesterday, today Section 3 convened for the first time.  They have the same assignment tonight that Sections 4 and 6 did yesterday.  The details are in my blog dated Sunday, August 24.

As for the other groups... we spent the first half of class getting caught up on the blogs.  A few people had some difficulty with the process, but things are getting better all the time, and it was worth spending some class time getting everyone up to speed.  The second half of each class was spent reviewing the syllabus.  I encourage you to peruse this document, and let me know if you have any questions. I think it is useful for you to know what to expect from me, especially in terms of my availability, grading policies, and lateness policies.

Oh, yeah - this is what a 150 word-long blog post looks like.

Day One

Congratulations on arriving at Day One.

Day One of school.  Day One of your high school career. And Day One of  Human Geography.

Here are some details about your very first homework assignment, due at the beginning of the next class.

• Add my blog to your Favorites/Bookmarks.
• Create a Gmail account (if you don't have one already), and use it to set up your class blog through blogger.com .
• After you have created your blog, send the URL to me at rschick@johncarroll.org . 
• Write your first blog post.  In at least 150 words, describe the experience of your first school day at John Carroll.  Take your time; write well; proofread; rewrite as necessary.  Impress me with this first (graded) example of your writing talent.
• Buy a Composition notebook for notetaking.  They are available at Target for a dollar or two; also sold at Patriots' Corner (the JC school store).
• Carefully read the class syllabus, which can be found under "Essential Links" just to the right of this post.

I'll see you tomorrow to check your HW, to make sure you have your Composition book, to answer any questions, and to get this class underway!  Hooray!