Concerning Grades

Hello Students,

I have had a bunch of students contact me in reference to grades moving forward.  Based on the meeting we had this week with administration, this is what I need you, yes you, to do.

I need you to understand that learning will still be happening in all of your classes.  We have been out of school for a month now, and we literally left physical school on the halfway point of the semester.  As of then, you only had 1/2 of the learning you needed to be successful in your class next year.  Since we've been gone, we finished how to analyze poetry, we've worked on how to analyze plays for character interaction and how that impacts the plot and creation of the work as a whole, and we're about to work on argument writing. 

Argument writing is one of the most important things we do all year.  It is one of the biggest things that impacts your success in the 11th grade English classes.  I saved it for the end because I wanted it to be closer to your classes next year.  I, like many people, was not expecting the scale of this pandemic to be what it has become.

Yes, your grade will not go down from where you are right now.  However, you still need to learn.  You don't come to school to get good grades, although it might feel like that.  Grades are just a reflection of how much you learn.  You come to school so that you can learn and grow and be better prepared to live life.  Everything you do in my class, as well as many other classes, is geared towards being better prepared for what you will do once you leave my class--whether your plan is college, the work force, trade school, or even if you don't have a plan right now.  If you ever want to know how an activity will prepare you for life, just ask politely and I'll answer--an offer that I made at the beginning of the semester, and I still make now. 

Please, use this situation, this unfortunate and frustrating situation, to better yourself.  To do the work that will help you be more successful next year and in your next step of life.  There is no opt-in/opt-out.  The learning is still here and, as it has been since the beginning of the semester, the choice is yours whether you rise to the challenge or not. 

Your mission, if you choose to accept it, is to become the best You you can be.  I believe in you.  I hope you believe in yourself too.  Especially since we're only expecting 2 hours of work from you total per day. 

This is a great opportunity to boost your GPA because you have the time, and the opportunities, to make your grades as good as you can before the end of the semester.  It would be foolish to waste the opportunity to get a 4.0 this semester in all of your classes.

We've been given permission to start entering grades into Synergy.  I'm going to cross reference any grade you make with your averages in that category (we have 6 of them--we still don't know what's going to happen with the Final Exam) and if it is higher than your average in that category, it will go in.  If not, I've been told to leave it blank.  I will put a comment on it, and you can always see your numerical score on Google Classroom or Turnitin.com. 

I do understand that many of us have a whole bunch of heavy things happening in our lives.  I know this pandemic has affected you in ways we didn't predict.  Some people have lost friends or family to Covid-19.  Some people have friends and family who are sick--some in the hospital, some at home.  Many people have lost their jobs and are worried not only about getting things like food, but also making rent at the end of the month (food drop off at the school is on Mondays--please email if you need information about this).  Some people are in challenging situations that are unique.  This is hard.  This is big.  This is life changing.  We are unfortunately living through one of those points in history that will have an entire chapter in future history books.  I would not have wished this on my worst enemy, let alone all of you.  I became a teacher because I care about you and I want you to do amazing things and I hate how this is happening to us.  All we can do is keep on and doing the best we can.  Your best doesn't have to be perfect.  Your best is just that, your best.  That is all I have ever expected of you, and I understand if your best now isn't the same as your best was 6 weeks ago. 

If you need help, please let me know.  I can't look over your shoulder and see how you are doing.  What I can do is ask if you need help and give you that help as you need it.  I have tried to make my instructions as clear as possible.  If you need help, please, let me know.  If you feel behind, please let me know.  In fact, if you respond to this letter in Google Classroom with how you are doing, you will earn an extra Reading grade--type it in a Google Doc and Add it to the assignment.

I miss all of your faces so much.  I hope you and your family are safe, secure, and healthy.  I hope that you are doing your best.

Sincerely,
Kim Bundschu