Student of the Month: March 2012
When the call went out for Student of the Month nominations, I almost overlooked Jenna because I assumed she had already been selected by some other department a long time ago. She is one of those students who is so on top of things that teachers don’t have to worry about her, which, ironically, might be why she wasn’t already chosen.
The fact that she gets straight A’s is only the tip of the iceberg. Jenna has a lot going on, including but not limited to her being our head cheerleader. But regardless of the many commitments she has, she always gets the job done. The assignment always gets turned in. Her expectations for herself are already so high that I don’t have to drive her to continually do more. She’s driving herself pretty hard already, especially in English.
Jenna is one of a handful of students that has nearly completed the voluntary online Honors English curriculum this year, which, when coupled with the traditional daily English class, means a lot of very high level reading and a ridiculous amount of writing. Last term for example, she read a Charles Dickens novel, a Shakespeare play, and parts of The Odyssey, as well as a book or two of her choice…in one term!
The weekly writing assignments she completes are in the form of blog entries. Since the beginning of this year, Jenna has posted 35 entries to her blog, most in the form of academic essays with topics ranging from the healing power of laughter to how much she hates it when people sitting behind her bounce their foot on the basket under her chair. Also, I have always appreciated the way Jenna incorporates writing from other classes into her blog -- things like science and social studies article reviews. Many of her posts begin with “I was reading this article the other day….”
These are the words of a very well read person…and she is not just reading the classical literature I assign her. She is truly becoming a “citizen of the world” who understands how all this learning and literacy come together. I’m sure lots of other teachers could have nominated her, but I’m glad it got to be me!
The fact that she gets straight A’s is only the tip of the iceberg. Jenna has a lot going on, including but not limited to her being our head cheerleader. But regardless of the many commitments she has, she always gets the job done. The assignment always gets turned in. Her expectations for herself are already so high that I don’t have to drive her to continually do more. She’s driving herself pretty hard already, especially in English.
Jenna is one of a handful of students that has nearly completed the voluntary online Honors English curriculum this year, which, when coupled with the traditional daily English class, means a lot of very high level reading and a ridiculous amount of writing. Last term for example, she read a Charles Dickens novel, a Shakespeare play, and parts of The Odyssey, as well as a book or two of her choice…in one term!
The weekly writing assignments she completes are in the form of blog entries. Since the beginning of this year, Jenna has posted 35 entries to her blog, most in the form of academic essays with topics ranging from the healing power of laughter to how much she hates it when people sitting behind her bounce their foot on the basket under her chair. Also, I have always appreciated the way Jenna incorporates writing from other classes into her blog -- things like science and social studies article reviews. Many of her posts begin with “I was reading this article the other day….”
These are the words of a very well read person…and she is not just reading the classical literature I assign her. She is truly becoming a “citizen of the world” who understands how all this learning and literacy come together. I’m sure lots of other teachers could have nominated her, but I’m glad it got to be me!
posted by MRT at 7:15 AM
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