One Week Down

What a great first week! I can already see that this will be a wonderful bunch of young men. For the most part, they have all come in with the right attitude. They seem eager to learn and eager to please, and you can't ask for more than that.

They turned in their Flair! projects yesterday, and I was amazed at how hard they had worked on them. They look great. You can see them on the wall outside my room when you visit me at Meet the Teacher Night on September 9th.

Our chief mission this year will be writing. Yes, we will read many stories and poems and articles, but the way in which we respond to these will be the key. Responding to text is a big part of what we will do, but we will also spend a fair amount of time writing personal narratives and an even bigger amount of time writing expository papers.

I will try to have all grades posted in Skyward by the end of the weekend.

If you haven't already done so, please email me at rick.lackey@gpisd.org so that I have a good email address for you. Or, call and leave your contact information in a voicemail at 972-522-3667.

And, as always, let me know if you have any questions or concerns.

Have a great 3-day weekend!

Prepositions, The Giver, and Flair

Today we agreed upon a Social Contract; we learned about prepositions and prepositional phrases; and we talked and wrote some more about The Giver.

Remember that your page of Flair is due Friday. There have been some questions about the Flair. First of all, the different icons do NOT have to be circles. Any design is fine as long as it looks nice and the images are things that symbolize you. Here's another example. Notice it has the person's name (Adrian Beltre) and 15 things Adrian likes:

This took about 20 minutes to make. You can do it, too!

Flair!

Instead of "Pieces of Flair", you would put your name.

The assignment today is called Flair. Flair is just a way to show things that symbolize you. First, pick out 15 things that represent you. Examples: a soccer ball, a picture of you and your grandfather, a chocolate donut, the McDonalds arches, your favorite book, your favorite movie, your favorite video game, your favorite shoes, etc. Once you've come up with 15 (or more), make a flair page. You can cut the images out of a magazine (get permission), or you can cut and paste images from the internet. You can even get crayons or map pencils and draw your images.

Remember, your name should be on the Flair page, too. It should nice and big and bold so it stands out.

Make your whole Flair page colorful and bold. Nice and neat. It should be done on copy paper or construction paper. NO NOTEBOOK PAPER!

These will be posted in the hallway outside my room. Meet the teacher night is coming, so EVERYONE will see your Flair. Do your best. They are due at the start of class on Friday.

And yes, Meet the Teacher Night is coming up. It will be Tuesday, September 9th. I hope to see you all there.

I got an email from a parent today and had a parent conference with another one. Outstanding! Please email me. Or call. Or come by.

First Day of School

Today was tiring... but it was great meeting my new young men. It will be even better when we settle into some routines (especially a lunch routine).

As usual, there are issues with the summer reading assignment. Thank you to those of you who came prepared today. To the others, please get caught up as soon as possible. We will continue to talk about and write about The Giver all this week and part of next week.

Also, remember to get those supplies. The sooner, the better.

Something to think about for Tuesday... If you had a flag or a coat of arms that represented you, what would be on it?

Parents, please let me hear from you. My email is rick.lackey@gpisd.org.

If you have any questions or concerns, let me know.

Things Change

Yesterday morning we learned that YMLA principal, Mr. Arendse, has been moved to Grand Prairie High School and replaced by Mr. Johnson. We (the teachers) were all shocked. It's extremely unusual to make principal changes just a few days before the start of school, but it was something they felt needed to be done. GPHS will be better off with Mr. A. But there is no reason to believe that things won't go on as usual here at YMLA. In fact, there's no reason to believe things won't be even better here. Mr. Johnson will do a fine job. He was an outstanding teacher and then an amazing assistant principal. He loves the kids, and we are all very fortunate to have him.

Countdown to Day One!

I have to be honest, I am pumped about this school year. We're going to grow so much... our writing... our reading comprehension... our maturity... our awareness... And I promise some laughs along the way.

But here's the deal... You really, really, really need to show up prepared on the first day. That means you have read The Giver and another book from the list. It also means that you have annotated The Giver. And you have to bring those annotations with you to class on the first day.

Because if you don't... well, the world won't come to an end, but you will put an obstacle in front of yourself that might be hard to overcome. The annotation assignment for The Giver counts as a major grade. It will be accepted late, but it's 10 points a day off of your grade. Tuesday, September 2 is the absolute last day I will accept the assignment. So show up prepared and get off to a great start.

If you have a problem or a question about this assignment (or anything, really), please please please come see me.

If you want to know how to stay on my good side... You HAVE to enjoy reading. It helps if you love baseball, but loving to read is the key.

A person who CAN read... SHOULD.

Welcome to the 2014-2015 School Year!

Hello. My name is Rick Lackey. I teach PreAP/GT English 7 at the Young Men's Leadership Academy at Kennedy Middle School in Grand Prairie. My goal this year - as it pertains to this blog - is to post assignments, notes, and reminders on a regular basis.

I trust you have read The Giver and another book from the list. Your annotated copy of The Giver is due on the first day of classes (August 25). Be prepared to take part in a discussion of the book.

In addition to the annotations, there will be writing assignments covering both this book and the other book you chose to read. The assignment, which was given to you last spring, is detailed here.

In addition to the summer reading assignment, the supplies you will need for my class are:

• A 3-ring binder (1" or 2" is best). Choose a sturdy one because you will use it every day. This binder is for ELA class only.
• A pencil pouch inside that binder
• Dividers (a package of 5)
• Blue or black pens (We will write in pen 95% of the time.)
• Pencils
• A highlighter (At least one, but a package of them is even better.)
• Notebook paper

I look forward to meeting you and helping make this a great year.