Week of October 29, 2012

Happy Halloween!

This week, Sophomores will be finishing work on Beowulf.  We will have our final quiz on Monday, October 29, and then we will review for our test on Thursday, November 1.  Next week we will begin work on Of Mice and Men in C1 classes and The Alchemist in Honors.

Freshmen will be working on our essay comparing Odysseus and Luke Skywalker as heroes.  The essay will be due next Monday, November 5.

A reminder that the first quarter closes on Friday, November 9.

Week of October 9, 2012

Happy Columbus Day!

This week and next week are Parent Open House Nights.  The first night is scheduled Thursday, October 11, from 7-9pm and the second night is Monday, October 15, 7-9pm.  Please remember that these are NOT parent conference nights.  These meetings are to learn about your children's teachers and their curriculum.  If you wish to schedule a conference with your child's teacher, please contact the teacher directly.

This week, Sophomores are continuing their work with Beowulf.  Honors level has moved forward in their reading and C-1 levels are handing in group essays today (10/9).

Freshmen will be presenting their Kamishibai projects on the Odyssey beginning today (10/9).  They will be having a test this Friday, October 12 on the entire text of the Odyssey. 

Any questions, please feel free to email me.

JH

Welcome Back!

Hello Everyone and Welcome Back to School!

The WEA finally settled their contract dispute late last school year and therefore I will be updating this blog once again.  Thank you for all your support within the community!

We have started the school year strong.  Classes are working very hard to achieve their goals early on.  Let's hope this trend will continue.  Each week, I will update this blog with an outline of the coursework each class will be working on during the week.  You can keep up with your children's assignments through this blog.

Let's have a great year!

-Mr. Hacker

ATTENTION

TO ALL MY STUDENTS AND PARENTS,

DUE TO THE CURRENT LACK OF A TEACHER'S CONTRACT FOR THE SECOND YEAR IN A ROW, I WILL NOT BE UPDATING THIS BLOG.  IT IS MY SMALL WAY OF PROTESTING THE WAY THE WALTHAM EDUCATORS' ASSOCIATION HAS BEEN UNFAIRLY TREATED BY THE ELECTED SCHOOL COMMITTEE OF THE CITY OF WALTHAM.  THE SCHOOL COMMITTEE HAS CHOSEN NOT TO NEGOTIATE WITH THE W.E.A.  THIS IS UNFAIR TO THE TEACHERS, STUDENTS, AND VOTERS OF WALTHAM.  IF YOU WISH TO VOICE YOUR OPINION TO THE SCHOOL COMMITTEE, PLEASE EMAIL THEM DIRECTLY.  YOU MAY FIND THEIR EMAILS AT THIS WEBSITE:

http://www.walthampublicschools.org/sc.cfm

THANK YOU,

JOHN HACKER

Week of January 17, 2012

Midterms for all students are this week.

We will continue with all of our novels at the end of the week/beginning of next week.

Thanks,

Mr. Hacker

Week of January 9, 2012

Happy New Year Everyone!

I hope you all celebrated the holidays with loved ones and enjoyed the company of family and friends.

Sophomore C-1 classes have started reading JD Salinger's classic The Catcher in the Rye, the story of Holden Caulfield, an angst ridden teenager deaing with his emotional issues.  Students will be finished with the first third of the novel (Ch. 1-7) by Monday and will have a quiz either Tuesday or Wednesday depending on the class period.  Students should also be tracking Holden's "symptoms" as they prepare to write a paper titled "Diagnosing Holden."

Sophomore Honors are reading John Steinbeck's classic Of Mice and Men and will be finishing at the end of this week.

Freshmen finished reading The Hobbit over vacation and will begin review work for their test this week.  They will also be preparing to complete a project on the novel, which is included in each student's novel packet.

Mr. Hacker

Week of December 19, 2011

A Very Merry Christmas and Happy New Year to All!

Look for new updates in 2012!