The Journal

So, you need to keep a journal or binder for our class. 

We have you do this for a number of reasons:

1. We do a lot of handwritten work because it's good for your mind and penmanship.  
2. You can refer back to your papers for reminders of what you need to work on.
3. It will help your organizational skills.
4. I can't collect every assignment I assign.  I have to spend my best energy on your essay writing.  This gives me a way of seeing your notes and such at the quarterly check. 
5. If something goes wrong in the digital gradebook world (say I hit 0 instead of 10...say there's a glitch in an update), you can bring in the hard evidence to make it right. 

Does it Really Help?  Yes.  Here's an email I received from a student who went on to Biola University and later returned to teach at MVCS: "I thought of emailing you because your class had a large impact on me, and when I picture myself as a teacher I often go back to memories of being in your class. In fact, I still have my binder and materials from your class that I look through for inspiration."

Because we no longer have lockers, and space is limited on a table...and it's more convenient to write in a journal while traveling or sitting in bed, we are encouraging you all to use a journal for our class (instead of a binder).  If you are already using a binder for another class, you could slip your journal in there...or you may use a binder and not a journal.  But we think the journal will be more convenient for you.

Your Journal Must

• be of a standard size (9.5" X 7.5") or larger
• be college ruled (double check before you buy!)
• be neat and clean and have no major tears
• include an identifying mark, name, or other distinction on the spine
• include your name and period on the cover in pen (outside or inside)
• include tabs for your divided sections
• Daily Notes and Journal Responses (First 50 pages)
• Grammar (Sticky note: 10-20 pages)
• Terms and Reading Vocabulary List (Sticky note: 5 pages)
• Prefixes, Roots, and Suffixes (Stick note: 5 pages)

Binders need to

• have nicely working rings so that you can turn the pages easily
• be neat and clean and have no major tears
• be big enough to fit your papers comfortably (it should not be exploding)
• be stocked with blank paper (college ruled, no plastic on the left side)
• have no loose papers or papers in pockets that should be filed in a division 
• have all papers in chronological order in each divider (you may go from most recent to oldest or from oldest to most recent)
• include tabs for your divided sections
• Daily Notes and Journal Responses (50)
• Grammar (10-20)
• Terms and Reading Vocabulary List (5)
• Prefixes, Roots, and Suffixes (5)
• not have Justin Bieber on the cover...or any other celebrity. 

 Grading

• Your journal or binder is generally worth between 20 and 50 points per quarter
• We will check quarterly by any combination of the following
• random spot checks
• planned checks
• end-of-quarter checks
• If a spot or quick check
• I will ask you to turn to any given note or entry
• If you have it, you get an A
• If you don't, I ask for a second
• If you have it, you get a C
• If you don't, I ask for a third
• If you have it, you get a D
• Otherwise, you fail the spot check. 

• If at quarter's end 
• We grade your binder on a given day in the last two weeks of each quarter
• We grade it in class during the period, so you may share the binder with other classes 
• We take off about 5 points for each missing assignment or day of notes.  
• We take off about 2 points for each minor infraction (a loose paper, torn cover, a paper out of sequence, a paper in the wrong section)