Catcher EVAL

Write an evaluation of The Catcher in the Rye in which you point to one good thing about the book and one negative thing before arriving at an overall assessment.  Get to the question of, "Did you like it?"  Offer evidence from the reading to support your claim.  Consider Holden as narrator, but also setting, theme, conflict, characterization, irony, Salinger's writing style, personification, hyperbole, or anything else you feel compelled to add.  Remember to read several of your peers' posts and offer a response to at least one other classmate.

Funding

So the federal and state governments give some money to each public school based on how many students attend.  If you were in charge of dividing up that money, how would you slice the pie?  Consider categories of spending like busing/transportation, teacher salaries and benefits, athletic programs, extra-curricular programs like band or ROV, building maintenance, food service, support staff wages and benefits, supply orders of consumable items like workbooks but also capital outlay items like furniture and technology.

Education

Our theme for the next three weeks will be education.  During that time, we will be reading one of the most iconic novels about teenage angst, about the disillusionment and pessimism that sometimes surrounds students lost in the system.  In this post, write about your opinion of the educational system as it exists today.  Has your education so far been a positive or negative experience?  What can the public school system do differently to engage students and make learning more relevant and authentic?  Is furthering your education a passion for you or simply a means to an end?  Don't forget to respond to at least one of your peers' posts.

Goal-Setting

What are your post-secondary plans?  College? Work? Military?  What do you hope to gain by taking AP English?  What are your strengths and weaknesses relative to English?  What specific goals/expectations do you have for your senior (or junior) year of high school?  Consider academic as well as personal goals.