A letter to 9th grade families from September, 2015…
Dear Parent/Guardian,
I am Mr. Porcella, your daughter’s or son’s English teacher for the year. I have been working with Mr. Weyler since the beginning of the school year.
Though I am at the beginning of my teaching career, I spent a lot of time at Claremont Academy over the past four years while I was a student at Clark University. I know many of the older Claremont students. This is one reason that I am thrilled to be with the ninth-grade this year, since working with the ninth-grade class gives me the chance to meet a new group of fantastic learners.
My belief is that all people need to be able to express themselves. In the modern world, students will need to communicate their feelings, opinions, expectations, and even frustrations (whether in school, in a job, or in personal relationships). In class, we will act out characters in the texts that we are reading. We will peer review and revise essays. Through conversation and debate, we will examine power structures in society. It is my goal that we will become a community of learners that feels comfortable working with others and engaging in individual reflection. Each of these approaches strives to give students tools to help them express their opinions and ideals.
In the coming weeks, we will read a novella from Nicholasa Mohr’s El Bronx Remembered with the goal to begin thinking about formal thesis and essay writing. This will help us express ourselves academically. After that, we will spend time on a memoir unit focusing on the importance of storytelling, to help us express our personal ideas. We will continue before the December break with John Steinbeck’s Of Mice and Men, focusing on the timelessness of power struggles of race, gender, and age. We will combine academic and personal writing here to express our stance on these issues of power.
Part of our extended community is you at home. I am excited to talk with you about your student’s progress! You can always reach out to me by email at nporcella@clarku.edu, which is the best way to contact me. We can easily set up a telephone conversation or in-person meeting as well.
Best,
Mr. Porcella