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Tuesday, February 9, 2010

Trojan dude celebrating at the Homecoming Parade

Welcome to my MacDonald Middle School Website.

I'm Aram Kabodian and I teach 7th grade English, as well as one period of Journalism, which produces our school newspaper, The Trojan Trailblazer. Follow this link to the class overview for Journalism.

My hope is that this website will keep students and parents informed of homework assignments, link to our class wiki (which will show final drafts of students' work), and speed internet searches by sharing links I have found useful. Also, follow this link to the class overview for English.

Some of my hobbies: reading biographies, history, fiction, and poetry; writing in my journal and writing poems; singing in a gospel choir called the Earl Nelson Singers; playing soccer and softball; juggling; photography; and bike riding.

Other information: Second generation Armenian-American; MSU alumnus and fan; Bachelors degrees in Communication and English Education and Masters degree in Special Education, Mildly Impaired; married to Judy Kabodian and father of Rachel and Aaron.

My email is kabodian_aa@elps.k12.mi.us

Please contact me if you have a question or concern.

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A Few Things to Think About

from Mr. Kabodian...

When you turn in assignments, use this Heading:
- Your First and Last Name, the hour you have English, and the date

Rough drafts and homework can be torn out of a notebook, but need to be neat enough to read.Get your ideas down; don't spend time at the beginning worrying about what font will be best.That can wait until you're done getting down your ideas.

Final drafts should not be torn out of a notebook and need to be printed neatly by hand or printed from a computer.Spelling and neatness will be a part of every grade; remember to use spell check on the computer.

I'll give you what I think is an appropriate length of time to do an assignment.If you have trouble keeping up with due dates, see me before the assignment is due and we may be able to work out something.In general, though, late assignments will be graded down, but can still be turned in.

Cheating policy: Do your own work.If you copy someone else's work (student, internet, book, etc.) and you are caught, you will fail the assignment and a parent will be informed.If you don't know the correct way to quote someone else's words or paraphrase their words….ask for help.It's always okay to ask for help.Also, if you want help from a particular core subject teacher, ask if you can go to that teacher's Reach class --- we may be able to work it out from time to time.

Tardy = not being in the classroom when the bell rings…even if your books are in the room.Be on time…even after lunch…even to Reach class…all the time.

When the bell rings, please stay seated. I will excuse you. I will want you to pick up papers off the floor and generally clean up your area; I, also, may want to remind you of some information about an assignment.

Violence = any mean look, gesture, word, or action that hurts a person's body, feelings, friendships, reputation, or property.Even when you just think you're fooling around, your actions can hurt others.Think before you act. Choose kindness.

"I am convinced that life is 10% what happens to me and 90% how I react to it.And so it is with you…we are in charge of our Attitudes." I've seen excellent attitudes from the 8^th graders at MacDonald Middle School thus far this year…let's keep it up!Check out my Attitude poster in the back of the room for more on Attitudes.