The fall inevitably brings about the desire and need to change and update your course syllabus. A syllabus is something that is often debated in the English classroom because the crux of the syllabus is really the organization of how the class will run overall. You get information about the materials, the grading practices, and a course schedule. While middle schoolers are brand new to the idea of a course syllabus, high schoolers and college students come to expect this piece of paper on the first day of class. This post shows you some ways to create an engaging document using the computer program Canva. I have included pictures of my old syllabus and what my syllabus looked like in the 2019-2020 school year. If you choose to use Canva, you can make an amazing syllabus using the free version of the program. I personally pay for the upgraded program to get access to pictures, watermark features, downloading features, and more.

What is it that students want?

This was the question I asked my sixth graders in an alternative assignment to giving them an end of the year survey. I know some of the usual answers that sometimes we as teachers don't take as seriously (and maybe should) and I also was hopeful of the answers that may seem surprising and shocking. I have included both in this post to start a conversation.