Do Now: A Look Back... Think about this school year. Think about the things you have accomplished and the things you have struggled with. If you could go back to the beginning of the school year and give yourself advice, what would you say to yourself? What do you wish you could change? What would you do differently? Answer in at least FIVE sentences.

The Freshman Letter

You have (almost) survived your first year of high school! How did you do it? Think about your experiences this year. Think about what you wrote for your Do Now. Think about the advice you said you would give to yourself.

Your Assignment... Each student will write a letter to an incoming freshman. (Even if you are not a freshman now, try to remember what it was like!) In this letter, give the recipient what you think is good advice for their first year of high school. I will give these letters to my students on their first day next year.

In your letter, you can include... Your own experiences Advice about THIS class and other classes Tips about teachers (I HOPE some of you will tell them not to cheat in MY class!) Advice on balancing school life and a social life How high school is different from middle school How to deal with problems/drama that arises among friends ANYTHING you think might be helpful!

Remember... Be honest! Try to help the incoming class! But be APPROPRIATE. I won’t be reading these until next year but I WILL have someone else read them to make sure there is nothing too inappropriate. You can remain anonymous IF you choose. But if you do you will have to SHOW me that you’re turning it in so I can give you credit for it. If you know you have bad handwriting, please type it so the freshman can read it.

Dear Freshman, Welcome to high school. It is A LOT different from middle school. There is more work and more pressure. For example... If you’re reading this, you are in one of Ms. Wyce’s class. She is a nice teacher as long as the class is behaving. If they’re not, she sometimes yells too much. Just be good and try not to get her mad, or you won’t be able to do anything fun in class and you’ll just take tons of notes. Also, make sure you DO NOT CHEAT! She gets really mad when people do and she looks for cheaters and gives them zeros and referrals. The Reading Logs are a pain but they’re not hard. Just do them. Also, make sure you do your Achieves. If you write funny sentences Ms. Wyce will give you extra points. Buy her cat stuff and she’ll really like you. Example...

You might also have Ms. Schooly. If you have her… During my first year of high school, I realized… Something I wish I had been warned about is… If I could go back in time I would tell myself… When it comes to balancing school and a social life, I… Some of the hardest times for me this year were… My advice when it comes to group or partner projects is… The best piece of advice about high school that I can give you is...

Your Assignment... This letter is to be done on your own time, because I really want you to think about it and give some heartfelt and quality advice. It is due by May 25th. It is worth 30 points. Letters turned in early (this month) will get bonus points. Turn it in to me in an unsealed envelope. Have FUN with this! Your freshman might even find you and THANK YOU next year!