About Mr. Scott

A little background about your teacher.

The Teacher

One of three eighth-grade English Language Arts teachers at Hughes Academy, I have over twenty years’ experience in the classroom, including experience teaching English as a Foreign Language and working with at-risk youth.

Much of my teaching experience is international. For seven years, I taught English in Lipnica Wielka, a small village in the south of Poland. It was a constant challenge, but immensely rewarding.

I married a Polish woman I met there, and we have two wonderful children. We go to Poland every chance we get and relive the magic of being in a small rural village.

My first job when I returned to the States was as a teaching assistant in an EC classroom, working primarily with children on the autism spectrum. This experience taught me in a very real, practical way to separate the behavior from the child: they are two different things, and teachers shouldn’t take most negative behaviors personally.

During the 2006/7 school year, I worked at a day-treatment facility for at risk youth, teaching social studies, science, and social skills. This was perhaps the most challenging job I’ve ever had.

I began working at Hughes in the 2007/8 school year, teaching eighth grade. While I’ve changed teams since that first year and taught one section of seventh-grade English for a year, my primary teaching assignment has remained eighth grade English.

In addition to my teaching experience, I spent two years in Boston working as an editor for an online textbook start-up. After a few months’ work and a lot of self-education regarding the technical side of the site, I was offered a position as a web application developer.

I graduated from King College in Bristol, Tennessee with a degree in English, minoring in Secondary Education. I was very fortunate to attend such a small college (the enrollment when I attended was under 800): I was able to attend classes with small enrollments (30 was considered a “big class”) and have great relationships with professors. In 2012 I completed a Master’s in Secondary English Education at Converse College.

A few of my favorite things (other than raindrops on roses and whiskers on kittens) are: reading, writing, playing chess, and cycling.

The school in Lipnica Wielka where I taught for seven years.

My children running through the fields of Jablonka, Poland, where my wife grew up and my mother-in-law still lives.

My children at Furmanowa, a hill-top field in Zab, Poland, that overlooks the resort town of Zakopane and the Tatra Mountains.

My family and brother’s-in-law family at the top of Trzy Korony (Three Crowns) with the Tatra Mountains in the distance.

Dom nauczyciela (“Teachers’ Home”), the apartment building where I lived, just before it was demolished in 2022.

My daughter and her cousin fighting the pigeons on the market square in Krakow.

My daughter and sister-in-law at a family reunion held at my mother’s-in-law family home during a visit in the summer of 2022.

My family with cousin Sylwia (see left) at Wawel, the royal castle in Krakow.

The Site

This site has been a work-in-development since 2007. It represents my attempt to keep students and parents completely informed about what’s going on in our classroom — in our English class, to be specific, hence the name.

At first, the number of resources might be overwhelming. It only takes a little wandering around to determine that this site is the opposite of my classroom desk: organized, organized, organized.

Purpose of Site

Keeping Stakeholders Informed

Keep stakeholders informed of what’s going on in the classroom. This is accomplished through the main page, “Home.” Here, you’ll find updates of what happens on a day-to-day basis, as well as homework assignments and links to necessary materials.

Providing the Material Presented

Provide stakeholders with the material presented in class and create a digital clearinghouse for all notes, rubrics, etc. used in class. In other words, if I give notes in class, chances are, you’ll find them here.

Organization of the Site

About

Here you’ll find information about me and the site. You’ll probably not be spending much time here, but it’s a good place to start.

Lesson Plans

I post all lesson plans here. As I plan by unit and not by week, I also post weekly updates (at right on the main page) that explain to stakeholders where we are in the process.

Resources

Under this item you’ll find materials lists, schedules, rubrics, grading guidelines, etc. The most useful material here would probably be the rubrics: the rest of the material might be a one-time-only affair.

Class Notes

This is the core of the site. To begin with, it provides a template for students’ notebooks: the same primary topics will be the topics on the students’ binder dividers. More importantly, though, I store all notes for almost all classes here. If a student is absent, this is the first place to check for materials.

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Calendar

“What are we doing after Christmas break?” This is where students and parents can find out. Additionally, to the right you’ll find an agenda that provides a less detailed, shorter-term overview.

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Contact

Obviously enough, this is a form to contact me without using email (though you’ll need to provide an email address so I can respond.

What To Expect

Work

I believe the best way to learn is to do, and we do a lot. From weekly Article of the Week assignments to demanding analytic writing assignments, students will be busy every day.

Fairness

I treat all students equally. In the course of the year, you will teach me what to expect of you, and while I’ll always hope that you’ll change if you’re demonstrating poor behavior, I will act in accordance with the example you’ve set.

Dad Jokes

Need I say more?

About the photo: This was taken at the top of the Palac Kultury i Nauki (“The Palace of Culture and Science”) in Warsaw. I was posing like one of the characters does in that very location in Mis (“Teddy Bear”), my very favorite Polish film.

My Teaching Philosophy

Kids Come First

All decisions should be based on a basic principle: I’m here to help kids so the kids’ well-being (academic, intellectual, emotional, etc.) is my first and last consideration. That trumps all.

Show, Don’t Tell

It’s not just good writing advice: the best way to teach a new skill is to model it, and so I do a lot of modeling in the classroom. (No, not that kind…)

The Child Is Not the Behavior

Regarding classroom management, I try to remember that there are myriad causes for a given behavior, and never is the ultimate cause simply that this child or that child is “a bad kid.”