Things You Should Know

This is a work in progress right now, but I am aware that the page will show as live. You can certainly see what I am working on, but realize that there may be typos and other things that will change as I continue to add to and revise this page. That said …

These things are in no particular order, merely being recorded as I think of them:

  1. If a prompt says that you should write between 3 to 5 sentences, this is the MINIMUM that you should write. That is the minimum that is suggested so that the lowest-level student knows how much he or she needs to write in order to barely succeed at the task. If you are not one of these lower-level students, you should write more and better all the time. Always showcase your best efforts.
  2. You should actively be taking notes during the lessons, even if they do not provide you with a worksheet. Treat this as you would any class: pay attention to what’s being delivered, and write notes down so that you can remember the information and process it for yourself.
  3. Any question requiring literary analysis is going to require the use of direct quotations. You must use the text to support your answer, or you are just saying words and assuming that I will take them as truth.
  4. Everything you write should have a beginning, a middle, and an end. Everything in the world has a beginning, a middle, and an end.
  5. If you write down a quote and then explain what it means, you are not writing a paragraph. This is essentially what you do on a worksheet when you were asked to write down three or four significant quotes from the passage on the left and then explain what they mean on the right. This is sometimes called Cornell kept notes. To write a paragraph, on the other hand, you were going to write your answer in your own words, then support what you said with textual evidence (direct quotes), and then tie everything together with a summary statement.
  6. Do not send me a link to click to go to pages that you have created or a document you have written. Either copy –and – paste your text into the Student Comments box or attach your writing as a word processing file or pdf.
  7. I usually use voice-to-text to record most extended text, so you may occasionally see something rather unusual. I do try to proofread before I publish, but I am sure that somethings get through. If you see something that makes no sense, let me know so that I can address the issue, fix it, or explain it. Thank you.
  8. I take you seriously as a scholar. I know that seems like a weird thing to say, but as you know a lot of modern school systems try to make everything OK for everybody all the time. I want you to succeed — legitimately succeed, whether this is in college, career, the military, whatever. I want you to be successful in five years and think, “Wow, Professor Stanton really helped me because he believed in me and wanted the best for me” rather than “Wow, that Professor Stanton was really easy.” That said, I am always supportive and rarely critical; I want to give you my best teaching so that you can do your best learning. I often compare myself to a winning football coach who has high expectations of his players rather than someone who just shows up for the job and makes sure everyone is having fun. Success requires hard work sometimes, but I am here to help you succeed. You do not succeed if you merely slip by the system. You need to learn the stuff that I am teaching.