Sincere Note To Parents:

     I am extremely excited about this upcoming school year. I truly love my job, despite the normal hang-ups and the usual lack of parental participation. I am optimistic that this website will allow you, the parents, to get more involved in your child's academics and social life at the school.

     As for me, this year has multiplied the number of students I am accustomed to teaching at once. Yet, I feel secure that the more student bodies that enter my classroom will equal the more minds I have the opportunity to activate towards success. Certainly, I will go above and beyond my requirements as a teacher to motivate and prepare your child to improve his/her academic and behavioral status. Even still, I need positive parental support to make your child's success a reality. Get active, build a bridge with me, and see how far your child's journey on the road of success can go.


How the class works:

    

     Since not all students come from a home environment that allows the positive space and time to complete homework  efficiently, I do not issue it. Instead, I issue class assignments that require at least two days to complete. The extra time allows students who are absent to make-up assignments, while given the rest of the student body additional practice to adequately master the objective.

      As far as class projects, each student is required to participate in class plays, complete grammar and sentence structure assignments, as well as work hard to show gains on FCAT objectives. Once a week, the students will be required to write an essay on an acute film clip (5 to 15 minutes) that will be inserted into the curriculum. The purpose of the short clip is to spark the students’ interest while building their mental ability to make predictions, formulate ideas, and properly transfer those ideas to print. Each lesson I assign is designed to improve the students’ standardize test scores and offer them a universal understanding of life.



About the teacher:


     My name is Ms. Watts. I'm a lover a life, a product of love, and an educator to the core. My focus has always been centered on positive progress. It is the driving force in my life and that crucial element that I work to instill in the minds of my students. Since graduating with a bachelor’s degree in Exceptional Student Education from Bethune Cookman College in the spring of 2001, prior to investing seven full years in the classroom at First Coast High School, I have realized that curriculum cannot adequately stand-alone. Simple lessons from a textbook only scatter information in young minds. In order for lessons to take root, it must first be fertilized with the determination to progress.

    
      I often tell my students that education is a tool. Without it, life can break down before the eyes and feel unfixable. With it, manufacturing success will appear easy. However, it is the determination to progress that allows education to take flight. When the runway is icy, wet, or a pile of broken cement, it is the determination to progress that eliminates failure. It is the refusal to stop pressing forward, alongside education, which continuously lifts students to unbelievable heights. Therefore, I teach my students that giving up when the road ahead appears difficult to travel is not an option. It is then when they are expected to work harder.