May 16, 2018 | Rigorous Courses, Sarah Lehtinen
This year, Excelsior Classes piloted a French IV class for students who wanted to take the next step in language learning. The focus of French IV is written and spoken fluency rather than just grammatical fluency. Over the course of the year, we read two introductory...
Apr 19, 2018 | Marilyn Whitlock, Rigorous Courses
Steps to Clearer Writing So your student can write a complete sentence, structure a paragraph, even craft an essay. Great! What’s left to improve? What makes writing engaging to readers? When meaning is easy to grasp, readers can follow a train of thought and be...
Apr 4, 2018 | Melisa Kaiser, Rigorous Courses
I was 16 when I decided I wanted to be an architect, but beyond my high school drafting class, I had no idea what an architect actually does. Not to mention my knowledge of what architecture is. I couldn’t imagine much outside of quaint, suburban housing. I had never...
Mar 22, 2018 | Rigorous Courses, Sarah Lehtinen
The high school foreign language requirement is one of the more debated topics in modern curricular design. Just recently, there was a bill put forth in Virginia (read more here) to allow computer coding to replace the foreign language requirement in public education....
Mar 8, 2018 | Rigorous Courses, Susan Eggers
As an online teacher and former history department chair, I have been asked this question many times. While the scope and sequence of some subjects are fairly straightforward, deciding when to take social studies classes (history, geography, government, or economics)...
Mar 5, 2018 | Gina Duss, Rigorous Courses
Speaking French is much more than just using correct grammar and vocabulary. The French people place great emphasis on the proper pronunciation of their language and are more willing to overlook a grammar mistake here and there if you have a lovely French accent. Any...
