One of my goals as a teacher for the 2012-2013 school year is to continue working with Class Jump and to improve my use of class jump. This will be my second year with the program, so I do need to ask for your continued patience. If there is something you would like me to post here, or information that you think I should include, please let me know and I will do my best.
If you need to contact me, please use my school email address.  lbeard@sowashco.k12.mn.us.
Thank you.

The Language A1 programme is primarily a pre-university course in literature. It is aimed at students who intend to pursue literature, or related studies, at university, as well as at students whose formal study of literature will not continue beyond this level. The former would normally follow the Higher Level (HL) programme and the latter the Standard Level (SL). Literature is concerned with our conceptions, interpretations and experiences of the world. The study of literature, therefore, can be seen as a study of all the complex pursuits, anxieties, joys and fears that human beings are exposed to in the daily business of living. It enables an exploration of one of the more enduring fields of human creativity and artistic ingenuity, and provides immense opportunities for encouraging independent, original, critical and clear thinking. It also promotes a healthy respect for the imagination and a perceptive approach to the understanding and interpretation of literary works. The discussion of literature is itself an art which requires the clear expression of ideas both orally and in writing. The Language A1 programme encourages students to see literary works as products of art and their authors as craftsmen whose methods of production can be analysed in a variety of ways and on a number of levels. This is achieved through the emphasis placed on exploring the means used by different authors to convey their subjects in the works studied. It is further reinforced by the comparative framework emphasized for the study of these works in all parts of the programme. (2001 edition)

Park High School
Laura Beard