Dear Middle School Students and Parents,
Welcome to Middle School! What a privilege it is to partner with you all during this special time of life!
My name is Katie Agate, and this is my 9th year teaching middle school English and Bible here at Trinity. I graduated from Covenant College in 2002 with a degree in English Education, and I am certified to teach 7th-12th grades. Before TCS, I taught high school English in Sarasota, Florida (where I am from) for three years. I LOVE teaching, and I pray that my enthusiasm for my subjects is contagious! My teaching style is very hands-on, conversational, and interactive. I believe that all activities we do in the classroom should have a concrete purpose which gives the learner a reason to desire achievement and understanding within each assignment. I do not give any “busy-work” in or outside of the classroom. All assignments will directly connect to our student ends and be a means to achieve specific goals. I maintain high standards for each student, and I expect the students to do their best as I will strive to do mine. Of course, we will ask the Holy Spirit for guidance and strength daily!
One point of emphasis in my classroom is organization as it is vital to achieving success in the classroom. You may have noticed that I requested a binder with five dividers for English (Writing, Grammar, Literature, Vocabulary, and Analogies). This is not to bog anyone down, but to help each student succeed in being structured and organized. All the English notes, hand-outs, essays, rubrics, homework, tests, etc. will stay in this organized, sectioned binder, and I will hole-punch all the papers I give out. This also helps the student to keep track of materials to study for midterm and final exams.
In addition to an organized binder, the students are accountable to keep track of their specific assignments and write them down daily. This year, planners are provided for all the middle school students. I give out homework orally, write any the assignments on the homework board daily, and oftentimes give the students an additional explanatory hand-out for papers and projects. Homework will be posted on RenWeb/FACTS as well. I want each student to be set up for success! The students are responsible to keep an organized planner, and I ask that parents help to keep their student accountable to this.
This year each student will receive the following books from me: Literature Textbook, Vocabulary Workbook, Grammar Textbook and Workbook, Writing Packet, and various novels throughout the year. Eighth grade Bible students will just be receiving a textbook for the class. Students are responsible for keeping textbooks covered and in superb condition.
Please don’t ever hesitate to contact me for any reason. If there are any questions (from you or your student), I will entertain them at my earliest convenience at kagate@trinitychristian.net. You can also reach me at school at 412-242-8886. Please follow my class webpage for updates, assignment explanations, etc. You can also look to my page for class syllabi and such documents. It is a wonderful resource for students and parents. To get to my website, click on my faculty photo on the school's website: trinitychristian.net. Then scroll to the bottom of the site, and please enter your email for updates. You can also simply go to http://mrsagate.blogspot.com/ to access my page at any time.
Thank you for entrusting me with your awesome students! I do not take this honor lightly! I’m looking forward to a wonderful year! We will achieve greatness this year, and to God be the glory!
Love, In Jesus,
Katie Agate
