Welcome to Parents
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Look, before I taught in a Public School, I was the parent of two High School students. I can report they made it through all of High School, successfully -- not without a lot of extra effort, but successfully. So, I get it.
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Students struggle. They have a hard time whether it's because there is a lot of stress in High School even without a pandemic. There's always some drama over rumors or friendships, or due to hormones, or lack of sleep and changes in metabolism. One day a student may be paying close attention, and the next day the student feels totally overwhelmed. What's to be done?
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First things first
In my life, I have never met a problem child. I have, however,
often enough met children who
were having problems.
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If your student is feeling over-whelmed or struggles with work at school, please email me or call me. I am here to serve you and your student. Only, I can be more help when I know if something is wrong or if a student is having specific problems. Please feel free to speak up about anything, before any small worries or problems become major ones. To contact me use this button:
Father, Grandfather
and Teacher
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One of the things that keeps me teaching is the memory of my own kids going through FCPS schools.
I attended 12 different Back to School Nights as a parent (at Hayfield) before I ever got to attend one as a teacher. So, I bring a different perspective to life at school, different from teachers who have not had kids go through High School.
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I also have a new outlook on school, since my granddaughter will be attending FCPS in a few years too ...
Here we are learning to eat ice cream sandwiches without getting all messy. Once a teacher, always a teacher?
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Students!
You can skip this Home page and simply use the Menu above for a quick trip to resources, assignments, recaps, videos that will help you.
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What is Schoology?
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Schoology gives students a way to stay organized with all their classes. Once teachers make assignments in Schoology, due date reminders will show up on the student's homepage and calendar.
Schoology also gives students and parents easy access to assignments, lessons, videos, documents, and class information -- all in one place.
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Patience please ... This is new and we all know it will take a while to adjust and learn it all.
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Want to know more? No doubt FCPS will be making training videos available, but for now here are some Schoology Tips to get you started. As more Tips are released, I'll add them here:
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Remember, with Schoology, parents have equal access to a lot of features, and you can easily email/contact teachers, check on assignments, and see due dates -- all on your own.
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Contact Info
​PERSONAL VOICEMAIL
Voicemail only (703) 922-2462
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Justice High School
3301 Peace Valley Lane
Falls Church, VA 22044
Office (703) 824-3900
​EMAIL
OFFICE HOURS AFTER SCHOOL
By appointment -- just ask ...
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What are Office Hours?
Get personal help 1-1. Ask those questions you are embarrassed to ask in class. Perhaps just come by and practice some skills before your next class. Or ask for feedback on your first draft. It's all free, and it will always help your grade.
Just ask Mr. S. for some time.
Make an appointment. Done.
Teaching Philosophy
"It is better to illuminate others than to shine."
-- St. Thomas Aquinas
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"Education is not the filling of a vessel, but the lighting of a flame."
-- Socrates
Help will always be given to those who ...
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In the Harry Potter books, Professor Dumbledore, claims that: "Help will always be given at Hogwarts to those who ask for it."
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The same is true in my classroom.
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Ask and you shall receive. Ask for help. That's why I am here. Help will always be given to help you grow and learn. However, ask for help before my bedtime please -- Help will always be given, but I may not be available if you wait for the last minute.
News & Reviews
Back to School Supplies: Your RTS Cheat Sheets
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After years of repeating myself, I figured it was time to give up and give all students a copy of my collected wisdom. Welcome to your copy of Dr. Schellenberg's Patented Cheat Sheets, to help whatever ails you grammatically. Inside you'll find all the Hints, Tricks, and Tips you need for reading, writing, editing, using citations, and so much more. Grab a copy of this and put a bookmark or a link or a speed tab to it on your computer or device. This resource will save you time and worry in the long run. Get yours today!
For Parents, may I suggest a book ...?
May I suggest a book to all of you who are parents of boys? Recently, one of the local PTA groups suggested this book. After reading it, I found it to be a compelling answer to some of the frustrations of parenting High School students. My son is now in his 30's, a graduate of FCPS, and a survivor of my imperfect parental skills and expectations. This book would have done wonders for both of us during his school years; I expect it to help me with your students this year. I am enclosing an excerpt below and a link to Amazon, in case you're interested in grabbing your own copy. But don't worry, there will not be a test on this material.
First Time Ever: Justice Creative Writing Class
I have spent many years (over 30) writing and speaking professionally. And now it's time to bring that experience to our students in Justice High School's first ever Creative Writing Class. This may be a small class, and the first of its kind, but that just means we have a chance to show how valuable mentoring students in different ways of expressing themselves can be.
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This time together will be less of a class and more of a writing community -- with students given both instruction in writing better texts and the freedom to write about their own passions and in their own style. Our goal is to help students find and use their voices effectively -- to offer the students freedom to speak up (or rap or write or sing or whatever).
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Always Remember
Rule #1 of English
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English is messed up.
Find out why this so by checking out this History of English video:
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Rule 2
SVO: Because English is messed up we need to write sentences with a specific order, like this: "I went to the store."
Why bother? If you know the way sentences are supposed to look, you'll have an easier time correcting bad sentences (Fragments, Run-ons, etc.)
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Rule 3
Don't upset the gods: It's been called "hubris," or overwhelming pride.
Why bother? Hubris is the main plot twist in every story in English class. It's also one of the three words English teachers like to hear the most. Can you guess the other two?
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Rule 4
You learn grammar with your ears: No one learns to speak by reading. At first you learn by hearing others speak.
Why bother? Your ears usually know when the grammar is wrong, so always remember to read your answer back out loud to yourself. You'll catch your own mistakes fairly often.
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Rule 5
Write, just write: Writing is a process, so you don't need to worry about what you write at first, or sit staring at the blank paper and waiting for perfection.
Why bother? From now on you can relax and just get ideas down on paper. You can always change them or fix them later.
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Welcome to the Schellenberg Guides ...
help for the perplexed and unpursuaded
Along with your new and revised Dr. Schellenberg Cheat Sheets (the textbook/handbook for our English class) there are some helpful resources here -- just click the links to find Vocabulary lists for Literary Terms, Poetry, Plays, and more. You'll find helpful reminders about adding quotes to your papers, writing business letters, and writing better sentences. Add to it your handy MLA guide to citations and you've got what you need all in one place. Here!
Cover Pictures
Famous teachers, good, bad, and inspiring ... from Mr. Hundert in The Emperor's Club, then, Robin Williams plays an English Teacher in the movie Dead Poet's Society, Mr. Kotter from the TV show Welcome Back, Kotter, Samuel L. Jackson as Coach Carter from the movie of the same name, Jack Black, playing Mr. Sneevely, from School of Rock, Ben Stein (an amazingly smart fellow) as the very boring teacher from Ferris Beuhller's Day Off, and Morgan Freeman playing Joe Clark at East Side High in Lean on Me. Can't say as I would watch Kotter ever again (comedies are almost always time stamped so they are funny when they were produced, but not so much after years go by), but the other movies are all worth screening when you get the chance.