This page contains answers to common questions of students and parents.
- When are you available for extra help?
- What do we need for your class?
- What do I do when I have missed a day of school?
- When should I contact you?
- How can I contact you?
- Can you send me periodic reports on my child's progress?
- What can I do to help my child with his or her homework?
- My child will be absent for a few days. Can I get class notes in advance?
- How do I help my 9th grader transition?
When are you available for extra help?
I have a prep, lunch, and duty period that I can use to meet with students as well as before and after school. Please come see me
to coincide schedules and meeting location. If I don't know that you are looking for me, I may not be at my desk!
What do we need for your class?
Above all, an open-mind and a willingness to learn.
I do not require that my students use a specific type of notebook or binder. However, you will be taking notes and receiveing a
plethora of handouts so you need to find an organizational system that works for you. Taking notes on your arm and shoving
handouts into your pockets will not work. You may want to consider keeping a separate three ring binder for English. You
will also need a working writing utensil each and every day.
What do I do when I have missed a day of school?
On the day you return, YOU need to learn of any missed assignments. It is your responsibility to come to me. It is not my responsiblity
to come to hunt you down and hand you your homework. You also have a limited amount of time in which you can make up missed assignments
(please refer to the course syllabus and student handbook for specific time requirements).
When should I contact you?
Parents and/or students can contact me if a student has had a prolonged absence from school (illness or other extenuating
circumstance), if there is an upcoming scheduled absence (vacation, family event, etc.), if a student will miss a group project,
or if there is a concern about student performance in the English classroom. I do my best to return phone calls and emails
promptly - please allow me 24 hours to respond during the week and 48 hours on the weekend. Often times, email and phone
messages arrive later in the day when I am teaching, and I am unable to return calls or respond to emails when I am in class.
Please restrict inquiries to the English classroom: questions about jammed lockers, lunch periods, and general scheduling may be
better addressed by your child's guidance counselor or homeroom teacher.
How can I contact you?
You can call B House office at Trumbull High School and leave a message if you wish - 452-4513. However, it may be easier to
reach me via email at shuppk@trumbullps.org. I check email twice a day, on average, and check my school mailbox periodically
throughout the day for messages.
Can you send me periodic reports on my child's progress?
Only if his or her IEP or 504 accomodation makes this specification.
In all other clases, I will contact you if I feel it is necessary. I usually send out progress reports for students who
have lower than a 75 average, whose progress has changed significantly (for the better or the worse), or for students
whose IEP or 504 specifies this as a requirement.
In English 9-Honors, I send a progress report for each student for the first marking period REGARDLESS of his or her grade in
the class. This is to keep parents informed of how their child is navigating the class since the dynamic is quite different than
the non-leveled Language Arts classes in middle school.
If your child does not fall into those categories, and you believe that contstant communication is merited, you can contact
your child's guidance counselor to discuss different monitoring possiblities.
What can I do to help my child with his or her homework?
DO NOT COMPLETE IT FOR THEM. The only lesson they will learn here is that you will rescue them from their responsiblities.
YOU SHOULD: ask to see the assignment so that you know what is being asked of your child, read their response to see if your
child is on target, and make suggestions on what they might do to improve their work.
My child will be absent for a few days. Can I get class notes in advance?
In short, the answer is no. I do not have pre-typed class notes that I distribute to students in advance. I RARELY lecture. In
fact, I can count the number of times I've lectured during the course of my teaching career on one hand. A reading calendar and
assignment due dates are posted on the calendar page so that your child can keep current with the reading, and be up to date with
progress on long-term assignments. Upon his or her return to school, he or she can see me for information and assignments they
missed and should find an opportunity to ask a classmate for notes.
How do I help my 9th grader transition?
Since I am teaching only 9 Honors this year, chances are if your child has landed in this class, he or she already has a pretty
good handle on academics and organization. The exciting part about 9 Honors is that it will appropriately challenge your
child. The scary part about 9 Honors is that it will appropriately challenge your child. I often find that the
parents are more nervous about the class than the students! The honors class does allow for more in-depth exploration of
literature as well as a quicker pace for both reading and analysis. The first part of the year is focused on easing this
transition as English 9-Honors does require more work and dedication than your child's heterogeneously grouped middle-
school Language Arts classes. However, your child is not alone in this experience: ALL of his or her classmates are undergoing
the same transition. The best way to help your child is to ask him or her how things are going and if they would like
assistance. You know your child best, so choose the path that works for you. Some students readily share information and
assignments; others are more reserved. Often times, simply starting a conversation is enough of an opener to get a gauge on
how your child is performing. I have also had parents follow the class' reading schedule and chat with their child about the books
we are discussing. This is a great way to get involved, but again, a method that doesn't work for all kids. Although I
cannot help your child navigate the lunchroom or get to his or her locker (yes - that request came from an actual email written
by a nervous parent one year), if you feel that there is a pertinent and specific need concerning the English classroom that
you would like help addressing, please don't hesitate to contact me.