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Castillo, Ms. Melina » Home

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Hello!  My name is Melina Castillo.  I'm very excited about teaching 7th grade English/Language Arts for the Film and Media Magnet in my 27th year in the education industry.  I am starting my 6th year here at King MS. My wide experience in the field makes me appreciate the T.S. King MS community even more.  TSK has parents who are involved in their children's lives.  The teachers here are dedicated to give their best to the students and their families.  I am in a very special place!
 
This page contains the syllabi for the classes that I teach, the grading policy, my philosophy about educations, and my expectations.  All documents will be here all year for your reference.
 
This page is also designed to provide parents and students information about major assignments/projects and upcoming events, so please subscribe to the page to get notifications every time a new post is added.  Forms, templates, rubrics, and writing samples are housed here too.
 
Of course, the information housed here are available on Schoology.  However, since it is easier to find posts here than going through the daily Schoology Updates, you might want to come here to look for things that are over a week old/posted over a week ago.
 
Office Hours:
I know that students sometimes forget things or have simple questions about assignments.  For these types of questions, please send me private Schoology messages.  If a student needs more in-depth, one-to-one assistance, a student may make an appointment to have a Zoom session with me from 7 - 7:30 p.m. on Tuesdays and/or Wednesdays.  These Zoom sessions are by appointment only and must be made ahead of time (not on the same day).
 
Parents are encouraged to send private messages through Schoology or asked to email me directly at [email protected] if you need to set up a one-to-one meeting or a teacher-team meeting.  Schoology messages are the easiest and most dependable way to communicate. As the syllabus states, if messages are received by 7 p.m. on weekdays, you will likely get a response that same evening.  Messages sent after that will likely not receive a response until the following day.
 
In cases of emergency, and you need to reach me immediately, you may send me a text message using this phone number (747) 221-6610.  Out of respect for my private life, please avoid contacting me before 8 a.m., after 7 p.m., and on weekends.  I am providing this number for you in case you need to get in touch with me immediately and can't wait for the Schoology message to be read.
 
Facts About Me
 
Education Background
1. Bachelor's Degree:  Loyola Marymount University
2. Teaching Credential:  Mount Saint Mary's College
3.  CLAD Credential (allows me to teach students who are English Language Learners):  Stanford University
4.  Master's Degree:  Pepperdine University
 
Professional Experience
1. 17 years teaching (so far)
2. 3 years as an Assistant Principal in middle and high school
3. 2 years as a Principal for a 6-12 SPAN school
4. Curriculum Developer
5. Teacher Coach and Mentor Teacher (Master Teacher)
6. Teacher Professional Development Developer and Trainer
7.  Administrator Trainer
 
Fun Facts
1. I love animals, dogs in particular :-)
2. I enjoy eating milk chocolate (Swiss and U.K. made are the best!)... yum!
3. Reading is fun!  Really!
4. My favorite book of all time is S.E. Hinton's The Outsiders.
5. No morning is complete without green tea.
6. Travel --- the best way to learn about and appreciate others!  I travel every chance I get.
7. I'm proud of being a multi-racial person.
8. The sound of the ocean waves is relaxing.
9. Learning is fun! Truly! My world just expands and keeps on growing with every learning experience!
10. I'm a proud nerd :-))
 
 

Posts

Media Bias Chart

This is a graph that shows the leanings of various media --- left or right.  As global citizens, we aim to work with everyone to make this world a better place and address the 17 Sustainable Development Goals.  Therefore, consume media that is more in the middle --- less biased.  
 
If you read or watch left or right-leaning media, know that you are doing that and be critical --- what is the author's purpose?
 
Download this chart.  It will be a useful tool in the next few years as you evaluate the credibility of what you are reading, watching, or listening to.

NtS-Lois-Lowry

Here is an electronic copy of the novel, Number the Stars, for you to read over Winter Break.
 
I suggest that you keep a Reading Log, electronic or in your notebook, so that you will remember the important things that happened in the novel.  You will have a few assignments in January about this book.  If you do not read it, you can't do the assignments.
 
Try to break the story into the different parts of the plot:
1. exposition
2. rising action
3. climax
4. falling action
5. resolution
 
Take note of the major and minor conflicts PLUS the possible themes of the novel.
 
I hope you enjoy the novel as much as my students last year enjoyed it!

Making History: "Everyone Has a Story" (COVID-19 multimedia project) Part 2 SAMPLE/MODEL, descriptive journal entry

July 17, 2020
2020 SUCKS!  
On March 13, I saw my students for the last time that school year because of a new virus spreading across the world.  It is called Corona Virus 2019, COVID 19 for short.  As a teacher, it is important to me to have a connection with my students and to keep that connection all year long.  These connections allow students to feel like they can tell me anything; they feel supported and believe that I will be there when they need someone.  However, 2020 was not going to allow me to do that for students.  Although I was very close to them, the distance of only having classes via Zoom, even though I held classes everyday, did not sustain that closeness.  
 
It was total chaos from March to June.  Students were not attending the Zoom classes.  Can I blame them though? Most of them have never used Zoom before.  Even as a teacher, I was quite uncomfortable with Zoom for the first month.  Am I screen sharing correctly? Breakout rooms?  How do I do that?  Why can't the students hear me?  "Ms. Castillo, you sound like a dying robot," they commented.  "What did she say?", the chatbox would show.  "Oh geez!!! Please no!  Now now...," I worriedly thought to myself when I see or hear those comments and the like.  My stomach tightened into knots.  I felt light-headed like I  was going to throw up.  Later, my doctor said that I was having panic attacks.  I was nervous about things going wrong technologically; I hated the thought that I will let 32 students, who successfully signed in that day, down.
 
It was not just work that was affected.  My parents who are in their 70s live with me.  I have to be careful about where I go, who I see, and how many times I wash my hands.  They have pre-existing conditions --- diabetes and high blood pressure.  They are in the group most in danger because of their compromised immune system.  I can not bring this disease to them!  I had to be the one to go to the market, do the laundry, clean the house (because it's not safe to have my cleaning lady come according to the CDC's advice to limit contact with people outside your household).  I was working though... yes, I signed up for summer school so that I can practice the technology and be better prepared in August because it looks like we will still be teaching online then.
 
Then, there is my long-awaited vacation to Puglia and Sicily with my mom and my brother.  I have been saving for it for a year, putting a few hundred aside every month so that I have enough to fully pay for the tour and have pocket money by June.  Well, that didn't happen!  The three of us have been looking forward to the trip!  I have been reading about the Puglia region and the unique house architecture that I will see there.  I read about Taormina in Sicily and the Roman theater that is still used in concerts today --- well, maybe not now with COVID-19.  It doesn't seem like any gatherings are being allowed in any country at the moment.  Thank goodness that my husband and I went to Sevilla for the holidays (Christmas and New Year) because I don't know when we will be allowed to travel again, but I sorely miss Europe!  My summer is just not complete without visiting Europe.  It's a tradition for mom and me!
 
This pandemic does not care about tradition though.  It does not discriminate.  It does not care if one is rich or poor either.  Not since the Spanish Flu has the world seen such devastation caused by disease; that was 100 years ago.  The year is only half-way over, and according to Dr. Fauci, the prime expert on the subject, things will likely get worse when fall/autumn comes and flu season begins.
 
If things are about to get worse, then I think I am justified in saying that 2020 SUCKS!

STAR READING Test (diagnostic) Login

1. Use the Safari browser and log into Schoology with this website: www.lms.lausd.net
2. Click the English Course
3. On the left hand side you will see a column under the English Schoology 
picture
4. Towards the bottom of the column you will see Renaissance Learning with 
a little “R” symbol
5. Click it.
6. It will take you to a page or new window, click Launch App.
7. You might need to log in again, it might be through a window that says 
Clever
8. Log in using your LAUSD account, and press enter.
9. You should be on a page that says Star Reading and Star Math. Click 
STAR Reading
10. It will ask you for a monitor password. Be ready to take the diagnostic 
when you put in the monitor password because the diagnostic will 
automatically begin. The monitor password is : admin
11. Begin the test. When you've completed the test, it automatically logs 
you out (I think)
12. In the chatbox, you will inform me that you have completed the test.