My name is Mike Leonard and I teach 8th grade Language Arts here at Andrews Middle School. There is a dual focus placed on this class. First of all, emphasis is placed upon helping each student be as successful as possible on the TAKS test. Every possible effort is made to cover each TAKS objective with the students to help clarify the purpose of the test questions, then the students are involved in constant practice and evaluation of TAKS testing proceedures. The second focus of the class is to provide each student with a well-rounded understanding of Literature based upon the grade level. The students learn and are tested on literary terms and read a variety of stories and novels to gain an appreciation of literary works.