For the first day of school, I had several things I had to take home, read, and sign. There was also a folk tale I had to read for English. What did I do? In both cases, I took out my pen and underlined several phrases.

In the first, it was just something that the teacher wanted me and my father to sign. There were two pages describing what the class would be like. I underlined several point of interest. I did not underline the main points, but the details that were unique to the class. I underlined:

- The items I would bring to class daily

- There's a daily assignment on the board

- The teacher expects us to take notes

- "Answer with reinforced key vocabulary terms and key concepts" (give the teacher's answer)

- Forget about extra credit

From these things, I learned what kind of class I would be in. There were other things on the paper, describing respect and other things, and though they were important, they were reviewed by the other teachers as well. It didn't make the class different. I needed to look over the way the class functioned. I found out more what kind of teacher I was with.

Then there was also the reading assignment, the story of Arachne the weaver. I knew I would not get browny points for taking out my pen, but it would still benefit me. Whenever one is assigned something to read in English, it goes without saying that they must analyze the literature, understand the key points, and understand the story. In this case, I did underline the main points.

- "She would acknowledge herself a debtor, even to that goddess who protected all household arts..."

- "...do not strive for honors with the immortals"

- "...the goddess, still merciful, was spinning, as a warning for Arachne, the pictures of her own triumph over reckless gods and mortals."

I also circled a section that I found interesting, and at the story I wrote a two paragraph description of the message of the fable. In doing all of these things, I reinforced in my mind the main ideas, and it will pay off tomorrow when I walk into class full full knowledge of what I was supposed to learn.

All in all, underlining is a healthy habit. Just don't do so in a school-owned book.