Busy October

Oops, I missed a week. I was busy all last weekend with cleaning the house, grading, and planning, and I missed doing my blog. Since I'm behind on grading and it feels impossible to catch up, I'm keeping this fairly short and sweet. I know that it looks like I'm not doing anything, but I get 150 of one assignment in, so it takes me awhile, especially when trying to give a little feedback.

What have we accomplished in two weeks?

• ELA9 have finished looking at theme through short stories and they've moved on to poetry. They have an assignment due on Thursday where they are picking their own themes and creating some poetry.
• ELA10 has moved completely into Animal Farm and they are moving onto Chapter Five, which is halfway through the book. They also tried a Socratic Seminar, and did fairly well, so we're trying it again this coming week with a couple of tweaks.

What is coming up this week? All classes are doing grammar and PSAT instruction for bell work, and then they do the following:

ELA9

• Monday, 10/12 - discuss Poetry Notebook (1st Hour - work time); move on to "The Raven"
• Tuesday, 10/13 - finish "The Raven"; analyze song lyrics for theme
• Wednesday, 10/14 - work time for the Poetry Notebook
• Thursday, 10/15 - Poetry Notebook is due; start choice reading unit - choose and have book in hand by Monday
• Friday, 10/16 - analyze Edward Scissorhands for theme

ELA10

• Monday, 10/12 - Chapter 3/4 Quiz; Read and analyze Chapter 5
• Tuesday, 10/13 - allegory; propaganda
• Wednesday, 10/14 - Read Chapter 6
• Thursday, 10/15 - analyze Chapter 6; prepare for Socratic Seminar
• Friday, 10/16 - Socratic Seminar

I hope everyone has a great week. Look for emails about PSAT's for 9th grade and Homecoming announcements. Ciao!

Busy October by Laura Stubbs is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-ShareAlike 4.0 International License.
Based on a work at https://www.laurastubbs.blogspot.com.

Starting a New Path

Good morning! I hope everyone enjoys the warm weather on Sunday because it sounds like it's all about to go away. Since I'm a summer warmth person this makes me a bit sad. The way I've been dealing with stress and screens is to get outside, so I hope it stays nice enough that I can do that for a while longer. Which reminds me, I also hope everyone was able to get away from the screens awhile, too, and just do something for themselves this weekend.

This past week was quite productive for both English 9 and English 10. English 9 is finishing off the alternative assessment for "The Scarlet Ibis" (the literary element slideshow is due by midnight tonight). English 10 is now getting ready to write their first analytical essay of the year, basing it around the story "The Sound of Thunder." It will be due by the end of the week.

As many of you know, I have a student teacher this year: Mr. Lukasik. He has spent the last three weeks getting to know the kids and figuring out how my classroom runs. Beginning this week he is going to be taking over some of the teaching. He will be doing a short story with the 9th grade, and by the end of the week he'll start Animal Farm with the 10th grade (if you have an online learner in ELA10 we have placed books in the office to be picked up). Mr. Lukasik has great strength with academic knowledge and he is excited to work with your students and these texts. I think he'll do a fabulous job!

Here is the schedule for this week:

English 9

• Monday, 9/28 - Bell Work; prepare to read "Borders"
• Tuesday, 9/29 - Bell Work; read "Borders"; notes
• Wednesday, 9/30 - 1/2 Day - finish "Borders"; notes
• Thursday, 10/1 - Bell Work; Personal History Assignment; Begin "Charles" on Common Lit.
• Friday, 10/2 - Bell Work; Finish "Charles" on Common Lit.; quiz

English 10

• Monday, 9/28 - Bell Work; Outline the Essay
• Tuesday, 9/29 - Bell Work; Draft the Essay
• Wednesday, 9/30 - 1/2 Day - Revision/Editing
• Thursday, 10/1 - Bell Work; Begin Animal Farm
• Friday, 10/2 - Bell Work; Essay is due by Midnight submitted on Turnitin.com; Animal Farm

That is our plan, and as always, plans do change, so if you have questions, feel free to ask. I hope your week is filled with love, laughter, family, and friends. Ciao! 

Starting a New Path by Laura Stubbs is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-ShareAlike 4.0 International License.
Based on a work at https://www.laurastubbs.blogspot.com,

We're Hitting Our Stride

 Welcome to Week Three! As stressful as this has been for me time is really cruising, probably because I'm so busy. I'm getting used to the weekdays - the lack of sleep, the constant hum and bluelight of the computer, trying to keep up with emails and messages, etc., but I'm still struggling with the weekends - being an involved parent to my own children, getting household chores done, keeping up with extended family, doing all the planning involved with this school year. Oh yeah, I'm supposed to grade things, too. I'm struggling with that, but I'll figure it out pretty quickly here. I just hope the district gets students/parents the information about Powerschools soon. It will all come together at some point.

So what DID we accomplish last week? In 9th grade, we finished the introductory activities and assignments and we've now moved into a short story called "The Scarlet Ibis." In 10th grade, we also finished the introductory activities and we've now moved into a short story called "A Sound of Thunder." This coming week we will work on these stories: reading together in class, doing activities, and working on alternate assessments: for 9th grade it's a slideshow, for 10th grade it will be an analytical essay.  Here's the schedule:

English 9

• Monday, 9/21 - journal; bell work; read "The Scarlet Ibis;" exit ticket
• Tuesday, 9/22 - journal; bell work; finish reading "The Scarlet Ibis;" Characterization Activity - the individuality of a character; exit ticket
• Wednesday, 9/23 - journal; bell work; turn in Characterization Activity; work on Literary Elements Slideshow; exit ticket
• Thursday, 9/24 - journal; bell work; continue working on Literary Elements Slideshow; exit ticket
• Friday, 9/25 - journal; bell work; finish and submit Literary Elements Slideshow; start short story #2; exit ticket

English 10

• Monday, 9/21 - journal; bell work; read "A Sound of Thunder;" exit ticket
• Tuesday, 9/22 - journal; bell work; finish reading "A Sound of Thunder;" Notes Activity; exit ticket 
• Wednesday, 9/23 - journal; bell work; finish Notes; outline the Analytical Essay; exit ticket
• Thursday, 9/24 - journal; bell work; work on Analytical Essay; exit ticket
• Friday, 9/25 - journal; bell work; finish drafting Analytical Essay; exit ticket

That is the plan for the week. I hope everyone enjoys the rest of their weekend. Ciao!

We're Hitting Our Stride by Laura Stubbs is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-ShareAlike 4.0 International License.
Based on a work at https://www.laurastubbs.blogspot.com.

Week 2 - Trying Again

 Welcome to Week 2. I know there were some issues with accessing this last week, so I'm trying again and hope more people are able to access it this week.

This is by no means required reading, it's just here with more detail for those who like to really dig into what we're doing, and why.

Both my English 9 and English 10 were doing the same thing last week since everything was about introduction and trying to find out what skills my students have since it's been six months since we were really in the classroom.  Last week we got our routines going with Journals to start, finding the organizational methods on Google Classroom and learning how to submit and use different technological platforms, exploration of self through a series of writing assignments called "Who Am I?", and Exit Tickets focusing primarily on the Habits of Mind.  In the first week I'm pretty flexible with what gets turned in and graded, and also with deadlines. Now that we're all kind of acclimated I'm going to start tightening down.

This week in English 9, we'll finalize the Who Am I? writing and then move on to an introduction to short stories through the piece: "The Scarlet Ibis." This will begin our exploration of the theme of individuality through multiple genres. In English 10 they will also finalize the Who Am I? writing and then they are moving into the theme of the individual in society through the Ray Bradbury piece "The Sound of Thunder." 

So the week looks like this:

English 9

• Monday, 9/14 - Journal; Bell Work - Prepositions; Who Am I? Part 3; Exit Ticket
• Tuesday, 9/15 - Journal; Bell Work - Prepositions; Who Am I? Part 4 - reflective writing; Exit Ticket
• Wednesday, 9/16 - Journal; Bell Work - Prepositions; Introduction to literary elements; Introduction to "Scarlet Ibis"; Exit Ticket
• Thursday, 9/17 - Journal; Bell Work - Prepositions; continue "Scarlet Ibis"; Exit Ticket
• Friday, 9/18 - Journal; Bell Work - Prepositions; continue "Scarlet Ibis"; Exit Ticket

English 10

• Monday, 9/14 - Journal; Bell Work - Subject/Verb Agreement; Who Am I? Part 3; Exit Ticket
• Tuesday, 9/15 - Journal; Bell Work - Subject/Verb Agreement; Who Am I? Part 4 - reflective writing; Exit Ticket
• Wednesday, 9/16 - Journal; Bell Work - Subject/Verb Agreement; Review of literary elements; Introduction to "The Sound of Thunder"; Exit Ticket
• Thursday, 9/17 - Journal; Bell Work - Subject/Verb Agreement; continue "The Sound of Thunder"; Exit Ticket
• Friday, 9/18 - Journal; Bell Work - Subject/Verb Agreement; continue "The Sound of Thunder"; Exit Ticket

I'm hoping everyone has a wonderful week! Ciao!

Week 2 - Trying Again by Laura Stubbs is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-ShareAlike 4.0 International License.
Based on a work at laurastubbs.blogspot.com.

Welcome to the 2020/2021 School Year!

 Welcome back! By this time in 2020 I hope everyone has embraced a new philosophy for living: flexibility! Every aspect of our lives now requires this. That and patience. As I've lived through the past 6 months of this pandemic I've looked for the silver linings, and for me they include slowing down, learning to schedule less and remain flexible, and learning to be patient with myself, my children and family, and with my society.

This is an unprecedented time, so as I enter my 27th year of teaching I feel like I'm entering my first. As I enter my 20th year of parenting, I feel like I'm back at the beginning. It's an anxious time, a time when I feel uncertain and aggravated, a time when I feel like I have no clue what's going on. To be sure, I have no idea how this year is going to go, how it should go, or how we'll all come together to get through it, but I AM sure that it will all happen and we will be fine. We just need to be prepared for anything, so in that vein I have spent my time since June trying to find a way to prepare for anything and everything. Here is my plan for this year:

• We will be using Google Classroom - whether Face to Face or online, my entire class is now on Google Classroom. I will post my daily lesson in the form of slideshows; all assignments are online, all documents will be turned in on Classroom or Turnitin.com. We will be as paperless as it is possible to be. There are a couple of reasons for this including: if we are sent home, they will already be acclimated to the platform, and we're in the technological age at this point so we need to use this change in how we do things to fully embrace this era.
• I fully believe in teamwork and collaborative learning, so my goal is to utilize technology to have all of my students participating in group discussions and projects. I have researched ideas, platforms, and protocols to make this happen. It will not be seamless, but we will be continuously working on this all year.
• This year is an opportunity for positive change. For me, that means that I become more adept at teaching my students to learn how to learn rather than just memorizing facts. In other words, we'll be working on skills for learning and working. For my students this means learning that failures are a part of life and will happen! But we learn from them and we move forward and utilize this as part of the learning process. For all of us, this means that we learn to be patient and forgiving of ourselves and of others. I truly believe that if we embrace these changes we will be better people and a better society - less anxious, less focused on false truths, more focused on what is important.

I use this space as a place to let you know my thinking and philosophies about education and life. I also use it as a way to communicate what we are doing in the classroom, so I'm going to list my plan for the first full week of school. Both my English 9 and English 10 are working on the same thing this week, so here is the plan:

• Tuesday, 9/8 - learn how to use the Journal; acclimate to my online platforms and look at the parent letter, rules, procedures, and blog; pretest for determining where we are with skills - parts of speech; Who Am I? Part 1 - assignment - submit; exit ticket.
• Wednesday, 9/9 - journal; pretest - reading comprehension; Who Am I? Part 2 - submit; exit ticket.
• Thursday, 9/10 - journal; pretest - reading for main idea; Who Am I? Part 3 - submit; exit ticket.
• Friday, 9/11 - journal - submit for week; pretest - reading for author's purpose; Who Am I? Part 4 - due by Sunday at midnight; exit ticket.

The goals of the week:

1. Establish where we are for skills
2. Establish where we are emotionally
3. Introduce ourselves to the class
4. Introduce ourselves to the technology that will be used this year

By the end of the week students should be able to say:

I can locate the tools I need to function in this class or ask for help if I need it.

I Can Utilize the Habits of: curiosity, openness, engagement, creativity, persistence, responsibility, and flexibility.

As Used In: all jobs and careers.

I hope this blog is helpful to parents and students. I update it by Sunday evening every week and send out reminders; that way it is available to you as needed.

My wish for this week: may we all transition back to school successfully, happily, and with kindness toward ourselves and each other. Have a great week!

Welcome to the 2020/2021 School Year! by Laura Stubbs is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-ShareAlike 4.0 International License.
Based on a work at https://www.laurastubbs.blogspot.com.

Our New Reality

Wow. That's it. Just: wow. I never envisioned this is where we would be, not even a week ago. It's our new reality, and I'm working on adjusting how I teach and my students are super troopers and adjusting along with me, but...wow.

I'm a social person, and this is very difficult for me. As we've gone into this process I'm reminded of why I love my job: I love my students, I love working with them day in and day out, I love interacting with them and hearing their crazy stories (I'm going to miss my daily, "Hello, sunshine!" from a certain individual in my 3rd hour) and seeing their quirky moments (4th hour all singing along to a Maroon 5 song while they worked on their shields was one of my favorite moments of last week...so sorry I didn't get it on video). When a few came by before 1st hour on Friday to say they were leaving it caught me off guard and literally made me cry. I got it back together quickly, but Friday was hard. I kept making plans, having my plans blow up, making new plans, discarding those plans...nothing was making sense to me. After they all left on Friday, and I'd cleaned up my room, reality set in.  Here was my saddest moment:

I think that was the moment of resignation. My classroom just isn't my classroom without my students in it.

I've spent much of this weekend getting a new classroom up and running. I'm using Google Classroom as my platform and all directions and assignments are on there. I've invited parents and guardians into our classes and set up a Remind. I will continue to assign, collect, and grade assignments throughout these three weeks (and beyond, if needed). I made a short introductory video yesterday and put it on the stream. Here's a link to it: Welcome Video. I'm also working on ways to check in with them both individually and as a group. 

Individually, students can contact me by email (which many have done), through Classroom (which many have done), or through Google Hangouts. Because I have an Android phone, I have Hangouts on my phone and it's a lot like Facetime. They just go on their Chromebooks, open up Hangouts, and type in my email address. I'll try it out with a few people and we'll see how it works.  As far as group connections here's what I have in the works:

English 9 - I'm posting assignments online for some grammar through NoRedInk.com. I'll be checking that they're doing them there.  I've also posted assignments for The Crucible including an upcoming quiz, and I'll be putting the directions, outline, and essay on there. My goal over this next week and a half is that we accomplish that. I'm hoping to connect on Google Classroom with them live on Tuesdays - 1st Hour at 10:00 A.M.; 2nd Hour at 11:00 A.M. - and Thursdays - 6th Hour at 10:00 A.M.

English 10 - of course we were just starting Macbeth, so I really struggled with what to do. Here's my plan: I have posted the study guide for Act I. I also posted under Resources a version of the text called No Fear Shakespeare which contains both the original Shakespeare language side by side with a translation. In addition, I am posting movie clips from YouTube and I'm making my own videos where I walk through the scenes, much as I would in a live classroom. My goal for these three weeks is that they read and understand the plot line. I'm hoping to connect on Google Classroom with them live on Wednesdays: 3rd Hour at 10:00 A.M.; 4th Hour at 11:00 A.M.

I know we'll all be okay, and I'm hoping that all this social distancing will help to "flatten the curve" of how dangerous and prolonged this is. If anyone needs anything - anything! - please feel free to contact me.

Think positive, enjoy the sunshine, and support one another. We'll all make it through.

Our New Reality by Laura Stubbs is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-ShareAlike 4.0 International License.
Based on a work at https://www.laurastubbs.blogspot.com.

Thanks So Much!

We did it! The English 10 Wax Museum project is just about complete. Thank you to all the parents for their help in encouraging their students, checking on them, helping them get supplies, delivering them and all their boards and items to and from the school, and of course for coming to our Wax Museum evening.  The kids did a wonderful job and made me proud.  If you haven't looked on the school's website, please do since the group photo is scrolling at the top, and the Monroe Evening News has an article in it with a couple of pictures, too.  Below are the pictures I took (plus a selfie by a group that got ahold of my phone while I was listening to someone's speech).

So from here, we can now move forward with the end of the project. The English 10 research papers are due Monday at 7:30 A.M. We'll take a small break to watch a movie, and then we'll move forward into Macbeth.

Last week English 9 worked their way through The Crucible Act III, but we're not quite complete so we'll continue that this week. As noted, English 10 had their big week, presenting their speeches, dressing up and presenting the Wax Museum to the public Wednesday night, and then working on editing and revising their papers.  Here is the schedule for this week:

English 9

• Monday, 3/9 - bell work; read Act III of The Crucible
• Tuesday, 3/10 - Academic Advisory - bell work; finish reading Act III
• Wednesday, 3/11 - bell work; do the Act III packet
• Thursday, 3/12 - PSAT Advisory - bell work; quiz for Act III; start Act IV
• Friday, 3/13 - bell work; read Act IV

English 10

• Monday, 3/9 - bell work; movie
• Tuesday, 3/11 - Academic Advisory - bell work; movie
• Wednesday, 3/12 - bell work; personal shields
• Thursday, 3/13 - PSAT Advisory - bell work; finish shields
• Friday, 3/14 - bell work; Macbeth preview activities

That's the schedule as planned out this weekend. I hope everyone has a great week! Ciao! 

Thanks so much! by Laura Stubbs is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-ShareAlike 4.0 International License.
Based on a work at https://www.laurastubbs.blogspot.com.