Merry Christmas and Happy New Year!

I'll keep this short and sweet since we all deserve a break:  I hope everyone has a wonderful holiday season filled with family, friends and love.  Here are some pictures from the AHS choir Olde English Feast.  I love seeing my current students in different roles, and I love watching my former students blossom and grow.

Have a great two weeks!

 This one takes some explanation:  they "sang" Dance of the Sugar Plum Fairy and used lights to create the dance.

Lots to Do, and Lots to Celebrate

So much is happening right now, it's hard to keep track of!  We have accomplished so much this week, but we have a long way to go before Friday!

In English 9, we are finishing To Kill a Mockingbird.  We'll be done with the novel by Tuesday, and testing by Wednesday.  In addition, we're writing our first big essay:  an argumentative essay in the voice of one of the jurors from the Tom Robinson trial.  I'm pushing the kids fast in their reading, but I really don't want to test them at the end of the week...I don't think it would go well.  They're handling it beautifully and I'm not hearing too many complaints.  For the most part they seem to like the book and want to keep reading, anyway.

In English 11 we have pretty much finished the play Macbeth, and their test will also be on Wednesday (for the same reasons as English 9).  They have multiple projects to concentrate on this week, since they have a book project due Monday (I'll send out another Remind 101) and we're spending the end of the week working on our project for the Elizabethan Celebration in January.

Which brings me to my most exciting news!  The entire 11th grade will be completing projects for an Elizabethan Celebration which will be held January 8th, from 5:30 to 7:00 in the cafeteria, and everyone is invited:  parents, students, administrators, community - whoever would like to come!  Obviously we're not requiring attendance since it's after school, though each student needs to complete a project of their choice.  We gave them a list of things to choose from, plus they have come to us with many fabulous ideas we had not thought of; I think this will be lots of fun!  (Much more interesting than them completing independent class projects.)  Our ultimate goal is that we step back and they run the whole event; we're crossing our fingers!  My 9th grade projects for Romeo and Juliet will be down there, too, and they are all invited, as well.  I have not given them details yet, though I did give them a heads up that it would be happening.  I hope many will want to come and see what our fabulous students have been up to.  I'll email parents from school and attach the flyer so they can see full information, but we have students signed up to make posters and flyers so more information will be forthcoming!

I hope everyone has a fabulous week, and a wonderful break!  Let's hope it's filled with family, fun, and relaxation!

Cheers!

Two Weeks To Go...Too much, or Too Little?

What a busy week we had last week, and what a busy weekend!  I'm exhausted!  Yesterday involved a family party in Lansing, a Shakespearean play in Ann Arbor, and those of you familiar with my alma mater know why I did not get much sleep this last Saturday night (hint, hint:  the colors are green and white).  So needless to say, I'm running on empty, but since life goes on, there's no choice but to get things done!

Let's start with English 9.  Last week we finished a creative project and a couple of writings.  We're currently heading into the most emotionally charged portion of To Kill a Mockingbird so we've been dealing with the tough issue of race.  They read an article about a case from 1944 of a teenager tried and executed for a murder he most likely did not commit being reopened today, and then wrote a 10% summary about it.  We're also discussing tough topics like lynchings.  I'm trying to get a point across about intolerance and the cost to society and human life, so our discussions tend to be charged with tension.  I hope that they are learning that fiction can teach us as much about life and society as non-fiction.  This week we'll be reading about the trial and writing a persuasive essay about it.  Then we'll finish the book!

In English 11, we're currently looking at Act III of Macbeth.  I'm trying to get them to play with it; I don't want them to take Shakespeare so seriously, otherwise all they learn is that it's boring.  I want them to find his humor, and his energy, so we're not only reading and watching the play, we're running around the building doing activities.  This last Friday we tried a "Walk and Talk" where they partnered up and read passages to each other, and then proceeded to answer some questions.  The feedback I got overall was very positive.  Here are some pictures from our day:

 1st Hour Working Their Way Through the Halls

 3rd Hour - lots of talk, then lots of leaning on lockers to work.

5th Hour - Walk and Talk, and then Giving Input

This coming week we'll mostly be working on finishing the play.  I want to test them early to mid-week next week so that we're not doing it right before they go to break.

I'm a little torn:  part of me wants to just relax and celebrate the upcoming holidays, and part of me is having a crisis over not having enough time to get things done.  In the end, it all comes together; I have faith in that.

Have a wonderful week!

On to December!

I hope everyone had a wonderful holiday, and feels rested and ready to go again.  The nice part about the Thanksgiving holiday is that the Christmas holiday is right around the corner!

As short as last week was, it was very busy in the classroom.  I was able to incorporate active lessons in both groups, a much needed change from sitting in rows reading text.  In English 9, we are finished with Part I and have done a creative writing assignment, we're working on artistic representations of items in the novel To Kill a Mockingbird, we'll do a personal essay this coming week, and then it's on to Part II of the novel.  My goal is that we have the book done before Christmas.  They will not have reading to do until mid-week, but they will have some writing to work on.

Here are some picture collages from the artistic activities:

2nd Hour English 9

6th hour English 9

In English 11, we finished reading Act I of Macbeth.  It's still a struggle for them to understand it, so after we read the text I had them do an activity where they spoke some of the Shakespearean speech and created statues and movements to represent them.  What follows is a collage of pictures and a video of the three groups acting things out:

Video - English 11 Macbeth Actions

This coming week we'll work on solidifying their knowledge of Act I and move on to Acts II and III.  My goal is to have the play done by Christmas.  In addition, we'll be handing out information regarding a project that will be presented in the first week of January.  You will be invited to come see everything they accomplish at that time; more information will be coming soon!

I hope everyone has a great week as we get back in the swing of things.  Ciao!

Let the Festivities Begin!

We've finally made it to the holidays!  I don't know about anyone else, but it seems like I'm noticing more people already set up for Christmas this year than I've ever seen before...way before Thanksgiving!  I'm thinking everyone is just really ready for holidays, festivities, relaxation, celebration, and family.  I know I am! I love Thanksgiving because it's not about presents and stress...it's just about gathering together and being thankful for what we have...a wonderful idea!

Last week both of my classes made great headway into their texts.  English 9 is now through Chapter 10 of To Kill a Mockingbird.  We're almost at the end of Part I, which means this week we'll pause to reflect and do some creative writings with it.  I'd also like to put in a couple of activities that get them up and moving...we'll see, since the week is so short.  They have read the whole thing on their own.  I prefer to mix in some reading in class, but time constraints have prevented this.  Hopefully they're all taking care of this in a responsible fashion.  I keep telling them that the academic habits they form now will carry them into their post-high school future!

English 11 classes are reading a book independently (due date December 6th) since we're working on Macbeth in class together.  We did the preliminary background work this week, and we're into Act I.  My goal for this short week is to finish this act, and do some kinesthetic activities to get them up and moving.  I'm adding a video here of my 1st and 3rd Hours doing a game that involved them calling out a word from the play and tossing a ball to someone across from them.  I had two goals:  get them moving, and speaking/hearing Shakespeare's words.  I want them to play, play, PLAY with the language - it makes Shakespeare so much more fun.

The Language of Macbeth

I hope everyone has a very easy, fun short work week, and a wonderful Thanksgiving holiday!

One More Full Week, and then VACATION!

Another busy week has come and gone, and with it the leaves left the trees (for the most part).  I'm so relieved to have made it through a "normal" week, however, because we get so much more done!  This week was full of projects, tests, new books, work, and fun.  It had everything!

In English 9 we completed and turned in the Romeo and Juliet projects.  I took some pictures of the kids who created models of the Globe Theatre, including one made out of cake!  Of course, after I took the picture and made a quick evaluation, they had to eat the cake at 8:30 A.M.  I think it was a big hit!  Then we quickly turned our attention to our new text: To Kill a Mockingbird.  They have gotten some background information on the history and author, and are now reading the book.  So far, I've assigned through chapter 4 for reading.  Expect them to bring their books home every night to read about two chapters; there will also be written work that they'll need to complete.  It's my favorite novel of all time, so I'm very excited that we're reading it right now!

In English 11, we're completing the Canterbury Tales unit.  They have been tested and turned in their study guides and are now writing their own poetic tale - in couplets!  It's a struggle to get going, but I'm encouraging them to embrace the silly and ridiculous and to have fun with it.  On Friday, they seemed to relax into it a bit and a few even came back later in the day to share with me what they had accomplished so far.  It is due on Monday, and then we'll turn our attention to Macbeth - another favorite of mine.  I can't wait!  I hope to have them not just reading and listening, but getting up out of their chairs and speaking lines.  (I love Shakespeare if you can't tell.)  They will read the play in class, so their homework is to read a book of their choosing; it needs to be read by December 6th.

The weather looks like it's going to cooperate for the most part for the week (which in my book means it's not going to be overly chilly), so I hope everyone has a great full week, and then we'll all be ready to prepare for the holiday season!  Have a good one!

Two Weeks of Normal (Maybe?)

I was so happy to meet so many parents last week at conferences!  Thank you so much for caring enough to come in and meet with me.  I truly love working with your children and I thank you for sharing them with me.  If you were unable to come to conferences, but would like to set something up, please let me know.

Last week was short as far as time in the classroom, so here are just a couple of highlights:  in English 9 we are finishing up our Romeo and Juliet unit by completing creative projects.  They are due on Monday, and some have even already turned them in!  In English 11 we're working on completing the "Prologue" for The Canterbury Tales.  Third Hour English 11 also completed a second independent novel, had a donut party (thanks to those who contributed), and have moved on to their third independent novel.

Coming up this week, English 9 will be turning their attention to the novel To Kill a Mockingbird - a personal favorite of mine.  Expect more homework - both reading and writing - since they will all have a book signed out to them.  In English 11 we will complete the "Prologue" and move on to the "Pardoner's Tale."  Expect a test mid- to late-week, and then they will be writing their own tale - in poetic couplets no less!  They will also be working on another independent novel for Term 2, since our reading from the textbook is still all done in class.

Just as an FYI, I think I have Edmodo up and running.  I'm attempting to keep a calendar with assignments on it, so that if they're absent they can look up what we are doing.  I'm also going to attempt to use it this week for a poll and a discussion forum for English 9.

That's about all I've got for this week.  I hope everyone has a wonderful one as we start to get prepped for the holidays!

Term 1 is Done!

Well, we've made it through the first term.  Grades are not due for the teachers until Tuesday, so I'm still finalizing things.  I hope everyone remembers that this is a benchmark of how they're doing; it's only 50% of their semester grade, and that's the one that earns credit and goes on record.  So if your student's grades are not where they should be, we have another term to try it again and to push it up.  If the grade is looking great...fantastic!  Let's hold it there.  Conferences are Thursday from 12:00 to 7:15 and I'm looking forward to seeing many of you.  If you cannot make it, but want to meet with me, drop me a line and I'll arrange it with you.

Looking back at English 9 we accomplished two things:  an independent reading book and review, and Romeo and Juliet.  The tests are in HAC, and I'm finalizing all of the remaining writing assignments.  Looking forward, they're doing a creative project that will be completed this coming week, and then we'll move into reading To Kill a Mockingbird as our major text of Term 2.

Here is a video of my 6th Hour doing a kinesthetic punctuation activity:

6th Hour Shakespeare Punctuation Activity

Looking back at English 11, we also accomplished two things:  an independent reading book and review, although my 3rd Hour is in process of finishing a second book, and Beowulf.  I'm still working on their final papers; if I can't get them done they'll go on 2nd term.  From here we're doing a very short unit on The Canterbury Tales which includes the medieval times, and then we move to Macbeth - one of my favorite Shakespeare plays.  I've been investigating fun activities and ways to get them more involved in the play in order to make it more interesting to them.  I'm hoping to have an evening celebration to share their many projects sometime in December.  I'd like to invite all the parents in to see our Shakespearean projects, including the freshmen group.  I'll let you know more as I get closer to it.

This week's schedule goes as follows:

• Monday - regular school day
• Tuesday - regular school day
• Wednesday - ms/hs professional development day; no school for students
• Thursday - ms/hs conferences 12:00 - 7:15; no school for students
• Friday - regular school day

Have a fabulous week, and I hope to see many of you on Thursday!

Wow! What a Week!

This is going to be fairly short and sweet, since I spent most of the week in a courtroom.  Everyone told me to take lots of papers to grade because I would spend most of the day just sitting there and never get placed on a trial.  So I took many papers - many, many papers - and had graded a total of five before my name was called and I was placed on a jury!  It was very interesting, but very disruptive to my schedule, and I missed your kids!  Kudos to all of them for their patience and efforts getting through the week.  We had a wonderful sub., and Mrs. Johnson in the main office made sure that the same person could be there all week for consistency, and everyone made it through!  The first part of this coming week will be me back-tracking and making sure everyone got what they needed last week, and then we'll be able to move forward.

Luckily I was able to be finished with jury duty on Thursday, so I could attend the 9th grade field trip on Friday to see Romeo and Juliet at the Emagine Theater in Canton.  Thank you to all who attended as chaperones!  The kids were great.  I loved the girls' reaction to their first view of the actor playing Romeo; I think it took almost 5 minutes until we had them calmed down.  I also loved hearing them saying lines, and spotting differences between the text and movie.  I really feel like they all "get" the play and we're ready to assess later this week.  Lunch afterward was a bit chaotic; Emagine shifted us from Novi to Canton the day before, so we just tried to find a strip of fast food joints to dump them all in.  Somehow we (and the restaurants) got us all through and back on the bus, and the kids were gloriously happy (and the adults were exhausted)! 

So now we're on to the final week of the term.  English 11 is getting ready to head into the Medieval Times and Canterbury Tales.  English 9 will be finalizing Romeo and Juliet information; at the moment I have the test scheduled for Thursday, with papers/projects to follow, but I'll email everyone when I have finalized the plans.  Then Friday is a no-school-day for your kids while the staff go to a Countywide Inservice Day.  Good for them since it's the day after Halloween, but maybe not so good for you?

Have a wonderful week!

Images from the field trip to see Romeo and Juliet




The Calm Before the Storm

This week was definitely the calm before the storm.  I do not even have any pictures or video of my students to post since most of the week was all about reading, writing and taking tests.  Mostly my students were working busily at their desks, which in its own sense is a joy to me, but for picture and video purposes, it's a little like watching paint dry.

In English 9 we have finished reading through Act III of Romeo and Juliet.  They took a quiz over Act II and did a couple of activities with passages from the text, but most of our time was spent just getting through the reading.  The amazing thing to me is that as they are listening to the recording, I'm stopping much less, but hearing much more as far as spontaneous gasps, laughter, and under-the-breath comments, which means - THEY''RE GETTING IT!!!  We're going to try to finish at least reading the play this next week, hopefully in time to go on the field trip to the movie on Friday.

In English 11 we have finished Beowulf, taken the test, and are now working on a fairly complex, analytical essay.  They are hand writing the rough draft in class (Type Three), and then next week we will go to the computer lab to type it and do peer edits before submitting the final draft (Type Four).  It's a painstaking process, but I truly believe it is beneficial in that it challenges them to communicate in a different way than they normally do, and when they rise to the challenge they can be proud of their work.  After the essay we will turn our attentions to the Medieval Times and Canterbury Tales.  I have a couple of fun projects to go with this, so I'm looking forward to the change.

The storm:  several things are coming up in the next few weeks.  This coming week I may be out due to Jury Duty, something I've never been called to do.  In one sense, I'm excited because I think it will be interesting; in another, this is terrible timing since it's the end of two units in class.  I won't know until I call this weekend whether they want me to show up or not for Monday, so cross your fingers (I just don't know what I want you to wish for).

I almost forgot to put this in:  go to celebratemydrive.com to vote for Airport to win $100,000 in a safe driving campaign.  Imagine what we could do with that money!  You have to be 14 and older to vote (I tried to have my 12 year old vote and it wouldn't allow it).

Friday, our field trip to Novi is on!  I'm so excited because this is my first field trip in years and I think the students will really enjoy it.  I just hope I'm not sitting on a jury and will be able to go!  A big thank you to Mrs. Williams for taking care of all arrangements; I just came along for the ride.

Upcoming events:  Halloween is always a little chaotic at school, and then the students have November 1st off while teachers and staff attend professional development.  The week after that, we have conferences on 11/6 and professional development on 11/7, so the students have two days off, and then we're back in for Friday, 11/8 (I know, crazy - right?).  Thanksgiving is late this year, November 28th, which means we'll have a very short time after it until Christmas break.  Lots of fun stuff coming up!

 

Here's a picture of what my children and I did last night at AHS.  Thanks to Mrs. Moschetti, we have two of our pumpkins carved and had lots of fun visiting with Carleton community members doing it.  While there we also carved away with Maleigha, a former student who made a winky pumpkin, Mrs. Hopper who teaches social studies, Mrs. Kull who teaches in many locations around the high school, and of course, Mrs. Moschetti, the art teacher.  It's nights like this that let me know how privileged I am to work at AHS.  I'm so honored that the wonderful community of Carleton and its surrounding areas has welcomed me in and allowed me to play a small part in the lives of its children.

 

Have a wonderful week, everybody!

Another Week Down and We're Now In Routine

Another week has come and gone.  When we're in the middle of them I feel like they're dragging, but by the weekend when I look back it feels like the school year is flying.  We're into our routines by now:  reading difficult texts, writing papers, and presenting information in various ways.  My routine of weekend Type 3 essay grading is off to the races.  I'm working through them as fast as I can, while trying to keep up with the regular paperwork.

In English 9, we're still working our way through Romeo and Juliet.  It's so slow for us because I keep trying to throw in interesting activities that allow us to play with the text, rather than just reading and testing.  I truly believe that Shakespeare was playing with words and he'd like us to do the same.  I think a huge mistake people make with his plays is taking them too seriously.  They should be played with, messed with, and explored.  This week I showed your students how to do a common dance in his day:  the Prevane.  Sixth hour was so fabulous and open to this experience, that they all ended up twirling around the lobby with their partners.  They let me take video of them, so here's what I put together:

6th Hour Shakespearean Prevane

For the rest of this week, we'll still be trying to get through more of the text.  They seem like they're really getting into it now, and mostly want to keep going in order to see where this play goes.  An exciting thing coming up (we hope) is that we're trying to pull together a fieldtrip to Novi to see the brand new movie.  If your student says they have no homework, they're in earnest.  I'm trying to get through the R&J text more quickly, and then I'll assign another book.  If they have a writing to do at home, I'll notify you.

In English 11, we're finishing Beowulf.  In my 1st and 5th hours, one of the funniest moments of the week was a class directed act-out of the fight between Beowulf and Grendel's Mother.  Unfortunately, I didn't get it on video.  In 3rd Hour, we're moving more quickly, so they have already started toward the goal of reading another book.  All classes have had writings to finish at home for homework, but third hour is the only class with assigned readings.  This will quickly change as we finish Beowulf.  All of my English 11 classes wrote their first blog.  I had them use Beowulf's voice, but I had two goals:  have them dig into the text and find Beowulf's voice, and learn how to use a blog.  Those who were able to make it work now have access to their own blogs.  Those who did not, ended up creating it on a Word document.  One way or another, they all got it done.  Here's a picture of them blogging away:

1st Hour English 11 Blogging in the Lab

 

By Thursday, we should be able to take a test over Beowulf, with another Type3/4 writing to follow.  I'll try to send out reminders.

 

I hope you're all enjoying this glorious weather we've been having and have been able to get out and enjoy it.  It's a beautiful Michigan fall, but we all know what follows, so here's to hoping you've been able to take a few minutes to relax in it.

 

Have a great week!

September is Over, so Bring on October!

What a whirlwind of a week!  We finished our NWEA testing (if your student missed a portion of it, they will be pulled aside to work on it on Monday, 10/7), Homecoming was a great success, we turned in our Book Reviews, and we even completed our first fire drill!  Here are some photos from the festivities.  I chaperoned the dance, too, and the kids looked fabulous, but I was too busy and exhausted to take photos.

Spirit Day - Friday, 10/4

The Parade - Friday, 10/4

In English 9, we were able to complete Act I of Romeo and Juliet and we're working our way through activities and discussion. I'm getting fairly positive feedback from my students, so I think they're enjoying it for the most part.  This week we will finish discussion, try some Elizabethan dance, take a quiz, and work toward reading Acts II and III.  Now that we have completed all of the background information, we should be able to move along more quickly.

In English 11, we have finished reading Part I of Beowulf, so we're finishing the activities and discussions.  Early this coming week they will be completing their first post on a Google Blog for Beowulf.  They're taking on his voice and learning how to create their own blogs.  I'm showing them the difference between saving for privacy, and posting publicly, so that we keep the online risk as low as possible for them while still sharing this technological tool for future use.

I hope everyone has a great week; here's a picture of what I will think back on from September to keep me going as the weather turns cold:

The Huron River at Sunset, Wednesday, 10/2

NWEA Testing - Round 1: Done!

Is there ever really any such thing as a normal week?  As of right now, it doesn't feel like it.  This past week all of my classes took the English portion of the NWEA test.  We had a brief moment to breathe, and then we looked at next week's schedule.  Next week, not only is it homecoming week with all the craziness that comes with it, but we're also taking the reading portion of this test.  If there's one thing I've learned in life, however, it's that we will survive it, intact, and the journey will carry on.

In English 9 this last week, we made a little headway in Romeo and Juliet, but not as much as I'd like, so this coming week, when we're not doing Homecoming activities or testing, we'll be working on the play.  The link below will take you to a video I made of my English 9 - 2nd Hour performing out Romeo's oxymorons, leading us to an understanding of his confusion and the conflicted emotions of the play.

Video of 2nd Hour's Oxymorons

In English 11, we continued on with Beowulf and have completed reading the section where he fought with Grendel.  We still have work to do to understand the deeper meanings in the poem, however, so that is what is scheduled for the upcoming week.  I also am trying to get us into the library to create blogs for Beowulf in order to understand what is going on in his (and your student's) head.  Another new adventure with technology!

What has slowed both groups down is the independent reading that they are doing.  We are done reading the books, have finished the final literature circle, and are currently writing the persuasive book reviews.  Their final review is due on Wednesday, either typed or handwritten in blue or black ink.  Every time I feel frustrated that we're going so slowly through the text, I remind myself that we have been working on two texts, not one, so we're actually doing more work, not less.

I hope everyone has a great week, and if you feel so inclined, I may see you at some of the homecoming events this coming weekend.

Cheers!

Week 3 - Gettin' In the Groove of Things

Another week over, and we're starting to finally get into the groove of things...finally! It's been interesting to watch the class dynamics change as we get familiar with each other.  We're no longer quite as polite at all times (sometimes they tease their friends and it sounds an awful lot like a challenge from the movie 8 Mile), but we're no longer quite as cautious with each other either.  The feedback in discussion is getting more real, which pleases me immensely.

In the 9th grade group, we've finally begun reading Romeo and Juliet.  Everyone is so intimidated by Shakespeare that there's no enjoyment in it, so I'm working on showing them that it's actually quite fun to not only read his texts, but to get up and move with the words.  So far the feedback has been fairly positive, so I expect great things from this unit.  They have completed a second week of literature circles with their independent reading, and now we're in the home stretch.  They should be finished with their books this coming week.

In the 11th grade group we're reading Beowulf.  My experience with this text is that they either love it or hate it.  I'm trying to incorporate some activities to get the words in their mouths instead of mine, and to get them up and moving.  One of the best things my classes did all week was to act out a few lines of the text.  Your kids were fabulous at abandoning their caution and jumping into the activity, and they definitely made us all laugh.  At one point we had the best dragon noises I've ever heard come out of a human body cracking us all up.  Lots of fun!  They also have completed their second week of literature circles with their independent reading and should be finished with their books this coming week.

Coming up next week (and the week following) we will be taking the NWEA tests.  It's different this year because they'll be in their classrooms, and only take one test a day.  Therefore the schedule this week is a little crazy for English.  Things we will accomplish for class will include finishing their books and doing a Type Three writing, and continuing to work out of the textbook. 

I wish I had a camera on your kids at all times, because they say and do the most amazing things.  Because I don't let me just give you a couple highlights:

• A student who hates to read asked me for sticky notes to mark places in his book that he finds interesting and meaningful.
• We stood in a circle, and kids who hate to be the center of attention not only read to the group, but acted out the lines.
• 9th Graders actually laughed while reading Romeo and Juliet...and at the appropriate spots.

And because I do sometimes have a camera on me, here are a couple of treats:

After our literature circles, it's silent reading time!

 

Movie - Literature Circles, September 19, 2013

 

If you click on this link, it will take you to a movie I made of my 3rd Hour.  I'm having trouble posting it here from my phone.  I'll have to have one of my students show me how. ;-)

 

September 15 - second week of school: hot!

Wow!  What a week, and what great kids you have!  Between the pollen aggravating everyone’s allergies and the heat creating a sauna in my classroom, we could have had disasters in the making, but my magnificent students not only suffered through it all, they performed every task I gave them.  It helped that our fantastic principals supplied 6^th hour classrooms with popsicles (a big thank you shout out goes to them), but I really have to give credit to the students for going through so much with positive attitudes through it all.

My 9^th grade English classes have begun their Shakespearean adventure.  We haven’t gotten far, but we’re ready to read Act I of Romeo and Juliet.  I have many activities to offer them; some are artistic, some are active, and some involve creative writing.  I hope to share my love of the Bard with them, and show them that he’s not only fairly easy to understand, but that Shakespeare can be fun!  We’re also working on grammar; in particular, we’re focusing on prepositional phrases.  Ask them how the squirrel fits into the prepositional phrase and see if they can tell you!

The 11^th grade English classes are beginning work on the Anglo-Saxons.  Even though these people basically begin the history of who we are as Americans, it’s like studying a foreign culture.  We’re reading a few poems by them, and then we will begin studying the great epic hero, Beowulf.  Our first hurdle has been gaining understanding the he is a man, not a wolf (some of your kids really crack me up)!  I have been working on finding fun activities, both creative and active, to add into our schedule to make reading this epic poem more fun.

If your student is in my 5^th hour, please note that not only is it co-taught, but we now have a student teacher working with us for 1^st term.  Her name is Ms. Dakin, and we welcome her help, her ideas and her creativity.  It’s nice to have a third teacher in the room.  Your students should get lots of attention!

One of my favorite new activities of the year involves all of your students!  We are beginning our independent reading unit for September with literature circles.  This week was our first time working with this concept and I think they did beautifully (for the most part).  Most students are reading their books, and I think they really enjoyed getting together with each other to talk about them.  They each chose jobs for their discussion, I gave them guidance on how to prepare, and I heard some great conversations happening around the room.  Please note that each Thursday we will meet to discuss their books, and they should have them read by September 26.

As always, I welcome your comments and responses.  Please be sure to keep in touch, and if there are any issues I am unaware of, please let me know.

Thanks, Laura Stubbs

September 8th - First Week of School: Complete!

Welcome to the 2013-2014 school year!  I’m very excited to be starting my 20^th year of teaching.  I know it is going to be a great year!  This is my first blog of the year, and I hope to keep it brief but informative, since I know we’re all busy.

One of my goals is to increase my use of technology, and to help my students become more proficient using technology for academic and work purposes.  I know they are experts at the social technology, but they do not necessarily know how to use it beyond that.  We will be using blogs, Skydrive and Googledrive for saving documents in the internet atmosphere, hopefully Edmodo, Remind101 text services, and anything else I can think of that might help them to this purpose.  I am fully aware of the risks that are out there on the internet for kids (as a mom, trust me, I’m worried, too), but the reality of our world is that in order to become gainfully employed in a job that will become a career, they need to know how to find, test out, and use technology.  Please feel free to contact me at any time with your concerns and we will work together to do what’s best for your kid (yes, I know they’re big, but they’re still kids to me).

In both English 9 and English 11 this week, we made all the usual introductions with a few activities.  I tried to do a mixture of “old-school” activities (taking notes for background information, while sitting in rows for example) and newer activities such as working in groups, a throw-catch activity to learn names, a trip to the library for their month-long independent reading assignment, and signing up for the text message system Remind 101.  Both groups have an independent book to read with a writing assignment at the end of the month of a Type Three book review, which reminds me to make sure you’re aware that the Collins Writing System adopted by Airport Community Schools will continue this year.  In case you have not heard, it seems to be having a significant impact since we have jumped up in the state rankings this year so much that we’ve been designated a Rewards School!  More important to me, however, is that it seems to be helping your students think and learn in all of their subjects.  Therefore, we continue on since it is working!

English 9 is beginning a unit on Romeo and Juliet which will take us most of the month.  This week, I gave them some notes on background information; next week we should be able to start reading.  English 11 is beginning a unit on Beowulf and the Anglo-Saxons.  This will also take us most of the month of September.  Both texts are complex poems, so therefore we will read them together in class which is why they have independent reading books to be done on their own.  Any time they say they have no homework, simply ask them if they’ve finished their book.  If they have, please note that they are welcome to start another one (shhh, don’t tell, but I’m going to offer extra credit for reading extra books on their own this semester).

I think we’re off to a great start, and I’m feeling really positive about the school year, my classes, and my students.  As always, please feel free to contact me at any time either by email or phone.  I’m hoping we can help all students be successful this school year!

Have a wonderful second week of September, and hopefully we’ll meet again on next week’s blog.

Yours, Laura Stubbs