All Signs are Pointing Up!

Here we are, entering the last week of February, and I feel like I can see the end of winter coming!  We've still got lots of snow, but the days are warmer and believe it or not, some melting has occurred!  If only we could quit having these darn snow days!  I will say, though, that I have enjoyed some aspects of them.  Here's what I took time out to do with my son in the back of the neighborhood on Tuesday:

The rest of the week, however, was business as usual, so here's what's been going on.

In English 9, we're still working on a Nonfiction unit.  We read a couple of argumentative essays this week and did study guides.  This was done in the traditional classroom format, though I let them move around and work with partners on the study guides.  Because I haven't checked out books to them, all of the work on these two pieces was done in class.  Here's a picture of my 2nd Hour working away:

I then assigned an argumentative essay (topic - making up snow days!) to be turned in on Tuesday.  In the meantime, since all textbook work is being done in class, they need to continue reading their own book of choice.  By Wednesday they should be at least two-thirds of the way through the book, and their 2nd Reading Blog entry is due by midnight Wednesday night.  They do all of this on their own time.

In English 11 - we're still reading The Lord of the Flies.  It's a great book, but long, so they need to be reading on their own time.  By early next week they should be through chapter 6.  We did some traditional classroom discussions, took a vocabulary quiz, worked on study guides, but I also tried to shake things up and had them try what I call a "Walk and Talk."  They spread out in groups around the building and did just what the assignment says in its title:  they walked, read passages, talked, then answered questions.  Many really like this because the movement helps them wake up and think.  I don't do it all the time, but it's nice to try something different.  Here's a set of pictures from that day (all three hours are represented):

Now I should probably address ACT/MME and all of the upcoming events.  This coming week's events will impact both English 9 and 11, since I'm pulled out of my class to attend an afternoon session on Thursday.  To prepare them for the tests, a guest speaker will be in the high school on Tuesday and Thursday.  The junior class has been split into four groups and they are scheduled to miss either morning or afternoon classes on one of those days so they can go hear what he has to say.  I am scheduled to attend the Thursday afternoon schedule, so there will be a substitute in my room at that time.  All throughout the week the scheduled afternoon reviews will still take place, so feel free to check the green calendar.  The following week (March 3-7) will be the actual tests.  On Tuesday, 3/4 - ONLY JUNIORS WILL COME TO SCHOOL AT THE HIGH SCHOOL!  Freshmen have the day off because it is ACT day.  All of the elementary schools and Wagar have a normal day.  The ACT is from 7:30 to a little after noon and then they are free to go.  On Wednesday 3/5 and Thursday 3/6, the juniors come to school in the mornings and take the MME tests, and then they can leave.  Freshmen attend school as usual on those two days.

There.  That's the worst of it.  So now let me add a picture collage from the basketball game on Friday night against Flat Rock.  What a joy it is to see my students in a different way, and I was treated with a winning game played by both current and former students, and those I don't know but wave to in the hallways!

And I think that's all I've got for this week.  I hope all goes well over the next few days for everyone...cheers!

Laura Stubbs's Bloggs by Laura Stubbs is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 International License.

Finally - FIVE DAY WEEKS!!!

I hope , hope, HOPE we've crossed that hurtle and we're going to have full weeks now.  It felt so fulfilling (though exhausting) to go through all five days last week, and we finally seemed to get some momentum going forward!  I forgot to take any photos, however, so I've got to get back in that groove as we go into this week.

Some exciting things are beginning to happen in all of my groups, and it all surrounds technology!  I'm taking a course on "Blended Learning" which incorporates technology into the traditional classroom.  As a result, I tried two things this week:  Reading Blogs in the 9th grade, and Online Quizzes in the 11th grade.

In English 9 we're doing a non-fiction unit, so one of the core components is having them pick their own book to read.  We have visited the online card catalog for the school library and made a trip down for them to pick books, but they can get their materials from anywhere, including online, as long as it fits the criteria given to them in the packet of information.  While they're reading, they need to be doing a reading log in Google Blogger.  Most of them are set up and ready to go; we'll try to get the stragglers on Monday.  We had terrible issues with internet connections on Wednesday when setting these up, but we discovered that they were quite successful doing it on their own, and in fact can use their own desktops, laptops, tablets and phones to do this task.  It's quite nice to see how many options they have for the technology.

Going forward into this week, we'll continue to focus on in-class readings and writings surrounding non-fiction, and independent reading and writing on their own.  Friday I'm going to ask them to have their books with them for a DEAR hour (Drop Everything And Read).

In English 11 we're reading Lord of the Flies and I had them take their first quiz online.  Negatives:  technological issues, and anxiety over using Edmodo.  Positives:  once we figured out how to do it, they got instant feedback and could look at their errors to see where they went wrong.  Another option I'd like to explore is having them take the quiz once they've finished the reading on their own time.  I can load it up and give them a deadline to have it taken care of, and they can take the quiz anytime and anywhere they can get an internet connection.  Most of them seemed to think they'd like to try this.

Continuing into this week, we'll be reading more Lord of the Flies.  This will mean more study guides, more group tasks, more online quizzes, and time for reading and logging in the activity of a character who has been assigned to them.  At the end of the book we'll do a large project surrounding this character.  We will also continue to work on ACT preparation.  This past week we talked about punctuation, adjectives and adverbs and did a review writing for argumentation.  We'll continue with similar ideas this week.  Don't forget the review sessions available after school every day!  They'll be bubbling in their ACT forms on Thursday, I believe.

I look forward to getting back into our routines and being able to see all of my fabulous students all five days this week.  Hopefully I'll remember to take some pictures or video of fun things we're doing so that I can post them next week.  Have a great rest of the weekend!  Cheers!


Laura Stubbs's Bloggs by Laura Stubbs is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 International License.

Let's Try This Again!

Ah, the frustration!  It feels like we just get started, and then another five day weekend occurs, and then I have to start all over again!  The positives, however, are things like getting my papers graded, getting my work done for the online course I'm taking, and being home to take care of a sick child without having to take a sick day.  And it's pretty.  Driving home from events in Ann Arbor last night the whole world sparkled, and today there's a fresh coat of white all over everything!

View Off My Deck This Morning

So let's try this again...

In English 9, we're still working on a descriptive, reflective essay called "Single Room, Earth View", and then they'll write their own descriptive, reflective piece.  I need them to bring in some sort of photo from a fabulous vacation, adventure, or just an exciting time in their life so that they can use it to paint their experience in words.  The picture can be printed or kept on an electronic device.  We're also going to start an independent reading project of a non-fiction book this week.  I'll hand out the information on Monday, along with all the dates for deadlines.  We're going to try to get into the library on Monday, but they can get the books from school, home, outside libraries, or electronically.

In English 11 we're still working toward starting Lord of the Flies.  Bummer that I didn't get the books handed out early last week because we could have kept the reading going...but I didn't.  So we'll finish the preview tomorrow and get things started.  I also am continuing with ACT preparation, so we're doing Bell Work that centers on punctuation, and by the end of the week we'll write a persuasive essay that will be timed so that they get used to the timing on the ACT.

I hope everyone has a great week, and I pray, pray, pray that we get a full five days in!  Cheers!


Laura Stubbs's Bloggs by Laura Stubbs is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 International License.