Final Week of Semester One!

Here we are, into our final week.  Time really does fly, doesn't it?  We are also into that time of year when snowdays can really mess with the schedule, so planning is somewhat of a problem.  This is definitely a situation where flexibility and rolling with the punches comes in handy!  So here's what we accomplished last week, despite the snow day, and here's what's coming up, depending on how tomorrow goes with its forecast for a couple of inches of snow to make the morning drive messy:

• English 9 - last week they created a resume and cover letter.  They also began collecting together letters of recommendation and samples of work/projects that showcase their talents.  On Monday, they will be filling out job applications and finalizing/printing their materials and we will collect them all into a manila folder.  My plan for Tuesday is that they will participate in "interviews" in order to practice their speaking skills, and will have their manila folders all set to hand over to someone for analysis.  My hope is that this mini-unit will help them to focus on their futures and give them an idea of how to prepare for a real situation that will call for these skills and materials; for some of them, that might happen this summer, and I hope that this gives them a head start. If we end up with a snowday on Monday, I will have to forego the interviews, but will have them submit their written portfolio to me for grading. On Thursday they will have a semester exam, so I will spend Wednesday going over things and giving them time to prepare; then on Friday they will be doing a written portion.  I hope that this will help them with the skills they will need for testing in the higher levels of academia, and it will bring the semester around full circle.
• English 11 - they should have read through chapter eight of Animal Farm by the time they get to school on Monday.  We will be finishing the book by Tuesday, and then we'll start preparing for the exam.  Their objective exam is Thursday; most of it will be about Animal Farm, but we will have a certain number of questions about the material from the rest of the semester.  Their written portion will happen on Friday.  If there is a snowday on Monday, they will finish the book Wednesday and the exam will still be on Thursday and Friday.

I have enjoyed working with this group of students, so I'm sad to see so many of them move to another teacher, but I hope that they've had a positive experience in English so far this year and will continue to do so as we head into the second half of the school year.  For those of you who are moving on, thanks for all of your help and support; for those of you who will still hear from me weekly, thank you, too, for your efforts, and I look forward to continuing on with you through June.

Have a great week, everyone!

Final Week of Semester One! by Laura Stubbs is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License.