The Mid-Winter Blues

I don't know about anyone else, but I'm exhausted!  At one point last week I got so tired that when a student (who shall remain nameless) did something really silly, I started laughing, then he laughed, and soon I couldn't stop until I was crying.  It really wasn't the most hilarious thing ever, but I was so tired I got slap-happy.  It seems like it's that time of year when we just run and run and run with so many things to do, that it's hard to slow down even for sleep.  So that's why this snow is a blessing:

February Snowstorm 2015



It's forced me to slow down and get things done at home, since all of our activities for the day have been cancelled.  I'm kind of bummed since my kids were performing at a church in three different services this weekend.  My eldest did get to do his Solo & Ensemble clarinet piece last night, as well as leading us in song throughout the service -

but they were both supposed to sing with the middle school choir and perform numbers from their upcoming play Aladdin, Jr., and all of that is cancelled.  On the plus side, I get to take my time getting my work done, the house can get cleaned, and all of the laundry will be put away.

Right now, I'm still planning for a full week this week so here's what's up:

• In English 9 we have worked our way through the 6+1 Traits of writing, and we're ready to critique our own pieces for all of the elements.  On Monday, they need to have a draft of their personal essay in hand so that we can apply the rubrics, and then they'll need to revise their drafts into a final form.  We will also have vocabulary this week:  I'll hand it out on Monday, check it in on Tuesday before going over it, and then the quiz will be Friday.  We'll also head into some research for background information before reading To Kill a Mockingbird.  Once again, they won't have much homework other than vocabulary and the essay, because we'll do the research in school.  One week from today I hope to give you the date for when they'll start reading the novel, and then they'll have reading homework every night.
• In English 11, we have completed chapters 1 and 2 of Lord of the Flies.  I had them practice a system of annotations using Post-its.  It's a system I hope will help them to learn how to do close readings more independently.  There's only one way to learn how to identify important details in what you read, and that's to practice.  By Monday they need to have their annotations for chapter 2 done.  This week we will read chapters 3-5 and I will offer them options for how they want to be held accountable for the reading:  they can continue to annotate with Post-its, use a study guide, or take notes on notebook paper.  We'll be doing some quizzes, activities, and reading non-fiction articles for 10% Summaries and Argumentative Essays.  In addition to all of this, they will have vocab. again this week (quiz Friday).

There's a lot going on, but I'm pretty sure I can move things as necessary if a snowday occurs.  I'll try to keep everyone posted, and if we happened to end up with multiple days and I need to assign readings for English 11, I'll do so through emails and Remind101 texts.  In the meantime, I'm sticking to this plan unless told to do otherwise.

I hope everyone stays safe and warm, and enjoys this Superbowl Sunday!  Ciao!

The Mid-Winter Blues by Laura Stubbs is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License.