Time For The Big Dance!!!

Whether you're a Spartan or not, c'mon!  It's time to dance!

Looking forward to the Big Dance next weekend!!! Go Green!!!

A Spartan Selfie:

Time For The Big Dance!!! by Laura Stubbs is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License.

Spring Break is Coming!

Well, another week down, and another week of learning (both for my students and myself) has come to an end.  My greatest feat of learning with the Chromebooks this week was how to click and drag a screenshot to a document...thank you to my more savvy students for that key piece of knowledge!  I'm working on managing my HUGE in-box with all of the documents they share with me; next year I should have Google Classroom up and running which will make the process of them completing and submitting online assignments more manageable.  Until that time, please bear with me!

Here's a rundown of what's going on in my classes:

• In English 11 we are pretty much finished with the research paper.  We will print and turn in hard copies on Monday; everything else was done online.  Completing this process will free them up to focus just on the reading for the Human Rights unit.  We started it, but we're not in a comfort zone yet, pretty much due to the chaos of coming and going to in-school functions such as M-Step training, fieldtrips and absences, Coming Home activities:  every day began with the chaos of catching everyone up to where they are supposed to be in the project.  We're attempting to start every day with a 10-15 minute mini-lesson, reading time for about 30 minutes (I wish I'd had my camera on me to take a photo of how absorbed they are when reading independently), and then 10 minutes for discussion at the end.  So far, the reading time has been too short and we haven't made it to the discussions.  We'll continue to work on this in the upcoming week.
• In English 9 we have now read through chapter 20 (the trial has taken place) of To Kill a Mockingbird.  I gave them a packet that helps them break down the arguments and key pieces of evidence in the trial; we will use the packet to create an argumentative essay in the voice of a juror, arguing for the innocence of Tom Robinson.  This will probably take us through Tuesday, and then we'll continue on toward the end of the novel.

In the meantime, it's Character Week.  Each day has a different focus and theme, and much of our time is taken up with activities during class, so the name of the game continues to be patience and flexibility.  Monday and Thursday will have shortened hours so that we can fit in Advisory Time, and each day has a thematic color.  Students are asked to wear red or pink on Monday; the symbolism of it will become clear during the day.  Don't forget that there is no school on Friday!

I don't know about anyone else, but I'm really looking forward to the break coming up.  I do not plan to hand out a lot of homework over spring vacation; they need a break as much as I do.  I hope everyone has a wonderful week ahead.  Ciao!


Spring Break is Coming! by Laura Stubbs is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License.

Fourth and Final Term Has Arrived!

Wow! Last week was frustrating, challenging, yet interesting...all at the same time!  I was so busy; you know that kind of busy where you feel like you're spinning in circles and getting nothing done?  Yet, quite a bit did get done, and I look back and actually feel semi-accomplished!

On Wednesday I attended the pre-conference of MACUL's big annual conference and learned a lot about my Chromebooks and what they can do.  I'm already putting much of what I learned in place, and we were able to enhance our use by late week and get more out of them.  The trade-off  of spending a day away at a conference, which is longer than normal, is the long lunch.  Since the conference was at Cobo Hall I was able to take a long walk on the Riverfront, a treat I haven't been able to enjoy in a long time.  I haven't been on the Riverfront in March since I was a kid, and what an improved setting!  I took some pictures and made a collage:

 

In addition, to my adventures on Wednesday, my English 9 group helped me figure out (sort of) how to do a Socratic Seminar.  They all seemed to enjoy the debates that ensued (their favorite topic was whether or not a baton could cut the tops off camelia bushes, or whether you would need hedge clippers), and I was able to get ideas for how to improve it for next time; things like - how to teach them debate techniques so it's not chaotic, and how to get them to ask questions deeper than plot.  In English 11 they used the Chromebooks all week to research, create thesis statements and outlines, create Works Cited on GoogleDrive and share it, and now they're drafting their papers.  While they did this, I tried to help anyone having trouble and I spent my time continuously checking them in as they got tasks accomplished.  All this was going on while they scheduled, choir participated in Festival on Tuesday, Youth in Government left to go on their big conference at the end of the week, and a huge track meet pulled a bunch of people out on Friday.  I swear it's a miracle I didn't lose anybody...or my mind.

 

I have spent most of my weekend planning for our brand new unit on Human Rights in English 11.  It's a challenge because we'll have four different books going at one time.  I also have done a lot of grading and entering grades.  Look for those on HAC.  I'm finalizing them because my 3rd Term grades are due by mid-week.  I also managed to take a long enough break to take my youngest to a UM Gymnastics meet.  One of the things I love about living in Southeast Michigan is that we have access to interesting university events, so my eldest went to an EMU Baseball game, and then my youngest and I attended Senior Night at UM.  It was amazing !!!The strength and stamina of those young men to complete those feats of skill is something else.  Here are a couple of collages from our night:

 

 







So here's what's coming up this week:

 

In English 9 we're now heading to the core of To Kill a Mockingbird .  We'll be reading about the trial of Tom Robinson and doing an argumentative essay.  We'll have vocabulary this week (quiz Friday), and we're going to try something fun with the Chromebooks:  a Kahoot.  I tried it out at my conference and I think it will be a great way to engage my students in a theme.

 

In English 11 we're going to finish drafting our papers, share them, edit and revise them, and then I'll set a due date for a final copy.  I need the printers loaded on the Chromebooks, but one way or another we'll finally print something out.  Digital is great, but I need a hard copy; I'm old-school like that.  We're also going to start reading the books.  To do this we'll basically be doing a combination of book club and reading workshop.  Every day we'll start with a mini-lesson where they'll be responsible for learning about a concept, they'll have reading time where they'll need to take notes and attempt to apply the concept, then we'll decompress with a mini-Socratic Seminar, and everyone will get a chance to be a leader.  On Fridays I want them to meet in mixed-groups to share what is going on in their books.  There will not be vocabulary quizzes for the next five weeks; we'll work on technical vocabulary in class through the mini-lessons.  I'm hoping that by the first week of May they can create group projects for their books to share with the class.

 

I think that's everything.  Whew!  As I feel the exhaustion coming on, I just keep remembering:  only two weeks to spring break!  Enjoy the week.  Ciao!

 

 

 
Fourth and Final Term Has Arrived! by Laura Stubbs is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License.



Last Week of Term Three

Here we are at the last week of term three...already!  Time really flies, despite it sometimes feeling more like a turtle than a bird.  I hope everyone remembers that the Term 3 grades are not the ones that go on the transcripts; they get combined with Term 4 to create a semester grade, and that is the one that goes on the transcript.

We've been busy in both classes, so here are the details:

• In English 9 we have completed Part 1 of To Kill a Mockingbird, and we're currently working on digging into the book to move past plot to the deeper levels.  I'm using two concepts called T3 and SCOUT to help us organize thoughts, and then we'll try a socratic seminar and a short analytical writing to find the most important aspects of the first part of the novel.  I told them that literature is like an ogre, which is like an onion - Shrek reference (they then wanted to watch Shrek, but I told them they could do that on their own time).  After we're done with this, we'll move on to Part II - hopefully by Wednesday.  They do have vocabulary to work on this week, as well.
• In English 11 we are working on an MLA research paper.  They picked a book and topic, then they formulated questions and took notes.  For those in class on Friday, I went over the idea of how to create a thesis statement.  This week we'll be finishing with the process of checking in notes, they'll check in their thesis statements, create a Works Cited page and share it with me on Google Drive, outline the paper, draft the paper on Google Drive, then share it with me and a peer.  I'm hoping to be done with the work time necessary in class for working on this paper this week so that we can move into reading the books next week.

I'm out for a conference at Cobo Hall on Chromebooks and Google Classroom on Wednesday so that I can be an expert on these wonderful machines I now have in my classroom.  I know that they'll be in good hands with any substitute teacher assigned to us.

Have a good week!  Ciao!


Last Week of Term Three by Laura Stubbs is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License.

Spring Forward!

Thank goodness the ACT/MME tests are over!  Whew!  The negatives are:  we still have another portion in April, but I have no idea what it will entail, or when; my English 11 students think they're done for the year, but they're not.  Good reading and writing skills are lifelong, not just aimed at tests, so now I have to convince them of this since it seems like the focus for the whole year is aimed at those tests.  Now we start talking about being prepared for senior year and beyond!  College applications, folks!

The other thing I'm grateful for is the spring sunshine and the rising temperatures!  Love it!  I hope to get out there a little bit today and enjoy, and I hope everyone else does, as well.

In the meantime, I have to focus on what's coming up this week, and I've been prepping and grading for days so that we're ready to go.  So here's what's up:

• In English 9 we have now read through chapter 9 of To Kill a Mockingbird.  They have been working on study guides and our vocabulary is centered on the book.  They also met with counselors for scheduling, and schedules, fully filled out and signed, have to be turned in by Monday, 3/9!  If they're not turned in, the counselors pick their schedules for 10th grade for them from whatever is left over, and then they're just stuck with what they get.  This coming week we are going to continue with vocabulary and read through chapter 11 in the book, which takes us through Part I.  We will then pause to work on an activity that surrounds taking affective notes, and then using those notes in a Socratic Seminar.  It's my first time trying this, so fingers crossed!  Then they will do an analytical writing surrounding what they learned.
• In English 11 we have finished Lord of the Flies.  They finished the tests and I'm currently grading the essay portion.  Now we're ready to head to a new unit on Human Rights.  They will be choosing a book (there are four possibilities) for this unit, and then we will begin researching the culture within the book.  We're not ready to start reading until they have a grasp on the background of the cultures in the books, and the genocide that occurred in the 20th century surrounding that culture, so we will begin with the MLA research paper.  This will take us a couple of weeks, and then we'll begin reading.  This week we'll do the following:  vocabulary, choose a book (topic), form questions for research, take notes and keep track of citations, create a thesis statement, and begin building the works cited.  I have connected the packet and powerpoint to the Documents page of my website. 

In addition, English 11 will be pulled out of class on Wednesday to get their scheduling information.  They will have a few days to work on it, and then next week (not this week), they'll be pulled to work with counselors.

I hope everyone enjoys the spring sunshine.  Ciao!


Spring Forward! by Laura Stubbs is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License.

ACT/MME Week!

Wow, was last week insane!!!  Between ACT/MME activities for the juniors, scheduling for the freshmen, and advisory hour on Friday, I think I just about lost my mind (some of my students may think that I actually did!).  We got through it, however, somehow...so now we're on to the next crazy week:  ACT/MME.

Even if you're the parent of a freshman, this week will affect your student, because on Tuesday the only students allowed in the high school building are the juniors.  All elementary and middle school students go to school as always, but the 9th, 10th and 12th graders need to stay home; ACT guidelines are that strict about the environment that needs to be in place to give the test.  Everyone is back at school the rest of the week, but please be aware that if you have a 9th, 10th or 12th grader, they need to stay home on Tuesday!

So here's what's coming in each group:

• 9th graders are scheduling.  Many of my students met with their counselors for some one-on-one guidance on Friday; if your student hasn't had this chance yet, they can go on Monday.  ALL SCHEDULES NEED TO BE TURNED IN BY MONDAY, MARCH 9TH!!!  If they are not turned in, with all signatures in place, they will be handed a schedule of left-overs that's created by the counselors.  Once schedules are in, they will not be changed except for very extenuating circumstances, so please make sure this is taken care of.
• 9th grade - we're also reading To Kill a Mockingbird.  This is difficult because of all the traffic in and out of my room, including me (since I'll be proctoring 11th grade tests on Wednesday, so there will be a sub.), but I hope that we can read through chapter 9 this week.  In addition, there will be vocabulary words assigned again this week with a quiz on Friday.
• 11th grade - let's just start with ACT/MME.  On Tuesday, they come to school at the regular time, free breakfast is offered for everyone, and then we begin testing at 8:00.  All students need to bring I.D., leave their technology OUT OF THE BUILDING, and be in their assigned room by 8:00 to begin testing.  Anyone late will not be allowed in.  We finish about noon and they are free to go.  They are able to ride busses in and out as usual, but if they stay past noon, they're basically left to hang by themselves for a couple of hours since teachers have meetings all afternoon.  On Wednesday they come to school as always, report to their assigned rooms for the MME testing, and begin.  When they are finished, which will definitely be by noon, they are free to go...they do not have classes the rest of the day.
• 11th grade - for Monday, Thursday and Friday we're just finishing Lord of the Flies.  We're in the middle of testing right now, so most will finish on Monday.  Those who've been absent have the opportunity to finish anything they need to finish this week.  On Thursday and Friday, when they're done finishing everything up, they'll watch the movie.  Their brains will hurt, so we're trying to take it a little easy.

Last week, for review, my 11th graders were able to pull out my Chrome books and play some review games online.  It was fun to play around with the technology and the book, so I took a few pictures:

I hope everyone has a great week...spring has to come sometime soon, right?  Ciao!


ACT/MME Week! by Laura Stubbs is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License.