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.