Mrs. Stubbs's English Blog: We're Starting to Gel

Oh, how I love September weather! It's the perfect temperature and those clear blue skies just can't be beat. Yesterday morning my son and I took a couple of hours to walk down by UM's campus to watch the band prepare for the game, and it was glorious! The skies were clear, the leaves above us blowing in the breeze were that glowing gold color, it was warm enough to wear shorts, the food vendors were doing a brisk business, and everyone had a smile on their face, including the BYU people (it was still pre-game, don't ya know). I love living in a college town on game day in September! And the band! Spectacular! If anyone is going to a UM football game anytime soon, I highly suggest going to Revelli Hall about 1 1/2 hours before game time, and you get a great percussion show, then follow the dance team, cheerleaders, and band to the stadium...so much fun! I didn't stay for the game (I mean, I am a Sparty), but I love the hoopla!

Anyway, this past week, I think we started to hit our groove. They're now starting to take me a little more seriously when I give my expectations, so grades are lifting. I think I finally figured out how to make this curriculum work, though I've had to sacrifice both technology and activities. My next step is to figure that out. Last week we did the Mid-Unit Assessment which is all essay, so we're finishing the process of turning it in on Monday. Now we can finish this unit which has all been around one short story. So here's what's coming up this week:

A vocab. activity on Monday, using their annotations from the text
We will finish re-reading "St. Lucy's", discussing it and doing some Type One questions (they're like journal writing)
They will fill in what the curriculum calls a Stage Analysis Tool, and then use it to create small group presentations on Google Drive which will be presented on Monday, 10/5

This week we will have our regular schedule which includes advisory days on Wednesday and Thursday. If students need my help with something, they can meet with me after school on Tuesday for Tuesdays with Teachers (which runs until 3:00) and/or they can get a pass from me ahead of time and come to my room on Wednesday during advisory time. I'm also available before school and some days after school, they just need to check in with me for what would work for us both.