Back To Life, Back To Reality...

Somehow this year I'm always channeling '80s songs.  When we were working on the Central Idea of Love, I would ask, "What is love?" And they would respond, "Baby don't hurt me." They're always good for a chuckle.

Anyway, our five-day reprieve is coming to an end.  I have to be honest, I didn't do a whole lot of grading.  I spent time with my family, watched a little football (Yay, for my 12-0 WMU Broncos and the Detroit Lions; boo to the UM/OSU results, and we won't even bother with my Spartans), I worked on getting the house ready for Christmas and my sister's visit next weekend, and I went to a UM hockey game where I got to watch a former student play:

So I'll try to get a little done today.

Due to fog delays, my 1st and 2nd Hours are behind the other three, but what I mainly want to accomplish this week is to finish reading the play.  We're kind of in the home stretch, so they'll have study guides that we do together as we read, but that's about it.  So here's the plan:

• Monday, 11/28 - we'll try to finish Act III with a movie clip and a Type 1/2; classes that still have vocab from Act III will finish and turn them in.
• Tuesday, 11/29 - we'll read Act IV and do a study guide.
• Wednesday, 12/30 - Academic Advisory - we'll finish Act IV and head to Act V with study guide.
• Thursday, 12/1 - Career Advisory - we'll try to finish Act V.
• Friday, 12/2 - we'll watch the end of the movie and start prepping for the final assessment.

So that's the plan.  I'm writing this as I watch my older son play indoor soccer, so when I get home I can concentrate on your kids.  I hope everyone has a relaxing end to the weekend.  Ciao!

Back to Life, Back to Reality by Laura Stubbs is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-ShareAlike 4.0 International License.
Based on a work at http://www.laurastubbs.blospot.com

Happy Thanksgiving!

Happy Thanksgiving, everyone!  The holidays are here, and the weather sure is cooperating at this point...I have snow all over my yard right now!  One of those lake effect snow bands hit us hard yesterday.  If anyone was watching the end of the Michigan game, the same band dropped by my house, too.

I hope everyone is finding some time to relax.  I'm working on balancing work and family time at this point, as well.  Last week I got lots of things put into HAC, though from your perspective it probably doesn't look like it.  Please be patient with me and remember that I have 150 students with the same assignment, so it takes time to get them all done.  I also have the issue that just as I dig myself out of one hole, the next hole opens up right next to me.  We worked this past week on two things:  a 5-paragraph essay that was turned in on Friday (which many did not have completed on time, despite having two days for working on the outline, and two days to get it written from said outline), and we worked on Act III and three of my classes did a Type 1/2 and turned it in.  The exception to the essay deadline is 2nd Hour - with two fog delays so far this year, they've gotten behind and they are turning in the essay on Monday.  All that said, I'm working on grading this weekend along with trying to get ready for Thanksgiving.  I hope this doesn't sound whiny; it's meant to be explanatory.

So with our very short week coming up, here's what we're doing:  trying to finish reading Act III of Romeo and Juliet.  That's it.  That's my whole goal.  We'll see how I do and I'll keep the online calendar updated.

I hope everyone has a wonderful holiday, filled with family and joy!  Ciao!

Happy Thanksgiving! by Laura Stubbs is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-ShareAlike 4.0 International License.
Based on a work at http://www.laurastubbs.blogspot.com.

Finally...a Regular Week!

It was so nice to see so many parents at conferences last week!  Thank you to all who came; it makes such a difference to know that so many people view this process as I do:  we are a team and our goal is to help each student achieve their potential and open those doors to the future!  It certainly makes my job joyful.

Last week was a whirlwind of activity, both in and out of the classroom.  Out of the classroom: conferences twice last week (for me), winter sports beginning to pick up, drivers education...the halls were a busy place after school!  In the classroom: we managed to finish Romeo and Juliet through Act II. That doesn't sound like much, but between the reading, movie clips, notes, study guides, and physical activities to play with the text a bit - it's a lot.  I also gave out homework on Friday - I mimicked the PSAT reading section with a passage from Romeo and Juliet - balcony scene and sent it home to be annotated with two multiple choice questions.  It's not a quiz; it's participation points.

This week we finally have a normal week with normal schedules.  So here's what's on deck:

• Monday, 11/14 - we'll turn in the homework and finish Balcony Scene movie clips, then we'll do the Type 1 Brainstorming activities for the Mid-Unit Assessment which is a 5-paragraph essay.  If we have time, we'll begin the outlining process.
• Tuesday, 11/15 - we'll finish outlining and then work on drafting the essay.  Whatever they don't finish in class, goes home to be finished for homework.  The Type 3 Essay is due on Thursday, and we'll do a read-aloud edit/revision before turning it in.
• Wednesday, 11/16 (academic advisory) - we'll start with a PSAT worksheet, and then watch the movie clip of the wedding of Romeo and Juliet.  Then we'll start Act III.
• Thursday, 11/17 (academic advisory) - we'll read aloud the mid-unit assessment essay, revising and editing, and then we'll turn it in.  After that, we'll continue Act III.  Either Thursday or Friday there will be a Type 1/2 worksheet for close reading.
• Friday, 11/18 - we'll try to finish Act III.

Those are my goals.  As always, things are subject to change, and I'll keep the online calendar updated.  Just as a side note, second hour is about a day behind every other hour, so we're working on catching them up.

I hope everyone has a great week!  Ciao!
 
Finally...a Regular Week! by Laura Stubbs is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-ShareAlike 4.0 International License.
Based on a work at http://www.laurastubbs.blogspot.com.

It's Parent/Teacher Conference Time!

It's that time of year again!  I've already done both of my conferences as a parent, and now I'm ready for the parents of my students.  I enjoy getting to connect with so many parents, since I see both sides of the spectrum myself.  I hope to meet as many as possible between the two days.

In the meantime, we keep pushing forward with Romeo and Juliet.  Last week we managed to finish the Preposition unit and Act I of the play.  Here's what's coming up this week:

• Monday, 11/7 - we're finishing all discussion and activities of Act I.  All study guides and vocab. cards will be turned in by the end of the hour.  We'll also finish the notes for this section.  If time, I have a couple of activities to do that get them up and moving.
• Tuesday, 11/8 - we'll finish any movement activities and move towards the Type 1/2 worksheet.  FYI: the Type 2 counts as a quiz.  Then I'll show them the movie clip of Act I all the way through with the Claire Danes/Leo DiCaprio version.
• Wednesday, 11/9 - we'll start with a PSAT Annotation, then head into Act II.  They'll get a new study guide and vocab. cards.
• Thursday, 11/10 - I want to finish the Act II reading and do the notes.
• Friday, 11/11 - anything that is lagging in Act II will be finished, and then we'll prepare for the Mid-Unit Assessment.

There's the schedule.  I hope to see as many parents as possible this week, and I hope everyone has had a chance to enjoy the beautiful weather we've been having.  Enjoy the week!  Ciao!

It's Parent/Teacher Conference Time! by Laura Stubbs is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-ShareAlike 4.0 International License.
Based on a work at http://www.laurastubbs.blogspot.com.