What a Great Time of Year!

Wow, what a great weekend it's been for the Fitch family (yes, that is my maiden name; no, I do not get discounts at Abercrombie &, though it never hurts to try it when there, right?).  I'm on the road in Dayton, OH, driving home from my nephew's wedding in Lexington, KY.  Yesterday it was 60 degrees and we didn't even need coats!  We were able to spend some time at the plantation of Henry Clay, who among his many roles was Secretary of State under John Quincy Adams:

We were also able to go on campus at the University of Kentucky and get pizza at the Mellow Mushroom:

Finally, we ended the day celebrating the marriage with family, both new and old:

This is the same nephew who was ring bearer in my wedding twenty years ago.  How is this possible?

It was also my neice's graduation from CMU, so since my dad was unable to travel to Kentucky, she was able to have a cheering party in Mt. Pleasant.  She was my flower girl, by the way:

So much to cheer for as we begin to pass the torch to the next generation.

It's back to reality for me, however; at least for three days.  Last week we finished Edgar Allen Poe, so this week we're going to try to do Emily Dickinson and then combine the two together for an end of unit assessment.  Here's what the schedule looks like:

• Monday, 12/19 - we'll read and annotate a Dickinson poem.  There's a Type 2 Quiz at the end of it.
• Tuesday, 12/20 - we'll fill out a pre-packet and begin the assessment.
• Wednesday, 12/21 - we'll finish the assessment.

That's the plan; as always, I'll update the calendar if we get behind.  Second Hour Co-Taught, by the way, is behind and might need to do the End-of-Unit assessment after break.

Have a great couple of weeks and I'll see everyone in 2017! Ciao!


What a Great Time of Year! 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.

Let it snow, let it snow, let it snow!

Do you think this is a harbinger of things to come?  I hope we don't end up with a winter like we did a few years ago.  I don't mind a snow day here or there, but I detest making up days in June!

Well, we made it.  Romeo and Juliet, along with Module 1, is done!  We finished up the assessment on Friday and they did a culminating activity on Google Classroom.  So now we're ready to move forward.  Module 2 surrounds fiction pieces such as "The Cask of Amontillado" by Edgar Allan Poe, "I felt a Funeral, in my Brain" by Emily Dickinson, and "The Crucible" by Arthur Miller; the non-fiction centers around Bernie Madoff.  The theme for the Module is Personal Accountability, and continues with the idea of Individual Identity vs. Group Identity, and our struggle to remain true to ourselves while being part of a society.  Very appropriate for today's world, I think.

So this is what we have on deck for this week:

• Monday, 12/12 - we will begin by getting new seating charts, handing out some papers, and then we'll turn to Verb Packet #1.  Back to grammar for bell work (they'll be so excited).  I'll hand out the Type 3 vocab. cards for Unit 1, and then focus on Edgar Allan Poe.  I have a short video biography aimed at kids for them to watch.   
• Tuesday, 12/13 - we will do some verbs and then listen and read "The Cask of Amontillado".  When finished we'll go back through the text and annotate it.
• Wednesday, 12/14 - academic advisory - we'll work on verbs and then we'll finish "Cask" and take a short Type 2 Quiz, and then we'll turn to Emily Dickinson and begin her poem "I felt a Funeral, in my Brain."
• Thursday,12/15 - career advisory - we'll do another sheet of verbs and turn in packet #1, and then attempt to finish annotating and concentrating on "Funeral".   There's a short Type 2 Quiz for this poem, as well.  
• Friday, 12/16 - we'll begin the End of Unit Assessment.  This will take us 2-3 days in class.

If there is a snow day on Monday, everything will just be pushed off a day.  I'll adjust the online calendar as needed.

A note on scheduling:  we were given an email to clarify that as advisory teachers we were being asked to collect the purple sheets as they are completed.  If you student was told different information, just have them check in with the counseling office.  If you have questions, it would be best to check in with the main or the counseling office.

I hope everyone is staying safe today and enjoying the snow a bit.  Have a great Sunday! Ciao!


Let it snow, let it snow, let it snow! by Laura Stubbs is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-ShareAlike 4.0 International License.
Based on a work at https://www.laurastubbs.blogspot.com.

The End of Tragedy

Finally!  We're at the end of Romeo and Juliet.  Every class has finished reading it and all study guides are turned in.  It seems like it took forever, but we're actually a month and a half ahead of last year's schedule, so I don't think we're doing badly.

A couple of notes for this week that are not related to Romeo and Juliet:
     A.)  Wednesday is a half day, so your student will be released from school early.  Check the
             district website for release times.
     B.)  All students should have received a purple schedule for 10th grade from the counseling
            office.  These are due back to their advisory teacher by 12/8 (Thursday).  I've been going
            over things and talking about how to access the course selection guide with them, so they
            should all be aware.  By Thursday they should have made all decisions, gotten all signatures
            (including yours), and returned to school with it in hand.

So here's what our schedule this week looks like:

• Monday, 12/5 - we'll finish watching all movie clips, and then I'll hand out the pre-writing worksheet and explain the final assessment.
• Tuesday, 12/6 - we'll work on the pre-writing worksheet; this involves a lot of quotes, so we'll do it all in class.
• Wednesday, 12/7 - 1/2 Day (30 minute classes) - we'll finish doing the pre-writing worksheet.
• Thursday, 12/8 - career advisory - schedules are due - we'll transition over to doing the actual assessment which is not an essay, but has the same type of information on it with a short writing.
• Friday, 12/9 - the final assessment is due by the end of the hour, stapled to the pre-writing worksheet.  If time, we'll start looking at a biography for Edgar Allan Poe, which begins Module 2, Unit 1.

Well, that about covers it. As always, if we find more time to get things done, I'll adjust the online calendar. I hope everyone had a great weekend.  Ciao!

The End of Tragedy 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.