The Post-Homecoming Blues

Good morning!  I hope all of your kids had a fantastic Homecoming Week.  It's chaotic, it's crazy, and it's lots of fun, so even if they didn't go to the dance, I hope they found something they liked about it.  I took lots of pictures this week, so I'll post them at the bottom of this blog and wish you all happy hunting.

The bummer part of the whole thing is that we now get serious about everything, and they're all tired and sad that the fun is over (for the time being).  We did do serious things last week like reading the texts of Romeo and Juliet and Animal Farm, taking quizzes, and working on research. It's kind of  amazing considering how much of the week was also spent on decorating hallways, pep rallies, dressing up, taking pictures.  This week, however, we should really be able to concentrate on the serious business of academics, so I anticipate getting even more done.  Here's the schedule as I see it:

English 9

• Monday, 10/1 - prepositions; watch scene i of R&J; read scene ii; homework - packet
• Tuesday, 10/2 - Academic Advisory - prepositions; read scenes iii/iv of R&J; homework - packet
• Wednesday, 10/3 - prepositions; finish Act I of R&J; finish the Act I packet
• Thursday, 10/4 - PSAT Advisory - turn in Reading Log #3; prepositions; finish discussion for Act I; quiz for Act I
• Friday, 10/5 - Silent Reading Day; get Reading Log #4

English 10

• Monday, 10/1 - verbs; go over 10% Summary and discuss re-do's; read and discuss Chapter 3 of Animal Farm; look at Propaganda Assignment on Google Classroom
• Tuesday, 10/2 - Academic Advisory - verbs; discuss Chapter 3 of AF; read Chapter 4
• Wednesday, 10/3 - verbs; discuss Chapter 4 of AF; quiz for Chapters 3-4; read Chapter 5
• Thursday, 10/4 - PSAT Advisory - verbs; finish Chapter 5; vocab. activity for Chapter 5
• Friday, 10/5 - Passion Project Friday - check in topic, 3 sources, and 20 facts, or notes; outline the paper and look at parenthetical citations; write the rough draft - due 10/8 by midnight

So that's the plan.  I hope everyone has a great week!

Pictures from Homecoming Week - 

1st Hour - Farmer/Hunter Day

2nd Hour - Farmer/Hunter Day

3rd Hour - Farmer/Hunter Day

4th Hour - Farmer/Hunter Day

5th Hour - Farmer/Hunter Day

Me, Laurie Rousse, and Jennifer Whitelaw - representing the English Teachers on Pajama Day

1st Hour working on Research Projects

Blue and Gold Day - Friday, 9/28

2nd Hour - Silent Reading

Mrs. V. - reading along with our 2nd Hour

More Blue and Gold Day - Friday, 9/28

Our Freshman Class Representative!

Mr. and Miss Airport at the Pep Assembly

The Post-Homecoming Blues 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.

Homecoming Week

I'm writing this from Upstate New York; Ithaca to be precise. It's been an exhausting but wonderful weekend of over 16 hours of travel in order to do a college visit for my oldest son. Somewhere in the middle of it I came to the realization that it's probably one of the last trips for my small family of four, which made it that much sweeter. Here is a picture of my favorite spot on campus - a library, of course!

As a result of all this business, though, I haven't gotten much done for school, so I'll have to get on the ball this week. I apologize for not being up to date with grades.

This week, with Homecoming in the mix, will be crazy. We don't have any "normal" days:

• Monday - Activity Schedule - assembly at 1:30
• Tuesday - Homecoming Advisory
• Wednesday - Half Day - early release at 10:30
• Thursday - Homecoming Advisory
• Friday - Activity Schedule - Assembly at 1:30; Homecoming Game
• Saturday - Homecoming Dance

In the midst of all this, our academics continue, so here is what I have planned:

English 9

• Monday, 9/24 - Activity Schedule - prepositions; Type 1 Question on Google Classroom; start Act I of Romeo and Juliet
• Tuesday, 9/25 - Advisory Schedule - prepositions; Act I of R&J
• Wednesday, 9/26 - Half Day - Act I of R&J
• Thursday, 9/27 - Advisory Schedule - prepositions; finish Act I of R&J
• Friday, 9/28 - Activity Schedule - Silent Reading Day

English 10

• Monday, 9/24 - Activity Schedule - discuss notes for Passion Project; discuss chapter 1; Typ 1 Questions on Google Classroom
• Tuesday, 9/25 - Advisory Schedule - verbs; read Chapter 2
• Wednesday, 9/26 - Half Day - Quiz over Chapters 1/2
• Thursday, 9/27 - Advisory Day - verbs; read chapters 3/4 for Monday
• Friday, 9/28 - Activity Schedule - Passion Project Friday

That's what I've got so far. If you have questions, feel free to contact me.


Homecoming Week 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.

On to Week Three!

It's now been two weeks, my annual cold is raging, and it feels like summer was a long time ago.  The good part of it all is that I'm getting to know my new students and I'm really enjoying them, and we're beginning to settle into routine. 

Last week we were able to explore the digital platforms I'm expecting to use all year - Google Keep, Docs, Drawings, Slides, Calendars, Classroom, YouTube Videos for Information; you name it, we used it.  Both classes were doing explorations for background information for their books. Here's a picture from 1st Hour, working away on their Chromebooks:

 Both groups have homework coming due quickly, so to make sure everyone is on the same page:

• English 9 and 10 - Online Tic-Tac-Toe Project (on Google Classroom) is due by midnight Monday night.
• English 9 - they got their first reading log which needs to be signed by a parent Wednesday night and turned in on Thursday.

So here is what is coming up this week:

English 9

• Monday, 9/17 - preposition packet #1; they'll have time to work on the Tic-Tac-Toe Project
• Tuesday, 9/18 - Academic Advisory - prepositions; finish preview info for Romeo and Juliet;  start the Prologue for Act I
• Wednesday, 9/19 - prepositions; Romeo and Juliet Act I, scene i
• Thursday, 9/20 - Homecoming Advisory - Reading Log #1 is due! Prepositions; Romeo and Juliet Act I, scene i
• Friday, 9/21 - get Reading Log #2; silent reading day

English 10

• Monday, 9/17 - verb packet #2; 10% Summary; questions on Google Classroom due Tuesday
• Tuesday, 9/18 - Academic Advisory - verbs; finish preview information for Animal Farm; get Chapter 1/2 packet; read chapter 1 of Animal Farm and do question on Google Classroom
• Wednesday, 9/19 - verbs; discuss Chapter 1 and the topic of Revolution; read Chapter 2 of Animal Farm; quiz Thursday
• Thursday, 9/20 - Homecoming Advisory - quiz for Chapters 1/2; read Chapter 3 for Monday
• Friday, 9/21 - Passion Project Friday - solidify topic; set up for note taking and a Works Cited; use article to start the process

That's my basic plan.  Please feel free to contact me if you need more information or clarification.  I hope everyone has had a great start to the school year!

On to Week Three! 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.

Week One is Done; On to Week Two

Well, we made it through week one and survived the chaos, so I count it as a success!  All students who were in school on Friday should have received their Chromebooks.  I suggested that they take some time this weekend to play around with them and figure out how they operate, focusing on things like drop down menus and settings buttons.  On Monday we're going to pick up with setting things up on them, and then we'll move forward into curriculum.

What did we accomplish last week?  Basically we established protocols for how the class operates; we learned how to use a video system called Flipgrid and made introductory videos and watched some of them; we received the Chromebooks.  Friday was a little nuts because 1st Hour didn't have them yet, so they did one thing; then 2nd Hour had half of them, so it was a little different from 1st Hour; then 3rd through 5th Hours all had them, so they did something completely different from the morning hours.  All in all, it was chaotic but interesting, and now we're ready to have everyone on the same page and can start the curriculum.

All students should have turned in the Parent Letters and have the Flipgrid videos done (except for two people in 5th Hour) and the grades are in HAC.  Half of the groups have the literary terms pretest complete and the grades are in; the other half are blanks because we'll finish it on Monday.

So here's what's coming this week:

English 9

• Monday, 9/10 - we'll finish setting up the Chromebooks for gmail and calendars; we'll finish the literary terms pre-test.
• Tuesday, 9/11 - Academic/Homecoming Advisory - we'll start the Prepositions unit; introduction into Romeo and Juliet - activity on Google Classroom
• Wednesday, 9/12 - prepositions; continue Romeo and Juliet introduction activity
• Thursday, 9/13 - Homecoming Advisory - prepositions; last day to work on Romeo and Juliet introduction activity in class - due Monday, 9/17.
• Friday, 9/14 - Get Reading Log #1; visit the library if needed; silent reading

English 10

• Monday, 9/10 - finish setting up the Chromebooks for gmail and calendars; finish introduction of Passion Project; start introductory activity for Animal Farm on Google Classroom.
• Tuesday, 9/11 - Academic/Homecoming Advisory - we'll start the Verb Unit; Animal Farm introductory activity
• Wednesday, 9/12 - Verbs; last day for Animal Farm introductory activity in class - due Monday, 9/17.
• Thursday, 9/13 - Homecoming Advisory - Verbs; 10% Summary over article on power
• Friday, 9/14 - Passion Project - check in topics; form groups; work on research techniques; find an article about your topic and download it to read for the next Friday.

That is the plan.  As in life, plans often change, so if you ever have any questions, please feel free to contact me.  I hope everyone has a great week!

Week One is Done; On to Week Twoby 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.

Welcome!

For those of you who are new to Airport and/or to the high school, welcome; to those of you who have been here, welcome back!  This blog is my way of communicating with parents and students who are interested in finding out in more detail what it is that we're doing in English this year.  It's also a place where I can post pictures and videos for you to see your kids in action.  I started this because I myself am a parent and when one of my son's teachers did something similar to this it made me feel connected to what was going on; it also allowed me to be a team player with his teacher because I could support her at home just by asking questions and giving reminders.  As a parent I found it helpful, so I decided to start one for my students and parents.

Here's a little bit about myself: I'm the mom of two boys, 15 and 17, so for me it's all teenagers all the time.  Sometimes I have to go for a walk all by myself just to get away from it, but overall, I really love this age level.  My son Christopher is a senior this year, so we're consumed right now with college applications and financial aid forms.  This is a year full of lasts, full of firsts, and it's quite the emotional roller coaster.  My younger son Ryan is a sophomore this year, so my main goal is to make sure he doesn't lose his mind and fall apart (I'm hoping some of you can relate; hopefully I'm not in this particular journey all by myself).  Of course, my main goal is that they're happy, healthy, and safe, a challenge that recently became more real when Christopher totaled his car in an accident at 11:30 P.M. one night last week.  I'd prefer not to have that experience ever again.  He's alright thanks to current safety standards on vehicles (thank you auto workers!), but as the mom of two drivers, it drove home the knowledge of how tough it is to be a parent.

I tend to be prolific in words, so I'll try to reign it in at this point.  Each week, usually on Sunday morning, I'll email you a link to my webpage which contains calendars; each page contains calendars pertinent to that particular class.  You can always go to this webpage to see what's going on.  I'm trying a new platform, so I hope all the links work.  The webpage is at: https://sites.google.com/airportschools.com/laurastubbs/home?authuser=0. My goal this year, once they have Chromebooks in hand, is to have them keep their own Google Calendar with assignments and tasks written down, so feel free to ask them to see it and/or have access to it. Above the calendar is a link to this blog.  Every week I'll drop you an email with this link so that you don't have to look it up all the time.

In this blog I'll let you know a little of what we did last week; then I'll tell you what's coming up.  It will look like this:

English 9

• Tuesday, 9/4 - Parent letters handed out, must be signed and brought back by Friday (10 points); literary terms pre-test (10 participation points)
• Wednesday, 9/5 - Finish off anything from Tuesday; Do Flipgrid interviews (20 points)
• Thursday, 9/6 - Prepositions - type 1 writing; worksheets; Bingo
• Friday, 9/7 - All parent letters should be turned in; type 1 writing - turn in for week; visit library; silent reading Fridays begin

English 10

• Tuesday, 9/4 - Parent Letters handed out, must be signed and brought back by Friday; literary terms pre-test
• Wednesday, 9/5 - Finish off anything from Tuesday; Do Flipgrid interview
• Thursday, 9/6 - Introduce Animal Farm - KWL; 10% Summary of article
• Friday, 9/7 - All parent letters should be turned in; Passion Project Fridays begin - introduction

And, of course, if you ever have any questions about anything, please feel free to contact me.  I view this as a partnership between all involved: student/parent/teacher.  It truly takes all of us working together to make high school successful.  I look forward to seeing everybody and working with you this year!  Have a great week!

Welcome! 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.