The Mid-Winter Blues

I don't know about anyone else, but I'm exhausted!  At one point last week I got so tired that when a student (who shall remain nameless) did something really silly, I started laughing, then he laughed, and soon I couldn't stop until I was crying.  It really wasn't the most hilarious thing ever, but I was so tired I got slap-happy.  It seems like it's that time of year when we just run and run and run with so many things to do, that it's hard to slow down even for sleep.  So that's why this snow is a blessing:

February Snowstorm 2015



It's forced me to slow down and get things done at home, since all of our activities for the day have been cancelled.  I'm kind of bummed since my kids were performing at a church in three different services this weekend.  My eldest did get to do his Solo & Ensemble clarinet piece last night, as well as leading us in song throughout the service -

but they were both supposed to sing with the middle school choir and perform numbers from their upcoming play Aladdin, Jr., and all of that is cancelled.  On the plus side, I get to take my time getting my work done, the house can get cleaned, and all of the laundry will be put away.

Right now, I'm still planning for a full week this week so here's what's up:

• In English 9 we have worked our way through the 6+1 Traits of writing, and we're ready to critique our own pieces for all of the elements.  On Monday, they need to have a draft of their personal essay in hand so that we can apply the rubrics, and then they'll need to revise their drafts into a final form.  We will also have vocabulary this week:  I'll hand it out on Monday, check it in on Tuesday before going over it, and then the quiz will be Friday.  We'll also head into some research for background information before reading To Kill a Mockingbird.  Once again, they won't have much homework other than vocabulary and the essay, because we'll do the research in school.  One week from today I hope to give you the date for when they'll start reading the novel, and then they'll have reading homework every night.
• In English 11, we have completed chapters 1 and 2 of Lord of the Flies.  I had them practice a system of annotations using Post-its.  It's a system I hope will help them to learn how to do close readings more independently.  There's only one way to learn how to identify important details in what you read, and that's to practice.  By Monday they need to have their annotations for chapter 2 done.  This week we will read chapters 3-5 and I will offer them options for how they want to be held accountable for the reading:  they can continue to annotate with Post-its, use a study guide, or take notes on notebook paper.  We'll be doing some quizzes, activities, and reading non-fiction articles for 10% Summaries and Argumentative Essays.  In addition to all of this, they will have vocab. again this week (quiz Friday).

There's a lot going on, but I'm pretty sure I can move things as necessary if a snowday occurs.  I'll try to keep everyone posted, and if we happened to end up with multiple days and I need to assign readings for English 11, I'll do so through emails and Remind101 texts.  In the meantime, I'm sticking to this plan unless told to do otherwise.

I hope everyone stays safe and warm, and enjoys this Superbowl Sunday!  Ciao!

The Mid-Winter Blues by Laura Stubbs is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License.

A New Semester, A New Start

I was so busy last weekend driving my children all over the earth, celebrating family birthdays, grading papers, and planning for a new semester, that I didn't get my blog done!  So this is going to double up for the past two weeks. 

Let me first finish off Semester 1 by sharing some photos from my English 9 class.  We tried something new and I asked adults (teachers, counselors, parents) to help me by interviewing my students for a faux job at McDonald's.  I didn't give my students warning that adults they didn't know would be doing this (wanting to take them out of their comfort zone), so it was a real eye-opener for many of them to have to work on professional speaking skills on the fly.  I got positive feedback from the group; the realities of what they need to be prepared for hit home.  I want to thank Mrs. Agrusa, Mr. Redmond, Mrs. Krechnyak, Mrs. VanWasshenova, Mrs. Moore, and a very special Thank You to Mrs. Hill!  I was so excited that Mrs. Hill wanted to come spend time with us, and I have to say that it was fun for both me and her son to watch her in a role different from that of "mom."

I'm sad that so many of these students in these photos have now left me, but I know they'll do great things with their new English 9 teachers.

On to Semester 2...

For those of you I already know, welcome back; for those who are new, welcome to my blog.  This is where I put detail about what we've done, sometimes pictures and/or video from our class time, and give you information about what is coming up.  So here goes:

• In English 9 we've started our new semester.  I sent home a parent letter with a rough schedule and class information; I hope you all saw it and signed the parent signature sheet and sent it back for a grade.  We're spending these first two weeks creating routines and looking at the 6+1 Traits of Good Writing.  Last week we focused on Ideas and Content (and I even brought them in a popcorn experience); this week we'll focus on the other six traits with activities and a couple of creative writings.  There is not a lot of homework coming home yet, so don't be alarmed, and please check the calendar on my webpage to know what they need to be doing.
• In English 11 we've got three focuses:  Lord of the Flies, ACT, and preparation for English 12.  Last week we primarily focused on ACT skills by doing 10% Summary worksheets, paragraphs, and then we did a timed argumentative essay.  The topic of survival, however, links to Lord of the Flies, and so we've done some preview information for the novel.  This coming week we will finish our preview, and then they will begin reading and annotating.  Please expect the novel to be coming home regularly, and hopefully you'll see it in their hands (open).  We will work on Chapters 1-3 this week.  They will also have vocabulary on Monday with a quiz on Friday.  I'm tightening up the ship, so to say, to prepare them for English 12, where the teachers accept very few excuses.  I'm not accepting late work unless there's a very good reason, so a few students were unhappy that I wouldn't just take their late work because life got busy.  I try to make sure they know that I'm not angry with them, but they need to be held accountable for their deadlines.  It's a hard lesson for some.

I hope everyone has a great week, and a great end to January.  Can you believe it's almost month two of 2015?!!?  Ciao, everyone!


A New Semester, A New Start by Laura Stubbs is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License.

Final Week of Semester One!

Here we are, into our final week.  Time really does fly, doesn't it?  We are also into that time of year when snowdays can really mess with the schedule, so planning is somewhat of a problem.  This is definitely a situation where flexibility and rolling with the punches comes in handy!  So here's what we accomplished last week, despite the snow day, and here's what's coming up, depending on how tomorrow goes with its forecast for a couple of inches of snow to make the morning drive messy:

• English 9 - last week they created a resume and cover letter.  They also began collecting together letters of recommendation and samples of work/projects that showcase their talents.  On Monday, they will be filling out job applications and finalizing/printing their materials and we will collect them all into a manila folder.  My plan for Tuesday is that they will participate in "interviews" in order to practice their speaking skills, and will have their manila folders all set to hand over to someone for analysis.  My hope is that this mini-unit will help them to focus on their futures and give them an idea of how to prepare for a real situation that will call for these skills and materials; for some of them, that might happen this summer, and I hope that this gives them a head start. If we end up with a snowday on Monday, I will have to forego the interviews, but will have them submit their written portfolio to me for grading. On Thursday they will have a semester exam, so I will spend Wednesday going over things and giving them time to prepare; then on Friday they will be doing a written portion.  I hope that this will help them with the skills they will need for testing in the higher levels of academia, and it will bring the semester around full circle.
• English 11 - they should have read through chapter eight of Animal Farm by the time they get to school on Monday.  We will be finishing the book by Tuesday, and then we'll start preparing for the exam.  Their objective exam is Thursday; most of it will be about Animal Farm, but we will have a certain number of questions about the material from the rest of the semester.  Their written portion will happen on Friday.  If there is a snowday on Monday, they will finish the book Wednesday and the exam will still be on Thursday and Friday.

I have enjoyed working with this group of students, so I'm sad to see so many of them move to another teacher, but I hope that they've had a positive experience in English so far this year and will continue to do so as we head into the second half of the school year.  For those of you who are moving on, thanks for all of your help and support; for those of you who will still hear from me weekly, thank you, too, for your efforts, and I look forward to continuing on with you through June.

Have a great week, everyone!

Final Week of Semester One! by Laura Stubbs is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License.

Welcome 2015!

Welcome back, and as Lucy Maud Montgomery once said, "Tomorrow is always fresh, with no mistakes in it."  It's always nice to get a fresh start, and so even though it's not the end of the semester (yet), we are starting new units and it's now time to evaluate what needs to be done to either continue to make things great, or to make changes in order to make things better.  So along those lines, here's what's coming up:

• English 9 - we will do a brief unit regarding job skills and readiness.  We will be creating a resume, collecting letters of recommendation, filling out job applications (which are not intended to be submitted, just used for practice), pulling together a small portfolio, and working on interview skills.  So here's what I'm looking for:  on Monday, January 12 I am hoping to conduct interviews.  If there are any parents out there who would be interested in volunteering an hour of their time toward this cause, please contact me ASAP.  I am hoping to find 8-10 adults who can follow a guide which I will give them in order to give my students an idea of what it's like to go through a job interview.  I'd love to have parents involved in this, though the timing is super early in the morning (7:30 until about 8:20 A.M.), and I'll also be asking staff members at the school for help.  I think this will be a valuable experience.  We will be doing vocabulary in class with no quiz on Friday; we'll be applying the terms, instead.
• English 11 - we have one more unit to go:  Animal Farm.  Here's where reality hits for this group since they will be responsible for reading at least half the book at home on their own.  We have about a week and a half to get this done, so this will be fast.  Just as a heads up, I've been working the past few days on getting grades caught up, and many of my juniors have gotten very lazy whenever they are asked to do work independently, and it's showing up in their grades.  This is the opportunity for those students to get things pulled back together.  As a parent, please look for them to have an Animal Farm book in their hand for the next week and a half, and it should be opened and read.  Thanks for the help in advance.  We will be doing vocabulary with worksheets and quotes; the terms will show up on the test instead of being quizzed at the end of the week.
• On Thursday, January 15, all students will be taking a semester exam.  I believe that this needs to happen in order to prepare them for a future beyond high school, since post-secondary training and education tests them over large amounts of material.  I'll give out a study guide in advance, but they have the review packets already in their hands since I've been warning them from moment one not to throw away their materials.

Well, that about covers it.  I hope everyone is feeling well-rested and is ready to take on the future...I know I am!  Ciao!


Welcome 2015! by Laura Stubbs is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License

The Final Moments of 2014

Here we are, into the final days of 2014.  What a year it's been!  To celebrate, I have pictures (and a video) to share.  First, here are photos from early in last week when my freshmen were doing an activity with Romeo and Juliet and punctuation:

 

 

 

Next, here are some pictures from the Ugly Christmas Sweater day:

 

These guys didn't have ugly sweaters, but they wanted their picture taken, anyway.

The back of my favorite one of the day; personally, I think he should have won the contest!

 

 

Finally, here are some pictures from a service project my son was a part of last night.  For those of you who don't know, my kids train llamas for 4-H.  The llama shown here is Mojo.  My older son, who was not able to go last night, trained him.  My younger son is the one showing him around a senior living center in Chelsea.

 



His reward for a job well done?  Sushi, of course.  Yea, we're weird.

 

I hope everyone has a wonderful holiday season, and I'll see you all in 2015!

 

The Final Moments of 2014 by Laura Stubbs is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License.

 





Merry Christmas, Happy New Year, Happy Kwanza (Basically, Well-wishes to You and Yours!)

Yay!  We're finally to one of my favorite times of the year!  It's so joyous to spend time stepping back from ordinary life and celebrating life, family, and the good aspects of being a part of a society such as ours.  I love the lights, I love the music, I love the love and laughter, it's just a wonderful life (one of my favorite movies, by the way).

As we close out 2014, it's time to reflect on where we've been.  For both classes, we've been visiting Shakespeare and his plays, and it's time to be finished and say "God gi' gooden".  English 9 is still reading Romeo and Juliet, but we're towards the end.  I'm moving their test to Thursday, so we will spend the early part of the week finishing the text, and then prepare to test on that day.  We'll deal with projects/papers when we get back in January.  English 11 is pretty much done with the play, so their test is still Wednesday.  They will be working on their motif projects and review on Monday and Tuesday, test on Wednesday, and then we'll be writing poetry to present our motifs on Thursday and Friday.

They worked hard last week, and here are a few pictures from 2nd and 3rd hours working on their projects:

 

2nd Hour Worked in the library.  When it's just us in there, such as this day, it's a wonderful place to work!

3rd Hour worked in a lab.  In this lab they can choose to work on a tall island; many of them like this.

 

As we head to Friday and the beginning of two weeks off, I wish you and yours a wonderful holiday season.  I hope everyone gets a chance to relax.  My gift to my students is that we will not have vocabulary this week, and I'm giving them a homework-free vacation!  Enjoy, everyone!

 



My favorite moment in the Charlie Brown Christmas special!

 

Merry Christmas, Happy New Year, Happy Kwanza (Basically, Well-wishes to You and Yours!) by Laura Stubbs is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License.

 





"For In That Sleep...What Dreams May Come." ("Hamlet" III, i, 66)

You know you're spending too much time with the Bard when you dream words and phrases from his plays all night long.  Not only that, but I spend all night mixing quotes from both Romeo and Juliet and Macbeth, and then try to sort out which ones belong with which play.  Add to that the fact that my husband and I went to see UM's production of Fuente Ovejuna which was written by a Spanish poet in the 16th century, and so last night I had Spanish words and phrases mixing in with Shakespeare, and I'm not getting a good night's sleep.  Last night I kept dreaming, "Wisely and slow...and we'll not fail...Fuente Ovejuna!"  This kept replaying in my mind all night.  The first is from R&J, the second from Macbeth, and the third is obvious, but in my sleepy mind, I kept trying to put them together to make them make sense.  Aaargh!

Anyway, here's what we did last week:

In English 9 we have now completed Romeo and Juliet Act II.  They have completed study guides and notes and read the text.  We're in the process of completing some activities (this is what slows us down).  They also completed Blog Post #3 for their Independent Reading; I gave them time in the computer lab since I was pulled to go to a conference on Tuesday, so the substitute took them to the computers to work.

In English 11, we have finished reading Macbeth through Act III, scene i (although 3rd hour has gone a little ahead and read through scene ii).  They also have completed study guides and notes and read the text.  In addition, they also have completed Blog Post #3 in the same way that the English 9 group did.  I have also added on a Motif project for them that is completed online with Google Presentations.  They are finding two quotes a piece, all completely different from each other, and entering them into the presentation by act.  I have graded Act I, though they are not yet on HAC, because I'm combining all the quotes together for a 20 point grade (2 points/quote).  They spent Monday and Tuesday on the computers completing both the blog and the project through Act I, so they had plenty of time online.

Here are a couple of pictures from 2nd Hour working in the lab on Monday:

 One thing I like about Google Presentation is that each student is responsible for entering their own information into the presentation, but they can all work at the exact same time on the same document.

Another cool aspect of the Google Apps is that they can even create on their phones, so they can pick their comfort zone and create from there.

 

 

Coming up this week:

• English 9 will be doing vocabulary.  I will give out worksheets on Monday, they are due Tuesday, and the quiz will be Friday.  They will also be given the Blog Post #4 directions (the final blog post) and it will be due by Friday; they will complete this element independently.  In class we'll be finishing our Act II activities and reading Act III and Act IV for Romeo and Juliet.   If possible, I'll even move them into the final act.  I'm trying to get their test in by Wednesday 12/17.
• English 11 will also be doing vocabulary and their final blog post for the independent book.  In class they will be finishing Act III on Monday, work in the computer lab on Tuesday for the Motif Project, and then we'll try to finish the play Macbeth.  I am also trying get their test in by Wednesday 12/17.

I hope everyone has a great week, and hopefully you're getting more rest than I am! Ciao!

"For In That Sleep...What Dreams May Come." ("Hamlet" III, i, 66) by Laura Stubbs is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License.