Final Post of the Year

This is going to be my final post.  I hope everyone knows how much I have loved my kids this year.  It's been a great year because my students are the best!  I've loved being able to work with all of them, and for the ones who are leaving me for other teachers in the fall, I will miss them tremendously.  For my current 9th graders who I get to keep in English 10 next year, I'm very excited to get to work with them again!

To finish things off we're basically all doing the same thing: finishing reading our books and doing the final assessments over the texts.  So here's the schedule:

English 9

• Monday, 6/4 - final verb packet; finish chapter 4 in Of Mice and Men
• Tuesday, 6/5 - Academic Advisory - verb packet; chapter 5 
• Wednesday, 6/6 - verb packet; finish reading Of Mice and Men
• Thursday, 6/7 - Academic Advisory - verb packet; review the book
• Friday, 6/8 - test for Of Mice and Men

English 10

• Monday, 6/4 - finish Tuesdays with Morrie with Study Guide; finish the collage on Google Classroom
• Tuesday, 6/5 - Academic Advisory - get the final writing assignment of the year - assessment for Tuesdays with Morrie - begin drafting; watch Morrie Schwartz interview with Ted Koppel
• Wednesday, 6/6 - finish drafting final writing assignment; watch Morrie Schwartz interview
• Thursday, 6/7 - Academic Advisory - share final papers with the class - hard copies are due if called on to share.
• Friday, 6/8 - share final papers with the class - hard copies are due when called on to share.

Don't forget, the final day of school - a half day - is Wednesday, 6/13.

Thanks for sharing your kids with me.  I've loved every minute of it.

Final Post of the Year by Laura Stubbsis licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-ShareAlike 4.0 International License.
Based on a work at https://www.laurastubbs.blogspot.com.

The Heat is On

When the heat cranks up, my classroom gets unbearable!  By afternoon both Thursday and Friday it seemed better to just go outside.  Here are some pictures from my 5th Hour.  The first set are from Friday when we took our discussion outside to the courtyard.  It was shady and comfortable (though buggy), and though we felt a little like zoo animals since every classroom around the courtyard could watch us, they want to bring blankets and do it again next week as long as the weather cooperates.  Mr. Lukosavich says we can do this as much as we want, so I think it's a go!

Thursday afternoon we tried heading across the parking lot toward the track, but it was definitely a bit too hot.  I think the courtyard works better.

Here's what we managed to accomplish last week.  English 9 read two chapters from Of Mice and Men, then 1st and 3rd Hour were sent on their way for the long weekend with Chapter 3 to read.  English 10 has read about 1/3 of Tuesdays with Morrie.

This week, here's our agenda:

English 9

• Tuesday, 5/29 - Academic Advisory - ch. 3 study guide; quizziz for ch. 3
• Wednesday, 5/30 - verbs; group poster for ch. 3
• Thursday, 5/31 - verbs; read ch. 4
• Friday, 6/1 - verbs; finish ch. 4

English 10

• Tuesday, 5/29 - Academic Advisory - read pp. 80-114; Type 1's
• Wednesday, 5/30 - pp. 115-51
• Thursday, 5/31 - pp. 152-80
• Friday, 6/1 - Discussion Day

I hope everyone had a great Memorial Day weekend.  Enjoy your week!

The Heat is On 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.

Not Long Now...

Only a couple of these to go, and we'll be done for the year! I definitely have spring fever, and speaking of that, is anyone else sick of the rain? I'm sitting here typing this on my phone while listening to a Picnic Pops concert which had to be moved inside. It's the last concert of the year for all of the bands in the district, and usually it's a really nice day to relax in the sun.  This is what it looks like this year:

On a positive note, my son was picked to do one of the intro's, which I didn't know was going to happen, and lucky for him I had crawled my way down to the front so I not only got a picture, I was able to record it for posterity!  I'll just share the picture:

Getting back to business, we are now entering our last units of the year. English 9 finished Sugar Changed the World last week and is moving on to Of Mice and Men, and English 10 finished A Raisin in the Sun and is moving on to Tuesdays with Morrie.

Here's the basic plan for the week:

English 9

• Monday, 5/21 - Verb Tenses; finish pre-reading activities, start Chapter 1 of OMaM.
• Tuesday, 5/22 - Academic Advisory - Verb Tenses; finish Chapter 1
• Wednesday, 5/23 - Verb Tenses; start Chapter 2
• Thursday, 5/24 - Academic Advisory - Verb Tenses; finish Chapter 2
• Friday, 5/25 - Verb Tenses; start Chapter 3

English 10

• Monday, 5/21 - get books; Google Classroom - pre-reading activities
• Tuesday, 5/22 - Academic Advisory - read pp. 1-47 of TwM
• Wednesday, 5/23 - read pp. 48-61
• Thursday, 5/24 - Academic Advisory - read pp. 62-79; get worksheet for assigned page numbers for Friday
• Friday, 5/25 - discussion day - with snacks!

That is my plan. I hope you have a great week. Ciao!


Not Long Now... 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 Chaos of the End of the Year

First, Happy Mother's Day to all the moms out there.  I think the toughest job in the world is being a mom.  When my kids were little, I thought it was tough because I never had a moment to myself.  Now that they are 15 and 17, it's tough because they want to exist much of the time without me. (Maybe that's why they say being a grandparent is the best?) I'm told they eventually do come back to you.  I know I am so grateful for my mom, and I'm happy that I get to spend the day with her.  Here's one of my favorite pictures of she and I:

So, back to business - due to field trips, A.P. testing, and prom, my classroom schedule is now in complete chaos.  Don't get me wrong, overall it was an enjoyable week, but my whole schedule got blown up.  I tried to adjust the calendar and set up this week, but it is crazy.  I now have to set everything up pretty much hour to hour, so I hope you can understand what we're doing.

Last week English 9 finished reading Sugar Changed the World, and we're now doing final assessment for it.  English 10 is mid-way through A Raisin in the Sun, and I'm hoping to finish it this week.

Here's the plan:

English 9

• Monday, 5/14 - 1st Hour - finish outline, type essay - due Wednesday; 2nd Hour - turn in quiz, outline essay; 3rd Hour - outline essay.
• Tuesday, 5/15 - Academic Advisory - 1st Hour - pre-reading for Of Mice and Men; 2nd and 3rd Hour - finish outline, type essay - due Thursday
• Wednesday, 5/16 - 1st Hour - turn in essay, finish pre-reading for Of Mice and Men; 2nd and 3rd Hour - pre-reading for Of Mice and Men
• Thursday, 5/17 - Academic Advisory - 1st Hour - get books and start Of Mice and Men; 2nd and 3rd Hour - turn in essay, finish pre-reading for Of Mice and Men
• Friday, 5/18 - everyone - read Of Mice and Men

English 10

• Monday, 5/14 - 4th Hour - discuss Raisin Act II Scene 2, read Scene 3; 5th Hour - discuss Raisin Act II Scene 1, read Scene 2
• Tuesday, 5/15 - Academic Advisory - 4th Hour - read Act III; 5th hour - discuss Raisin Act II Scene 2, read Scene 3
• Wednesday, 5/16 - 4th Hour - finish discussing the play, movie; 5th Hour - read Act III
• Thursday, 5/16 - Academic Advisory - 4th Hour - movie; 5th Hour - finish discussing the play, movie
• Friday, 5/17 - everyone - finish movie; test for A Raisin in the Sun

That's the plan.  I hope everyone has a great Mother's Day and a fabulous week.  Ciao!

The Chaos of the End of the Year 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.

Five Weeks to Go...

Thank you, May, for always being beautiful!  I love spring.  It's one of my favorite times of year: flowers (though my allergies hate them), green grass, birds, and of course - sunshine and warmth!  It makes me so antsy for summer.  So, of course I get it when my students just want to be done; when they just want to be outside.  Unfortunately for all of us, we still have five weeks to go, and two units.  My most difficult task these days is convincing them (and myself) that we need to continue.  Fortunately I love the final units of the year, so hopefully this won't be too difficult of a task.

In English 9, we're finishing off Sugar Changed the World.  It's a non-fiction unit I've become fond of because it tackles some of my favorite topics: ethics, human rights, and history.  This week we'll finish reading and write an essay.  In English 10, we finished Macbeth.  Anyone who hasn't taken the test needs to do so ASAP (I'm plugging in zeroes after Tuesdays with Teachers if they haven't shown up yet to make it up).  We've already moved on to A Raisin in the Sun, a short play surrounding the Civil Rights of the the mid-20th century.  This week we're going to try to do the bulk of the reading of the play.

So here's the week's plan:

English 9

• Monday, 5/7 - hand back papers; get a new seating chart; continue packet #4 of Sugar, with study guide and vocab. packet
• Tuesday, 5/8 - Academic Advisory - start the Perfect Tense for verbs; finish packet #4; quiz for packet #4
• Wednesday, 5/9 - post test for English 9 - reading; pre-write the essay for Sugar Changed the World
• Thursday, 5/10 - No Advisory - perfect tense; finish pre-writing the essay; begin typing
• Friday, 5/11 - finish perfect tense; finish typing and turn in the essay

English 10

• Monday, 5/7 - hand back papers; get a new seating chart; Socrative Student - Act I, scene i; read Act I, scene ii
• Tuesday, 5/8 - Academic Advisory - finish Act I and study guide; quiz for Act I
• Wednesday, 5/9 - post test for English 10 - reading; read Act II, scenes i and ii
• Thursday, 5/10 - No Advisory - finish Act II - scene iii; quiz for Act II
• Friday, 5/11 - finish the play - quiz for Act III and essay next week

That's the plan.  I think I'm a little ambitious on what we can accomplish in English 10, so if I need to pull back I will.  It's not a complex play, however, so we'll see.

I hope everyone enjoys the rest of this weekend and has a great week.  Ciao!

Five Weeks to Go... 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.

Is It Really Almost May?

I can hardly believe it's almost May!  This year really flew by: it's crazy!  And of course, I'm as busy as ever, and trying to keep up, though I get further and further behind.  On a personal level, between birthdays for both of my boys, baseball, and international music trips, this time period is a challenge to say the least.  My younger son just turned 15 (your prayers are much appreciated), he has had six games in the last seven days, and my older son traveled to Toronto (and I was able to tag along) at the end of last week.  Here are a few photos from the Toronto trip:

 My son and his friend waiting to perform.

 Two bands, 150 kids, and lots of loading and unloading.  I love the combo of tuxedo and hat/headphones so many wore.

Competing in an international music festival at the Toronto Centre for the Arts.  I love this shot because I can see my kid so clearly (he plays clarinet).

The hall was amazing, both for the decor and the acoustics.

Unfortunately, the performance venue was right around the corner from where a van drove down the sidewalk and plowed into pedestrians, killing 10.

 The memorial was just starting to build on Friday because the police had just re-opened the area.

Lots of therapy dogs were there to comfort the grieving.

 I was not an official chaperone, so I didn't get to enjoy this meal at the top of the CN Tower, but I love this picture that includes the back of my son's head, far away from the windows.  He's just like me: heights make him sick. 😄

Yesterday (Saturday) they were able to go to a master class with a member of the Toronto Symphony, and I was able to watch and listen.

Today he's off to Niagara Falls, but I came home late last night instead of finishing the trip with them since I didn't know how I would get up and work on Monday if I went on that leg of their journey (they're not getting home until 9:30 or 10:00 tonight).

Anyway, so that's what I've been up to, which simply means I have a lot of work to do today.

Last week, English 9 finished packet two of four for Sugar Changed the World, so this week we'll do packet three and hopefully start packet four.  In English 10, we finished reading Macbeth, so we'll be taking the test on Tuesday and then watch a movie before moving on with A Raisin in the Sun.

Here's the plan:

English 9

• Monday, 4/30 - College Board and Khan Academy for PSAT scores; start packet #3 for Sugar Changed the World with study guides and annotations.
• Tuesday, 5/1 - Academic Advisory - perfect tense verbs; continue packet #3
• Wednesday, 5/2 - 1/2 Day for All - perfect tense verbs
• Thursday, 5/3 - Academic Advisory - perfect tense verbs; finish packet #3
• Friday, 5/4 - perfect tense verbs; start packet #4

English 10

• Monday, 4/30 - College Board and Khan Academy for PSAT scores; video of Act V and final review of Macbeth
• Tuesday, 5/1 - Academic Advisory - Macbeth Test; begin video
• Wednesday, 5/2 - 1/2 Day for All - continue video
• Thursday, 5/3 - Academic Advisory - finish video; start A Raisin in the Sun
• Friday, 5/4 - continue A Raisin in the Sun

That's the plan as I see it.  I hope everyone enjoys the beautiful weather that is on the way. 

Is It Really Almost May? 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.

Normal Schedule? What's That?

Every time I think we're going to go back to "normal" in our schedule, something is off.  In this case, it's two things:

1.)  On Wednesday during 3rd Hour we'll be taking a few minutes to go over different lock-down scenarios in case we had a situation that would warrant putting the ALICE system in place.  This system would only be used in a situation that warranted evacuation of the building, or barricading in the building.  We're not doing drills, and it shouldn't take long, but we will cover a couple of scenarios. This can be disturbing for some students (as it is for me), so I thought as parents some of you would want to know that we're doing this.

2.)  I forgot - on Friday I'm going with my son to Toronto for a school competition, so I'll be out for the day. 

So here's what we've got going this week:

English 9

• Monday, 4/23 - revise and edit rough drafts - self edit; peer edit; read aloud
• Tuesday, 4/24 - Academic Advisory - print and turn in final copies of research papers (1-day grace period for emergency situations); verbs; start Sugar Changed the World Packet 2
• Wednesday, 4/25 - verbs; continue Sugar Packet 2
• Thursday, 4/26 - Advisory - verbs; finish Sugar Packet 2
• Friday, 4/27 - quiz for Packet 2; Ted Talk - modern day slavery

English 10

• Monday, 4/23 - grammar; 5th Hour - 15 minutes to finish Act III paragraph; begin Act IV; texting activity
• Tuesday, 4/24 - Academic Advisory - grammar; finish Act IV
• Wednesday, 4/25 - grammar; vocab. activity; read Act V
• Thursday, 4/26 - Advisory - grammar; finish the play; get review sheet for test - TEST TUESDAY
• Friday, 4/27 - review activity for Macbeth test

That's my plan.  Hopefully everyone has a good week.

Normal Schedule? What's That? 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.