Day 49: Better Discussions

Agenda-
Homeroom
Class: Creative Writing
Class: Pre-AP Sophomore English
Class: AP Senior English
Lunch
Study Hall

Today went much better than Thursday did. In creative writing, Mariah was absent so Meg and I decided to poison her character since she wasn’t there to write as him. Then while he was passed out from the poison we finished writing the story. I think it came out really well. However, it is very long. We are going to have the students read each other’s stories next and give suggestions for how the story could be improved. This means that ours may be a little long for that task. We are going to edit on Wednesday. Hopefully, we can find some ways to shorten the story without getting rid of the pieces that we really like. I have had a lot of fun writing it so I know it will be hard to go back through and get rid of things.

The sophomore class went better today too. I had them all sitting in groups today instead of in a circle like they were before. I also gave them a topic to think about in relation to their passages I was able to hear them talk more about the writing. However, I would still like to hear more disagreements and decision making going on. A few of the groups didn’t discuss passages but rather just picked one. It probably didn’t help that there were a couple students who didn’t do the assignment. One thing I liked was that they had so many questions about Hitler, the Holocaust and World War II. I think I need to brush up even more on my history. I also think I need to find a way to answer all of these questions. They clearly want to know more. I thought the presentations would be a good way to do that but maybe they need more. There is just so much stuff that goes along with this time period. It is hard to address all of their questions. I wish that I could team teach Night with a history teacher who was teaching WW II at the same time. It would make things easier.

The seniors did much better with their passages in Aurora Leigh. They picked more suitable ones. They said that this question was easier. That really confused me because I thought the first one was easier. I guess not. I told them that if they had any problems picking a passage for the next one they should email me and I would help them. I hope they take me up on the offer. I noticed that this class is still very hesitant to speak up and assert an opinion. They seem to want to not answer any of my questions. I’m not sure if they are afraid to be wrong or if they don’t understand. I really need to figure this out. I was trying to get a good discussion going about the main character’s feelings towards another character and at first they didn’t want to pick a side. It took me forever to get them thinking about how to read the evidence in front of them and to argue with each other a little. I think that the question for the 4th chapter will require them to pick a side of an argument and use textual evidence to prove they are right. I think this will be good practice for them.