Agenda-
Meeting
Class: Creative Writing
Class: Pre-AP Sophomore English
Class: AP Senior English
Lunch
Study Hall
Homeroom
Creative writing worked more on their background stories. It is taking us a while to get everyone to a place where they are ready to participate in the big battle. Meg, Mariah, and I spent all day working on getting to my death scene. We need to kill me off before Friday because that it my last day. Then everyone can start working on the big battle. I’m excited about our idea. I have an awesome death scene. I will be sad to go though. I love this class.
The sophomores worked on their multi-genre projects. Meg, Mariah, and I worked on writing. It was fun and productive.
The seniors brought in funny stuff for us all to watch. Today we saw an episode of The Office and part of Baby Mama. Very funny. I am having a lot of fun with this unit. I like it. I think the kids like it too.
During homeroom Mariah came back and we did some more writing. We will probably write even more tomorrow. Yay!
Wednesday, May 11, 2011
Day 69: Too Funny
Agenda-
Homeroom
Class: Pre-AP Sophomore English
Free Period
Class: AP Senior English
Lunch
Free Period
Today was a pretty uneventful day. I spent some time grading the sophomore’s Holocaust Victim Memorial wall and then I graded Hanson’s poetry portfolio. It wasn’t bad but it was missing a lot of pieces. The sophomores were working on their multi-genre research projects so I had time to grade.
The seniors did their first presentations of something funny for their “what’s so funny” unit. It was fun. We ate pizza and laughed a lot. Nate and Shayne presented today. Nate had a bit from Scary Movie 4. It was funny however, that movie isn’t something I would go out of my way to see. I usually just wait till they are on tv. All of the Scary Movies eventually end up on tv. Shayne did an episode of Drew Carey’s Improv-a-ganza. It was awesome. A lot like Whose Line Is It Anyway but still very funny. After that I showed some scenes from Monty Python and the Holy Grail. I love that movie. I think this unit is very interesting and I wish I could be here for the whole thing.
Homeroom
Class: Pre-AP Sophomore English
Free Period
Class: AP Senior English
Lunch
Free Period
Today was a pretty uneventful day. I spent some time grading the sophomore’s Holocaust Victim Memorial wall and then I graded Hanson’s poetry portfolio. It wasn’t bad but it was missing a lot of pieces. The sophomores were working on their multi-genre research projects so I had time to grade.
The seniors did their first presentations of something funny for their “what’s so funny” unit. It was fun. We ate pizza and laughed a lot. Nate and Shayne presented today. Nate had a bit from Scary Movie 4. It was funny however, that movie isn’t something I would go out of my way to see. I usually just wait till they are on tv. All of the Scary Movies eventually end up on tv. Shayne did an episode of Drew Carey’s Improv-a-ganza. It was awesome. A lot like Whose Line Is It Anyway but still very funny. After that I showed some scenes from Monty Python and the Holy Grail. I love that movie. I think this unit is very interesting and I wish I could be here for the whole thing.
Monday, May 9, 2011
Day 68: Fun and Games
Agenda-
Homeroom
Class: Creative Writing
Class: Pre-AP Sophomore English
Class: AP Senior English
Lunch
Study Hall
Today in creative writing we did more work on our background stories. I was working fairly diligently and I am almost done. However, I was very distracted, worse than most of the students. I checked the weather for the weekend, I looked stuff up, I talked about books. I was a little all over the place. Hopefully I will have the background done by next time because Mariah, Meg, and I need to write my death scene. And then Lifa will be done. This is really the biggest thing I need to wrap up for student teaching. I will be all done after this.
The sophomores were given time to work on their multi-genre projects. Vanessa put the finishing touches on her Holocaust memorial. I think tomorrow I will print out the ones that were emailed to Meg and myself. Once those are up I can grade that assignment. I am not going to wait any longer for the stragglers. A lot of the sophomores had their topics picked out already. I’m betting they are going to be awesome.
The seniors played a game and had their pizza today. They decided to play huggermugger. I had never played before. I think I understand the rules however, I wasn’t very good at it. They were much better than me. It was nice to just sit with them, play a game and eat some pizza. This group of girls is pretty close knit too but in a different way. They are all very comfortable with each other too. I like that. I like that in class they felt comfortable to ask me awkward questions (not this class but previous ones). I wish all classes could be like that.
Homeroom
Class: Creative Writing
Class: Pre-AP Sophomore English
Class: AP Senior English
Lunch
Study Hall
Today in creative writing we did more work on our background stories. I was working fairly diligently and I am almost done. However, I was very distracted, worse than most of the students. I checked the weather for the weekend, I looked stuff up, I talked about books. I was a little all over the place. Hopefully I will have the background done by next time because Mariah, Meg, and I need to write my death scene. And then Lifa will be done. This is really the biggest thing I need to wrap up for student teaching. I will be all done after this.
The sophomores were given time to work on their multi-genre projects. Vanessa put the finishing touches on her Holocaust memorial. I think tomorrow I will print out the ones that were emailed to Meg and myself. Once those are up I can grade that assignment. I am not going to wait any longer for the stragglers. A lot of the sophomores had their topics picked out already. I’m betting they are going to be awesome.
The seniors played a game and had their pizza today. They decided to play huggermugger. I had never played before. I think I understand the rules however, I wasn’t very good at it. They were much better than me. It was nice to just sit with them, play a game and eat some pizza. This group of girls is pretty close knit too but in a different way. They are all very comfortable with each other too. I like that. I like that in class they felt comfortable to ask me awkward questions (not this class but previous ones). I wish all classes could be like that.
Friday, May 6, 2011
Day 67: Winding Down
Agenda-
Homeroom
Class: Pre-AP Sophomore English
Free Period
Class: AP Senior English
Lunch
Free Period
The sophomores finished up their memorial for the Holocaust Victim wall. I think there are still a few missing but most of them are up. I will have to go through and grade them soon. For the most part I have been very pleased with what they have created. They did a really good job internalizing their victim and appreciating their life stories.
With the seniors it was game day. We played anomia. So much fun. I couldn’t help but notice that Hanson was doing the same hand gesture all the time so then I was making fun of him for it. He was easy to get cards from if he wasn’t paying attention. If he was paying attention it was harder because he would say what was on the card and threw you off. I will have to remember that strategy in the future. I won the first game and did well the second game. Shayne won the second game. He got good at it fast. I really enjoy this class. They are a tight knit group but fairly welcoming. You just have to be willing to let them tease you a bit. Or in Heidi’s case, let them be very blunt with you. I’ll miss them when I am gone.
Homeroom
Class: Pre-AP Sophomore English
Free Period
Class: AP Senior English
Lunch
Free Period
The sophomores finished up their memorial for the Holocaust Victim wall. I think there are still a few missing but most of them are up. I will have to go through and grade them soon. For the most part I have been very pleased with what they have created. They did a really good job internalizing their victim and appreciating their life stories.
With the seniors it was game day. We played anomia. So much fun. I couldn’t help but notice that Hanson was doing the same hand gesture all the time so then I was making fun of him for it. He was easy to get cards from if he wasn’t paying attention. If he was paying attention it was harder because he would say what was on the card and threw you off. I will have to remember that strategy in the future. I won the first game and did well the second game. Shayne won the second game. He got good at it fast. I really enjoy this class. They are a tight knit group but fairly welcoming. You just have to be willing to let them tease you a bit. Or in Heidi’s case, let them be very blunt with you. I’ll miss them when I am gone.
Thursday, May 5, 2011
Day 66: Portfolio Presentation
Today I spent having my exit interview with my field supervisor and presenting my portfolio in the North Dining Hall.
While I was away the sophomores worked on their Holocaust Memorial Wall and the seniors were taking their AP test.
While I was away the sophomores worked on their Holocaust Memorial Wall and the seniors were taking their AP test.
Wednesday, May 4, 2011
Day 65: Memorial Wall and Conversation with a Student
Agenda-
Free time
Class: Pre-AP Sophomore English
Free Period
Class: AP Senior English
Lunch
Free Period
Homeroom
Today the sophomores spent time working on their memorial for their Holocaust Victims. Their pieces will be going up on the bulletin board on Thursday. So far it looks like they are all doing a really nice job. Mariah, Lorryn, and Brooke were mostly done with theirs so we use those as examples. The kids had some really good ideas and spent the class diligently working. I can’t wait to see how they whole thing turns out.
The seniors did some test prep. They took the multiple choice test the class yesterday took. They did a little bit better but I kind of expected that. They tend to do a little bit better analyzing. After the class was over I had a little chat with Hanson about his poetry portfolio. He seemed to be beating himself up quite a bit about not getting it done. I hope that he has learned his lesson but I’m not sure. I gave him more than enough notice and time with the project. We even cornered him in the hallways a few times to remind him. He just didn’t do it. We had a lovely conversation about what needs to happen now in order for him to graduate, what he can do to help himself, what we can do to help him, and what he has learned from the experience. I really wish I had given them a grade for having things done on time. Maybe instead of using a rubric to grade these assignments I should have used a checklist and given a grade for each thing on the checklist. Might be something to think about in the future. It would make the project worth a lot but it would be a lot of little grades spread out over time. That might work with the sophomores too.
Free time
Class: Pre-AP Sophomore English
Free Period
Class: AP Senior English
Lunch
Free Period
Homeroom
Today the sophomores spent time working on their memorial for their Holocaust Victims. Their pieces will be going up on the bulletin board on Thursday. So far it looks like they are all doing a really nice job. Mariah, Lorryn, and Brooke were mostly done with theirs so we use those as examples. The kids had some really good ideas and spent the class diligently working. I can’t wait to see how they whole thing turns out.
The seniors did some test prep. They took the multiple choice test the class yesterday took. They did a little bit better but I kind of expected that. They tend to do a little bit better analyzing. After the class was over I had a little chat with Hanson about his poetry portfolio. He seemed to be beating himself up quite a bit about not getting it done. I hope that he has learned his lesson but I’m not sure. I gave him more than enough notice and time with the project. We even cornered him in the hallways a few times to remind him. He just didn’t do it. We had a lovely conversation about what needs to happen now in order for him to graduate, what he can do to help himself, what we can do to help him, and what he has learned from the experience. I really wish I had given them a grade for having things done on time. Maybe instead of using a rubric to grade these assignments I should have used a checklist and given a grade for each thing on the checklist. Might be something to think about in the future. It would make the project worth a lot but it would be a lot of little grades spread out over time. That might work with the sophomores too.
Tuesday, May 3, 2011
Day 64: Test Prep and Wrapping Up
Agenda-
Homeroom
Class: Creative Writing
Class: Pre-AP Sophomore English
Class: AP Senior English
Lunch
Study Hall
Creative writing went awesome as usual. Today we discussed how we are all going to get to the big battle with the evil guy who is running all the evil stuff going on in all of the regions. Now we just all need to get to the place where the evil guy is at so that we can start writing the epic battle scene. I am pretty excited. My character is going to have an awesome death scene.
The sophomores were given there end of the year project. It is even bigger than the project I gave them and they have the same amount of time. However, there are a lot more specific due dates for this then there were for mine and a lot more class time for work on them. I think the kids will do well on it. They are all very creative. Today they worked on the memorial we are creating for their Holocaust Victims. Brooke, Lorryn, and Mariah have excellent ones so far. I think this small project will be amazing and I can’t wait to see the final product. The students were all working diligently on it today in class. I think this will be a nice easy transition for them into their next project. Something small in between to give them time to breathe before the big end of the year push.
The seniors did some more AP test prep today. Took a multiple choice test, went over the answers, discussed test taking strategies, and then talked about ways they could use the things they have read in the past few years to answer their essay questions. The kids are all very smart. I think they have just psyched themselves out over this test. We keep reminding them that this test really doesn’t have that much effect on their life overall but they don’t believe us.
Homeroom
Class: Creative Writing
Class: Pre-AP Sophomore English
Class: AP Senior English
Lunch
Study Hall
Creative writing went awesome as usual. Today we discussed how we are all going to get to the big battle with the evil guy who is running all the evil stuff going on in all of the regions. Now we just all need to get to the place where the evil guy is at so that we can start writing the epic battle scene. I am pretty excited. My character is going to have an awesome death scene.
The sophomores were given there end of the year project. It is even bigger than the project I gave them and they have the same amount of time. However, there are a lot more specific due dates for this then there were for mine and a lot more class time for work on them. I think the kids will do well on it. They are all very creative. Today they worked on the memorial we are creating for their Holocaust Victims. Brooke, Lorryn, and Mariah have excellent ones so far. I think this small project will be amazing and I can’t wait to see the final product. The students were all working diligently on it today in class. I think this will be a nice easy transition for them into their next project. Something small in between to give them time to breathe before the big end of the year push.
The seniors did some more AP test prep today. Took a multiple choice test, went over the answers, discussed test taking strategies, and then talked about ways they could use the things they have read in the past few years to answer their essay questions. The kids are all very smart. I think they have just psyched themselves out over this test. We keep reminding them that this test really doesn’t have that much effect on their life overall but they don’t believe us.
Monday, May 2, 2011
Day 63: I'm Impressed
Agenda-
Homeroom
Class: Pre-AP Sophomore English
Free Period
Class: AP Senior English
Lunch
Free Period
I collected the last of the projects from the sophomores today. They had some very interesting pieces and I am looking forward to reading them. The other class did such a good job that I can only expect that this class will be just as good, if not better. There was a member of the visiting team in this class. He was super impressed with the project. Yay! My class rocks! I already knew that though. I found an email from a parent in my inbox when I woke up. It was from a parent of a student in the other class. I found out later that it was about the project. The parent was concerned about the amount of work and how late the kids were up working on it. We were able to walk away understanding each other and feeling everyone was treated fairly. I think though that if I ever do this assignment again I will have them do one reflection on the research presentation project, one reflection on their Holocaust Victim, one reflection on a classmate Victim Card, 3-5 genres, and then essential questions like I did with the seniors rather than passage reflections. I think that I would have more specific due dates for the genres too. Many of the students put these off till the last minute and it was because of this that they had so much trouble with the project.
The seniors turned in their projects as well. I started grading them during the breaks and was impressed with the number of good grades I got. They did really well on this project! I was interested to see how many of the seniors spoke highly of Browning despite the fact that they did not like Aurora Leigh. I didn’t think they would. I was also impressed to see that many of the seniors went and picked poems of their own choosing rather than use ones I had read to them in class. They didn’t need to do the extra work but they did. I am proud of them.
Homeroom
Class: Pre-AP Sophomore English
Free Period
Class: AP Senior English
Lunch
Free Period
I collected the last of the projects from the sophomores today. They had some very interesting pieces and I am looking forward to reading them. The other class did such a good job that I can only expect that this class will be just as good, if not better. There was a member of the visiting team in this class. He was super impressed with the project. Yay! My class rocks! I already knew that though. I found an email from a parent in my inbox when I woke up. It was from a parent of a student in the other class. I found out later that it was about the project. The parent was concerned about the amount of work and how late the kids were up working on it. We were able to walk away understanding each other and feeling everyone was treated fairly. I think though that if I ever do this assignment again I will have them do one reflection on the research presentation project, one reflection on their Holocaust Victim, one reflection on a classmate Victim Card, 3-5 genres, and then essential questions like I did with the seniors rather than passage reflections. I think that I would have more specific due dates for the genres too. Many of the students put these off till the last minute and it was because of this that they had so much trouble with the project.
The seniors turned in their projects as well. I started grading them during the breaks and was impressed with the number of good grades I got. They did really well on this project! I was interested to see how many of the seniors spoke highly of Browning despite the fact that they did not like Aurora Leigh. I didn’t think they would. I was also impressed to see that many of the seniors went and picked poems of their own choosing rather than use ones I had read to them in class. They didn’t need to do the extra work but they did. I am proud of them.
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)