The first week of December

Returning from a much needed break, and I spent much needed time with my family and crafting for Christmas. My tree is up and my home is ready for the season. I needed this break to focus on me and mine. Now I will hit the ground at a pace I can handle- after all this is not a sprint, but a marathon. 

In my 10th grade classroom, I have introduced non-fiction with the breakthroughs theme as it was focused on the fictional literature. The non-fiction came in the form of a New York Times news article about the truth behind accepting ugliness and how parents respond to their own children when they are not the idea of what is beauty in our society. The students are being graded on their ability to read closely using highlighters and pencils to annotate the article and their ability to predict, discuss graphics, summarize, talk about theme, main idea, and author's purpose, and discuss how the ideas from the article affect their own lives. This is the first step into writing for this group. We will transition into writing next spring. 

Our next move will be to complete this unit. I am going to choose several works of literature and have students create a poster project I came up with from the elements found within the Buckle Down series. They will draw for a story, read it closely with notes and predictions, and create a poster using new vocabulary, summary, quotes, photos, main idea, theme, author info and purpose, etc. I am looking forward to the completion of said projects to post in the halls. This will wrap up this incredibly long unit that I believe went an inch long but a mile deep. 

In my 11th grade classroom, we are moving into the tricky world of MLA and research. I have had them write an argumentative essay sans research. Once we learn about the formatting for MLA, students are performing their own research and implementing this research into their essays to strengthen them. I am not a writing teacher, but I think we have pulled through alright. I definitely prefer the literature side of my area of study, but they need to know how to do this process and how to do it well. I believe that once we pull through this side of things, I will be able to re-visit some writing for other purposes through the next weeks and re-visit again next semester, but the focus will shift to literature and writing about literature, as I believe that is what this class really needs to be about anyway. I do think I will teach this differently next year. I am always looking for new ideas and new ways to teach writing and have yet to find the perfect method. We will push forward, and I am going to do my best to embrace this particular class. It has been a particular challenge for me for sure- a little of me and a little of them...a challenge I am working on day by day...

It is a good day to have a good day

I watched a show this weekend, and the title to this post was the quote they had on their living room wall. I love it! It is all about attitude. 

Attitude is something I think we are all struggling with. It feels as if we are all under a cloud, and that little rain cloud on a sunny day has been extraordinarily large lately. I have dealt with both student attitude and my own, and I want the chance to make things bright again. 

To focus on the positive, I have kids in here on a regular basis both before and after school catching up on missing work, trying to make improvements on their already recorded grades, and getting help when they do not understand the concepts I have previously taught. I find the late afternoon study sessions to be almost more beneficial as the class sessions. I think the time that I enjoy teaching the most is the one-to-one lessons when kids are really here on their own time to learn from me. 

In the classroom-

My juniors: We are working with writing. The process is often difficult and muddy, but I feel that the kids are working hard, and I am making a bit of headway towards the next step. They do not often know how to put thoughts to words on a laptop or on paper. I want them to translate their ideas, move them to the state in which they can see their own mistakes, minimizing corrections that I have to make as I grade. 

I want them to know that they can write. They can make something from their own thoughts, and to know that their something is really fantastic. I don't always know where I should end for the next teacher to begin. I just teach until I can not longer ask them to improve. 

My sophomores: We are reading for content, idea, and insight. I believe I have mentioned that I have not taught as much as I think I probably should have, but what they are learning is to a greater degree than ever before. We are working with Saki's "The Storyteller," and I have not read any part of this story with them. They have had to read it all on their own and write questions about the story for the Socratic discussion that we will have this week. I am curious to see how this will turn out. It is new for me and for them.

We will move from there to a Reader Response News Article. I am excited to introduce this concept to them. I wish I would have done so last year, but I was new to the school and trying to stay on top of the lessons we had scheduled as a department. This year has led me to be a little more self-reliant and able to branch out a little more with my lessons- maybe this is why I second guess myself so much... anyway, we are going to look at a news article about beauty and what it really is. How do we actually deal with the appearances of others and what can we learn from this as a breakthrough in society? I think the ideas in the reader response guide will help the kids to maintain focus and see the  article from a different perspective than if they were just required to read it. 

I am still debating on a major project for the end of the unit. I am leaning toward a poster project- book report type. I think that they would really like something like this once they are able to get into it. I am still in debate. 

All in all, attitude begins with me. I will work through some of the blahs and downs as I go. I recognize my impact on my classroom and on my students. I want them to be successful in all they do, and I only hope that I will have been an impact on the students who enter my classroom doors.