It has been far too long from my last post... I am slacking! I need to step up the game and write more often. I believe it helps me to see exactly where I am and where I need to go as an educator.
My classes started off weird at the beginning of January...I started with the bell work lessons. I wanted my students to write the rules and explanations for each idea that I presented. Great idea until I used all of the class period going through grammar instruction. Unfortunately, this is not all they need to know for the End of Instruction. I hate teaching to the test, but my goal is to help them realize that I am far harder than the tests they must take. Anyway, I stopped half way through the week, had the kids read for three days- many connected stronger to the books they had checked out and suddenly AR points are coming in where they have not before- and I revamped the lessons I needed to teach. I am shifting reading Mondays to reading Fridays- hopefully less kids will need to play catch up from missing the Friday work day.
On to what we are doing:
11th graders are taking a journey through history. I began the unit by asking the question "What is America?" I received a slew of answers from freedom to different races to Obama care and immigration. Then I asked them what nationality they come from. We discussed the differences between a melting pot vs. a mixed salad as it relates to immigration. I gave them a genealogy chart and had them ask questions with their parents and grandparents. Most were able to go back at least four generations. I was highly impressed! They were really into figuring out who they are and where they come from. We discussed the idea that we all have great grandparents and we will eventually have great grandchildren. I had them write two paragraphs. The first one includes the idea that their great grandparents wanted a life for them. Then I had them write about the things they wanted for their great grandchildren. I asked them what they were willing to do to get the life they wanted for their posterity. I had some really great responses.
Next, I located an article in The Oklahoman called "Sands of Time" all about the small black community of Sandtown, OKC, settled in 1884- 5 years before the land run of 1889. It hits on the idea that a black community settled and had reasons to settle. The article appeared just last Monday, connecting this to today's time. Currently, they are working on a lengthy reader-response, writing about the news article after they have annotated it. It is hitting on all the skills located in Buckle Down including summary, prediction, main idea, theme, and author's purpose. Next week we shift from the Black community to the Native community with "The Way to Rainy Mountain" by N. Scott Momaday.
I am pretty excited to get in to the literature- "Barbie-B-Que" by Sandra Cisneros, "The Girl Who Wouldn't Speak" by Amy Tan, and The Declaration of Independence and the Bill of Rights as the white man literature should take us to testing. I would really like to get into "The Crucible" play for the end of the year, but we shall see where this is taking us and the timing of the matter.
10th graders are moving through Rhythm and Poetry. We are looking for term examples within music and pulling together google slideshows to demonstrate the new knowledge they have gained. The biggest frustration has been the video blocking. I have to open the music for them and I think that if they are allowed to see so many other things, they should be allowed to view music... just sayin' :) The project includes era music- 1910-1919, 1920-1929, etc all the way to current time. They must use multiple genres including Rock, Blues, Jazz, Holiday, Hip Hop, Pop, Soul, etc. It really is unlimited to the types of music as long as they can pull in the different genres. Their slides must have the lyrics, a definition of the term, an explanation, the writer, the singer, the year it was produced, a video, the time for the example, etc. They must have visually appealing slides with a background in place and thought put into the presentation. Each show will be very interesting to watch and I believe that once the students get the hang of the creation process, they will be able to do this quickly and efficiently.
Once we are finished with this, we are moving directly into the writing process with descriptive writing. I am excited to get this group into the process. It should be very interesting as we work through the modes- description, narrative, expository, and finally, argumentative. I really do not want to go full force- more just glazing the surface of the modes to help them understand the language used and the layout provided for each mode of writing. Once all is completed, and we take our EOI, we will be at the end of the year, and I would really like to work in a fairy tale unit.
I cannot believe that we will be coming to the end of our school year so quickly! January has come and gone. It has been an enlightening year so far and one of personal sadness...my father-in-law passed away this week. This is two dad's for me in five months, and I have had quite enough death to last for awhile. My heart is heavy and my mind is full. I am just happy that I am not in my first year of teaching...I think it would have taken its toll on my career.
So that is the inside of my room. The kids and I are in a pretty great groove until they complain too much and I have to shut them down. For the most part, they are respectful and know the limits. I love them- even the ornery ones. It is in my soul to teach.
