Wednesday, February 1, 2017 (Day #103)

Post date: Feb 2, 2017 8:49:02 PM

I am shocked that January is already in the record books. I really don't know where the month went.

In Literature 9 we spent most of the class period comparing videos and our book's biography of Maya Angelou. We looked for consistent facts that appeared throughout all four sources. What we decided we wrote down on our notes for "All God's Children Need Traveling Shoes." Then we started a CLOSE assignment related to the story. The idea behind this type of assignment is to read a portion, then stop and answer the questions. We'll finish up the CLOSE assignment tomorrow.

In English 10, because I was gone in the afternoon, we couldn't finish up our speeches. Therefore, they worked on Participle Phrases worksheet. They shared their answers and then corrected them using the key provided. Then they had a survey/quiz on-line [Moodle] to complete asking them questions about their topic for the upcoming motivational speech. I really wanted to emphasize the use of logos, ethos, and pathos in determining the "need," then the solution, and finally the visualization.

In American Government they played a game called "Claim or Do Not Claim". It's a great way to review Separation of Powers and Checks and Balances. If the scenario only involved one branch that's Separation of Powers, but if it involved more than one, then it was a Checks and Balance. Once we were done with the many rounds, we took a check. I feel that the concepts were "cemented" a little more than they have been in the past.

In Law we've been struggling with completing things because 50% of the class has been gone due to illness. However, we needed to try and move forward - at a snail's pace I grant you, but we need to move forward. We reviewed Statutory Law - law that has passed through Congress (or the General Assembly - Iowa Government) and we're required to follow. For example, burglary, stopping for a stop sign, etc. Statutory Law is divided into Criminal and Civil Law. We researched the differences between burglary, breaking and entering, robbery in Iowa, Minnesota, and South Dakota. It was interesting because some of the states simply lump them together while others separate them into different categories.

So much to do, and so little time to do it. I know that if I tackle things one at a time, I'll get through, but days like today I feel like I'm swimming upstream. I guess I need to follow the famous Dory advice...