Post date: Mar 19, 2011 11:45:59 PM
Greetings from the windy, cold, and rainy Santa Cruz mountains! Today has been the epitome of a mid-winter stay-inside kind of day -- fire glowing, cocoa cooking, and me in sweats until afternoon. Perfect weather for reading essays and lesson-planning, right? Ha, not yet. :)
English:
Autobiographical Excerpts: We worked on this mostly last week and they (most) were turned in on Monday. The process involved some pre-writing and I couldn't overemphasize the importance of that step in the writing process. Most of my critique of the students' writing pieces revolves around organization and the progressive flow of ideas, and all of those things are enhanced by a strong planning process. I noticed that quite a few students wrote the planning document after(!) their essay was written, which earns the points but doesn't serve the intended purpose. Hopefully some of the students will come to see the value to the pre-writing process before the end of their year with me.
On another note, in order to improve student writing, I've been having them do daily editing exercises for a few months. This week I amped it up a bit by giving them some more extensive and challenging exercises (SCOPE's "Lazy Editor" feature), as well as having them write their own daily edit pieces.
In book clubs (my thanks to BookMoms for taking care of things while I was gone on Tuesday), the assignments for the autobiographical books were handed out and discussed.
Lastly, the kids worked on a debate exercise regarding "My Parents, My Facebook" through which they had to be able to see and support both sides of an argument.
Science:
On Monday, the annual Element Fashion Show went over very well thanks to the efforts and talent of the great Mrs. Stuart. The effort that some of the kids put into their shirts is very commendable. For those that created posters, we'll hang yours on the ceiling as soon as I can figure out a smart way to do it without hurting the acoustic panels. Tuesday's science period involved just textbook and worksheet activities, but on Wednesday the kids did a lab involving the predicting and testing the pH of a bunch of household chemicals. It was rewarding to see the kids exploring a science concept through experience and experimentation rather than just through exposition. Next week, organic chemistry!
Rants & Raves:
I want to rave about how hard my classes are working at pushing their skills to a higher level and how well they get along with each other. The atmosphere in the room is positive and productive most of the time and I have seen big growth in so many of the kids. I also appreciate how nice the kids are to me and how responsive they are to the activities, both planned and spontaneous. As one parent pointed out, "This group is the best it gets!".
The one thing that has started to bother me lately is relatively trivial but worth mentioning... I'd like the kids to take more responsibility for the physical environment of room 25. Many leave their things lying around, their trash on the floor or in the table cubbies, and are fairly rough on the furniture and equipment. I spend way too much of my time picking up trash, reorganizing chairs, and reminding kids to take care of their own things. It is a small room filled with lots of stuff and I like to have it open before school, during recess, at lunch, and after school -- especially on rainy days, but it does get abused a bit simply by the volume and movement of so many bodies. Help me out by sharing my sense of pride in our place!
To end on a positive note, I want to say (again) how happy I am to be able to work at this place and with these kids. I am the luckiest teacher around, and it is all your fault!
Chris