October 27-31, 2014

I expected our first quarter to end with a bang as all students finished their projects, but, thanks to technology issues, we ended, as T. S. Eliot would say, with a whimper. Not only were we dealing with our building's overloaded server, but Shentel experienced an attack. I kept alternate plans all week when the computers were unavailable.

I spoke to Mrs. Kline, who suggested that I post on this blog that all students who haven't finished the MLA and/or 1965 WeVideo will be issued a grade change in the next quarter as those are completed. If your student brings home a report card that says "assignment missing," that means one isn't complete and a grade change will be issued. IT DOESN'T MEAN THE STUDENT HAS NOT DONE REQUIRED WORK!!

I'd like to recap the skills students acquired in completing these two summative assignments. They learned to:

1. formulate keyword searches on the Internet to find the exact information they need
2. take notes from the Internet, saving the URL and date they viewed the website for an MLA Works Cited later
3. review research notes and choosE the appropriate information to create a presentation on a topic
4. create a video using a Google app, WeVideo
5. follow the formatting rules to create an MLA Works Cited page

Their skills aren't as honed as they will be in June, but every student has now been introduced to them and has put them into action. They can now put those skills into use for the rest of the year.

We also began or continued Hamlet, depending on which class you are looking at. C2 had a "killer" assignment this week in which they read a passage of Hamlet, a commentary on the term "quintessence," and an excerpt from Jeremy Taylor's "Holy Dying" (1651). There was much weeping and gnashing to teeth, and they were positive it couldn't be done. Then they came to class after the assignment was over, feeling very pleased with themselves for taking on the challenge and doing well with it. I explained to one student while working one on one that I try to push them into their ZPD on a regular basis to help them grow: the zone of proximal development is where the work is more challenging than usual and can be completed with appropriate assistance, but isn't so hard that it's too frustrating to complete. A short discussion of ZPD is here.

We dipped into vocabulary this week. Each class is at a different place, but everyone will finish with five new words when we return, then they will have their second vocabulary quiz.

C1 and C3 worked on their Outsiders sequel performance assessment, and all classes worked on the first essay on things that are important. Those two assignments will soon be finished. I taught everyone a mini-lesson on the Buch Revision Method, which is a very quick, easy way to add content to writing. It's a useful technique for taking an essay test or generating more content on an essay when the writer feels stuck. Quite a few said it was one of the most helpful tips they'd ever received for writing, so our time was well-spent.

In ECO, Mr. Shenk visited and talked about his 30+ years working for Shentel and the types of jobs they offer. We read about interviews and conducted some mock interviews. Students are eager to go back to planning their career games, but Mrs. Zimmon and I need to meet to discuss how we'll find the materials for them to make the games.

In Encore, we are reading Babe and Me, and I haven't wanted to stop our reading to do anything extra because we only meet on alternating days, and many of them have said they are very into the "zone" with the book and are eager to find out what happens next. They were surprised this week when reading how uncouth Babe Ruth's manners were. He is very different from Honus Wagner! They are volunteering predictions and comparisons after practicing them in the first book, so I don't need to teach those skills again; they have become habit.