January 19-23, 2015

The week began with a holiday and ended with a 1:00 p.m. release for weather. Thus ended the second quarter and the first semester.

Most of the time was given to students to use the computers to finish projects. On the board, I also posted late/missing work (all completed in class) that I still didn't have from students, and I gave the student another copy of the assignment (for some this was the third or fourth time I'd given a copy). If there is a zero for daily work still in the gradebook, it isn't because I didn't make students aware of it.

I reminded students that all summative assignments (the big ones) must be completed, so, if they have a zero for it this quarter, it still must be done the next quarter. I plan major assignments for a purpose, and it's part of the learning experience. The major assignments for this quarter were the important things in my life essay, a one-page summary of a current event from the news, including a Works Cited page showing the sources, and, in Cores 1 and 2, The Outsiders five-page sequel. All of these assignments were originally given to the students in October or November, so they've had adequate time to complete the work. I have computers for 2 or 3 classes a week.

At the bottom of the blog, I've posted the summative projects for the upcoming quarter. Check it every week, because I will add quizzes and other assignments as I set those dates throughout the quarter. I e-mailed and gave hard copies of these assignments, except the essays, long ago. I included a link to the Google Doc for each assignment.

This week, we continued working on fragments and run-ons, two of the major writing mistakes made in writing. They took a vocabulary quiz on the last five words they learned (qualm, clarity, explicit, stellar, cohesion).

ECO continued study hall work. Encore is finishing That Was Then, This Is Now.

Important Dates

February 27: Interim Reports
March 10-13: Writing SOL (Day 1: Multiple Choice; Day 2: Writing the essay; Day 3: make-ups for absentees)
March 17: Spring picture day
March 31: End of Q3

English 8 Due Dates

February 13: Create Your Own Project: Plan due (found on pages 3 and 4 of the project hand-out
February 20: Choice essay #1 due
March 5: Choice essay #2 due
March 20: Powtoons Project Due
March 31: Create Your Own Project: Project due