This week, most of our time was spent reading and discussing Night. C2 finished the book, so we took a look at Elizabeth Loftus's TED Talk on false memory and how that could affect the writer of a memoir. I had determined before we began the book not just to read it, but use it to discuss how to evaluate primary resources for research. I've shown them Oprah's tour of Auschwitz with Elie Wiesel, which I believe was a valuable activity that left them very moved, but it has scraped my soul raw to spend days teaching the Holocaust. I will be very glad to leave the topic behind. Another activity was a creative writing prompt. They watched a clip from War and Remembrance in which the Jews arrived at Auschwitz on the train and were then sorted into those sent to the camps and those who would go to the gas chambers. Their writing was some of the most descriptive I've read this year.
In all classes, I had time to begin carpe diem poetry, which we will return to in the upcoming week. We will have two days with computers next week to begin the new projects--or for students who still haven't completed second quarter work to finish it. Any work that was turned in at the end of this week will be graded this weekend with grade changes submitted this week.
In an effort to help students remember due dates, I've begun asking them to get out their cellphones OR their planners when I give them a due date. I also told them about a gmail app, Boomerang, that allows them to send themselves e-mails on a certain date or to "boomerang" an e-mail with due dates or instructions back to themselves. I have to thank C2 who said what should have been obvious to me: "I never take the planner home or look at it. My whole life is on my phone. Can I just put the dates into my phone instead of my planner?" Well, of course! Why didn't I think of that long ago??
ECO is still working as a study hall, and they reported that their grades have gone up as a result of our time spent organizing assignments and study time. We hope to soon have some classes dedicated to career discussions again. Encore finished That Was Then, This Is Now. I was impressed that students often stopped as we were reading and initiated discussions. When we finished the book, we had an intense discussion that lasted most of that meeting time about love, hate, and betrayal (the main character turned in the boy who had lived with them and been as close as a brother for drug dealing). They asked what we'd read next, and I said I planned to focus on writing for the upcoming SOL. I anticipated possible groans, but they were excited. In fact, they wanted to start right that moment. Wow! Looking forward to it!
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
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