November 13, 2016

I meant to post something to keep you updated on a weekly basis, but I began the first month of school with an illness I couldn't shake, which left me drained. I finally recovered and some events at school left us unsettled. However, one of the largest obstacles as we finish the first quarter is the great number of students who are either not turning in assignments or are turning in very poor efforts just to call the assignment complete. I require those to be completed until they are satisfactory. In English, the students have workshop time almost every day, often for most of the 90-minute block, so I'm having a difficult time understanding why getting assignments in is nearly impossible for some students. I conference individually with students, and I'm still not getting clear answers about why work isn't completed satisfactorily and on time.

I'm trying to teach independence, which includes organizing workloads, but that has also been too much for many students, so this past week I began posting a daily workshop schedule and telling the student which assignment should be worked upon until completed. The chalkboard at the front of the room was depressingly full of late work, so I went digital. If there is an (R) after the name, the assignment is to be revised and resubmitted until satisfactory. If there's just a name, the assignment has never been submitted. If there's a strike-through, the student says it's complete, and I need to check it. The link for you to access this digital chakboard is here. (Scroll to the second page to view.)

Last month, students wrote a letter to the next president on the topic of coal power. They were to acknowledge the sources for their information, but didn't need to formally cite them. The next assignment is due on Tuesday, November 15, on fracking. This time, they are to write an essay with properly cited sources and a Works Cited page. They've had the last month to work on this assignment.

We've read "The Cask of Amontillado" and "The Tell-Tale Heart" by Edgar Allan Poe and watched the videos of the stories in the last week. The videos re-read the story, so students get to hear it twice. On Friday, we used the poppy and Veterans Day to look at symbolism of flowers. They listened to and discussed "Rose Tattoo" by the Dropkick Murphys, then researched and chose their own flower "tattoo" that represents them and drew and colored it. The last few weeks have been a bit stressful, so I wanted to give them a Friday with something a little lighter and noisier to give them a break from workshop.

Upcoming due date: November 15: Fracking annotated article + argument essay with a Works Cited page.