Wednesday 11/19

Today students read for 20 minutes, I assessed longwrites during this time in order to provide timely feedback so students could be informed about whether they are approaching them right or not.  We talked after about the need for transitions, the need for less summary and the reasons we read.  This lead to the idea that most students are missing the part of the longwrite where they reflect on what they noticed in order to gain a better  understanding of their world.
 My intention was to read "All Summer in a Day" by Ray Bradbury but we did not get there.  We will read this text on Friday.
HW: Redos are due on Friday (this is a great opportunity to erase entirely a low grade on the longwrite with anew one now that you know what changes to make)
Readin Logs are due MONDAY 150 minutes

Tuesday 11/18

Today we read for 10 minutes, we then brainstormed together ways to write long about each different category of post it.  I shared an example of a longwrite written on Nightjohn. Then students were asked to begin writing a longwrite using the rules sheet we pasted in the notebook yesterday.  The longwrite is due tomorrow (don't forget logs are due on Monday too).

Monday 11/17

Period 2 class took a little more time reflecting today. We then glued long write directions and ideas for extending longwrites into our reader's notebooks.  We discussed the "formula" for a fantastic longwrite.  HW for tonight is to read 20 minutes and take post its in order to be prepared for class tomorrow.

Period 8 and 9 We reviewed our goals and created a space to post them, put longwrite directions and ideas into our notebooks, discussed the formul and looked at some examples of longwrites.
 HW for tonight is to read 20 minutes and take post its in order to be prepared for class tomorrow.

Friday 11/14

This is today's agenda:

10 minute read--figure out how many minutes you need to reach 150 by Monday

Please take out Powerschool grade.  Look over grades--in all about me section of notebook, write about one of the assignments and tell what it taught you.  Did you do similar pieces before? What did you differently this time? If you were to do it again what would you try differently?

Now let’s look at your reading logs--first put them in order, now look for patterns, are there things that you are consistently doing wrong?  What can you learn from those mistakes?  What will you do differently next time? Where are you reading most efficiently?  What can you learn from this?  

Now check your completed books list as you compare them to your reading logs.  Are our numbers right?

What is one thing you would like to do better next quarter? Where do you feel you are not pushing hard enough? How will you achieve this goal?

participation. enthusiasm for learning, asking questions, reading, writing, taking criticism well, being a good partner, giving criticism, caring, communicating

How will you know you have reached these goals?

HW: Complete reflection with thoroughness. You will leave it with me on Monday.
Logs will be collected on Monday too

Thursday 11/14

I am at a conference today so you will use the time to recoup the 30 minutes you did not get reading this week today! You will read for 30 minutes then complete this worksheet and turn it in for a grade. Don't forget to print out your Powerschool grade for tomorrow and to read more tonight logs are due on Monday.

Wednesday 11/12

I hope everyone enjoyed the gorgeous day off yesterday.  We used class today to finish up presentations then to reflect on the whole process of this project.  Please log into the kidblog (at the top of this page) and open my post that says Reflections on Civil War Project. Copy the questions I posed.  Then return to the homepage, scroll down and find your blog on the right hand side ( as Cooper says just click the tab that says "My Blog"and start a new post and paste those questions so you have a guide but essentially spend time completing a thorough reflection of what you learned about yourself in your post.  This is due by 2:45 on Thursday. Also, tomorrow I will be at a conference so you need to bring your IR books, I will be giving you 30 minutes to read tomorrow and 10 minutes to write, if you don't have your book, you will have to read my selection.  Also on Friday we will be setting some goals so I need you to print out your powerschool grade--be sure to print from the screen that shows all of your individual English grades.

Due Tomorrow--BRING IR BOOKS
Due End of day on Thursday--reflection post
Due Friday at classtime--Printed Power School grade

Monday 11/10

2 slide presentations were started today. I see some improvement!  Nice work. New logs are due on Monday 10/17 so be sure you are reading and doing post-its.

Friday

Lots of great practice with presentations today!  Don't forget your Reading logs are due on Monday and so are your presentations.

Thursday 11/6

Today we talked about the important elements of a good presentation. Students are going to present their topic and their individual slides on Monday.  We initially thought presentations would happen tomorrow but due to so many students being out for All County (CONGRATULATIONS!!) we think we better make tomorrow be an intense practice day.  Remember the following points:

• Engage your audience by letting them know what is happening around your topic
• Engage your audience by speaking their language--identify who people and places are
• Give points of reference so the audience can make sense of the information you are providing
• Answer the question "So What?" make sure we know why the information you provided matters-what are we supposed to think about it?
• Control pacing

Wednesday

This morning's class spent time on the class blog reflecting over the 2 week period of study. Duncan and anyone else who was absent, you should be sure to log into your class blog (remember its your powerschool 4 digit number for the password) and do the reflection asked for in the post entitled "Civil War Reflection". Your entry should be a new post in your own blog that can be found on the bottom right of the homescreeen. Just scroll down until you see the long list of names and choose yours.

The afternoon class spent time finishing up presentations then reflected a bit.

HW: AM class finish up a thoughtful reflection post (20 point major grade) and

continue to read/log and post it.

Tuesday 11/4

Happy Election Day

Today was the day to show us what you know! Presentations happened all period.  At the end of the period, we took time to reflect a bit. More reflection tomorrow.
HW: READ/LOG/POST IT

Monday 11/3

Today we talked about the rubric for presentations in hopes of making students realize just having the slideshow done does not mean you are ready for the presentations! You wilneed ot break up the responsibilities and PRACTICE. You should not just read the slides to us, but rather tell a story about each slide, fill in juicy details to make it more interesting and compelling.  Students then spent hte reamainder of hte blocked period getting ready for tomorrow's presentations!  Much work needs to be done to ensure your presentations are the best they can be.

HW: practice presentaions parts for which you are responsible.  Continure reading in your IR books. 1590 minutes due next Monday.