Monthly Archives: August 2017

8/24/17 (Level)

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Today, we looked at the Apply Texas essay prompts.

We’ll be addressing Topic A, so the prewriting we are doing today is specifically for that topic. Notice the topic says “Describe your family, home, neighborhood, or community, and explain how it has shaped you as a person.” What does that mean? Well, it means don’t write about all of those things! It’s better to focus on one narrow topic rather than four broad ones. So, to help us decide what we want to focus on, we are going to fill out the prewriting chart.

As always, if I ask you to do something, I do it myself. Here is my example prewriting. But don’t get worried that mine is so long: I’m OLD! I probably have a lot more experience than you. You can also see that that I was able to spend a LOT of time in certain areas, and then didn’t have much to say in other areas. That’s okay. That should show you that you probably should AVOID writing about that topic!

This will be due tomorrow: we’ll have all day to work on this today, and tomorrow, we’ll have the day to finish the Writing Territories and this, the Apply Texas Prewriting.

8/24/17 (AP)

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I’m going to go boring on your today and read notes off a PowerPoint! Hooray! These are the notes from the Harvard book that I’ve been referencing.

Choose a college entrance essay prompt (from Apply Texas or elsewhere) and write to that topic. Aim for about 500 words, unless the prompt asks for something else.

I know some of you (my grade grabbers!) want to to go STRAIGHT to the rubric to see how to get an A! Well, cool your jets for a second. We are going to create our OWN rubric tomorrow based on what we talked about today. All the AP classes are going to make suggestions, and Mrs. James and I will flesh it out for you.

8/23/17 (Level)

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Ahoy! Because I am old and I miss MySpace, we are going to do a MySpace survey style quiz/questionnaire. Why? First of all, it helps me to get to know you, but it also provides areas of expertise that you can write about for later writing assignments. 🙂

As I promised, anything that I ask you to do, I do myself. So here is MY list you can look it. Notice that I don’t always go into details on this. I’ve given intentionally vague answers in some areas – for a reason. You can do the same! I want to get to know you, but I don’t need to know ALL your dirty secrets. This way, you can still maintain some privacy while allowing me to (hopefully) make connections.

We will work on this all day today and will be due on Friday, 8/25 (revised due date: 9/6).

8/23/17 (AP)

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Today, we looked at successful Harvard application essays. Each table read one essay and as a group, discussed and identified the following:

  1. A summary of the essay
  2. A thematic statement of the essay
  3. Accomplishments of the essay
  4. Areas of the improvement for the essay
  5. Ideas I could use/incorporate in my own writing

At the end of class, each table presented their findings to the class. A few people were surprised that these were successful Harvard essays – hopefully, that will ease the pressure on YOU a bit. A college application essay is designed to show your personality and your values – they look at your GPA, transcript, and test scores to determine your intelligence.

8/22/17 (Level)

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Glad you are back!

We discussed our Creative Coloring activity from yesterday based on these questions:

1. Was this a difficult task for the group? Why or why not? What would have made this easier as a group?

2. How did the group work to create the picture? Who was the leader? Who didn’t work very hard? Who was a helper (or made suggestions)? Who just walked away and did nothing? Who decided the theme? How or why was that theme chosen? Did you practice or trace the pictures? Did everyone listen? Did everyone participate? How well did YOU participate?

3. Is everyone happy with the picture that was created? What would you have done differently if you were working all by yourself? Is there anything you would change?

4. Is it easier to do things by yourself or with a group? Was the group too big or too small? Or just right?

5. Why is it important to be able to work with other as a member of a team?

Honestly, after ten years of doing this, I thought I’d seen and heard it all possible responses to these questions, but you guys gave some great insight.

Then we looked at our finished word cloud from yesterday to remember our focus for the year:

Honestly, I had to look up absquatulate. Good word. I like it when my students stump me! 🙂

Lastly, we discussed my ten Purpose Driven words that I believe in:

KEYS OF PURPOSE-DRIVEN LEARNING

 

KEY DEFINITION EXPECTATIONS LEADERS
ENTHUSIASM A strong and inspiring

feeling of excitement

 Smile!, Sit up and actively listen, Participate, Have fun Jimmy Fallon

Peyton Manning

Oprah
EFFORT Hard work; a serious attempt

at accomplishing a goal

 Turn in quality work that shows that you tried your hardest, Overcome obstacles that arise Jackie Joyner-Kersee

Jane Goodall

Lionel Messi
CONFIDENCE Faith or belief in one’s self;

certainty in one’s abilities

 Speak loudly and clearly,

Make eye contact, Embrace challenges

 Martin Luther King Jr.

Amelia Earhart

Muhammad Ali
FOCUS Concentrated attention

on the task at hand

 Keep working for the whole time, Ignore distractions, Do what needs to get done Rosa Parks

Billie Jean King

Michelangelo
RESILIENCE Capability to recover quickly from difficulties; toughness Accept that mistakes will be made, Ask yourself what can be done differently, Keep trying Michael Jordan

Abraham Lincoln

Helen Keller
DEPENDABILITY Trustworthy; able to be relied

on to do what is expected

 Always do what you say you’re going to do, Be an active participant of your group Nelson Mandela

Aaron Rodgers

Mother Teresa
INITIATIVE Power to act or take charge before others do Volunteer, Meet the expectations without having to be asked, Lead others to make strong choices Wright Brothers

Bill Gates

Jackie Robinson
CREATIVITY Use of imagination

and original ideas

 Be an individual, Purposely be different, Brainstorm a variety of ideas before deciding on one Steve Jobs

Franklin D. Roosevelt

Beyonce
CURIOSITY Strong desire to know or learn something; inquisitiveness Look for the answer before asking for help, Dive deeper into a class topic, Ask “why?” Thomas Edison

Marie Curie

Neil Armstrong
EMPATHY Ability to understand and share the feelings of another person Put others first, Think about how your actions affect others, Be respectful of everyone Gandhi

Florence Nightingale

Harriet Tubman

We ended by grading ourselves on these areas: A, B, C, D, and F. I also asked you to tell me what is one thing that you are concerned about for this year.

See you tomorrow for an old skool MySpace survey! 😉

 

8/22/17 (AP)

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I reminded you that we needed How To Read Literature Like a Professor, Othello (yes, you can get No Fear if you’d like), and Pygmalion. We have class sets of Othello and Pygmalion if you’d like, but if you are like me, you are going to want to annotate and analyze in the book.

Get these books ASAP: Othello and Pygmalion will need to be read by 10/2. We will start reading segments of HTRLLAP in September.

We discussed our Creative Coloring activity from yesterday based on these questions:

1. Was this a difficult task for the group? Why or why not? What would have made this easier as a group?

2. How did the group work to create the picture? Who was the leader? Who didn’t work very hard? Who was a helper (or made suggestions)? Who just walked away and did nothing? Who decided the theme? How or why was that theme chosen? Did you practice or trace the pictures? Did everyone listen? Did everyone participate? How well did YOU participate?

3. Is everyone happy with the picture that was created? What would you have done differently if you were working all by yourself? Is there anything you would change?

4. Is it easier to do things by yourself or with a group? Was the group too big or too small? Or just right?

5. Why is it important to be able to work with other as a member of a team?

Honestly, after ten years of doing this, I thought I’d seen and heard it all possible responses to these questions, but you guys gave some great insight.

Then we looked at our finished word cloud from yesterday to remember our focus for the year:

Honestly, I had to look up absquatulate. Good word. I like it when my students stump me! 🙂

We then played Two Rooms and Boom. Once you got past the initial shock of it all (and I tried to explain the game as quickly as possible), you guys did fairly well. We haven’t had time to debrief from my 4th period, but in 2nd period, the blue team won. We also had a few independent gray cards win, too. 4th period: you guys need to learn how to secretly do some card shares! You were flashing everyone your colors and cards! I won’t be surprised if we regroup tomorrow and we don’t have a single winner!

image

I want you to remember this experience as you read Othello. You might be able to talk me into another now that you know how the game is played. 😉

Tomorrow, we’ll be working with personal essays (college entrance essays or scholarship essays).

8/21/17 (Level)

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First day jitters? No way! I hope that your first day was great! I was so excited to meet you all, even though there were a few more cell phones and sleepers than I would have liked on the first day. But we’ll get there!

The struggle for me as a teacher is how to cover all the required topics: dress code, parking, bus behavior, all while still trying to be engaging and getting to know you.

So, this is what we talked about each class period:

1st Period

  • How to read the schedule
  • 6 minutes between each class period
  • There are no AGR cards this year because we have online registration now (AOR)
  • All requests for early dismissal are handled before school in the attendance office
  • All notes regarding absences are to be turned in directly to the attendance office.

2nd Period

  • I passed out KISD forms. Please sign and return to 2nd period
    • Clinic Emergency Card
    • Insurance forms.
    • Free/Reduced Lunch online information
    • Migrant Form-(cow)
    • “Wise – Up” parent letter
  • Note: There are no AGR registration cards this year because KISD has moved to annual online registration (AOR) this year.
  • Early dismissals, doctor’s notes, court notes, and written excuses are to be turned in to the attendance office before school.
  • Once a student has arrived on campus, no student is permitted to leave the Klein Oak campus during the school day without an approved early dismissal. Any student leaving campus must sign out in the attendance office before he leaves regardless of his location in the building at the time of the early dismissal.
  • Any student arriving to school after 7:40 AM must go to the attendance office to sign in.
  • Parents need to call the attendance office when a student is absent. Students are to bring a note to the attendance office the following day to excuse the absence.

3rd Period

  • We reviewed the dress code policy in the student handbook (pages 46-47).
  • We reviewed the section of the student handbook related to Pointers, Portable Music Devices, Cameras, Handheld Computers, Cell Phones and Other Electronic Devices (pages 52-53) Inform students of the new KO procedures with the red, yellow and green cards.

4th Period

  • I explained cafeteria information as detailed below. Ask students to check their schedule for 4th and 5th period only. The letter following the students 4th or 5th period room assignment denotes the lunch that student is to attend. For example, if the student is in room 287B during 5th period, he or she will go to B lunch. If there is no letter then the student will go to B lunch. Go over which courses in fourth and fifth period go to which lunch periods. Look at the bell schedule for clarification.
  • Cash money may be deposited in a student’s lunch account using one of the three net cash machines which are located in the commons. Student lunch accounts can also be paid online using the Klein Oak webpage.
  • Students must use their ID number to purchase lunch. Once distributed, all students will be required to use their ID to purchase lunches.  Emphasize to the students that they must not share their ID or PIN with anyone else. 
  • Students are responsible for throwing away the trash on their table. It takes a team effort to keep our school clean.
  • The vending machines and food lines will be off limits when the bell rings to return to class.
  • Students have four (4) minutes between lunch periods.
  • Reminder: no bottled drinks except water, candy, food, etc., will be allowed in the building outside of the cafeteria. Klein Oak is a closed campus and that visitors are not allowed on the campus unless they are approved by the administration. Students may not have guests eat lunch with them unless they are a guardian.
  • Students can locate the bus lists on the cafeteria windows during lunch to find the correct bus number and lane.

5th Period

  • We discussed that they should never be in the hallway, during the school day without a pass from a teacher.
  • We reviewed the sections of the student handbook pertaining to Bullying (page 49-50) and Dishonesty in School Work (page 51) with students.
  • We went over Klein Oak Honor Code statement at this time. “I affirm that I have neither given nor received unauthorized assistance on this assignment.”

6th Period

  • Any and all prescribed medication is to be kept in the original container and taken to the clinic. All medication must be brought to the school by a parent or guardian. Students may not bring and/or carry prescription medication with them at any time.
  • Students were reminded to never accept or consume any item that could be mistaken for a drug. Students should never use someone else’s medication.
  • We talked about the section in the student handbook pertaining to possession of tobacco (page 54) and the section on use and possession of alcohol, controlled substances, dangerous drugs, inhalants, narcotics and/or marijuana by students (page 64-65).
  • Students that they are not to trespass on the Hildebrandt, Northampton, Krimmel, or any other campuses.

7th Period

  • Review the transportation section on page 32-34 of the student handbook. Review pages 53-54 about parking lot information for students who drive.
  • I reminded students that at the end of the day, they need to go directly to their bus or automobiles, unless they are involved in a school sponsored extracurricular activity, immediately after school. Once buses start moving, they will not be stopped. 
  • Vending machines are off limits after school unless students are staying for an extracurricular activity. Students are not to carry drinks out to the buses.
  • Last reminder: Clinic Emergency cards, insurance forms, migrant form, free or reduced lunch online information sheet home for signatures and completion. Everything that needs signing should be returned to the second period teacher tomorrow.
  • Bring schedules back to school tomorrow

See why the first day can be a challenge?

Our big activity for the day was Creative Coloring: each student was given a marker and as group, had to draw a picture for me. A picture? In English class? Sometimes, I ask you to do things that may seem a little… weird at first. You may wonder why I ask you to do something. Trust me on this. We’ll be talking about these pictures tomorrow and next week.

image

I am going to put all of the pictures I took in Schoology for your enjoyment.

Lastly, I went over my syllabus. Yes, I did assign parent homework, but I promise it’s fairly easy (and won’t be due for a long time.

8/21/17 (AP)

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First day jitters? No way! I hope that your first day was great! I was so excited to meet you all, even though there were a few more cell phones and sleepers than I would have liked on the first day. But we’ll get there!

The struggle for me as a teacher is how to cover all the required topics: dress code, parking, bus behavior, all while still trying to be engaging and getting to know you.

So, this is what we talked about each class period:

1st Period

  • How to read the schedule
  • 6 minutes between each class period
  • There are no AGR cards this year because we have online registration now (AOR)
  • All requests for early dismissal are handled before school in the attendance office
  • All notes regarding absences are to be turned in directly to the attendance office.

2nd Period

  • I passed out KISD forms. Please sign and return to 2nd period
    • Clinic Emergency Card
    • Insurance forms.
    • Free/Reduced Lunch online information
    • Migrant Form-(cow)
    • “Wise – Up” parent letter
  • Note: There are no AGR registration cards this year because KISD has moved to annual online registration (AOR) this year.
  • Early dismissals, doctor’s notes, court notes, and written excuses are to be turned in to the attendance office before school.
  • Once a student has arrived on campus, no student is permitted to leave the Klein Oak campus during the school day without an approved early dismissal. Any student leaving campus must sign out in the attendance office before he leaves regardless of his location in the building at the time of the early dismissal.
  • Any student arriving to school after 7:40 AM must go to the attendance office to sign in.
  • Parents need to call the attendance office when a student is absent. Students are to bring a note to the attendance office the following day to excuse the absence.

3rd Period

  • We reviewed the dress code policy in the student handbook (pages 46-47).
  • We reviewed the section of the student handbook related to Pointers, Portable Music Devices, Cameras, Handheld Computers, Cell Phones and Other Electronic Devices (pages 52-53) Inform students of the new KO procedures with the red, yellow and green cards.

4th Period

  • I explained cafeteria information as detailed below. Ask students to check their schedule for 4th and 5th period only. The letter following the students 4th or 5th period room assignment denotes the lunch that student is to attend. For example, if the student is in room 287B during 5th period, he or she will go to B lunch. If there is no letter then the student will go to B lunch. Go over which courses in fourth and fifth period go to which lunch periods. Look at the bell schedule for clarification.
  • Cash money may be deposited in a student’s lunch account using one of the three net cash machines which are located in the commons. Student lunch accounts can also be paid online using the Klein Oak webpage.
  • Students must use their ID number to purchase lunch. Once distributed, all students will be required to use their ID to purchase lunches.  Emphasize to the students that they must not share their ID or PIN with anyone else. 
  • Students are responsible for throwing away the trash on their table. It takes a team effort to keep our school clean.
  • The vending machines and food lines will be off limits when the bell rings to return to class.
  • Students have four (4) minutes between lunch periods.
  • Reminder: no bottled drinks except water, candy, food, etc., will be allowed in the building outside of the cafeteria. Klein Oak is a closed campus and that visitors are not allowed on the campus unless they are approved by the administration. Students may not have guests eat lunch with them unless they are a guardian.
  • Students can locate the bus lists on the cafeteria windows during lunch to find the correct bus number and lane.

5th Period

  • We discussed that they should never be in the hallway, during the school day without a pass from a teacher.
  • We reviewed the sections of the student handbook pertaining to Bullying (page 49-50) and Dishonesty in School Work (page 51) with students.
  • We went over Klein Oak Honor Code statement at this time. “I affirm that I have neither given nor received unauthorized assistance on this assignment.”

6th Period

  • Any and all prescribed medication is to be kept in the original container and taken to the clinic. All medication must be brought to the school by a parent or guardian. Students may not bring and/or carry prescription medication with them at any time.
  • Students were reminded to never accept or consume any item that could be mistaken for a drug. Students should never use someone else’s medication.
  • We talked about the section in the student handbook pertaining to possession of tobacco (page 54) and the section on use and possession of alcohol, controlled substances, dangerous drugs, inhalants, narcotics and/or marijuana by students (page 64-65).
  • Students that they are not to trespass on the Hildebrandt, Northampton, Krimmel, or any other campuses.

7th Period

  • Review the transportation section on page 32-34 of the student handbook. Review pages 53-54 about parking lot information for students who drive.
  • I reminded students that at the end of the day, they need to go directly to their bus or automobiles, unless they are involved in a school sponsored extracurricular activity, immediately after school. Once buses start moving, they will not be stopped. 
  • Vending machines are off limits after school unless students are staying for an extracurricular activity. Students are not to carry drinks out to the buses.
  • Last reminder: Clinic Emergency cards, insurance forms, migrant form, free or reduced lunch online information sheet home for signatures and completion. Everything that needs signing should be returned to the second period teacher tomorrow.
  • Bring schedules back to school tomorrow

See why the first day can be a challenge?

Then, I did a quick little activity I call Numbers. Again, you may be wondering why we are working with numbers if this is an English class. Trust me.

I explained we had a list of number from 1 – 96. You had one minute to circle as many numbers as you can: in numerical order! No shortcuts or creative thinking on this one: I seriously wanted you to find the one and circle. Then find the two and circle. Then find the three. You get the idea.

I think the highest anyone got was 25. Good, but not great. We only had a minute, and during this time, I was not helpful at all. I increased anxiety by constantly yelling out the time, snarkily telling students that they already should have learned their numbers, yelled at people to stop talking, and was just generally unhelpful.

I showed all of my students the pattern (some of you figured it out on your own!) and then we did the whole thing over again – except this time, I gave you a sheet with the grid that showed you the quadrants and the pattern. EVERY SINGLE ONE OF YOU GOT MORE THAN THE FIRST TIME AROUND! Why? Because I showed you the trick. So why did we do this? Because you guys can already write a paper. You are already accomplished English students. My goal is to help you increase your skills (and ultimately your AP score). I’m going to do this not by drill and kill (though there is a time and a place for practice tests, and I want to spread them out over the year – brain research that cramming for a test is counterproductive).

Our big activity for the day was Creative Coloring: each student was given a marker and as group, had to draw a picture for me. A picture? In English class? Sometimes, I ask you to do things that may seem a little… weird at first. You may wonder why I ask you to do something. Trust me on this. We’ll be talking about these pictures tomorrow and next week.

image

I am going to put all of the pictures I took in Schoology for your enjoyment.

Lastly, I went over my syllabus. Yes, I did assign parent homework, but I promise it’s fairly easy (and won’t be due for a long time. You need to get How to Read Literature Like a Professor, Othello, and Pygmalion ASAP. Honestly, they are all fairly easy reads, but then again, it’s easy for me to say that: I like them all.

I’m. So. Excited!

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Have you seen a cartoon lately that shows the tired old trope about teachers dreading going back to school?

Sure you have.

Image result for teacher back to schoolImage result for teacher back to schoolImage result for teacher back to school

 

Let me tell you a little secret.

It’s not true.

Sure, there may be a few crankers out there that are counting down the minutes until they retire, but for the most part, your teachers are excited about the new school year and are ready to meet you! Seriously. I don’t know one teacher who plans on making their class boring. I don’t know anyone who rehearses scenes designed to embarrass anyone.

Instead, we are pumped! I know everyone in my hallway spent HOURS (including Saturdays) getting their rooms clean and ready for you. I know that my English IV teachers spent time talking about how we can get our students to learn the content without being boring. We talk about how we can be fair and respectful and fun – all while teaching what the state of Texas tells us we have to teach. We are ready to implement the training and new strategies that we tried out over the summer.

So what did I do this summer? Here are some highlights:

  • I went to a training over how to better manage my classroom and how you use technology. To be honest, I think this was meant for middle school teachers who were just now getting Chromebooks rather than a old fart like me who’s been on a 1:1 campus since 2006.
  • I attended a training on poverty.
  • I spent an afternoon discussing the power of short stories (as opposed to long, full length novels).
  • I spent a week in San Antonio at the International Society for Technology Education.
  • I spent a day refreshing myself with brain theory and how to engage brains: engaged brains learn better!
  • I learned about Google Choice boards.
  • I was trained how to be a coach for other teachers.
  • I went to a session about grit, mental fortitude, and growth mindset.
  • I learned about Schoology.

My room isn’t completely ready. I don’t have all of my plans and materials ready for the entire week. My Schoology class(es) have nothing in them yet, but I’m ready for the class of 2018!

Sure, I’m counting down the days until June 2nd, but that’s because of graduation! The big payoff!

I hope you guys are excited as I am!