September 27, 2013

This is another day of me having to be principal, so this is what the plan was for the classroom.  Thanks to Mrs. Phillips for covering for me.  

Period 1--AP 30

The students were given this class to work on their Frankenstein essays.  

Period 2 & 3--ELA A 30

 We finished reading Chapter 13 and had a brief discussion before the bell to end the first class of our double.  Then, Mrs. Phillips came in to handle the class while I went to the office for period 3.  During this class, the students were to work on a double-entry journal assignment for chapters 11, 12, and 13.  They had the class to work on this.

Period 4--AP 10

The students were given an old AP Essay-response section of the exam and in groups of 4-5, were to read the literature excerpts and try to figure out: 1.  What the passage was saying and 2.  Try to write a thesis statement that covers everything in the prompt.  They could also do the free-response question but they would have to use Of Mice and Men to answer it.

Period 5--History 10

The students did some current events work with some "What in the World" handouts.

September 26, 2013

Period 1--History 10
We used this class to finish up our assignment on Renaissance Art and how that shows the life and times of the people living then.  

Period 2--ELA A 30
We continued with our reading of the novel April Raintree and are nearing the end of the novel.  We hope to finish early next week.

Period 3--AP 30
In order to refresh their memories of how to write formal essays, we went over the "Dreaded Formal Essay" section of their booklet to review requirements.  They will apply this to Frankenstein as they write their first big essay of the year.

Period 4--AP 10
We reviewed "David" (poem by Earle Birney) and discussed the similarities between Bob's situation in the poem and George's in Of Mice and Men.  We looked at a power point to discuss some of the controversies surrounding euthanasia in the news.  

Period 5--Mentor period
We had evacuation procedures today to let the students know how to handle fire drills and necessary evacuations of the school. 

Period 6--AP 20
We began our discussion of to Kill a Mockingbird and had some excellent conversation.  We will continue to examine the novel to prepare the grade 11s for their first major essay.

September 25, 2013

Period 1--AP 30
We continued our discussion of Frankenstein and started going reviewing essay writing skills just before the bell rang.  

Period 2--ELA A 30
We read Chapter 11 of our novel, summarized, and started reading Chapter 12.  This was a fairly important chapter and the students treated it respectfully.

Period 3--History 10
We moved to the North Computer Lab to continue working on our Renaissance assignment.  

Period 4--AP 10
We finished the power point of information on Of Mice and Men and were discussing the concepts of euthanasia.  We will continue with this tomorrow.  

September 24, 2013

I am away most of the day at either meetings or a cross country meet.  This is what the day should have looked like for those covering my classes. 

Period 1—History 10

The students are working on an assignment about Renaissance Art.  I have the North Computer Lab booked, so they should be able to get going right away on this.   I also have us booked into the lab on Wednesday, but after that, we have to get moving along in History!

Period 2—ELA A 30

The students are reading the novel April Raintree.  They will briefly summarize its contents.  We’ve been working a lot on discrimination and racism with the content of this novel.  We read chapter 10.  After we finished, the students summarized the content of the chapter.  

Period 3—AP 30

We are studying Frankenstein and are still in the middle of lecture with the novel but with me not here, we are going to suspend this for a day.  They were given their essay topics for them to get started on.  If they need a refresher course on how to write essays, they should refer to their AP Handbook.  

Period 4—AP 10

We will be going through our power point on Of Mice and Men.

Period 5—AP 10

We read the poem “David”.  Once they are finished with the poem, they need to write (this can be in point form) whether or not: a)  “George” did the right thing  AND b) whether Bob did the right thing in “David.”  Once they finish this, they should get together in groups of 4 or 5 and argue with each other. 

Period 6—AP 20

I’m not happy about missing this class.  It’s hard to get in a rhythm when we only have it every second day.   This what the plans for this class were supposed to be.  I'm not sure how far they'll get.

1. Have each student pick a quotation from the novel that especially impacted him or her.  They’ll have to choose three or four different options, as they can’t us one that someone else has already used. 
2. We’ll share them together as a class, offer some discussion, but mostly just share the “trip down memory lane.”  They need to explain WHY they chose the quotation that they did. 
3. They need to write down at least 5 questions that they have about the novel.  This can be about something that they didn’t understand, or something that they wonder about “after” the events of the novel.  Have them take out their AP Resource Booklet (I think I gave one to everyone.  If not, some should have theirs from last year and they can partner up) and turn to page 49.  This is on a book they haven’t read before but they should be able to get the basic idea.  It would be nice if this were finished and handed in for the end of the class, but if not, we can reassess where they are on Thursday.  

September 23, 2013

Period 1--ELA A 30
After a bit of a break from the novel to work on their identity assignment, the grade 12s got back down to business by reading chapter 9 today.  As usual, we discussed as we read and then summarized as we completed.  

Period 2--AP 30
We continued with Frankenstein discussions via a power point with an examination of parental duty, parallels between Frankenstein's character and that of the monster, and well as the role of women in this novel.  We should finish the power point up tomorrow and the students will be starting an essay.  

Period 3 & 4--History 10
We reviewed the assignment for Renaissance Art/Life and Times and I showed comparisons to Medieval art.  They had class time to work on this and we will continue with it tomorrow.  We also had two students present their current events so we had some discussion around that.  

Period 5--AP 10
The students handed in their double entry journals today and we began our discussion on the novel.  We will continue with this tomorrow.  

September 20, 2013

Period 1 & 2--AP 30

We finished the time write in the first of the double periods.  In the second period, we started our study from their summer reading on Paradise Lost.  There were various topics of discussion including the epistolary techniques as well as a few tangents to offer comparison to Dracula which they read in grade 10.  Just as the bell rang, we were discussing who was more human, the monster or Frankenstein.  

Period 3--ELA A 30

The students used this time to continue to work on their identity influences assignment.  It is either a short essay or a concept map.

Period 4--History 10

We looked at various examples of art from the Renaissance and discussed some of the details of it (as best we could with this being a History, not an Art History class)!  I introduced the assignment that will follow.  

Period 5--AP 10

The AP 10s continued with their discussion of point of view.  We went through the handout with an exercise on it and had some discussion about the pros and cons of the different points of view.  There was another handout outlining the details/definitions of each POV that we were just going through when the bell rang.

Period 6--AP 20

Since we were missing so many kids, I let the students work on their Benjamin Button annotations.  

I hope everyone has a great weekend!

September 19, 2013

Period 1--AP 30

The students started their timed write.  Since this is the first of the year for them and most haven't written anything substantial since last January when AP 20 ended, I am letting them use their AP Resource Booklet.  They will also get extra time to work on this.  They used the full class and will need some more time tomorrow to finish up.

Period 2 & 3--ELA A 30

We finished reading Chapter 8 of April Raintree and then summarized the chapter together.  We used the last sentence of the chapter to engage in some moral issues through class discussion.  This class continues to impress me with the depth of their conversation.  At the end of this chapter, it seemed like a good time to stop to do an assignment.  The students have two options based on influences that affect their own lives (family, friends, culture--including religion, ethnicity, traditions, etc., society, environment, etc.).  They could either write a brief essay about this or create a concept map about it.  Since it is a reflective, personal piece, I'm requiring them to use visuals to support.

Period 4--AP 10

We finished our discussion of Robert Frost's "The Road Not Taken" and this group of grade 10s showed incredible insight into the poem once they looked passed the simplistic (and usually inaccurate) reading of the poem.  We dealt with issues of perception, deception, and tone as we annotated the poem.  This is a very strong group of AP students and I'm excited to have them continue in the program.

Period 5--History 10

We finished going through the handout on "The Renaissance" with information about Michaelangelo, Galileo, and Da Vinci.  Comparisons are continually made to the Middle Ages, bringing a stronger understanding of the ideals of the time.  We had a bit of fun figuring out how "Machiavellian" they are by examining his principles.  To finish the class, we started looking at Renaissance art and will be doing an assignment based on the concepts of the Renaissance as seen in the art of the times.  

September 18, 2013

Period 1--History 10
Current events is an important part of any Social Studies/History course and ours is no different!  With that, the students were given a handout explaining their assignment to present a current event.  I showed exemplars from past years so they could see various levels of competency with the assignment and they would understand expectations.  From there, we continued with our look at the Renaissance with a handout.  We will continue this tomorrow.

Period 2--ELA A 30
We summarized the chapter we read yesterday and then worked our way through part of Chapter 8.  We had a lot of discussion about empathy in this chapter, so our progress through the book was somewhat slowed, but we will finish the chapter tomorrow.

Period 3--AP 30
The students were able to review timed writes...how to break down a prompt, how to write a thesis statement, and then a look at some of the things they can do to analyze a poem.  They were also shown a sample timed write.  To end the class, they were given their prompt and excerpt for them to start tomorrow.  

Period 4--AP 10
We had one student deliver his speech on his favourite book and then we were back down to work.  Today we started analyzing a poem to start them in the practice of reading actively.  We looked at Robert Frost's poem so they can see how easy it is to misread something based on your assumption of what you think it will mean.  We will finish our study of this tomorrow.

Period 5--Mentor period
The bottom half of the grade 12s met with me today to work on goal setting for their three way conferences that they will have in November.

Period 6--AP 20
We started in on some poetry from William Blake.  I introduced the poet and his premise wit the companion poetry of innocence and experience.  Our first set of companion poems is "The Tyger" and "The Lamb" which we just got into before the bell rang.  

September 17, 2013

Period 1--AP 30
We finished going over the multiple choice exam from last week and will start our timed write tomorrow.  

Period 2--ELA A 30
We kicked off the class with the students, in partners, choosing the quotation that they think is the most important from the chapter we just finished reading.  One partner had to read the quotation, and the other had to explain why that was the most important of the chapter.  This created some interesting conversation in class.  We just finished reading chapter 7 as the bell rang and are now half-way through the book.

Period 3--History 10
We had our last class in the computer lab to on their DaVinci webquest.  This will be due Friday.  Most students were able to finish this up this class.

Period 4--AP 10
The multiple choice was our agenda for the day and we finished going over why the answers are correct.  The goal is for the students to become more active readers.  

September 16, 2013

Period 1--History 10
We were working in the computer lab on our DaVinci webquest.  I will try to get more time for them to finish it tomorrow.  

Period 2--ELA A 30
I introduced the assignment that requires students to write for our local newspaper once throughout the semester.  We reviewed the chapter we read on Friday and then continued to read from the novel.  

Period 3--AP 30
We started going over the multiple choice but didn't quite finish so we'll do that tomorrow.

Period 4 & 5--AP 10
We had one more speech to go through today and then we started going over our multiple choice answers.  

Period 6--AP 20
We read a short story called "Little Things" by Raymond Carver.  We were just finishing up when the bell rang.  

September 13, 2013

Period 1--ELA A 30
Today the students took some time to respond to their classmates' ideas about the various prompts I've given them throughout the week.  For all intents and purposes, we've created a discussion board.  They have to respond to three of their classmates' original responses.

Period 2--AP 30
The students finished reading Paradise Lost.  They will have a timed write to start on Monday.  

Period 3 & 4--History 10
The students used the class to work on their assignment and then we started discussing the Renaissance.  

Period 4--AP 10
We did our speeches on our favourite books and just finished as the bell rang.  

September 12, 2013

Sorry I didn't get this posted yesterday...I was acting principal and it was a busy day but Mrs. Adelman kept the kids in line in the class!

Period 1 & 2--AP 30
The students used this class to work on their book annotations.  They need to get a start on this as it is due before Christmas break.  It is a substantial assignment so they need to get at it!

Period 3--ELA A 30
They summarized chapter 4 together, then read chapter 5 and summarized it as well.  By all accounts, they were busy throughout!

Period 4--History 10
They finished the documentary on The Dark Ages.  After this, they had time to work on their assignment.  This will be due Monday.

Period 5--AP 10
They used this class to work on their favourite book assignment OR finish their Of Mice and Men journal entries.  The double entry journal for the novel is due Sept. 20th.  The speeches start on Friday Sept. 13th.

Period 6--AP 20
The students used this time to finish their multiple choice.  Those that finished worked on their Benjamin Button annotations.  

September 11, 2013

Period 1--AP 30
We continued with our reading of Book One of Paradise Lost.  We should be able to finish this up tomorrow.

Period 2 & 3--ELA B 30
We finished reading chapter 3 and then summarized the content.  The students responded to the question: "How does prejudice hurt/affect people?"  Since it was a double, we spent considerable time stopping to discuss to break up the monotony.  We made it through chapter 4 as well and will continue on with our reading tomorrow.  

Period 4--AP 10
The students have this class to work on their speech for their favourite book.  They will also have some time tomorrow to complete this.  Their speeches will be done on Friday.  

Period 5--History 10
The students are watching a documentary on the Dark Ages.  They will continue watching this for the period and we will likely need some more time to finish tomorrow.  

September 10, 2013

Period 1--History 10
We began watching a documentary titled "Dark Ages" from the History Channel that takes the students through the early Middle Ages.  We are about 40 minutes into the 90 minute program so we will continue with this tomorrow.  As they watch, students are to jot down notes about important people, places, and events they see.  This should support the learning they have already done about this topic and help them formulate information to share for their assignment.  

Period 2--ELA A 30
We finished reading chapter two together and then summarized it as a class.  After this, the students did another "entrance slip" response to the question "Are you prejudice? Explain."  This is not meant to be judgmental for them, but rather to force themselves to look at the issues we are seeing in this novel.  The students don't have to share these responses with anyone but me so they are confidential.

Period 3--AP 30
As we continued our study of Paradise Lost "Book One," Satan's character begins to emerge more fully.  It will take further time to complete our reading of this and the students will have a timed write to tackle when we are finished.  

Period 4--AP 10
Our class finished up our informal study of allusion by going through various Bible stories, Norse myths, and other sources of allusion (Shakespeare, nursery rhymes, etc.).  We looked in our "AP Resource Booklet" at the concepts of tone and diction.  This becomes important for the students' next assignment.  I modelled a speech on "My Favourite Book" of all time for them and the students will be expected to create a speech and then present it on Friday.  

Period 5--Mentor period
The grade 12s in my mentor group went to the gym for a student assembly.

Period 6--AP 20
We reviewed the book annotations for "The Curious Life of Benjamin Button" to ensure student understanding.  Then, they settled in to do their baseline multiple choice exam.  They will need time to finish this on Thursday.  

September 9, 2013

Period 1--AP 30
In conjunction with reading Frankenstein, the students are reading "Book One" of Paradise Lost.  We have just worked our way into this point of view study and will be at it for a few days.  As we read, students are to examine point of view as well as look at parallels between Satan and the monster.  

Period 2--ELA B 30
This class started with the students doing an entrance slip on a quotation they had to read and consider.  The students had to consider the quotation: "I think people are more susceptible to prejudice than reason."~Roger Ebert.  I asked them if they agreed/disagreed with the quotation, use examples, and if they could make any connections to what we've read so far in the novel.  We spoke about it for a bit and then they added to what they had written and handed it in.  Finally, we started reading Chapter 2 of April Raintree.

Period 3--History 10
We continued with our handout on Medieval times and in the last few minutes of class, the students were given the assignment to consider what the medieval times would be like.  They had to try to summarize this in ONE WORD and then work to explain that word using examples from what we've read, heard, or if they want to do additional research, they certainly could do so.

Period 4--AP 10
We spent this class, and will finish tomorrow, going over the concept of allusion.  This required us to dig deep in our memories and come up with examples from Greek/Roman mythology, Christian Bible stories, Norse mythology, and other examples.

September 6, 2013

Period 1--History 10
We started into our study of the Middle Ages today with discussions of the romanticized version of the era versus the reality.  The students were given a handout with blanks to fill in as we discuss.  Just a reminder that the students' timelines are due on Monday.

Period 2--ELA A 30
We started reading the novel April Raintree in class today and stopped periodically for discussion throughout.  After we were finished, we took some notes to summarize and analyze what it is that they read.  We finished chapter 1 today in class.

Period 3--AP 30
The students finished their AP multiple choice and then used the rest of the class to choose their book for annotations and began preliminary work on that task.  Their annotations will not be due until Christmas break.

I am away for the afternoon, but this is what the day should have looked like:
Period 4 & 5--AP 10
The students used this time to read Of Mice and Men and work on their reading journals.  This is due September 20th.  

Period 6--AP 20
They were given a copy of "The Curious Case of Benjamin Button" and are to read and start annotating the novella  

September 5, 2013

Period 1--ELA A 30
We started a look at some background information for the novel we will be reading.  April Raintree deals with the relationship and search for identity of two Metis girls growing up in Manitoba.  We addressed the concept of stereotypes and what they know, or think they know, about Metis or First Nations culture.

Period 2--AP 30
The students continued their multiple choice questions.  They will need a bit of time to finish up tomorrow.

Period 3 & 4--History 10
The students continued to work on their timeline of European events.  This is due Monday but many students are already finished.

Period 5--AP 10
The students used this class to finish up their multiple choice exam.  

September 4, 2013

Period 1 & 2--AP 30
Since we had assembly yesterday during this class, this period was out first real look at it.  We spent time going over the syllabus which is lengthy.  I was working to allay any fears the students may have.  We spent some time talking about Frankenstein in amongst the discussion and the students are reminded to have it read ASAP.  This took up the bulk of the first class of our double period.  In the second class, we started going over options for the students to read for their book annotations.  I gave them an overview of each of the books and they will have to choose which book they want to choose to have annotated before Christmas break.  The bell rang just as we were starting some multiple choice.

Period 3--ELA A 30
We finished our sheet on Canadianisms and with much discussion about differences between British/Canadian/US speech and spelling, we took much of the class.  We had some excellent conversations about what it means to be Canadian.  

Period 4--History 10
The students used the majority of this class to work on finding the dates for their timeline.  Once I gave them the answers, they organized their information and then got moving toward building their actual timeline.  

Period 5--AP 10
The continued working on the multiple choice to get a taste of what the course will be like.  

Period 6--AP 20
I gave them the outline and we discussed the syllabus.  From there we had a brief discussion of the concept of childhood and where it came from.  Finally, I read them an essay on "Childhood Throughout the Ages"  and they were to think of questions that they had about the reading.  

September 3, 2013

WELCOME BACK TO SCHOOL!

We had an assembly first thing this morning that had the students in their mentor group to get their time tables and all the delightful forms the students need to have parents fill out.  At the assembly, the students were reminded about dress code and other general school rules.  As well, the grades 10-12s were kept back from the rest of the kids and reminded of the credit system...they need to pass their classes to achieve the credit or they have to repeat.  The grads were also informed of the new policy regarding graduation.  Students must be eligible to graduate by the end of April (have the appropriate number of credits they have taken and passed or are taking at the time) and have all of their classes up to date at the time of grad, or they won't be allowed to participate in the ceremony in June.  Parents can look at their student's Student Handbook for clarification of this policy.

We have a new 6-period, 6-day schedule, so the students' timetables look a bit differently.

Period 2 & 3--ELA A 30
We started class part way through period 2 with our course outline and discussion of class expectations.  Since I haven't taught many of these students before, they filled out a sheet that asked them about what has worked in the past and what hasn't worked for them.  I will try to accommodate what I can.  Since out course is about Canadian literature, we got into the swing of things with some brainstorming about what it means to be a Canadian or what others think about what it means.  We spent considerable time discussing stereotypes and whether or not they were true.  This conversation lead into the topic for the handout on "Canadianisms" which was a look at how we pronounce certain things and work origins.  We will finish up with this handout tomorrow.

Period 4--AP 10
I spent some time discussing what AP is and some of the differences between it and the "regular" course.  We looked at the course outline and I addressed any questions they may have had.  Students were given a copy of Of Mice and Men for them to read on their own as well as the double entry journal assignment that goes with it.  At the latest, I would like the book finished by the end of September, but if it could be done for the middle of the month, that would be better.  I'll check in with them at the end of the week.  At this point, we only had a few minutes left, so we started to look at some multiple choice questions to get them into the language of the course.  We will continue this tomorrow.

Period 5--History 10
We went over the course outline and then jumped right into our first assignment which is to build a timeline using their textbook.  They are allowed to work in partners for now and then share their research.  At this point, they are simply finding dates.  We will get to the nuts and bolts of the timeline tomorrow.