An archived stack of papers: 'English 3'
January Finals Of 08-09
In a stack of papers called Instruction.
- Jan
- 21
- 2009
Just in case anyone’s interested, here are my first semester finals. I’ll debrief how they went later. Since I change things almost about every year, I don’t have a problem posting these here for all to see. If you’re of the same mind, let’s see what you’ve got. If you want to use these, feel free. I’d like to hear your thoughts and/or see what your finals... read more
TC: Days Four, Five, Six
In a stack of papers called Instruction.
- Dec
- 03
- 2008
Still working at a slow pace, I used these days to pick out details in stage directions and character traits, always taking notes on the Character Chart and the TC Notes page. I introduced a new assignment, one whose discussion took most of Day Six.
Times And Handouts
We only completed about fifteen minutes of reading each day, but full of me stopping the... read more
TC: Days Two And Three
In a stack of papers called Instruction.
- Nov
- 26
- 2008
We’re taking it slow at the beginning, making sure that we understand where these characters come from. By the end of Day Three, we’re only on page fourteen of the play (and we skipped pages three through eight). We pick up the pace in a major way next week. I’m getting students used to writing down key information on either their TC Notes page or the... read more
TC: Day One
In a stack of papers called Instruction.
- Nov
- 24
- 2008
Contrary to the way I start most units, today we simply jumped into Arthur Miller’s 1953 classic The Crucible. No set up. No lead in. No into. We didn’t even discuss witches or McCarthy. I tend to over think everything; teaching units are no exception. But that means that I don’t take action until well after I usually should. I’m trying to change. Here’s what I... read more
Treats
In a stack of papers called Unorganized.
- Oct
- 31
- 2008
More and more students in my Support class are firmly in my camp, getting as frustrated as I am with the behavior of a shrinking number. I’m able to use that student support to get others quiet quickly. I’m working on using that to get students staying on task longer.
A certain student in the Support class handed her phone over to me today with minimal cajoling. Another one I... read more
Unit #2: Why Read?
In a stack of papers called Instruction.
- Oct
- 22
- 2008
For the last few years, around this time, right after we’ve finished a fun and seemingly simple unit, I hit the juniors with the Why Read? unit. Emerson and Bloom are tough and students can’t even begin to parse what the two guys have to say. With tons of hand holding (likely too much that I need to step even further back from next year), we make it through. I put together an Emerson... read more
Preparation
In a stack of papers called Instruction.
- Oct
- 08
- 2008
We just finished our zombie writing in English 3, so this is the start of another unit. For this one, we’re writing about writing, reading, and thinking. It’s pretty tough for teenagers to spell metacognition, let alone actually perform it. Starting with a discussion of these ideas is smart, but it can’t be a class discussion because there are two sides to teenage opinion on books and... read more
Give A Little Bit
In a stack of papers called Writing.
- Sep
- 26
- 2008
I walk around the room and give one of two lines to struggling writers. We have five minutes to write each day (actually, ten minutes today) and some want to stall the whole time. Staring at the blank page that is even more intimidating than the actual assignment, “I’m thinking” being the excuse du jour for not writing, The Shrug meeting my questioning glance, these are the students... read more
Notes From Day One
In a stack of papers called Instruction.
- Aug
- 26
- 2008
I’ll answer my “How-Was-It” questions from last year later. This time ’round, I want that to be a review of the entire first week instead of just the first day. At first glance, I’m doing pretty well. I’d love to hear how... read more
3 On Txtng
In a stack of papers called Instruction.
- May
- 13
- 2008
Students feeling a little disconnected? Find it hard to get them reading? I have just the thing. There are three rounds to this conversation and it all leads up to some in-class writing. I’ve spread this out across a few days. We began on Friday, continued Monday, will pick it back up on Wednesday, and complete the writing on Thursday. Each day was twenty to thirty minutes, allowing time for us to... read more