An archived stack of papers: 'Support Class'

What Video Has Taught Me – Part 1

In a stack of papers called Instruction.

  • May
  • 16
  • 2009

In the Support class, we slowly piece together videos on things students like about San Jose. Speech works diligently on documentaries. Some incredibly cool stuff has happened as a result of me leading these two different classes through this work. That’s had a big impact on how I work with my English 3 students, even though they aren’t in on the video action. I’ve learned a lot over... read more

Patterns And Shapes

In a stack of papers called Instruction.

  • May
  • 06
  • 2009

The Support class settles down into a rhythm once I put on the video to take notes to (Tuesday, Thursday) or announce that it’s time to read (Monday, Wednesday, Friday). The same happens most days that I point out a Do First on the board. The time when they are the most out of control and, therefore, the most difficult to get back for the rest of the period are the times when I don’t have... read more

AFI Curriculum

In a stack of papers called Instruction.

  • Apr
  • 08
  • 2009

Speech class wants to create a documentary. English 1 Support, I still think, will grow through projects such as video. More on both of those projects later because I hope to create some material that anyone can use to get such a thing going in their neck of the woods.

I showed this AFI video to Support for our note-taking session yesterday and will show it to Speech after Spring Break when they... read more

Support: Tomorrow’s Notes

In a stack of papers called Instruction.

  • Feb
  • 23
  • 2009

Tuesdays and Thursdays are now days when I present a little something that students need to take notes on. I make a quiz about once every two weeks based on our growing stash of notes. Tomorrow will see us tackle the topic of how to be assertive. I’m curious how long it will take my students to realize that this video is not at all serious in its depiction, though it may be in terms of its... read more

Support: Changes

In a stack of papers called Instruction.

  • Feb
  • 14
  • 2009

The Support class isn’t about support in any one subject area. That’s really not the reason they are there nor is it something that’s going to get them out. It’s about support for playing the game of school. We ran the numbers (more on that later) and Support classes are not creating students who do well in Core classes. The overwhelming majority of students are failing their... read more

Support: Update

In a stack of papers called Instruction.

  • Feb
  • 10
  • 2009

I’m running out of tricks.

We’ve tried making videos. We’ve tried speeches. We’ve tried reading as a class. We’ve tried reading in groups. We’ve tried reading independently. We’ve tried whole-class, small-group, and individual projects. We’ve tried posters. We’ve tried worksheets. We’ve tried class games.

I’m also running... read more

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

Self Imposed

In a stack of papers called Instruction.

  • Dec
  • 15
  • 2008

The book plopped to the floor. “I’m done,” my voice as flat as I could manage. Pivot on the heel and walk to the desk. This was the end of Friday’s Support class.

We worked on a reading response that day. Given fifteen minutes to write one hundred words, there was nothing left for me to say about it and students needed time to work. So, I sat down and observed instead of... 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

Why Another PW?

In a stack of papers called Instruction.

  • Oct
  • 25
  • 2008

The Support kids wrote one picture write already. Though that week did not go off without incident, it did work fairly well. We’re doing it again next week. One half of the class will work on the picture write notes, the other half on their video. We’ll switch jobs halfway through. The entire class working on videos is too... read more