A Great Day!

The 9th graders will be writing an autobiographical narrative beginning next week. It is their first major essay of the school year. I gave them an assessment test; they were to read an essay and answer questions about it. This would give me a better idea on each one's strengths. I then selected 4 people to pick students to be in their groups. I had four playing cards and they each chose one, which meant they had to answer one of the numbered questions for "Thank you, Ma'm." The group discussions were good...however, some students goofed around and talked. But Susan gave me a great idea; tell each team leader they had $100 and they had to pay each student based on their contribution to the group. I told them they had to honestly tell me how each student performed, in other words, they were assigning the grades to the students by the dollar amount they gave each of them.

I started with AR reading with the 8th graders and it's a great way to start the class because they all settle down. I worked with them on analyzing and dissecting a personal narrative. In doing so, they will be able to include important details in their papers, have a catchy opening, and close the paper with a profound statement. (I'm keeping my fingers crossed) We start writing next week.

Now here's the tricky part; many of the 9th graders had afterschool detention for missing assignments. I stayed after to work with them, but at the same time, I was teaching my 8th grade class because the 9th graders get out earlier. So I had all these students raising their hands and asking for help. And to top it off, each assignment was different, except for the 8th graders. So I got a feel of a huge class with multiple intelligence levels. It was a little overwhelming but satisfying at the same time. One thing I kept saying was, "If you did your work when I assigned it, you wouldn't be here." One girl finished 10 assignments in about 3 hours. Some had a little attitude because they didn't want to be there, but I almost got the feeling that some enjoyed being there because there was someone that took an interest in what they were doing. I'd have to say it was a great day!