Catching Up

Not much was happening since the last time I posted. Both classes had a story test and I was surprised at the number of 9th graders who did well. The essays were fair, however, not everyone turned one in so many will be staying after school this week to make it up. The day before the long weekend, I had them write a short Thanksgiving story by passing their papers to the right as they sat in a big circle. Each student adds something to the previous sentence. This exercise helps them build strong paragraphs that are coherent. I also handed out a Thanksgiving word search. Many of the students have trouble with spelling and I figured this would help them with word recognition.

The 8th graders have been great! Maybe it has something to do with my talker and quick tempered student being absent. Sure, some of the others can be just as challenging, but they are not as disruptive. I also gave them the same Thanksgiving word search.

It has been a fun weekend because I've been out of town visiting my family. I don't want to go back, however, I do miss the students and the funny things they do and say. I've encountered some pretty rude adults while out shopping with the holiday rush, and sometimes I would stop and think, "None of my students would ever be that rude." Or is that wishful thinking?

A challenging day

The 9th graders worked on vocabulary words with denotative and connotative meanings. A couple of students surprised me by completing this assignment in a timely manner. I gave them a little time to work on their essays. I will give them more time tomorrow and a review session for "The Sniper."

We got a new 8th grade student today and he could pass for 18. I'm not sure what kind of student he's going to be, but it's a possibility that he has some issues. He does appear to be much more mature than the others. The students worked on their Greek words spelling packet. They wanted to watch the rest of the movie, but it was quite a chore of keeping them on task. One student received detention and then went on strike and didn't want to do his work.

Out of Order

The one problem I have with the school is that there are only two copy machines, and they're both out of order. So the test I was going to give my 8th grade students will have to wait. Luckily, I copied the 9th grade tests yesterday, but we didn't have enough time to review today. I went over denotation and connotation with the 9th graders. I used words like, "sick" which is slang for "cool," much like "bad." I then got some words like, "trip" and "phat" from the students. The handout I used had common words and their task was to plug the positive ones into a template paragraph, and then write the same paragraph using negative feeling words. We then read and interpretted a couple poems and went through the poetry terms list as well.

I created a movie review criteria sheet for the 8th graders to use when they start writing about their movie. I will bring in some sample reviews tomorrow for them to look. The review follows the same basic elements of a book review with some additional terms to look for. I played Pocahontas for them and explained each of the terms in relation to the movie. Disney films are easiest to view and point out the elements because they are basic in structure. However, the students were able to remember and identify certain elements from The Birds, even though we had watched it about two weeks ago.

Monday

It was a little hard to come back to teaching after a four day weekend. I went over the essay model with the 9th graders.
"Why are we reading this again?"
"Because I only received five rough drafts last week and obviously some of you need to look this model over again."
I love it when students proclaim how smart they are because I can reply,"Well, you weren't smart enough to write a rough draft." I told them their final drafts were due on Friday, but I'm having second thoughts about that, so I might just give them until Monday. Maybe I'll have them write a persuasive letter as to why I should give them the extra time. We went over "The Sniper" and I put them into groups to answer the interpretation questions at the end of the story. One group failed miserably, but I was impressed at some students who really worked hard to find the answers. However, after coming back from a four day weekend, the students were a little unruly. But on the up-side, I did assign detention to four students.

The 8th graders worked on handouts on the story "Mrs. Flowers." We also talked about how they should write their movie review. Some days these students are great, or they're great during one part of the class and disruptive for the other part. It doesn't help that the 9th graders who have detention are in the same classroom because each group tries to impress the other by being difficult. I remember sort of being like that at that age too. How much I annoyed my teachers then, I'm receiving the backlash now.

Wednesday

Since it was a short week, and we managed to finish "The Sniper" in two days, I decided to introduce the 9th graders to poetry. I first asked them to write a quick reflection on what they knew about poetry. Instead of having them read a poem, I used music to hook them in. I played two songs for them that use the acronym, "A-E-I-O-U." One song completes it with "sometimes Y," while the other says, "I sometimes cry." One song was produced in England at about the same time the other was produced in the United States. We discussed both songs briefly. I then handed out lyric sheets to Billie Holiday's "Loverman (Oh Where Can You Be)."I played the song and had them read along. Some clowns sang a little, but I could see others following intently. I also handed out a poetry terms sheet, which I'll go over with them more next week. I figured this could be an ongoing lesson if I run out of things to do (as if I would ever let that happen).

We discussed "Loverman" and I asked them what they thought the song was about. We went through each stanza and I wrote their suggestions on the board. The whole class agreed it was about love, longing, and lonliness. But I played devil's advocate and asked them, "What if 'Loverman' was a code?" This aroused their curiousity, and at that point I told them about Holiday's heroin addiction and that she was actually singing about her drug dealer. We then went through it again and interpreted each stanza. The whole class agreed that it was about drugs and her drug dealer. But I turned the tables again. The song was written by three men, so I asked them if it was possible that the song was about an interracial relationship. A black man and a white woman, or vice-versa. This version didn't interest them as much as the drug interpretation. So I tossed out another thought, "Since this was written by men, could it be about a relationship between two men?" First silence, then shouts of "EEEEwwww." I explained that the song was written in the 40s, and at a time when taboos such as drugs and sexuality were not mentioned or discussed.

"Why do you keep switching what the song is about?"
"Good question. Poetry is always about interpretation and what it might mean for one person is not necessarily what it will mean for someone else."

I met with the school nurse to discuss an 8th grader, who had been absent for almost two weeks. Apparently, he didn't have all his immunizations, but he made up some story to his mom and sister that they wouldn't let him back into school if they only had a copy of his records from the doctor. He is so behind right now in all his subjects. We were able to finish "Mrs. Flowers," but since the week is short, I will review the story with them next week.

The student who wrote the disturbing story has to go into counseling. He asked me why I showed his story to the vice principal, and I said, "Because it was disturbing that your main character shoots the principal twenty-six times after shooting up the graduation. I said to write a spooky/suspense story." He told me he also has to go through anger management counseling as well. Sometimes he's interesting to talk to, but then he puts on this gangster/thug attitude. I wonder if he does it because I pay more attention to him when he's like that. I'm not sure he has any positive role models around him. I could say that about a lot of the students. I have to keep reminding myself that I can't save them all, but I find myself getting attached to both classes. At times, they are funny and insightful, and every once in a while a spark of brilliance emerges from one of them that surprises me. I have four day weekend and I'm going to savor each of them.

A First

The 9th graders worked on tenses today; taking base form verbs and changing them to past tense. I then spent some time going over their essay assignment. Some have already started and finished, but there are some that appear to be clueless. I have repeatedly told them that they are to write a paper about Poe's death and if it was from either alcohol consumption or rabies. I helped one student after school and I believe he has ADHD. Which would explain his behavior in class. We finished "The Sniper," and the class really liked this story. Especially the irony at the end when the sniper finds out he just killed his brother, who was trying to kill him.

I worked with complements with the 8th graders today, and we continued to read "Mrs. Flowers," which generated some interesting discussions about adult and child attitudes. They are suppose to write a review of a novel, but I think what I'm going to do instead is have them write a review of a movie. The catch is that they still need to include the same elements as if they were writing about a novel, plus I'll probably add a few more to extend the learning process. Some of them have already expressed interest in certain movies, such as "Do The Right Thing," which will be interesting. I did give them the option of doing their review on a book.

I had my first parent/teacher conference today. I had calculated all of the 9th graders grades and broke them down into 4 categories: tests, home/class work, groups, writing. I then averaged out an overall grade from them. I had one parent call because he was concerned about his son's C+. So we talked about the work that was turned in, and not turned in. Most importantly, we talked about the student's constant comments about/with/to other students. This disruptive behavior needed to be addressed. The funny thing that happened was the student telling me, "Please say something nice about me because my dad is gonna be mad if you don't." I had to laugh when he said this. He was worried as I was speaking to his dad and stepmom. Other than the disruptive behavior, I only had nice things to say, which were true. I got a "Thank you very much," as we walked back into the classroom so he could get his things and leave. It's good to see and know that some parents are involved and care about their child's progress.

Catching up

Last Friday, I went over the proof reading exercise from the previous day with the 9th graders because many of them didn't know how to put the single quotations within double quotations. I then divided the class into two groups: alcohol and rabies. Each side had to prove their reason for Poe's death. The alcohol side was disorganized and it showed in their presentation. The rabies side pulled enough information and evidence from their readings and clearly won the debate.

The 8th graders had a spelling test on Friday and we discussed characters and characterization. We are starting a new story, "Mrs. Flowers" by Maya Angelou. It is based on a true part of Angelou life. As a small girl she was violently assaulted. We discussed what the textbook meant and predicted that she may have been sexually molested. I find, at times, the students become more interested in the stories if I create some atmosphere of mystery surrounding the stories. And I usually related the topic to some current event in the news, which generates more interest.

I began working with the 9th graders on tenses this week. I noticed that some of them shift their tenses when they write. We also started a new story this week, "The Sniper." The story involves a sniper in Dublin around a civil war in the 1920s. The conflict is that another sniper is shooting at him. This idea of two different shooters relates to some of these students because some are, unfortunately, involved in gangs. Even the quiet ones came out of their shells to comment on the story. They have a rough draft due on Wednesday, so I'll be reading papers on the long weekend. It's worth 40% of their grade, so I hope that everyone will turn one in.

The 8th graders began to read "Mrs. Flowers," and I had them fill out a characterization handout as we read. The story is very colorful with imagery. They are all familiar with Angelou, which is great! I gave them another spelling list. The week is short because we have Thursday and Friday off. I'm trying to make it easy for them, as well as myself.

Wednesday

I handed out an MLA citation/documentation style sheet yesterday. The next paper that the 9th graders are doing is a research/analyzing non-fiction essay. We wrote an introductory paragraph together yesterday. It was a good paragraph, but what concerned me was the students who didn't take the exercise seriously. I told them that this essay was to be a part of their portfolio in order to graduate from high school. Rough drafts are due next week. I also calculated their grades up to last weeks assignments. I have several students in the F category, but they have some time to pull their grades up.

The 8th graders worked on their new spelling list. There is a test on Friday. I also received a very disturbing short story from one student. I had assigned a suspense/spooky story assignment. This student wrote about shooting up a graduation ceremony and shooting the principal. I showed it to my master teacher and she said she was going to show it to the VP and I think the counselor. I believe this student wants to emulate an older brother.

Tuesday

The 9th graders worked in groups today. I was surprised at some who performed better than last time. However, sometimes the problem children are even more of a problem. We went over pronouns, because some of them had trouble with subject/gender pronoun agreement.

8th grade worked on interjections and vocabulary from "Too Soon a Woman." It was a relatively easy day.

Unprepared

Where did the weekend go? Halloween and the time change put me back a day. So I winged it today. I gave the 9th graders some sentences to correct on the overhead. When they were finished, I asked them to write on the following prompt: Do you agree or disagree with the uniform policy at the school? Their next paper deals with choosing a position and supporting it with evidence. I then handed out a formal essay guide that I created last year. It gives specific criteria and examples on style for any essay they might write. We also took some time to discuss their weekend activities.

I allowed the 8th graders to talk about their Halloween adventures as well. We also finished the story, "Too Soon a Woman." Their next essay is a book report so I'll be planning a trip to the library soon. Overall, it was a fairly pleasant day.