Sunday, September 26, 1999
On my "day of rest" I spent three early morning hours writing up several things for my presentation to the staff tomorrow about our upcoming goal setting conferences. We have a new type of parent-teacher-student conference this fall, not subject specific, but designed to set academic and behavioral goals for the kids. Entirely appropriate, I think, given that our number one school goal this year is to reduce the number of students who fail multiple classes. Also, entirely appropriate given the standards the kids have to meet this year.
I created a worksheet for the kids to take home and complete with their parents. Several purposes are behind this worksheet: first, it will force parents to engage with their kids in a new way about their kid's education; second, it will emphasize the magnitude and accountability of the standards the kids have to meet; and it is an easy tool for the teachers to use to help them get ready for the conferences.
I also created an overhead with specific steps the teachers must take tomorrow to get prepared for the conferences. I feel good about what I created, and about how I will present them tomorrow. We have a task to accomplish, and my task is to make sure the teachers have the tools and a plan of action (specific steps to take) to accomplish this task. I have done exactly that.
Parent/Child Worksheet
Steps for the teachers
2. phillipdavid - 9/27/1999 10:34:24 PM
Monday, September 27, 1999
Today was a teacher work day; no kids.
My presentation to the staff about goal setting conferences went very well -- even if I did show up ten minutes late! But because I did so well almost nobody ribbed me about my embarrassingly late entrance, and I received many compliments throughout the day. Took all of 30 minutes; mercifully short and painless. I know I did well because even the new teachers I the building didn't have any questions.
Next hour and a half was spent with the reading and literature teachers. We read and scored three student responses to a short story using the state scoring guide; the purpose was to align our scoring with what the state sees as appropriate scores. Quite a divergence at first between our various scores, and between what we thought and what the state thought were correct scores. But some good discussion and some good learning had us scoring fairly accurately and fairly consistently by the third short story. Definitely a valuable exercise.
Putted around my room getting prepared for this week before I took off for lunch. Made some copies, wrote the weekly expectations on the board, along with a new "Quote of the Week," and solidified this week's lesson plans in my weekly planner. All ready to go now.
After lunch, spent two hours digging through student CUM files for test scores, last year's grades, and anything else that might help in conferences. Amazing what sort of information is contained in those files. One student had adoption papers, copy of a restraining order against his dad, a note from his mother to the school that she didn't have any money to buy school supplies this year -- interesting insight into his personal life.
3. phillipdavid - 9/27/1999 10:41:28 PM
(continued)
From 2-3 I chatted with the counselor about a girl who had a minor emotional breakdown in my Literature/Speech class last week. We were giving speeches -- something she is very adept at -- and she just broke down before she could say a word. Counselor told me the family is very "eccentric." The girl is also the most intelligent person in the school(a real genius according to last year's test scores) -- but is very up and down emotionally. One of her teachers from last year told me about frequent breakdowns that occurred and how she had handled them.
I only have this girl in one class (many students I have for all three of my classes), and she immediately caught my interest. Unusually sophisticated. I have been trying to engage her in conversation when I have the chance; for example, I asked her about her instrument case while I was on bus duty last week. She plays trumpet. Asked her what kind of music she listens to -- classical, jazz, what? She gave me a blank look, so I told her I played trumpet when I was in 8th grade, and that I have lots of good trumpet music I would like to share with her if she was interested. Again, not much of a response, so I asked her if she had a tape player. She said, "Well, we used to, but it broke." The way she said those words let me know that her home was deprived of any recorded music, and that they probably don't have any sort of stereo at all. I am going to record her some tapes of good trumpet music, and loan her my old cassette player in the hopes that this small gesture will enrich her life a bit and grease the avenues of communication between us. She is really lacking in social skills.
4. phillipdavid - 9/28/1999 8:43:17 PM
Tuesday, September 28, 1999
Our school operates with an alternating day schedule ("A" and "B" days) which means I have half my classes on one day, the other half the next, and classes last for an extended period of time (75 minutes).
Today was an "A" day -- three Literature/Speech classes, plus my prep period (no prep on "B" days). Easy but tedious day today -- and therefore tiring. The lesson plan for all three classes was the same: briefly discuss the religious imagery used in Old Man and the Sea -- and reinforce the concept of allusion which I introduced last week -- and then have the students read the rest of the book (last 30 pages) in the hour left after our discussion.
The brief discussions went fairly well; they always do when I discuss the way Hemmingway tries to get readers to connect Santiago with Christ. All the kids who go to Sunday school and who have religious parents or religious leanings themselves always perk up and become very interested. And they always look surprised because they never see the allusions themselves while reading until I point them out (the meaning of the old man's name itself, the continual references about his crippled hands, the scene at the end where he puts the mast on his back and walks up the hill to his hovel, the little boy who acts like his "disciple", the issue of faith).
This discussion works well in that the kids are now much more attuned to indirect references authors make, and know what "allusions" (one of the many literature terms they must know) are.
While the kids read and finished the last sheet of questions on the last 30 pages, I graded their papers -- as quick as they came in. (No afternoon bus duty today, so I finsished grading the last class' papers from 2:30-3. Was very happy I got all the papers graded today -- about 80 total.) So there was just lots of quiet work time for all of us today.
5. phillipdavid - 9/28/1999 8:44:25 PM
Thursday we will have the final comprehension test, and I will pass out the three essay questions they must write on next week. Then I'll show the movie--and I'll grade their essays while they are watching.
"A" days are nice in that I get a lot of my work done while the kids are reading; I almost never have any work to bring home on "A" days because I get to grade papers while they are reading. And they're nice because I get my prep period on "A" days (9-10:15 A.M.)-- I had two cups of coffee this morning during my prep, which kept me wired enough to sit and grade papers most of the day. I am going to lobby this Spring to get our schedule changed away from the alternating-day paradigm...one of the main reasons why is because we teachers need a prep period each day. "B" days are much more difficult because I never have a moment to myself to collect my thoughts, to sigh, to pause and consider what I am doing in class, to grade papers...it's just 90 miles an hour all day in a furtive frenzy.
10. phillipdavid - 9/30/1999 8:10:21 PM
Thursday, September 30, 1999
"A" day, three Literature/Speech classes. Two things going on: my short version of a training on the state Reading Scoring Guide, and the final comprehension test on Old Man and the Sea.
The reading scoring guide training took about half an hour, the tests took about 20 minutes, and the other 25 minutes were spent starting the three essay questions about the novel which I will grade using the scoring guide -- these pieces of work have the potential of being one of the required portfolio pieces of work that proves the student has met the state reading standard. Essays are due next Wednesday.
The girl I spoke of a coupe days ago (trumpet player who had an emotional breakdown and didn't give her speech) is the only one who scored a perfect score on the comprehension test --like I said earlier, she caught my attention very early on; a really outstanding mind. Test had 50 questions. The mass scores were about what you would expect --about ten percent earned an "A", a few more scored a "B", the majority scored a "C" (a very common score was 38/50) about 10% scored a "D" and three or three or four scored an "F". (I scored all the tests on the spot, in class, while they were starting their essays. I worked like a demon to get them all scored because I believe immediate feedback is vital to learning. Papers or tests returned a week later just don't have the same sort of impact. The first thing I did today upon walking in my door was take a nap -- had to rest my eyes!)
11. phillipdavid - 9/30/1999 8:13:24 PM
A few words on the reading standard:
Students must do three things well in order to meet the standard:
1) Comprehension -Identify main ideas and important details and make interpretations about the meaning of the selection.
2)Extending Understanding- Draw conclusions and relate how the selection relates to other texts, experiences, events and issues in history and culture.
3)Text Analysis -Analyze the author's ideas, techniques and methods and make supported evaluations about the selection.
It's tricky to create proper essay questions that correlate to the three different categories, but I have gotten the hang of it over the last few years. The third one is the one 8th grade students take a while to get the hang of. It usually takes several novels and lots of instruction in writing itself for them to get it. But, I did have a student today who demonstrated an innate understanding of what is expected. He posited that Hemingway used very short, simple, straightforward sentences -- without much figurative language, or descriptive adjectives -- and that was a really boring writing style. I told him that was exactly right! Hemingway's sentence structures and writing style is meant to be boring, and the rhythm of reading them makes you feel like you are out in the boat, bobbing up and down, almost nodding off (thank goodness it's only 127 pages!) and that serves a definite purpose. Now if he can only include cites from the text demonstrating that quality in his essay, I can score him very high, and he will have met the standard.
12. phillipdavid - 9/30/1999 8:14:18 PM
For the other two, the big thing is for them to learn how to use examples from the text to support their statements -- doing so is the basic difference between an essay that doesn't meet the standard and one that does. Also, they have to show an ability to understand inferential points the author makes. I came up with a brief and effective statement that helped them understand what "inferential" understanding is: "On most days, the sky is very cloudy in Oregon. Now what else can you infer from that statement? What else can you figure out even though I haven't said anything else?" They can figure out that it rains a lot in Oregon, and that is basically it, as far as I'm concerned. I think they got that concept today.
Next week I'll show the movie. They watch, and I grade essays.
13. phillipdavid - 9/30/1999 8:23:24 PM
Wednesday, September 29, 1999
Today was an "B" day, which meant Block classes. Block class is where I have the same kids for two periods in a row and we have Language Arts class and U.S History class back to back. The periods are rather long, and I have the same kids for two and a half hours in the morning, and then I have another group for two and a half hours in the afternoon.
L.A. class consisted of:
1) D.O.L.-- Daily Oral Language. This is my abbreviated way of teaching a few elements of grammar and to instill good editing habits in the kids. Over the last several years, it has proven to be an extremely effective way for kids to learn where to put commas, when to use semicolons, what to capitalize, how to use quotation marks, and other such stuff. The purpose is to help them be able to compose an essay with very few errors. It only takes about 15 minutes a day; we do four or five sentences like the following:
the japanese company has bean to develop to new computers and they plan to market there products next year
to enjoy a shakespearean play like hamlet a person should read it before seeing it i believe
I write the sentences as above, and the kids have to write them out and them edit them. I pick students to fix individual sentences aloud for the class, and they have to explain why they did what they did.
It takes a very short time for them to pick up the various rules for commas and other such stuff. This method enables the kids to get lots of practice and review with the basic rules (e.g., commas before a coordinating conjunction, with appositive, in parenthetical expressions, before quotations, with a noun in direct address), and in only a few short months they can write essays with no obvious grammatical errors.
14. phillipdavid - 9/30/1999 8:24:21 PM
2) Vocabulary List #3: irate, prompt, intoxicated, palatial, omen, soothe, swagger, vast, fragile, glutton
We go over definitions and sample sentences using the words, then the kids write a story using all the words. I supply a list of weird topics that they get by chance; I have 3x5 cards with various topics on each, and they pick a card at random are have to write a story on those topics.
Sample cards:
mountains, volleyball, grandparents
volleyball, dragons, spinach
movies. Egypt, kites
jeans, sisters, brothers
summer jobs, pizza, war
The kids enjoy writing their stories, and they enjoy even more the chance to come in the next class and read them aloud. (Perfect off-beat humor fit for an 8th grader!) I will also test them on these words Friday (next class).
3) History class: Review of chapter 2 of the history text ( test is on Friday).
4) Simulation game. This is their favorite part of the day. It's a competitive simulation where they are groups of colonizers in a new world. Each group of 5 students competes with the others to amass the most wealth -- land, food, horses, guns, people, etc. This game coincides with their study of the Spanish and English colonization of America (chapter 2), and they really get engaged with it big time. Some students even go home and draw maps, work up complex battle strategies (groups can battle Indians and each other), complex treaties to enact with other groups, etc. Lots of fun! But extremely noisy and boisterous -- quite a bit different than normal classroom fare.
Got all four things done today - a productive and fun day.
15. phillipdavid - 10/1/1999 8:44:57 PM
, October 1, 1999
"B" day, block classes. Five things going on:
1) D.O.L. sentences -- they turn all the sentences they have done this week (10), and I grade them.
2). Vocabulary Stories -- this is turning into a very fun part of each week. Read some good stories aloud in class, very entertaining. One subject that two students both wrote on using this week's vocabulary words was: George Washington, love, lunch. Those stories were both very funny.
3) Vocabulary test -- almost everybody did very well.
4) Jeopardy -- we played boys against girls in both block classes today. Six sections in chapter 2 of history text, and I wrote five questions for each section (I wrote them very quickly this morning before class between 7-7:30). Made a jeopardy board on the chalkboard, questions worth 10, 20, 30, 40 and 50 points each. The boys won in my morning block, and the girls won in my afternoon block. Got very loud and boisterous, very competitive, and was lots of fun!
5) Right after jeopardy, which serves as a quick review and prep for the test, we had the test. 100 points, which is a lot in my class. Daily assignments are typically about 20 points, so even if students get an "A" on all the daily assignments over different sections of the chapter, if they fail the test they will have a poor grade. Most didn't do well, and this first test of the year serves as a wake-up call for them-- they now know they actually have to study and prepare for these tests.
16. phillipdavid - 10/1/1999 8:46:43 PM
The few students who actually did study did well. Typical score was around 68-72%, with only 3 or 4 students scoring in the high 80s or low 90s.
One part of the test everybody did well on was the map of the thirteen colonies. They all memorized them, and scored well on that part. Most did fairly well on the essay question too, which made me happy. The essay question asked them to explain the religious conflicts in the Puritan colony of Mass., and discuss the two people who left (Roger Williams and Anne Hutchinson), and the reasons they left.
For me, it was another day of full of lots of grading. I got most of it done today, all the vocabulary tests, all the vocabulary stories, and half the history tests. I have parent conferences on Monday and Tuesday, and I expect I will have plenty of time between conferences to finish grading rest of the history tests.
After school we had an SST meeting -- Student Services Team -- with a particularly troublesome kid and his parents. His parents called the meeting because they know he causes a lot of trouble and that his grades are very low. Interesting boy. 6th grader. Dad is in prison for a drug offense, and the mom took her son off his ritalin this year because she is concerned about her son getting dependent on "drugs." The SST has a grade team representative (I am the 8th grade rep), an administrator, and the school counselor, and any specialist that fit in. We brainstorm the problems and strategies to deal with those problems. Turns out the boy is incredibly bright; reads at the 9th grade level, scored very high last year as a fifth grader on the state's standards tests, but had miserable grades then and so far this year -- Ds and Fs. He acts out for attention, forged his mom's name on notes home, gets kicked out of class often, never does his homework, and is so disorganized that he isn't able to turn in work he does do.
17. phillipdavid - 10/1/1999 8:47:21 PM
Had a very good meeting, and we came up with what I think will be some very helpful strategies. Will just have to wait a few weeks to see if they have any positive impact. Meeting lasted an hour, so I was plum tuckered out when I got home. A very busy day.
18. phillipdavid - 10/5/1999 10:22:48 PM
Monday and Tuesday, October 4-5, 1999
Parent conferences both day;, the purpose was to establish meaningful goals and steps to take for each of our advisory students to achieve them.
Advisory class meets every day for about half an hour. I keep the same kids each year, and my job is to keep track of their academic progress and the state of their portfolio. I am the primary contact person for parents who are concerned about anything, and I am the primary person students first come to if they have a problem. Since I have the same kids for each year they are in the middle school, I get to know them quite well. So advisory class has its advantages.
It is also particularly useful for students to have a central place where they work on their portfolio (a collection of work samples that demonstrate their mastery of the various standards). I teach them how to organize it, how to determine which pieces of work are suitable, and it is where we have our end of the year interviews where kids give an account of their progress in relation to the standards.
Today and yesterday I met with my advisory students and their parents to create useful goals for the kids to concentrate on. I reviewed their portfolios, their test scores, their grades, and made a determination what academic area they need to work on the most, or what sort of specific skills they need to concentrate on developing. Together with the parent(s), we also set up what specific things we each can do to help that student achieve their goals.
19. phillipdavid - 10/5/1999 10:24:07 PM
For many students I recommended they work on their reading skills. A typical goal would involve setting up a time each day the kids could read at home (the idea being that the more they read the better they get at it), and the parents would make sure the kid follows through and help them secure reading materials. For example, one kid dislikes reading, has low skills, loves sports, and we decided that he would read issues of Sports Illustrated magazine each week --parent would provide a subscription and make sure they sat down to do it each day at a certain time, even having the kid read aloud to the parent sometimes.
Another kid was terribly disorganized and forget to turn in homework, or to even do it. So we made a goal that the parent would get a daily planner, the kid would take it to each class and write down all class activities/assignments/due dates, and the parent and I would check it regularly.
These sorts of goals are very appropriate, I think, especially considering the standards the kids are accountable to. We will check back in during winter and spring conferences to see how much progress the kids are making.
I spent quite a bit of time explaining the standards to the parents after our goals were set. I also met with quite a few students who are not in my Advisory class but are in my other classes. I do a really good job of explaining the standards quickly and in a way the parents "get it." I got a lot of comments from them about how nobody has ever explained them so succinctly and well before, and how they now feel like they know exactly what is expected and what the kid must do to achieve them. I know that other teachers often try to explain them, but they do a poor job. I seem to have the knack for it, and the parents really appreciated me making it all clear for them.
Monday was a regular class schedule, 7-3. Today was a special schedule -- 10-6 -- to accommodate parents who couldn't make it during those hours.
20. phillipdavid - 10/6/1999 7:42:01 PM
Wednesday, Oct. 6, 1999
Not quite a regular class schedule today --we had an assembly, so all classes were about 15 minutes shorter.
We had a quadriplegic motivational speaker at the assembly. Couldn't move below his neck. Quite good. His theme was life is an attitude, and we are in control of whether we choose to have a positive or negative attitude. The guy has his own web site: Go Ron.com. He is a talented artist, showed us paintings he has created with the brush in his mouth, signed a few cards/autographs for students afterwards with the pen in his mouth.
This was set up last year after we had a really hard year, in part because two students committed suicide.
"A" day today, which meant Literature/Speech classes. Two things going on: the final essays on The Old Man and the Sea were due, and we watched a movie of the novel, with Anthony Quinn playing the old man (Santiago). Will finish the movie next class.
I graded essays while the kids watched the movie. Some kids I allowed to work on their essays while the movie was on because I had told them last week that the essays were due at the end of class. I was pleased that most students came to class with them completed. These essays were what I graded using the state scoring guide, and if they did well in each essay I could score them high enough for them to have proved they met one of the state reading standards.
21. phillipdavid - 10/6/1999 7:44:01 PM
Students have to prove themselves in three areas: Comprehension, Extension of Understanding, and Text Analysis. The essay questions I created for this purpose are:
1. Comprehension -- Santiago often said the fish is his brother and his friend. In what ways are the fish and Santiago alike? In what ways are the different? Include a circle or T chart in your answer.
(I also used their scores on the test I gave them last week to determine their scores in this category.)
2. Extension of Understanding-- (do one of the following)
A. Does The Old Man and the Sea remind you of something else you have read, seen, or know about? Explain.
B. Do any incidents, ideas, or actions remind you of your own life or something that has happened to you? Explain.
3. Text Analysis -- (choose one of the following)
A. Some critics see The Old Man and the Sea as a parable for every person's life. Define parable, and explain how the author presented a parable in this novel. Cite portions of the text to support your thoughts.
B. If Hemingway were to ask you about the main strengths and weaknesses of this novel, what would you tell him? Cite passages from the text to support your points.
As is typical for me, I got them all graded today. Worked nonstop all day, even for part of my lunch, and for about an hour after school. (My eyes were so tired I didn't dare close them during the assembly for fear that I would fall asleep, and the first thing I did when getting home was make a cup of coffee.)
22. phillipdavid - 10/6/1999 7:46:33 PM
A majority of the kids did not write well enough, imo, to meet the standards in all three areas. Some did, and I will post the percentage tomorrow. I went next door several times to have another teacher read an essay and give me a second opinion. She convinced me to pass a student who I would have graded lower in one instance, and she gave me some good advice about how to rewrite one of my essay questions to better fit the catagory I wanted it to apply to. Two students did a really outstanding job. One of them was so witty, well thought out, and so derisive that I will try and post her essays for people to see. (This was from the trumpet playing girl I posted about earlier, and I will try and get her to type them up so I won't have to do it. I also just heard from the Publications class' teacher that she is probably going to be chosen as the editor of the school's newspaper --an excellent choice!).
I ended up feeling pretty satisfied with myself. The students who wrote essays good enough to meet the standards followed all my instructions about what exactly they had to do, and the kids who didn't pay close attention and follow my instructions about the requirements for meeting the reading standards didn't write good essays. So hopefully the kids will learn a valuable lesson from this and do better the next time. They will have about 7 or 8 chances this year (we will read 7-8 novels in class, about one a month), and the kids have to produce three work samples that meet the standards to get promoted. So one down and 6 or 7 to go.
23. phillipdavid - 10/7/1999 7:15:37 PM
Thursday, October 7, 1999
Only 17% of the students who handed in the essays for Old Man and the Sea met the reading standards in all three categories. That is about what I expected, so no worries. What surprised me though was the number of kids who did not turn in the essays. Out of 70 kids I have my three Literature/Speech classes, 20 did not turn in their essays. Several kids were absent, but it is rather disturbing for me to have 16-17 kids just not do them, or not do them on time (I'm sure I will have a few try and turn them in late, but I have a class rule against accepting late work unless there are special circumstances involved).
Today was a "B" day, which means block classes. Lesson plans were:
1. DOL sentences -- main aim today was to recognize dangling modifiers. No one did, but I believe they will from now on. I will include sentences with dangling modifiers over the next few weeks, so I am confident that after three or four exposures to this problem, they will recognize and fix them easily.
2. Vocabulary List #4 - went through the list of 12 words and their definitions, passed out story topics, and assigned a story using all the words which will be due next Thursday. Also told them we will have a comprehensive test over lists 1-4 on Thursday.
3. Descriptive writing -- told them the keys to effective descriptive writing and played around with adding adjectives to sentences, then passed out a worksheet on similes. They had to complete a list of 15 half-done similes I had started. For example: My room is like______; The new girl was as quiet as _______________. Next week I will assign a descriptive essay i which I will expect effective use of senory details, precise and effective use of adjectives, and similes.
24. phillipdavid - 10/7/1999 7:16:55 PM
4. Chapter 3, section 1 in History -- read and answer some questions.(Deals with the impact rivers had in the way people settled on and used the land in various parts of colonial America; Town commons and public schools in early NE colonies; the role of women in colonial America; land and labor (which leads into slavery in the next section); and the idea that lots of land helped foster the ideas of democracy and political equality in the early colonies.) I gave the class the choice of doing this in class, or doing it as homework. If they chose the latter, we could spend more class time playing our simulation game. They chose to play simulation longer and have homework.
Simulation was very fun. One colony in my morning block class made a big deal with the Indian tribe whose land they lived in to acquire a bunch of land. They traded guns for them. Big mistake, because I -- the big Indian chief - decided to use the news guns I had acquired to help me attack another colony. Play acting the chief is a lot of fun, and I get to do some unexpected things which adds some tension and excitement into the game. I managed to kill off a few colonists, but not to decimate them. So now the kids know what Indian attacks are like, and I'm sure the kids will get the idea themselves next week to attack the Indians, or to attack each other in their quest to acquire wealth. I am expecting some very exciting simulation rounds next week.
25. phillipdavid - 10/8/1999 11:03:30 PM
Friday, October 8, 1999
Today was a non-contract day (no school). Even though I did take advantage by sleeping in two hours ('till 7:30), I spent about 6 hours doing school work.
First, I drove to school and worked on my lesson plans for October. Then I came home and created a webpage for them -- parents love to be able to look up online what happened in class when Johnny comes home and says he has no homework to do.
After a quick lunch, I then spent the afternoon at a class for teachers about how to score standards-assessed reading assignments using the state scoring guide. Lasted 'till 3:30, so I almost felt like today was a regular workday.
The class didn't really teach me anything I didn't already know, but it did affirm for me that what I thought I knew was in fact correct. Plus, it will count as 3 and 1/2 hours of class time toward the Professional Development Units requirement to keep my lisence. (I think I need to show eveidence of about 50 hours of continuing professional development next time I attempt to renew my teaching lisence.)
26. phillipdavid - 10/11/1999 7:49:06 PM
Monday, October 11, 1999
"A" day, which meant three Literature/Speech classes, and my prep period.
Easy day today as there were only three things on the menu:
1) Pass back their esays on the Old Man and the Sea, and inform them that if they fell short on one out of the three essays that I would allow them to rewrite it and submit it for rescoring.
2) Finish the movie of Old Man and the Sea
3) Start a new novel, My Brother Sam is Dead. Do some pre-reading activities, which consisted of reviewing some key elemnts and reasons of the American Revolution, and learning some key vocabulary words: Minutemen, Loyalists, Tories, Patriots, Whigs, Continentals, Redcoats, lobsterbacks, munitions, garrison, stockade --stuff like that.
We will start reading the novel next class (Wednesday).
I spent my prep period writing up a list of expository speech topics, designing a voice inflection exercise for next class, writing up a balnk speech outline sheet for the kids to use (I will allow them to use an outline for their next speech, and I want them to begin to learn how to organize ideas and outline their thoughts), and figuring a way to get around my classroom's internet proxy filter so that a webpage I created for my class can be accessed by my school's computers. Took me a while to figure out how to get around the proxy filter (disable it, really), but once I figured it out it was very easy to do on all the browsers. My class webpage is on geocities, and the proxy filter doesn't allow pages on geocites to come through. Maybe one of these days I will take the time to move my page onto the school's server... but that is a lot of unecessary trouble, as far as I am concerned, and something which would take an inordinate amount of time -- free time which I simply do not have.
27. phillipdavid - 10/17/1999 12:54:17 AM
Wednesday October 13, 1999
"A" day, which meant three Literature/Speech classes (and my prep, thank goodness!).
Two things on the menu today:
1) Voice inflection exercise
2) Assign an expository speech which we will do next Thursday -- I gave them a list of topics.
3) Start a new novel: My Brother Sam is Dead
The voice exercise was particularly fun. It is also a vitally important lesson, as nothing is more disastrous for a speech than a poor use of your voice. If you don't sound interested in what your talking about then your audience won't be interested. The audience is like a mirror; it reflects back to you what you project, and your voice is the primary tool that projects your quality of energy.
What I did was present several phrases which the kids had to say in different contexts. That is, they had to say the same phrase in different ways to project different meanings. I used some phrases designed to especially challenge my 13-14 year old students:
"Oh Baby" -- one of my classes actually said this phrase 17 different ways! Of course a lot of time was spent listening to the boys all practice saying it in a sexual context -- something which they just couldn't resist (so typical of 8th graders).
"I love you" -- the four contexts I put to them were:
- I don't ever want you to doubt it
- If you force me to say it I will
- I love you, but not I the way you want me to
- How could you treat me this way?!
"Shut up" --the contexts they had to use were:
- flirtatious
- I don't believe you
- very annoyed
28. phillipdavid - 10/17/1999 12:55:12 AM
We did a few others too which were a little easier for them, but those above were the challenging ones that really forced them to stretch themselves and play with their voice. This lesson was extremely effective and really fun, but the problem was that the boys want to dominate the emotional atmosphere in the room. It was a real challenge for me to reign in their energy and boisterousness to give the girls the space to participate equally. Of course, the girls have been socialized to allow the boys to take up most of the emotional space I the room, so this was a task I wasn't totally effective in accomplishing.
After playing around a bit with our voices and the phrases, I would pick a student to say phrases and have the class guess which context it was said in. This forced the kids to be clear and effective with their voice inflection. It was funny to see the shyest kids physically try to hide from my view in the hope that I wouldn't pick on them. One girl was physically hiding her face behind her notebook hoping that I wouldn't make eye contact and pick her.
I don't have my list of topics at hand, but I tried to create topics that would be doable without any research, as this is their first try at a real speech. We are also going to video tape all of their speeches -- partly because it is a promotion requirement that they have examples of two speeches they did (one expository and one persuasive) in their portfolio, and partly to use them to review their performances so they have a good tool to see how they can improve next time-- so I wanted to make it fairly easy for them to put together this speech. Two of the eleven topics I gave them were about teachers: "What are the three most annoying qualities of middle school teachers?" and "What are three best qualities of middle school teachers?"
29. phillipdavid - 10/17/1999 12:56:20 AM
I also designed a more difficult topic which deals with a variety of metaphors: "My school is like a _______________?" (mental straight jacket; an orchestra; a jail; a zoo; a jungle; an assembly line -- and about ten other choices). This was for the more "deep thinkers" in the class.
I also gave them a blank outline sheet with space for an introduction, three main points and examples/details for each, and a conclusion. Organizing and supporting their thoughts in an effective way is a key skill for 8th graders, one that I concentrate heavily on in all four classes. This will be their first real experience with an official outline in any of my classes, and they must present a completed outline before I will allow them to give their speech.
Next, we started reading our new novel, one that ties in nicely with our study of the American Revolution in History class: My Brother Sam is Dead. I read aloud to them for the first 15 or so pages, and you never heard anybody be more dramatic in a reading in your life! I was simply masterful and had them rivited with intense interest in this story after just a few paragraphs. I know they have had stories read to them before in school, but I took it to a dramaticlly intense theatrical level just because I know they haven't experienced that before, and because I knew it would really excite their interest. And it did; I had about 20 kids ask me to borrow a copy after class so they could read it at home that night. I couldn't have asked for more -- except a stronger voice...after three classes it was about dead.
30. phillipdavid - 10/17/1999 1:09:39 AM
Thursday October 14, 1999
"B" day, which means Block classes -- two of them. Routine day in Language Arts: we read some of the students' vocabulary stories, then took a quiz on this week's vocabulary list. As has been the case all year so far, almost every student wrote up pretty good stories -- they enjoy having them read aloud for the class -- and did very well on the quiz. Only a couple kids who don't ever study didn't do well...one important lesson they learn in my classes is that actual studying pays off.
History class was fun because I showed episode two of "Roots." Kunta Kinte. Remember that? We had just finished reading about the institution of slavery in the colonies, typical features of a slave's life, reasons why they replaced indentured servants as labor, the Triangular Trade, Middle Passage, slave auctions, etc., and this episode of Roots was a perfect video to show all that. I will continue with the video next class and show episode three -- that is where he learns to speak English begins to work in the fields, and first tries to run away. Very dramatic and the kids really enjoy it. And it is truly educational. In years past many of my students have rented the whole series at a video store and watched the rest of it at home.
This is the first year, surprisingly, that nobody recognized the actor who plays Kunat Kinte. He has been a host of "Reading Rainbow" on PBS I recent years, and usually many of the kids recognize him from there. But I guess none of this year's students grew up watching Reading Rainbow. They know all about MTV though....
31. phillipdavid - 10/17/1999 1:31:05 AM
Friday October 15, 1999
Assembly Schedule today, so had shorter classes. "A" day which meant Literature/Speech class - three of 'em.
Two things on the schedule: A lesson on the eight different types of speech introductions, and continue reading My Brother Sam is Dead and finish the chapter one assignments. We spent all class on the speech lesson, so MBSD got put off 'till next week.
I taught them many different ways to do a good speech introduction. Tell a story, create suspense, rhetorical question, humor, reference to occasion, common ground, and some more. Taught them through some lively examples I have accumulated which ones are the most effective (stories) and which ones work best for different occasions and audiences.
Then we compiled a list of 30 of the most boring speech topics we could think of. Listed them on the overhead. had some really boring ones e.g., burned out exit lights, life of a slug, a can of paint. Then I had the students team up with a partner, pick one of the topics, and then create an interesting, attention-grabbing introduction for their topic using one of the methods I had just taught them. Then they performed them for the class. It was a lot of fun, and I believe it was effective because they now know that if they can create a halfway interesting intro for such a boring topic, they can surely create a very good intro for their speeches.
32. phillipdavid - 10/17/1999 1:31:57 AM
I believe the students are now ready for their first real speech, which they will deliver on Thursday. If you look at the speech scoring guide for 8th graders, you can see that they don't have to reach perfection; the benchmarks are still rather lax at this grade. But I have given the students lessons in gestures, voice quality, introductions, required them to outline their speech, and they have had some lessons in my Language Arts class about effective use of language (similes, creating vivid word pictures with adjectives), and I have given them topics that should be doable for them and halfway interesting (important for me because I will listen to them all day long!), so I think they are ready for their first attempt. Will have to wait 'till Thursday to see how well they do --- and the video camera will be running, so the pressure is on!
33. phillipdavid - 10/19/1999 2:20:30 PM
Monday, October 18, 1999
"B" day, which meant my two block classes.
Easy day, really, as all we did was a couple DOL sentences, a new vocabulary list, start vocab list #5 stories (intricate, dank, lackluster, inaudible, submerge, lustrous, inebriated, ponder, auhentic, compel, genial), finish Roots video, and play simulation.
Their descriptive essays were also due today. Only 19/25 turned in an essay in my morning block class, and even worse was my afternoon block class -- only 11/18. I graded them all last night (Monday Night Football was boring, so I turned it off and graded essays), so the fact that not all of them were turned in probably saved me 45 minutes of work last night. But it still is a little disturbing. 70%? I am used to a much higher work rate than that. I expected 4-5 students not to do the essays, but not 15.
34. phillipdavid - 10/19/1999 9:56:08 PM
Tuesday Oct 19, 1999
"A" day, which meant three Literature/Speech classes and my prep period. Casual day, and easy. I showed a twenty minute video about scoring speeches using the state standards scoring guide, and then rest of class was spent reading our novel and finishing up the assignments for chapter one.
The video was very helpful because it showed examples of speeches whch were scored way below the standards, meeting the standards, just below the standard, and way above the standard. A friend of mine working in another school made the video with his students, and he is an excellent speech teacher -- even helped the state devise the speech benchmarks for various grades. The kids now know exactly what is expected of them; they saw what not to do, what an acceptable speech looks like, as well as what an unusally sophisticated and artfully presented speech looks like.
As the kids were working on their literature assignments, I quickly scanned the speech outlines of those who had prepared them already. I am pretty confident those students will do a good job with their speech as they wil have the time to actually practice it before class on Thursday. Those that didn't prepare their outline yet will spend tonight and tomorrow getting it ready and won't have time to actually practice it, so they probably won't do as well. But that will turn into another learning moment for them, as they will see students who had practiced give good speeches and be able to contrast that with what they did, or with what others just like them did. Being prepared for success and not waiting 'till the last minute to get prepared are valuable lessons my eight grade students learn this year. Thursaday, I'm sure, will be an opportunity for some to learn that lesson.
35. phillipdavid - 10/22/1999 9:31:36 AM
Wednesday, October 20, 1999
"B" day, which meant two block classes.
Language Arts class was an absolute fun house today. After our daily D.O.L. sentences (which the kids are doing very well with, btw), we played a vocabulary game. It was boys vs. girls, which meant emotions would be high and the competitive juices boiling over. I had a grid containing all the words from the first four vocabulary lists, plus a few extras they had never seen before, and the two teams would take turns giving definitions of words picked at random off the grid. Each student had their turn as boys and girls had to let a new member of their team take a try each time. Before a word was chosen, the students had to declare how many points they were going to risk, in 5 point increments from 5 to 50. So confident students would tend to risk 50 points and less confident students would tend to risk 5-10 points. If one team failed to define a word correctly, the other team could define it and win the points. If their definitions were a little unclear, I would have them use the word in a sentence. If both sides failed to define a word correctly, I would get the points -- and for a while I was actually winning the game in my afternoon block class.
The game lasted thirty minutes, was very boisterous and loud --so loud that I was worried about disturbing the neighboring classes. I believe this game was very motivational as the kids who defined words correctly for their team got such an immediate glow of satisfaction, and I'm sure the kids who failed will be more motivated to putting more energy into their studies so they will be successful next time.
The wild card in the game was the extra words I threw in -- words I was sure they wouldn't know: hegira, gheee, inveigle, picayune, mugwamp, jacktar. So I got points every time one of those words came up. Also, sometimes a word was picked which had already come up, and so these were easy points.
36. phillipdavid - 10/22/1999 9:32:17 AM
U.S. History class was a lot of fun too. We read Chapter 3, sec 3 which dealt with The Enlightenment, Ben Franklin, and The Great Awakening of 1740. I real aloud to them an excerpt of a famous sermon given by Johnathon Edwards titled "Sinners in the Hands of an Angry God." I put forth my best Burt Lancaster impersonation, and practically had the kids reaching into their pockets to give me money in order to save their souls before I was done.
This was a good lesson in that it brings to light some of the oft-neglected forces at work that helped foster the Revolution: religious toleration, the spirit of equality fostered by the Great Awakening, the way the Enlightenment worked to buttress the notion that people could improve their station, way of life, and thus their system of government through using their minds.
Overall it was a very fruitful day. The energy and passion the kids had in their vocabulary game was mirrored by my impassioned rendering of that famous sermon. Nobody will soon forget these two classes -- probably one of the best I'll have all year.
37. phillipdavid - 10/22/1999 9:33:42 AM
Thursday, October 21, 1999
"A" day which meant three Literature/Speech classes.
Today was the day for speeches, and quite a few performed very well. I scored many a speech as meeting the standards, as many kids used good delivery skills (eye contact, gestures, voice quality), had good organization (quite a few used the lessons I gave them earlier to devise some very good introductions and conclusions), used good language (actually, most were just normal, nothing exhibiting what I would call really good. But one student used a great allusion and several effective similes, so he scored very high on use of language. His speech was about the metaphor of how the school was like a jungle, and he made an allusion to the movie Soilent Green-- which impressed me quite a bit), and had clear and supported ideas and content.
Since they had to have completed an outline form I gave them for their speech, most had three good points to their speeches, but unfortunately several students failed to provide enough supporting details or specific examples to support their main points, so I couldn't score them high enough to meet the standards. But at least they quickly learned that lesson today. Ironically, these were also some of my brightest and most talented kids. What happened is that they put their speeches together very quickly and just didn't include enough. This is a typical method of some of the brightest students. They get used to being able to do very well with little effort or work, but it doesn't take more than a month or two in my classes to show them that that method will not often be good enough. The obverse is that the students who worked hard and followed all directions to create their speeches invariably did very well.
38. phillipdavid - 10/22/1999 9:34:50 AM
Overall, I was very pleased with today. It was obvious that my instruction was very good as many students who learned the little lessons I have delivered so far, and who worked hard on creating their speeches, did very well. I am expecting some truly outstanding speeches in the future as these kids try to score 5s and 6s on their speeches instead of just 4s -- 4s meet the standard; 5s indicate very strong, exceeding the standard; 6s are truly, unusually extraordinary quality. Quite a few students scored 4s -- which is very good --but those only add up to a "B" or 80% in my gradebook. I'm sure they will start shooting for scores of 5 and 6 which adds up to an "A" or "A+".
On Monday we will complete the speeches, as not all of them got the chance today. I could manage to do about 15 per class, so we'll finish the remaining 5 or so in each class next Monday.
39. phillipdavid - 10/22/1999 11:07:28 PM
Friday, October 22, 1999
I went to a class today on teaching to the reading standards across the curriculum, so I didn't see the kids.
Long day -- had to get up extra early and drive 70 miles to the class, and it lasted 'till 4:30. So by the time I had driven back home, gone to school to check on my substitute's performance and grade vocabulary tests and vocabulary stories, I didn't get back home 'till 6:30 -- 12 hours after I left the house this morning. I will end up going back to school tomorrow sometime to finish grading the stories, tests, and history assignments the kids did today.
The class was very fruitful. I came home with several very good strategies and tools to use to help the kids reach the reading standards. Since I always feel lucky to get just one useful thing at a class, today was a good day.
Since I had talked our school's site council into paying for this class, I'm sure I will have to present what I learned at our next staff meeting. Knowing this ahead of time, I took copious notes today and came home with loads of examples to show off.
I had a stressful staff meeting yesterday morning. The principal was making a big deal of pointing out many of the positive things he has seen happening in our school recently -- and lots of people deserved lots of kudos--but at the end I presented an idea for the staff to consider that was somewhat of a downer, and it really upset the PE teacher. He took great offense at what I said and directed some really ugly energy my way.
40. phillipdavid - 10/22/1999 11:09:15 PM
The context is that we had a prep rally assembly yesterday to celebrate the 7th and 8th grade football teams' undefeated seasons (quite an accomplishment and deserving attention), and to celebrate the modest success the girls' volleyball teams had. The girls volleyball teams were also recognized for their success and hard work, and the whole point was to spread some positive energy around and boost school spirit. Well, that is all fine and good, but the problem I pointed out was that the girls were obviously marginalized in a graphic way in front of the whole student body, and I suggested at the staff meeting that we, as a staff, needed to become cognizant of the way we do these sorts of things and make sure the girls don't get demeaned and marginalized like they did yesterday.
The PE teacher got furious, and couldn't contain himself. He felt attacked by my comments and got up and frothed a furious fusillade at me just as the meeting was ending. Basically, he didn't understand my point at all, and didn't think the girls were short changed, demeaned, or marginalized at all. Well, they were, and it was obvious to anybody who possessed the kind of vision to see those sorts of things. Unfortunately, not everybody on staff was capable of seeing it -- a really sad fact.
Here is what the student body saw at the assembly:
The assembly lasted an hour, and the boys took up 47 minutes of it. For much of the assembly, while everybody was watching the introductions of the boys, and the assistant football coach getting his hair shaved off by the 8th grade team, the girls were left sitting on the edge of the gym waiting -- they were supposed to play an exhibition game with either some of the boys or a collection of staff members so they could show off what their skills and get a little attention. Well, they were left hanging 'till there was only 8 or 9 minutes left, and then they played a quick game against some staff members.
41. phillipdavid - 10/22/1999 11:12:47 PM
That game was really demeaning and disrespectful because the assistant football coach -- a big muscular guy with a freshly shaved head -- started serving the ball to the girls like he was playing against the US Olympic team instead of a collection of 13 year old girls. He was doing these jumping, overhead power serves that the girls had no more chance of handling than a spider web could have stopped a cannonball. And he kept at it for about 5 minutes till the staff built up a 10-0 lead. He finally missed a serve with a few paltry moments to go, proceeded to swan around posing with his arms raised up in the air like Rocky Balboa. The girls got to play about three or four points in the final minutes, and luckily the next staff member to serve was a female volleyball coach who didn't try to decimate the poor little girls -- she served at a reasonable speed which allowed the girls a chance to actually play the ball a few times.
The end result was that the whole student body saw the boys get about 47 minutes out of the 60, and for the few brief moments in which the girls could have center stage and show off their skills they were totally upstaged and disrespected by a big, muscular assistant football coach (a volunteer parent, I believe, and not licensed staff member). So my comments at the staff meeting were right on, I thought: The girls had been marginalized and demeaned, and we should become cognizant of this sort of dynamic during these occasions -- after all, the boys generally dominate the emotional atmosphere in many classrooms already, so we need to pay special attention to recognizing the girls and respecting their contributions, efforts, and achievements.
42. phillipdavid - 10/22/1999 11:13:36 PM
I was satisfied that the principal seemed to acknowledge the wisdom of my comments, and I received many supportive comments throughout the day from other staff members too. But I'm very disturbed at the rabid reaction of our PE teacher. Sometime next week I am gonna have to try to explain it all to him so he understands...something which may be impossible as I believe he now thinks of me as public enemy number one.
43. phillipdavid - 10/25/1999 11:05:37 PM
Monday October 25, 1999
"A" day, which meant three Literature/Speech classes, and my prep.
Classes were easy as all I had planned was for the students to finish their expository speeches, finish up the chapter one assignments for our novel My Brother Sam is Dead, and start reading chapters two and three -- assignments for those chapters will be due on Wednesday and will be the last grades for this first quarter. So I spent the first half hour listening to and grading speeches, and the last forty minutes grading their literature assignments and watching them read.
I'm a little disappointed that not all of the kids took the opportunity to give a speech. Most did, but not all. They'll have to give several eventually, and since this was the easiest one to give in terms of subject, length, and my expectations, I wish they all would have taken advantage of this opportunity. I view this first speech as a great learning opportunity, and my standards are a little laxer than they will be next time. After having checked with the students today, I know they now know specifically what not to do, what to do, what the most common mistakes are, and what elements make a truly high-scoring speech. I have quite a few very motivated students, and quite a few who are used to getting "A's" all the time. Many of these kids have learned that an "A" doesn't come easy in my classes -- I am used to smart kids and have high expectations. Almost all of the kids who gave good speeches and met the standards scored 4s (on a scale of 1-6) -- but this only amounts to a "B" in my grade book (80%). They have to do extremely well -- use all of my instructions well -- to get a score of 5 (100%) in one of the four categories I grade: Delivery Skills, Ideas and Content, Language, Organization.
44. phillipdavid - 10/25/1999 11:06:38 PM
I can only remember two students who scored a five in language -- they both attempted to use expressive language and included a few similes. Almost all students scored well in organization, as they followed my instructions about introductions and conclusions. Quite a few failed in delivery skills as their nervous energy became distracting as they twirled their notes, shuffled their feet, played with their hair, or some such just a little too much. Many learned that they need to provide more substantial supporting detail/examples for their main points. And even if they did all the various things pretty well, I wouldn't give them an "A" unless they truly did a really great job.
So I now have a few students with a mid-level "B" who are used to getting an "A." One of them, D'Laura, who is extremely conscientious and hardworking (and one of the very few who answer every single question in complete sentences), even turned in an essay for The Old Man and the Sea that she rewote in an attempt to meet the reading standard. She had done poorly on the text analysis essay for that novel, and took it upon herself to rewrite and resubmit it to me for rescoring. That night not seem like much, but for an eighth grade student, that reflects a great work ethic. I wish I had more students like her who would not settle for anything less than her best effort.
One of my speech topics got quite a bit of play time: "Discuss the three most irritating qualities of middle school teachers". Even I (shocked was I, simply shocked!) was mentioned in a couple of speeches. One girl, Courtney (one of my best students), had the audacity to gripe about my fashion sense (haha! I am by far the best dressed man I the building!). She said that it really irritated her that some teachers would wear sandals with slacks and nice shirts (I'm the only one who fits that description -- just love my birkenstocks).
45. phillipdavid - 10/25/1999 11:07:32 PM
Well, I thought, if that is the worst of her complaints, then she has a pretty good time with her teachers.
Several kids complained about how teachers drone on and on saying the same thing over and over in a monotone. I believe this is true...but don't believe that particular complaint applied to me. ;-)
Another popular complaint was how teachers always eat in the classroom and drink their coffee, but they go ballistic if a student breaks open a bag of cheetos. I actually encourage the kids to have a snack around ten o'clock; I certainly need one then.
A boy named Clinton had a rather pointed barb directed at me in his speech (one that I couldn't help chuckling at). He complained about a teacher (obviously me) who used vocabulary that nobody else has a clue about. While true that I am always endeavoring to enrich their vocabularies, even assigning a list of new vocab words each week and having them write stories using the words, my vocabulary is rather modest in educated circles. Trouble is, in my defense, is that most kids have parents with severely restricted vocabularies, and the rest of their rather restricted cultural milieu is vocabulary-challenged too. I have actually gotten quite a bit of pleasure seeing some of my more conscientious students put many of the words I have taught them to good use in their essays and stories they write for Language Arts class. Two girls in particular have put many of the new words to use so far their writings: Jennifer and Trista (good friends in my afternoon block class).
46. phillipdavid - 10/25/1999 11:09:50 PM
One thing really gave me a thrill today: William, a very witty and entertaining boy, asked me at the end of school if I would be interested in seeing some of his "work." Of course I said yes, projecting an authentically real interest in whatever his "work" was -- he is a gifted writer and storyteller, and I always enjoy reading his essays and stories quite a bit. A friend of his, Nicholas (who has a decidedly sarcastic and very witty personality) told me that William and he had made some home videos this past weekend, and he told me that in one of them William put black tape over his upper lip and donned a pair of glasses so he could impersonate me. "Hey you slackers, you need to get your work done!" is the one line Nicholas relayed to me that really sounded like something I would say. (I have said it, many a time! haha). I am quite anxious to see their video!
Anyways, having smart students entertain themselves by doing a caricature of me is quite a compliment, imo, and let me know that I am making quite an impression on them. Makes me feel good.
I'll post some analysis of the students' grades either tomorrow or at the end of the week. I'll be interested to see how many students earned various grades and met the state standards in the several assignments I have given them this first quarter. I sent an email to all the staff today detailing the specific assignments I have scored using the state standards scoring guides, and asking reast of the staff to help my students put those assignments in their portfolios. I earned some brownie points with the principal for that. He emailed me back thanking me for setting a good example.
47. phillipdavid - 10/26/1999 7:45:26 PM
Tuesday October 26, 1999
"B" day today, which meant block classes. Four things on the schedule:
1) D.O.L.
2) Vocabulary List #6 -- no stories this week; instead we did skits.
3) Review chapter 3 in History --Test next class -- and complete a crossword puzzle.
4) Simulation
The vocabulary skits were lots of fun. This week's list is: jovial, careen, minuscule, squalor, morbid, wrath, grimace, pseudonym, tranquil, sallow, intermittent, a cappella.
I put together a list of about twenty different skits pairs of students could act out using at least three of the words. Some of the skits the students chose to do were:
- Three kids decide to start their own band.
- A ten-year old finds a wallet full of hundred dollar bills..
- A waiter at a restaurant brings an irritable customer a wrong plate of food.
- An enthusiastic coach encourages her team.
- A parent lectures his son, who has come home five hours late
- A mother can't stop her baby from crying..
-A school bus breaks down five miles from school.
- Picnickers are plagued by ants.
- A student is afraid to show her parents her report card.
- Two actors try to do a commercial for "Zippy Dippy Drink," which they discover is an awful. tasting combination of spinach and carrot juice.
- At a supermarket, a chatty checker talks on and on and on.
- A teenager talks on the phone to her best friend.
- Two best friends say good-bye because one is moving away.
I required the students to use at least three words, but I also gave them extra credit for using more than three. Most earned extra credit, and everybody had lots of fun. They were very happy not to have to write stories this week, and any time they get to do skits is a good time for them.
48. phillipdavid - 10/26/1999 8:03:36 PM
A couple skits were especially good -- not only because of the way the kids used the words, but because of their acting ability. I have several natural actors. The skit where two kids tried to sell the Zippy Dippy drink was acted very well by Brock and Dustin; and two delinquent sorts did a skit where a parent lectures their kid about coming home five hours late; I could tell that had really happened to one of them, as his acting had the ring of truth about it. The other one that had a ring of truth about it was the one where the kid was afraid of showing her parents her report card. I could tell the way the kids portrayed the parents that they had really been through those situation themselves, and they sounded just like a real parent would have.
History review started slowly, as many kids seemed to not remember many things. So I put up a graphic organizer wit four circles representing Geography, Politics, Conflicts, and Religious and Intellectual ideas. Once I did that their memories came to life and all of a sudden they started discussing The Great Awakening, The Enlightenment, Bacon's Rebellion, Seaports and the role rivers played in shaping the way people lived in the northern and southern colonies. Next they completed a crossword puzzle I prepared for the chapter, and then we graded it. Almost all of them got perfect scores on the crossword after I gave them 7 down: "Gabriel Thomas explained why women's wages were so _____________ in the early colonies." Exoribitant was the answer, and even though many could explain why (supply and demand), they didn't know the word I used as the answer.
49. phillipdavid - 10/26/1999 8:04:27 PM
Simulation was lots of fun and very active -- both classes were very active today! Kids up an out of their chairs doing skits and all....One colony had a big attack n another colony planned out, had favorable conditions set up (38 attackers vs. only 10 defenders), but the defenders pulled off a miraculous victory, so there was quite a bit of excitement over that.
An enjoyable day from my perspective, and from the students' perspectives. But we'll have to wait and see how well they do on their vocabulary quizzes and how well they do on their history test on Thursday to discover whether or not the classes were truly effective or not.
50. phillipdavid - 10/27/1999 10:47:03 PM
Wednesday, October 27, 1999
"A" day, which meant three Literature Speech classes. Last day of the grading quarter, so all I had going on was for them to finish reading through chapter 4 in MBSD, and turn in the chapters 2 & 3 assignments. Tranquil day...mostly. I got to sit and grade assignments while the students worked quietly. I got my grades done, and posted a table, listed by rank, of all the grades in my three Lit/Speech classes. 68 total students in my three classes, and the students were very interested to see how they stack up, so to speak, against all the other students taking the same class, and to know what their final first quarter Literature/Speech grade was.
I was a little disappointed to realize that the top students on the list were mostly students whom I did not have in my block classes too. Even though I see these students every other day, I am sad that the almost all the very "top" students, the ones in the TAG program, are not also in my Language Arts and History classes. If they were, they would get the full effect of my intensive integration of the four subjects (literature, speech, writing, history). As it is, many of those really talented kids sitting atop my Literature/Speech grade sheet are only getting the kid's meal instead of the full-meal platter I serve up to the rest of my kids.
Had some very happy students who were able to raise their grade this last day from a "C" to a "B" or from a "B" to an "A." A coupe turned in an extra credit essay about the novel we are reading to accomplish this feat.
51. phillipdavid - 10/27/1999 10:48:11 PM
The un-tranquil part of my day happened during Advisory class. I had one student be very defiant and disrespectful, so I had to remove him from the room. I placed him in the hallway outside my room, but before too long he did something else out there which forced me to walk him down to the counselor's office. I called his mom after school to report my difficulties, and she told me that her son had told her he was getting really "sick" of me and wanted to be transferred out of my class. Understandable, as this boy has me for Block, Lit/Speech, and Advisory -- so he's with me for a good part of every day. His mother and I had already discussed during parent conferences the possibility of transferring him out of my Lit class to someone else's if he didn't earn a passing grade the first quarter -- and he didn't earn a passing grade. So I believe this boy was acting out on purpose today in order to initiate the transfer procedure. Not sure what will happen; I told mom to call the counselor and ask for a transfer if that is what she wanted to do -- it is not something I can initiate or make happen myself
Ironically, this student has a twin brother in all the same classes too -- except for my Advisory class. The brother did some very high quality work today and managed to raise his grade one level. He was extremely pleased with himself, and stood in front of my desk very proudly and proclaimed that he would even do better next quarter! Brought to mind the old adage, "Success breeds success." He had obviously proved something important to himself today. (My quote of the week, which is posted on the board, is appropriate to mention here as it is especially applicable to him: "Don't prove something to someone else. Prove it to yourself.") Anywise, I got a little sweet and sour from two brothers today. Happy and sad ... as is so much of life, right?
52. phillipdavid - 10/27/1999 10:57:17 PM
Another especially gratifying moment came when Andrew - the student who scored very high on his use of language in his speech the other day -- came to me and asked about some vocabulary assignments he saw on my desk. He's one of those who are not in my block class (and thus don't get the PD vocabulary treatment), and he managed to express some real interest between some sarcastic comments meant to hide his real interest. After chatting with him about the importance of a rich vocabulary for a while (I pulled out a favorite quote from the German philosopher Heiddeger: "Language is the house of being." The concept that an expanded vocabulary meant a larger perspective within which to live struck him, and he ended up taking ten of my vocabulary lists home with him tonight with the understanding that he could write an essay or story using the words from a list and I would grade it for him with a state scoring guide so he could amass some portfolio entries). The prospect of a student initiating some extra-class work for himself in order to enrich his life (I couldn't give him a grade in the grade book for this work since he's not in my writing class) was another especially bright moment in my day. Amazing what unexpected pleasures each day brings forth.
Success breeds success is my motto for the day... I even received chapter 2 & 3 assignments today from three veritable slackers who almost never turn in daily work. Two of these guys are step brothers, and I had them both in summer school, and they both have been disappointing so far as I expected them (after a few short weeks of the "PD Treatment" haha) to both be fairly good students this year -- especially in my classes.
53. phillipdavid - 10/27/1999 10:59:09 PM
But no, they are both disorganized slackers with grades way below the mendoza line. I even mentor one of these kids, touching base with him often and using all my charm and wiles to motivate him -- but to very little effect so far. Maybe today is start of a a renewed effort by these boys -- they need it as they have squandered the first quarter away, only learning by auditory osmosis what I have offered in my classes.
Maybe success breeds success is not an appropriate motto for today ...a few saddening realizations about some boys --the one who wants to transfer out of my class and the stepbrothers who have squandered so much opportunity away -- lead me to desire some catchy phrase about dealing with sadness instead. Oh well.... To be or not to be, that is the question...is it not? Whether it is nobler in the mind to suffer the slings and arrows of outrageous fortune, or to stand against a sea of troubles and thereby end them. I will stand and choose to BE. Before this year is done, I know I will have many more days of unbridled successes, and the vicissitudes of sadness will not daunt me.
54. phillipdavid - 10/28/1999 8:20:25 PM
Thursday, October 28, 1999
"B" day, which two block classes - and a Halloween assembly fashion show.
Easy day today, and quite gratifying. My block classes did three things on this last day of the first quarter: Test on vocabulary list #6; test on Chapter 3 in History class; one round in our simulation game.
Gratifying because the vast majority scored an "A" on the vocabulary test -- and because many, many students proclaimed that writing the stories using the words (which is the usual practice, but one which we skipped this week) helped them learn the words better. This was a short week and I had them do skits instead of write stories this week, and I was quite pleased that so many learned the words well enough to ace the test, and because they expressed an interest in, and a recognition of the value of writing the stories. So writing the vocabulary stories has become an enjoyable and demonstrably worthwhile assignment from the students' perspective. This realization is very gratifying from my point of view. Makes me realize what I have been doing these past 6 weeks was effective in several respects: the kids learned to enjoy writing, and they learned to recognize the learning value inherent in writing stories. As a teacher, I couldn't ask for anything more!
Gratifying also because many students aced the history test today. Worthwhile in and of itself, but also because it helped secure good grades for many students -- a failure today would have a large impact on their final grade because it was worth 100 points (a lot, given that the usual daily assignment is worth @ 20 points). But it was personally gratifying in that I had had the feeling that some of the lessons I delivered were very effective -- especially the one on the Great Awakening a few days ago-- and today's test results verified my instinctual feeling about what worked well with my students.
55. phillipdavid - 10/28/1999 8:23:31 PM
Nothing like success to make me smile. And I am smiling big-time today because I finished my final grades (worked like a demon today, as usual, grading all the tests during class time, during lunch, and after school) and they report that quite a lot of success happened this first quarter in all of my classes. I'll post some bar graphs I made which reflect the level of success my students and I achieved this past nine weeks. Feeling very proud of myself today. Even showed off a bit by giving my principal and other administrators a copy of the following graphs so they could see what a wise choicethe principal made in hiring me (told you I was feeling good about myself!).
56. phillipdavid - 10/28/1999 9:35:44 PM
We also started a new expository essay today in Language Arts class. I gave them two topics to choose from that integrate well with what I am doing in U.S. History class:
1) Slavery in Colonial America
2) The colonies were a "land of opportunity"
We quickly reviewed the purpose of an expository essay, the writing steps (brainstorm, outline, rough draft, revise and edit, final draft), and then I took them through steps one and two on the topic they did not choose to model the dynamic I expected them to follow. Both classes chose to write on the slavery topic, so I brainstormed on the overhead projector the "opportunities in the colonies" topic, and then organized a quick outline into a five paragraph essay.
Kind of formulaic, but that is entirely appropriate for this grade level right now. First paragraph is the introduction (more lessons on how to write an effective one next week), the second through fourth paragraphs will deal with the three main points, and the final paragraph is the conclusion. The proverbial light bulb went on above quite a few students' heads as they recognized this is exactly like what I had them do for their expository speech in Literature/Speech class a week or so ago. {No doubt about the value of integrating instruction!...and I am once again experiencing a fleeting moment of sadness for those kids whom I have in Literature/Speech class but do not have in my block class; they could be getting the full meal deal!).
57. phillipdavid - 10/28/1999 9:41:47 PM
Anywise, I modeled a brief outline with three main ideas: A) opportunity for religious freedom; B) opportunity to make money; C) opportunity to start a new and better life. The details on my brainstorm list fit nicely into these three categories, e.g., everything we learned about the Pilgrims, Puritans, Quakers, the southern colonists who grew cash crops, indentured servants, etc. I probably had 30 or 40 facts written down in my brainstorm list, and the students, following my example, quickly devised their own three main idea categories for their essay on slavery in colonial America. I believe what many of them will end up writing about are how the slaves were treated, how they were brought over (Triangular Trade), and why they were used (to replace indentured servants).
They worked hard for 15 minutes after the vocabulary test on this, and I graded their tests at the same time. I was able to finish and post their grades before class ended, so the kids were very happy to be able to go home knowing what their final grades were. And as you can see from the graphs I posted below, many of them were beaming with success.
I am beaming with success and gratification that my students are now learning what writing an essay is all about, and about the tools and process to follow to do it fairly well.
Bar graph of my Language Arts Classes' grades
Bar graph of Literature/Speech grades
Bar graph of my U.S. History grades
As you can see from the above bar graphs, the vast majority of my students earned passing grades. And this is quite a big deal in our school, as we have traditionally had a large number of low performing kids. One of our main school goals this year is to reduce the number of students who fail multiple classes
58. phillipdavid - 10/28/1999 9:47:47 PM
(a large task in this area which rated very low on the socioeconomic scale), and so far I am doing my part.
And what is especially meaningful, but not apparent in the graphs themselves, is the type of work my students have to do to earn good grades. No puff-cake assignments in my classes. Everything I do is fairly challenging for my 8th graders and intellectually enriching. My kids are writing essays, reading novels, studying the history text. And they do a lot of work in my classes! Every day is full of assignments, as my diary has shown quite clearly (at least I hope it has!).
I hear so much talk in the lunchroom and around the building about the number of apathetic students who don't do their work. I'm either very lucky this year in having an unusually hardworking group of kids, or I am operating in such a way that motivates and encourages the kids to perform and to learn. I like to think it is the latter as I have traditionally had very good performance from a vast majority of my kids. But then again I have had quite a few high performing students the last few years...truth is, anybody could probably do very well with the sorts of kids I have had the pleasure of having in my classes recently.
59. phillipdavid - 10/28/1999 9:58:44 PM
Final thought about the bar graphs above: I just noticed that they more or less mirror the traditional bell-curve shape -- except for my Language Arts classes. I must be grading them too easy on thier essays and vocabulary stories...either that or my weekly vocabulary tests are too easy becuase I have an unusally large percentage of "A"s in those classes.
The numbers are:
Out of 42 students in two Language Arts classes, 11 had an "A", 15 a "B", 7 a "C", 3 a "D", 6 an "F". History clases with 42 students (the same kids that are in LA): 5 had an "A", 11 had a "B", 16 a "C", 5 a "D", and 5 had an "F." Out of 76 kids in Literature/Speech classes, 12 had an "A", 23 a "B", 17 a "C" 3 a "D", and 13 had an "F."
60. phillipdavid - 10/31/1999 11:30:15 PM
Friday, October 29, 1999
Teacher work day -- no kids. Grades were due today by three P.M., but since I had them completed already I spent most of the day talking to people, creating my lesson plans for the month of November, and publishing those lesson plans on my class' web page. The main focuses for November will be more expository writing (a research paper on one of the Founding Fathers), a persuasive essay, the American Revolution and Declaration of Independence, finishing up our novel, and standards assignments for that novel (more essays and maybe something creative this time).
After I finished my lesson plans for the month, I noticed that I didn't have any easy days planned for the kids -- just lots of reading, essay and story writing, researching and studying. So I included a fun movie for them to watch for a couple of days in history class: 1776 -- the kids will get a kick out of watching old Benjamin Franklin, Thomas Jefferson, and John Adams singing. The levity and quirkiness of that movie will lighten the mood of an otherwise very heavy workload for the kids.
61. phillipdavid - 11/2/1999 12:34:12 AM
Monday, November 1, 1999
"A" day, which means I had my three Literature/Speech classes and my prep.
Today is the first day of the second grading quarter, so I summed the performance in the first quarter for each class with a graph of the class' grades on the chalkboard. I praised their good work, detailed what they had done well so far, and then made a few suggestions for what they could do even better this quarter -- primarily, those suggestions centered around the way they went about completing their standards assignments for our literature novels. The vast majority had done very well except for their essays I graded for the portfolio-required standards assessment. I informed the students that I would devise some creative ways they could use to meet the reading standards for the current novel (have some good ideas/strategies I picked up in a couple recent classes I have taken) that would require them to do something else besides _just_ writing essays. But of course, I said, writing a good essay is what educated people can do, so if they are a little weak with that skill right now they still need to focus their energy in that direction.
Quiet work day today as all I had planned was for them to read chapter 5 of My Brother Sam is and complete the chapters 4 and 5 assignments. So the kids read quietly for an hour and turned in their assignments, and I sat quietly working on my web page and then graded their assignments as fast as they came in. Got them all graded today, and only had to use up about 20 minutes of my time after school. (Very nice not to have to take home papers to grade!)
Rest of the week will be the same in Literature/Speech class -- just lots of quiet reading and questions to be answered. The plan is to get through chapter 8 this week, to finish the novel within a couple of weeks, and have their standards assessments done by the end of the month.
62. phillipdavid - 11/2/1999 12:49:12 AM
Several gratifying moments today, and one bittersweet: the two boys I wrote about recently, the twins, were very motivated today. Apparently Mom did not decide to switch her one son out of my Literature class (not yet anyways; she hasn't seen his report card yet), and he had borrowed a book over the weekend and was way ahead of my reading schedule. He was buoyant and feeling very good about himself because he was ahead of most of the other students in his reading -- even heard him remark to another student that the book was getting quite interesting! SO I still have high hopes for those two boys ...
Another moment was when William, the boy who had made a home video of himself impersonating me in class (btw, he won a prize in the halloween costume assembly -- a Star Trek outfit, complete with fazer), came up to me and asked me if I had seen the video and if I had written about it in my diary. I said no, and yes. I believe I will soon have the video in my hands and will finally get to watch this thing that has sparked my curiosity.
Bittersweet moment was when one girl (secret code name=Loopy) came up to me with a dejected look and asked me about her grades. She wanted to know how come she had received a "B" in Language Arts class -- she said that I had told her last week that she had an "A" in all three classes. She didn't understand why she had a "B". So I looked through the grade book and discovered that she had received 34/44 on her last assignment -- the vocabulary quiz -- and that score had lowered her grade to 89.1% -- a B+. She walked away and said that she would have gotten a hundred bucks from her parents if she would have had straight As. I felt saddened, of course, but nothing I could do about it that I could feel comfortable with. I bet she studies just a little bit harder for future vocabulary quizzes.
63. phillipdavid - 11/6/1999 12:15:20 PM
Tuesday, November 2, 1999
"B" day, which meant two block classes.
In Language Arts class we did D.O.L., Vocabulary List #7, and finished step two in the writing process of our essay on slavery in colonial America.
DOL was fun because I had the kids volunteer to come up and conduct us through the D.O.L. sentences on the overhead -- in effect, they got to be the teacher. I sat on the sidelines and chipped in occasionally to make sure everybody understood _why_ a comma was used, or _why_ a colon was used, etc.
Vocabulary List #7: cordial, acquitted, virtue, significant, dignity, melodramatic, eternal, paranoid, emerge, chaos, impeccable, grovel
Several kids reported that they had been hearing some of our vocab words in different places -- they felt pleased that they recognized and understood the words. One girl heard a couple words used on the TV show the Simpsons last night, and another heard a one of last week's words - gruesome -- on a news report. I felt pleased because the vocabulary lists are working.
No vocab stories this week -- we will do skits or commercials or something else on Thursday instead, and then have a quiz.
Outlining the essay went _very_ well. I modeled what I expected on the overhead projector, and every student wrote a good outline - only took them about 15 minutes to get it done too. I believe my work in speech class with outlining their speeches helped a lot because in years past this skill of outlining was a difficult one for the students to get a handle on.
In U.S. History class I passed out a packet on the 13 colonies and had them read a section about the causes of the Revolution. We will have a quiz on the packet reading on Thursday.
64. phillipdavid - 11/6/1999 12:18:45 PM
Wednesday, November 3, 1999
"A" day, which meant three Literature/Speech classes. Very tranquil day today because all I had the students do was read chapters 6&7 and complete the packet assignemnts (assignments are officially due Friday).
I watched them read and graded assignments as fast as they came in. I also worked on some lesson plans: finished my two quizes I will give tomorrow in block class; explored a website called RespecTeen.com, which has lesson plans for a contest they run dealing with letters students write to their congressperson about some issue which is significant for the students. Miss M., another 8th grade block and Literature/Speech teacher (and a source of many great ideas) told me about this site, and she has had her students write these letters the last few years. It is a good way to help teach students about the political process -- something which I need to get into this month and next. This idea also coordinates nicely with the needs of our writing classes, so I think I will probably take this project on.
65. phillipdavid - 11/6/1999 12:21:24 PM
Before the students started reading today, I presented them with a sheet I prepared with ll the various literary terms and devices that they need to become very familiar with. I went through examples of figurative language, ironies, sound devices (e.g.,alliteration) and such with them, and I told them they need to start being aware of when an author uses these things and to be able to figure out _why_ the author uses these things. To be able to discuss these sorts of things--how and why an author uses them -- is the task of the third part of the reading standard: Text Analysis. This is the one part of the reading standard my students traditionally have the hardest time with; the other two parts of the reading standard, Comprehension and Extension of Understanding, they are able to do without undo difficulty. But the Text Analysis part is difficult.
66. phillipdavid - 11/6/1999 12:23:23 PM
Thursday, November 4, 1999
"B" day, which meant my two block classes. Six things on the menu today:
1) D.O.L.
2) Vocabulary Skits -- the kids teamed up and performed a skit they created using several of this week's vocabulary words. Some of the skits I saw were: picnickers plagued by ants; a father drags a seven year-old to the dentist; a waiter brings an irritable customer the wrong plate of food; a teenager talks on the phone to her bast friend; two best friends say good-bye because one is moving away. The vocab words used most often in al the skits were chaotic, melodramatic, cordial, significant, dignity, paranoid. The skits were a lot of fun and the kids really have a great time doing them.
3) Vocabulary test -- most did very well; surprising since we had a short week and they didn't have much time to study them. I think the skits have proved to be quite a good learning strategy.
4) Write a rough draft of their "Slavery in Colonial America" essay and do a peer review. we ran out of class time, so they have to complete their rough draft at home and come to class Monday ready to have a classmate read and review it (i.e., offer suggestions on how to improve it in the scoring areas: ideas, organization, sentence structure, word choice, voice, conventions).
5) Test on the '13 Colonies" packet we read last time. I allowed them to use the packet on the test because I created a difficult test -- no multiple choice; had to write in words to complete sentences, and I didn't provide a word-bank -- and I knew this would prove to be a very good learning exercise
6) Simulation
I actually had to take home the history tests to grade -- unusual event for me. I graded the week's DOLs, the vocabulary tests while they were putting together their vocab skits, but I did not have any class time to grade the history tests. We teachers really need a prep period _each_ day rather than just once every other day!
67. phillipdavid - 11/6/1999 12:25:02 PM
Two especially gratifying moments: William spoke to me about his home video projects. H wants to do one in class and have me act a bit for him in one. H asked for next week's vocabulary list so he could use it in his script he's working on -- even had a rough draft of a script he wanted me to read today; I declined because I was too busy with other work, and because I wanted him to polish it up before I read it (I don't like reading rough drafts, and I want the kids to focus their energy in developing their own editing and revision skills. This is somewhat ironic because everything written here is just a rough draft!)
Second, Kipp, an especially "energized" (code word) student in my Advisory class, came to class today with a note in his planner saying he currently has an "A" in both reading and social studies. So I finally let him on the computer today -- something which he has continually asked to do, but I have told him he had to earn this privilege. Well, he finally earned it, and this pleased me to no end. He was such a happy camper sitting in front of the I-Mac, and he started working on creating a web page for himself.
68. phillipdavid - 11/6/1999 12:29:24 PM
Friday November 5, 1999
Took a personal day off and went to the coast (what fun!). Left plans for the sub to conduct Literature/Speech classes: nothing but a reading assignment, so the sub must have had an esay day - maybe even boring because I didn't give her/him anything substantial to do...just sit and watch the kids read.
69. phillipdavid - 11/13/1999 11:13:43 AM
Monday, November 8, 1999
"B" day, which meant my two block classes. Lessons included:
1) D.O.L
2) Vocabulary list #8 : hostile, anguish, boisterous, interrogate, bogus, charisma, dilapidated, ecstatic, sinister, philanthropist, ambiguous, befuddle -- students will write stories (I passed out topics) using all the words (due next Monday because Thursday is a holiday and Friday is an "A" day) and will do sketches or commercials on Wednesday. Quiz on the words on Monday.
3) Peer Review of their rough draft of their "Slavery in Colonial America" expository essay --I teamed them up with a partner, had them read their essay aloud to their partner, then let the partner read it silently. The partner had to give suggestions on how to improve each of the six facets of the essay I will grade on the state scoring guide: ideas & content; organization; sentence fluency; conventions; word choice, voice. They also had to articulate what they liked about the essay, and all this was written down on a form I had them turnn for a grade. So the kids got a grade for having their rough draft done on time, and for completing a peer review of somebody else's paper. Final draft is due on Wednesday, in ink or typed.
I explained what sort of things I wanted them to look for, and had them use the blue writing packet with explanations of the scores in each area as a guide for their suggestions. This was a very effective lesson in that they had the opportunity to use their critical thinking skills to analyze strengths and weaknesses in someone else's paper (which should help them in their own paper), and to study once again exactly what the is expected in the state scoring guide. I told them all to pay special attention to conventions because this is an area that is doubly important on the state writing test (And sine we do DOL sentences every day, there is no excuse for sloppy writing! Punctuation should be exact, as should spelling, paragraph breaks etc.)
70. phillipdavid - 11/13/1999 11:16:56 AM
The most common questions I had from students was on how to write their introduction. The most common problem was students using the first-person writing style; I instructed them to take themselves out of the essay --e.g., no sentences such as: "I am going to explain to you the reasons why there was slavery in colonial America." Instead, they should write something like: "There were several reasons why African slaves were used in colonial times..." Secondly, I instructed them to mention their three main points they will be writing about in their introductions; the reader (me) should know what to expect in the essay by what is written I the first few sentences, and the main points should be mentioned in the order they are written about in the paper.
The vast majority of my morning block came to class with their rough draft complete and ready to go (well, they should; they had all weekend to do it!), but the vast majority of my afternoon block class did not. Most of them missed out on peer reviews and the valuable experience working with the scoring guides. Too bad for them, really, because there was a lot of very valuable learning going on with those who did peer reviews.
I'm expecting some pretty decent essays -- I'll know n Wednesday when I start grading them with the state scoring guide. I expect quite a few of them To do well enough to meet the writing standards and have an assignment for their portfolio.
4) Quick review of the American Revolution -- just a warm-up really. Then we watched the first 30 minutes of a video titled "The American Revolution" which was narrated by Charles Kuralt and was very good. We watched the first battles of Lexington and Concord, the Boston Massacre, all the "ACTS" -- taxes on stamps, sugar, etc., -- and left off at the Battle of Breed's Hill (aka Bunker Hill). Will continue with the video for several more days.
71. phillipdavid - 11/13/1999 11:19:30 AM
5) Ended the class with one round of our Simulation game. We've played about ten rounds so far, and I have decided to quit the game after round 15.
Tuesday November 9, 1999
"A" day, which meant my three Literature/Speech classes.
Lots of groaning and moaning today in my first class about how tired they were of reading. I reassured them that they were almost done with the book, and we will do a persuasive speech next (which led to more groaning! Oh well).
All they had to do today was complete the chapters 8&9 assignments and turn them in, and then start reading chapter 10. Chapters 10 & 11 assignments will be due next class.
I also laid out on the counter five different possible ending assignments for their reading standard assessment-- what I called "CIM" assignments. Two of them entailed mostly writing essays, and two of them allowed them to use graphic representations as well as a little writing to express what they need to meet the reading standard. One of the graphic assignments is to create a book cover with pictures, liner notes, a brief summary of the book, notes from the author, and such. The other graphic is a what I call the "Magic Book." It has nifty and creative secret pages that open up for display, and is designed to appeal to those who want a more artistic sort of challenge and a more intellectual sort of challenge. A couple of my afternoon TAG kids chose to do that one, and I can't wait to se what they create.
A fairly quiet day, all in all. They read and worked, and I graded assignments as fast as they came in. I was able to grade everything in class today and was much pleased that I didn't have to lug home any papers to grade tonight.
72. phillipdavid - 11/13/1999 11:21:54 AM
Wednesday November 10, 1999
"B" day, which meant my two block classes (and Advisory, of course).
Expository essays were due today, and out of the 43 kids in my block classes 27 turned in a final draft. Five or six were absent, and three or four gave one excuse or another of why theirs wasn't done yet. So I expect probably 33 out of the 43 students to turn in an essay by Friday. A little disappointing that so many wouldn't come through, but it just means less work for me tomorrow (a holiday, which I will spend several hours grading these essays). I'll report Friday how many of these essays were written well enough to meet the writing standard for an expository essay.
We started off with DOL sentences, then played a vocabulary bee -- quit exciting, as it was last time. We played boys vs. girls, and the boys won in one block class and the girls in the other. I had the last four week's words on a grid which the players picked by random choice and had to define to win points. So there was about 50 words total, and many of the kids knew the definitions of many of the words. Quite a fun way to spend 30 minutes.
We continued watching the video on the American Revolution today: picked up with the Battle of Bunker Hill, then saw the attempted invasion of Canada by Benedict Arnold, and then quite a bit about George Washington. I had the students write down five things they learned about George Washington and turn these notes in for a grade.
We finished the day by playing one round of our simulation game, which was quite fun, as usual.
73. phillipdavid - 11/13/1999 11:24:29 AM
Next time in History class we will start watching the movie "1776." It deals with the Continental Congress, the writing of the Declaration of Independence, and the intense debate between northern and southern representatives over ratification of the Declaration of Independence. The movie is quite fun, if somewhat quirky -- how often, after all, do you get to see Benjamin Franklin and Thomas Jefferson and John Adams sing? And it is very informative while giving the students a very precise visual image of what life and the Founding Fathers were actually like back then. We will then move right into a small research paper on one Founding Father of their choice from the movie. I predict that many will want to learn and write about John Adams, as he is portrayed (quite accurately) as a pushy little obnoxious fireball that is the one who really made it all happen in the Continental Congress. He is an often overlooked FF; Thomas Jefferson, George Washington, Ben Franklin et al, get most of the attention in history books, but Adams was the real mover and shaker who deserves much more attention and respect than he usually gets. The movie does a good job of portraying the vital and necessary role he played in the Revolution.
74. phillipdavid - 11/13/1999 11:27:08 AM
Thursday, November 11, 1999
Today is Veteran's Day, a holiday, but I am posting because I spent 5 hours grading expository essays today. And I only had about 30 of them -- took me about 10 minutes each to grade them using the state scoring guidelines/rubric.
I have decided that even though using the state scoring guides --teaching with them and to them-- is incredibly useful and unquestionably superior to older methods, it is very burdensome.
I am going to lobby for more prep time so I can grade essays (and I have a plethora of essays to grade throughout the year) without having to use up so much of my own time. To grade two block classes' essays takes about 8 hours. I certainly don't have that time in my daily school schedule, so I have to do it on weekends. That is a whole extra day of work! And I have to do this roughly once every two weeks all through the winter and early spring. It is just too much extra work; I have heard that a neighboring school has given their English teachers two prep periods each day -- one to do regular prep (make lesson plans, grade daily assignments, make copies, call parents, etc.) and one to use to grade state standards assignments. We only have one prep period every other day. It is just not enough if I am to do my job well.
My little brother, who is a teacher in another city, says that very few English teachers actually read all the essays turned in, let alone do a good job of grading them using the state scoring rubrics. I believe him, as it has been relayed to me that one of our own high school English teachers never graded her student's essays and rarely, if ever, even returned papers. Such non-action is deplorable, of course, but may be understandable to some extent because if she had a large number of students there just isn't time in the day to grade those essays unless she is given time at work to do so.
75. phillipdavid - 11/13/1999 11:30:00 AM
Just a little frustrated today about the necessity of using my days off to complete work that I should (under reasonable circumstances) be able to do while at work.
Friday, November 12, 1999
"A" day, which meant my three Literature/Speech classes.
Easy day today, as all I had the kids do was finish chapters 10 and 11 and turn in the assignments. I also explained their five options for completing a state reading standards assignment about this novel -- more and more of the students are actually finished with the book now and are ready to begin their final standards assignment.
I started off the day by returning all the essays to my block students; they were mighty anxious to discover if they met the writing standard or not. Given that I have almost all of my block students in my lit/speech classes too, I decided to use up 10 minutes to pass them all back and discuss strengths and weakness with them. The kids appreciate a whole lot the fact that I grade quickly and return everything the next day.
76. phillipdavid - 11/13/1999 11:32:23 AM
Only about half the kids met the standards, and almost 25% of them didn't even turn one in! Those that did well enough to meet the standard, and thus have an acceptable assignment to put in their portfolio, were very happy. The sighs of relief were audible, and the smiles of joy bright. I soothed the others by telling them that most of them only narrowly missed doing well enough, often not doing something simple, such as writing a satisfying conclusion, or using parallel structure in their introductions and paragraphs. So they can rewrite their essays and fix these minor mistakes and resubmit them to me to be rescored. That wouldn't be too much of a chore (and it won't be too much of a chore for me to regrade them either). Most who failed to meet the standard got a "3" in Organization because of a poor intro or a poor conclusion, or a "3" in Conventions because they didn't edit carefully enough -- anybody who leaves in misspelled simple words (like "there instead of "their") needs to fix those simple mistakes before turning in their paper.
Anywise, I think those that didn't meet the standards learned a valuable lesson: The extra time and effort it takes to edit carefully or create a helpful intro and conclusion (for example) is well worth it -- a necessity, really. Most who didn't meet the standards are fairly good writers who usually have little trouble getting good scores on other written work they turn in (for example, the numerous vocabulary list stories they have done for me so far), but to meet the standards takes a very conscientious effort on their part - a lesson I believe they learned today. When the state writing test is given this spring, the scorers won't be sympathetic. Papers have to be written well or they don't pass, simple as that.
77. phillipdavid - 11/13/1999 11:33:23 AM
Only about half the kids met the standards, and almost 25% of them didn't even turn one in! Those that did well enough to meet the standard, and thus have an acceptable assignment to put in their portfolio, were very happy. The sighs of relief were audible, and the smiles of joy bright. I soothed the others by telling them that most of them only narrowly missed doing well enough, often not doing something simple, such as writing a satisfying conclusion, or using parallel structure in their introductions and paragraphs. So they can rewrite their essays and fix these minor mistakes and resubmit them to me to be rescored. That wouldn't be too much of a chore (and it won't be too much of a chore for me to regrade them either). Most who failed to meet the standard got a "3" in Organization because of a poor intro or a poor conclusion, or a "3" in Conventions because they didn't edit carefully enough -- anybody who leaves in misspelled simple words (like "there instead of "their") needs to fix those simple mistakes before turning in their paper.
Anywise, I think those that didn't meet the standards learned a valuable lesson: The extra time and effort it takes to edit carefully or create a helpful intro and conclusion (for example) is well worth it -- a necessity, really. Most who didn't meet the standards are fairly good writers who usually have little trouble getting good scores on other written work they turn in (for example, the numerous vocabulary list stories they have done for me so far), but to meet the standards takes a very conscientious effort on their part - a lesson I believe they learned today. When the state writing test is given this spring, the scorers won't be sympathetic. Papers have to be written well or they don't pass, simple as that.
78. phillipdavid - 11/13/1999 11:35:10 AM
So even though I felt poorly for those who just missed out this time, and didn't earn an "A" or "B" and meet the standards, the result will be beneficial; and they can fix up there paper and rebound from this minor setback.
The other side of the coin is that I am very pleased with the relatively large number who scored well enough to meet the standard. Those students followed my directions and used the instructions I gave them and wrote good essays. Very leasing for me because it lets me know I am doing a good job delivering the sort of instruction that help them be successful writers.
I decided to assign another expository essay, in order to give them even more practice, and to reinforce the skills they have recently developed. So starting on Monday, they wil have to write a one-two page expository easy on one of our nation's Founding Fathers -- I wrote up a list today which included the signers of the Declaration of Independence and prominent men of the American Revolution. We will spend Monday, Wednesday, and Friday (about three hours total) days in the library researching, creating an outline, and writing a rough draft. Final copy will be due on Tuesday of the following week -- I will then have the Thanksgiving weekend to grade them (I have to plan these things carefully so that I have time at home to grade them properly).
Except for one or two exceptions, all are caught up with their reading in My Brother Sam is Dead< and have all their assignments turned in. That makes me feel good too; they have good grades, by and large, and are keeping up with the rather strict reading and assignments schedule I have given them. Lots and lots of very good work is being done in my literature classes.
79. phillipdavid - 11/13/1999 11:38:22 AM
Finally, I got a lot of joy from one student, D'Laura, who cameme up to me and asked about the essays she is doing for the standards assessment of the novel. She is very sharp and insightful as she recognized what the two tragic ironies are in the novel (and this is what pleases me), and with just a little prodding by me the light came on and she understands _why_ the author used them and for what effect. So I now know that she will be able to meet the text analysis portion of the reading standard, and she figured it all out on her own. This is exactly what I want the students to be able to do - to learn. I taught them what ironies are, and I hoped that they would recognize them in this novel and be able to figure out why the author used them and what the effect of using them was. She did so, so I feel (once again) that I am being successful in what I am trying to do. But D'Laura is a smart gal and a very hardworking student, definitely above average -- I'll just have to wait and see if many of the other students have the proverbial light bulb flash on over their heads like she did.
80. phillipdavid - 11/18/1999 11:28:58 PM
Monday November 15, 1999
"B" day, which meant my two block classes.
Only two things on the schedule today: Start watching the movie 1776, and then spend an hour in the library researching one of our nation's "Founding Fathers."
I quickly reviewed the causes of the American Revolution, bringing up all the new taxes, and the causes of those taxes, and such things as the Boston Massacre in order to create the context for the movie, which was the Second Continental Congress. The whole movie deals with the arguments and struggles within that congress to declare independence, Jefferson's creation of the seminal document, and the argument over its editing and ratification. Slavery is one of the primary factors of this debate, and since we just finished writing an expository essay on slavery in the early American colonies, the students can use their recent knowledge of slavery, its causes, ramifications, and realities as a nice hook into the movie and our next essay.
Quirky as it is, I am always pleased that the kids actually seem to enjoy this movie. The rough language ("damn") spoken by John Adams in fits of passion, the suggestive and incisive quotes from Franklin, and the catchiness of the songs engages their interest.
As I predicted, quite a few chose to do their essay on John Adams. The time I the library went fairly well. They all gravitated towards specific reference books I suggested they look at ( e.g., The Dictionary of American Biography), or to some web sites I provided the addresses for. The White House has a very good online biography of each president, so some of the kids spent quite a bit of time reading about Thomas Jefferson, John Adams, or George Washington.
I didn't allow them to print anything off the internet or to copy pages out of book on the copier, so they had to take notes the old fashioned way -- which serves my purposes .
81. phillipdavid - 11/18/1999 11:30:07 PM
They will have today, Wednesday, and Friday to research, outline and start rough draft; the final draft will be due next Tuesday -- so they have this week and the weekend to complete this essay. I required one - two pages discussing their place in society, their major accomplishments, and their role in the Revolution or Constitution.
The underlying purposes of this assignment are to learn about the Founding Fathers (each student will also give an oral report to the class after Thanksgiving, which I will score as a speech), to practice their expository essay writing skills (gather info, organize it, write it up in a way that is easy to read and informative), and to manage their time effectively. I have given them just enough time to complete this task -- if they goof off at all they won't get it done.
Tuesday November 16, 1999
"A" day, which meant my three Literature/Speech classes.
Easy day today as the only things on the schedule was to pass out grade reports and for the students to read chapter 12. Parents need to sign the grade reports and they are due on Thursday. Most everybody is doing well so far, keeping up and getting the assignments in; I predict, however, that those not doing well will not show their grade reports to their parent(s) and will miss out on yet another grade.
I set up the computer grade program to indicate the student's rank among their peers in the class, so there was quite a bit of interest in who ranked number one and so on. I didn't realize the competitive juices were flowing so much among my students -- especially among the top few. They really want to be the top dog, and some of them are even doing extra credit work in an effort to beat their close rivals. I have no problem with this dynamic and think it quite beneficial -- as long as it doesn't get too intense.
82. phillipdavid - 11/18/1999 11:32:15 PM
The students read -- just two more chapters to go; I believe we will be finished with the novel before Thanksgiving -- and I graded assignments as quick as they came in . I stayed caught up, which is good for me.
Wednesday November 17, 1999
"B" day, which meant my two block classes. Easy day as only three things on the schedule. First, I had asked the principle, Mr. Johns, to come in and speak to the kids about what exactly is required for promotion. he spoke about the big three: state tests, work samples, and grades. My purpose was to help motivate a few slackers I have in my block classes. They were not showing any indication that they were picking up their effort any in this second quarter, so I wanted them to know from the horse's mouth (so to speak) that they needed to get passing grades, pass the state tests, and gather sufficient work samples I order to get promoted to the high school. Mr. Johns speaks very well and did a very good job of spelling out the requirements and articulating the necessity of putting forth a good effort. I saw immediate results today as one slacker in particular actually began doing serious work on this week's essay. Of course, I also went down and conferenced with this guy's advisory teacher earlier, so that also had an effect. Anywise, I couldn't help but smile at seeing him finally begin to work. He had tried to play the sympathy card with his advisory teacher, saying the work I give was just too difficult, but I had him in summer school and know he can do the work if he would just put forth a good effort. I also looked him straight in the eye and told him I knew that he wasn't putting forth 10% of the effort in my classes that he puts forward in his wrestling practice; it is not that my work is too hard, it's just that he doesn't want to work that hard. The principle's presentation seems to have motivated him. Hope it lasts for a while.
83. phillipdavid - 11/18/1999 11:34:39 PM
We also continued with the movie 1776. Saw the reading of the Declaration of Independence and the subsequent arguments over its ratification. The big lesson was one which is central to any understanding of how our system of government operates : compromise. The southern delegates were not about to sign the Declaration of Independence because it contained a clause which outlawed slavery. So the northern delegates had to agree to remove that clause. The movie had a great song by Mr. Rultledge of South Carolina about the hypocrisy of the northern delegates who acted so high and mighty about the necessity of ending slavery all the while it was them who started the slave trade, profited from the Triangular Trade, and pocketed the coins from the slave auctions. A lot of intense moral gravitas in that scene.
I got really intense explaining it all to them, so much so that during lunch the teacher in the neighboring room remarked how intense I was in class today (she happened to walk by briefly and hear what was going on). Truth is that I didn't know what she was talking about at first, because I always get a little intense (at least very interested and animated) when I talk to my students about historical issues. It is this quality of my mine which makes the students interested, after all. I have had numerous students tell me in the past that their experience in my history class was the first time they had ever actually been interested in history -- they have said that I always sounded interested and that made them want to be interested. I tell my speech students the same thing: if you want your audience to be interested in what you're saying, you better sound interested! This is as simple and as powerful a pedagogical truth as there ever was. It is too bad that so many teachers spend so much time moaning in a monotonous monotone about their subjects. A little real interest works wonders in a classroom!
84. phillipdavid - 11/18/1999 11:36:24 PM
After the movie, we spent an hour in the library working on our expository essay about one of the Founding Fathers. Everybody worked well today, stayed on task, and got quite a bit of good work done. Truth is they didn't have any time to waste since I made a tight schedule for this essay -- outlines and then rough drafts are to be done tomorrow, final draft due Tuesday. I am also quite pleased that several students picked rather obscure subjects that I know nothing about, so I will actually learn a little something reading their papers this time.
We also found a very good website: ColonialHall.com It has a plethora of concise biographies on every person who signed either the Declaration of Independence or Constitution.
85. phillipdavid - 11/21/1999 12:59:30 AM
Thursday November 18, 1999
Quiet work day in Literature/Speech classes. I did a small lesson on text analysis, modeling how I would go about writing up an analysis of one literary element and one literary device. I modeled on how I would go about discussing how the authors of My Brother Sam is Dead developed a character and made them seem real; then I modeled how I would go about discussing the author's use of a literary device ( I did a particularly effective metaphor, "lobsterback,") and we discussed the concept and use of irony in this novel a bit -- but not in much depth because I want them to figure out the author's use of irony themselves.
Rest of the period was spent reading chapters 13 &14. I told the kids that we had today, Monday and Wednesday of next week before Thanksgiving break and that I want to be done with this novel by then so we can start something new (a persuasive speech) after the long weekend. So hopefully many of the kids will be done reading and can complete their reading standards assessment by then.
Friday November 20, 1999
"B" day, which meant my two block classes. We did only two things: finished the movie "1776" and spent rest of the time in the library working on our essay. I required them to have a completed outline for their essay today. Everybody got one written up, and I graded them. They must come to class on Tuesday with a completed rough draft, and we will spend Tuesday doing peer reviews, revising, editing, and writing up the final drafts.
86. phillipdavid - 11/25/1999 12:40:01 AM
Monday November 22, 1999
"A" day, which meant my three Literature/Speech classes.
Very easy day today: students spent all period either finishing the novel (if they were a little behind in their reading), finishing up the last chapter assignments for the novel, or they began working on their reading standards assessment assignment.
Once again I spent a few minutes giving them examples of how they can go about meeting the text analysis portion of the reading standards assessment. Then I just sat and graded papers as quick as they came in. Kids worked fairly well, and almost everybody was caught up with any lingering assignments by the end of the class. Wednesday will be devoted solely to the standards assessment assignment
87. phillipdavid - 11/25/1999 12:42:35 AM
Tuesday November 23, 1999
"B" day, which meant my two block classes. We spent both periods -- language arts and history -- on one task: finishing the expository essay on a Founding Father.
First, I quickly gave point to those who came to class with their rough draft completed (about two thirds came to class prepared); then I teamed them up and had them do a peer-review of each
other's papers. Then they were do revise their rough drafts, do a final edit, and write their final drafts in pen or type them up on a computer.
Some tips I gave them to consider during their peer reviews:
1. Take yourself out of the essay. It's preferable to avoid writing in the first-person voice.
2. Use parallel structure: mention your main points in the introduction and then discuss them in the same order.
3. Make sure there are good topic sentences for each paragraph, and plenty of effective supporting detail.
4. Try to experiment with language; use expressive language where appropriate.
5. An effective conclusion?
These were some basic tips I felt some needed to be reminded of because too many got marked down because of these things in their last essay.
Morning block finished with half an hour to spare, so I gave them the option of playing a round of the simulation game (which we have neglected for over a week), or to go outside and get some fresh air for a while. We went outside, which was a nice change of pace--- a welcome break f