Week 5

This week was a pretty productive one.

We began and finished reading "The Lottery" by Shirley Jackson--she wrote "Charles" as well. The students really seemed to enjoy the story, and most were shocked at the end. We even held a classroom lottery to see which student would have won the prize, much like the way it was held in the story. Some of the resources I referred to suggested holding the class lottery before reading the story, and some suggested to do the lottery after (as we did). It would've been interesting to have one period hold the class lottery before the story, and another period hold the lottery after having read the story--I'm interested in seeing which version would have a stronger response.

In English classes, students have been finishing up their Biopoems and beginning their Digital Story sloppy-copies. I used my own Digital Story for Benedum as an example of how to put theirs together. Right now, they're brainstorming ideas and writing a 5-paragraph sloppy-copy. Once their rough draft has been completed, they are to self-edit and word process their script. Peer editing is the next step, and soon we will begin making the actual PowerPoint presentations.

We had another substitute for a brief time one day; it went MUCH better than the experience with the substitute I mentioned in an earlier blog. Sometimes, though, the students get so rowdy (no matter who is substituting), that it makes me feel as if I have poor class management skills. I don't know if I'm thinking too far into it--students always behave differently for a sub.-- or if there is some truth to that wondering.

Finally, I attended my first parent-teacher conference on Friday afternoon. A student's mother was concerned that they had a failing grade for English class and no other subject. This particular student has an IEP, and has difficulty putting words onto paper. We discussed some possible solutions, and made a plan for action from now on.