December Post of the Month

Can you believe another month has almost passed? Of course, with Christmas Break, December is rather short, not that anyone's complaining! Once again, it is time to announce our newest Post of the Month. This time, our winner hails from Period 1.

Congratulations to Meghan for her reflective post entitled Finals Week! As a senior, she delves into past memories and looks toward her future as well. Be sure to read her post soon, as her class's blogs will be removed at the end of the semester, when Period 1 switches from Grammar to Creative Writing.

Goodbye, Bloggers

As this semester comes to a close, we must say goodbye to our Period 1 bloggers. My Grammar class is only a semester-long class, so those particular students will no longer be members of my overarching blogger community. We will miss them all!

This has been my first experience with blogging, and I am so proud of how my students have handled this new and modern learning tool. Although I will no longer be administrator of these fine student blogs (thank you, Mrs. Sims, for reminding me of this important fact on your own blog), I hope they will continue to utilize their blogs on their own time. Remember, I will not be able to monitor any further blogging activity, but I am pleased with everyone’s contribution thus far.

Check back next semester as my Creative Writing students (my new Period 1 class) set up their blogs and join the online collaboration with their own unique voices.

Happy Blogging, Everyone!

Building Bridges

Today, the Freshman Academy held a competition in which mentor groups built a bridge using only newspaper and masking tape. Each bridge had to fit certain height, width, and weight requirements. This activity was designed to promote creative thinking and team building skills. Boy, did the students impress! In fact, we had to add extra weight just to narrow it down to our finalists.

Congratulations to Mrs. Reising's and Mrs. Smith’s mentor groups!

P.S. No one may believe it, but after the competition, my students kept adding weight to my group’s bridge back in the classroom. How much did it hold? Five packages of copy paper and nine grammar textbooks. At the same time! This was about sixty-seven pounds—I know because my students weighed it. Amazing!

Mrs. Smith's Final Exam Project

For this final exam project, students will be placed in groups of two or three, depending upon class size. Each group will be assigned a specific topic from the semester. These groups must come up with creative ways to teach or present their topics to the class using the technology of Open Office Impress (similar to Microsoft PowerPoint). During these final presentations, all students must take notes for each presentation. These notes will be used to do the final step of the project, which is “Dump Your Brain.” In this activity, students must write down each topic that was presented, along with a brief paragraph about what they learned in the presentations.

Topics for each class are listed below.

Grammar: Nouns, Pronouns, Verbs, Adjectives & Adverbs, Prepositions, Conjunctions & Interjections, Direct & Indirect Objects, Predicate Nouns & Predicate Adjectives, Gerunds, Infinitives, Participles, & Appositives

English 9: Chapters from A Day No Pigs Would Die (1-3, 4-6, 7-9, 10-12, 13-15), Nouns, Pronouns, Adjectives, & Verbs

English 10: Cold Equations, Book of Sand, Pit & the Pendulum, The Bass, the River, & Sheila Mant, Nouns, Pronouns, Action Verbs (T/I), Linking Verbs (PN/PA), & Adjectives & Adverbs

Each Impress presentation is worth 40 points. The Dump Your Brain activity is worth 40 points. Thus, the entire final exam project is worth 80 points total.

Final Exams

As the holidays approach, so too do final exams. I encourage all students to prepare themselves for these end-of-the-semester exams. Soon I will post an overview of my classes' final exams/projects. Stay tuned. In the meantime, here is the final exam schedule. Familiarize yourself with it and be prepared for all of your classes. Good luck!

Day 1 (Tuesday, December 15)
Period 1: 8:20-9:00

Period 2: 9:05-9:40

Period 3: 9:45-11:00 Period 3 EXAM

Period 4: 11:00-12:30 (Regular lunch and class schedule)

Period 5: 12:35-1:10

Period 6: 1:15-1:55

Period 6: 2:00-3:15 Period 6 EXAM

Day 2 (Wednesday, December 16)
Period 1: 8:20-9:35 Period 1 EXAM

Period 2: 9:40-11:00 Period 2 EXAM

Period 4: 11:00-12:30 (Regular lunch and class schedule)

Period 5: 12:35-1:50 Period 5 EXAM

Period 7: 2:00-3:15

Day 3 (Thursday, December 17)
Period 3: 8:20-9:35

Period 4: 9:40-11:00 Period 4 EXAM

Period 4: 11:00-12:30 (Regular lunch and class schedule)

Period 6: 12:35-1:10

Period 7: 1:15-1:55

Period 7: 2:00-3:15 Period 7 EXAM

Friday, December 18, is a regular day to be used for make-up exams.

Happy Thanksgiving!

This week at school, as Thanksgiving approaches, we've all tried to focus on being grateful for the blessings in our lives, as well as helping others in need. My blogging students created posts that included lists or descsriptions of what they appreciate in their lives. In addition to participating in a canned food drive, our mentor groups in the Freshman Academy designed a giving tree of thankful leaves, shown above. To top it all off, I thought I'd share just a few of the many, many blessings I am grateful to have in my own life.

1. Life

2. Family

3. Friends

4. Wonderful students and coworkers!

5. Laptops :)

Happy Thanksgiving, Everyone!

November Post of the Month

It's that time again—time to announce our blog Post of the Month for November! This month, I even enlisted the help of several of my classes when choosing the best post. Of course, my students were thinking along the same lines as I was; there was really no contest. This month's honor goes to a girl who is not afraid to delve into controversial topics, raw emotions, or personal journeys.

Congrats to Jasmine for her moving post entitled Is Suicide on your mind? I'd think again. I know many readers were truly touched by her thoughtful exploration of this issue. Please check it out in my Period 5 Blogs.

A Day No Pigs Would Die

What is a Shaker?

This guiding question will lead my freshman classes to read the novel, A Day No Pigs Would Die, by Robert Newton Peck. As we prepare for this novel, we are exploring the world of the Shakers, a religious group that originally migrated to America for religious freedom in the 1700s. Because the narrator in this novel is Robert Peck, a Shaker boy partially based on the author's life, it is vitally important to understand the historical and religious background of his heritage.

In small groups, students are researching a specific Shaker topic, creating an informative PowerPoint presentation, and then "teaching" the class about what they have learned. Some of these topics include: Shaker History, Religious Beliefs, Daily Life, Homes, Farms, Inventions, and Famous Shakers.

I can't wait to see how my students will answer the question, "What is a Shaker?"

Need Some Inspiration?

Some of my students are currently writing fictional short stories. As they struggle to unlock their characters, flesh out a plot, and perfect their writing styles, I am doing my best to inspire them to create their best work. Of course, who better to inspire writing than those who have successfully battled the dragons of writer's block, self-doubt, and frustration?

Therefore, anytime I hear a student say I'm stuck! or I don't know what to do! or I can't do this! again, I'm recommending this video. Hopefully it will inspire better than even I could.

Happy Writing!

Literal vs. Figurative

This week, some of my classes are exploring the difference between literal and figurative, our newest terms of the week.

Literal: factual words that do not deviate from their defined meaning

Figurative: represented by allegorical figures

As we read "The Interlopers" by Saki, we are discussing the theme of fences. Students have found many interesting interpretations of fences, both literal (a privacy fence, a prison fence, a dog fence, etc.) and figurative (a personal space fence, an emotional fence, a fence against failure, etc.). We have even developed the adage "Good fences make good neighbors" to highlight our ideas and connect to the story. In Moodle, we will be writing an in-depth reflection on a chosen form of fencing.

A Writer on Writing

After viewing this video, please click on Comments to leave your opinion on what Joyce Carol Oates shared about writing characters.

Announcement: Since my Comments section is not currently working, students shared their opinions during class. Here are some of them:

I think it (Oates' dialogue assignment) makes a lot of sense. Learning more about a character really does help when making a story. I do this for a lot of the stories that I work on now.

Writing out the dialogue didn't really help me much. My characters are my characters. They have life the minute I create them, and making the dialogue just confused me.

It's pretty hard sometimes (no matter how real the characters seem) to create personality and depth to them. It's good to actually become the character to get into their mind. Makes it a lot easier to write about their actions if you know how they think.

I felt that this video was a great resource for character development. The woman was boring, but the video was cool.

Personally, I disagree with her. If anything, the dialogue complicated things.

I like the assignment because it makes us use our imaginations.

Happy Halloween!

October Post of the Month

As my students create, organize, and update their blogs, I have discovered a wealth of previously untapped talent among my classes. As a result, each month I am encouraging all students to include independent posts beyond our class blogging assignments. This provides a unique opportunity for them to express themselves and explore their opinions through blogging. Then, at the end of each month, I will select a Post of the Month that I find particularly engaging, interesting, or unique.

Therefore, let me proudly announce our first Post of the Month for October (in this case, a tie). You can check them both out at my Period 5 Blogs.

Zach's Blog: I Hate, Therefore I Am (all parts)

Jared's Blog: My Average School Day (all parts)

Congratulations to these fine bloggers. Keep up the good work!

Happy Fall Break

This year, we had a fall door decorating contest at school. I thought my students did an excellent job on our door, as you can see. They've definitely earned the right to enjoy their upcoming fall break.

Happy Fall Break, everyone!

Anecdote

How many of you have come to school, bursting with a story to share with your friends? Everyone knows a person who is particularly good at storytelling, someone who can make any simple incident seem exciting and full of detail. Such a story is called an anecdote (our next term of the week!).

Anecdote: a story about a specific event, usually short

In Moodle, as we review the 7 types of pronouns, we will be writing brief anecdotes about a man named Fred. You will need to include examples of each type of pronoun: personal, reflexive, intensive, demonstrative, interrogative, relative, and indefinite. Good luck and have fun!

Foreshadowing

It's here! Our first Term of the Week!

Foreshadowing: a technique used by authors to provide clues for the reader to be able to predict what might happen later in the story.

In Poe's "The Cask of Amontillado," the narrator Montressor provides multiple clues (through foreshadowing) that help the reader, and should have also helped Fortunato, to predict the unfortunate ending.

In our Moodle chat, we will be discussing various literary elements utilized by Poe in his stories and poems. Be prepared to discuss the technique of foreshadowing and its importance within his writing!

Welcome, New Bloggers!

This is an exciting time for some of my classes, as they are setting up their own blogs and preparing to enter a new realm of online learning and collaborating. I look forward to utilizing these learning tools and getting to know my students through this unique style of interaction. Already I can tell some bloggers are brimming with creativity and techno-savvy.

Check back soon for more links to student blogs as they become available.

Poe Project

This week, freshmen students have been delving into the spooky world of Edgar Allan Poe by working on group-based projects that explore his life, works, and death. All classes will be presenting these projects and teaching the class about their specific topic. I'm looking forward to seeing these presentations and learning even more about this enigmatic writer. In fact, I learn something new about him every year!

Below is the project unit, as listed in Moodle:

POE PROJECT

Considered “the great master of horror,” Edgar Allan Poe has long been a favorite writer for both his thrilling stories and his equally intriguing personal life. Indeed, one cannot truly understand the writing of Poe without first having some knowledge of his own life. For that reason, you will be researching this enigmatic writer as you prepare to delve into two of his most compelling stories—“The Cask of Amontillado” and “The Tell-Tale Heart.”

Your Poe Project must include both a verbal and a visual component, which you will share with the entire class (1-2 minutes only).

For this project you will:
Work in groups of 3
Research Edgar Allan Poe
Find information, pictures, interesting facts, etc.
Then plan to present your group’s findings to the class using your voice and a creative project (PowerPoint, poster, 3-D model, newspaper article, etc.)

You will be graded on:
Quality of research
Verbal communication skills with the class
Visual project used to aid your group in sharing your gained knowledge of Poe

Term of the Week

erm of the Week is a new concept I'm introducing, in order to better integrate terminology necessary for students to successfully navigate the English curriculum. These are also terms that may appear on a standardized test. Whenever possible, the term of the week will relate to whatever our classes are studying that particular week; however, there may be instances where the term of the week functions as an isolated lesson, rather than a tangent to another lesson.

Either way, I believe this concept will strengthen students' knowledge and understanding of the English curriculum. We will also utilize these terms through various Moodle lessons as well. Keep an eye out for a new term each week!

Coming soon....

Laptops are HERE!

It's official: our new laptops have arrived! The students and myself are extremely excited to begin our technological journey together. We now have the world at our fingertips. Check back soon for more information about how we're integrating these twenty-first century learning tools into our curriculum.

Did You Know? Update

Our Moodle chat last week, discussing Karl Fisch's video, went quite well in all classes. Although we had a few kinks to work out, I was pleased overall with the quality of conversation that occurred. Most students enjoyed the online chat and would like to do more. A few pointed out that it moved very quickly and that it was difficult to keep up with so many conversations. However, I'm confident we will improve our chatting throughout the year.

Here are a few highlights from our chats:

"The way I see it, we can kind of expect to have our minds blown on a regular basis, because it is always gonna be more than we expect when it comes to technological progress"

"I think that schools need to provide much more tech, because the increase in technology in the twenty first century is kind of calling for it"

"NO TEXTBOOKS! Carrying a laptop would be much easier than going to your locker every passing period to get different books"

"Technology at school allows us access to much more information than our library can provide"

"But technology is a good thing, evolution didn't stop with opposable thumbs"

"Everyone takes for granted the things we had before tech, that we are not even thankful for what we have"

"I think that modern norms and various media forms are going to keep them addicted to the influx of new media forms, while eroding thought and self expression"

"Technological growth is expanding faster than we can find ways to deal with it"

"Technology is fine and dandy, and I also think that a technology oriented future will be fine, but I think we still need the social interaction that we have now"

"Texting is great (to your boyfriend) but not for jobs; it needs to be more professional"

Did You Know?

Watch the above video, "Did You Know?" by Karl Fisch. It discusses America's place within the global fields of technology and education. After everyone in class has viewed this video, we will have a Moodle chat regarding some of the insightful issues presented. Be prepared to discuss the following questions:

1. What was the most surprising fact you learned from the video?
2. Do you feel, as Americans, we can compete in the global market?
3. As a student, do you feel prepared to enter the world of college, work, etc.? Why/why not?
4. What can schools do to better prepare students for the global experience?
5. What technology do you feel schools need to implement to better prepare their students?
6. What are some positive and negative consequences of shifting to a world of technology?

Before beginning our Moodle chat, we will review proper etiquette and procedures.

Internal Monologue

Internal Monologue—a technique for presenting the stream of consciousness of a character; in other words, his or her personal, private thoughts. It can be direct (first person) or indirect (third person).

Here is an example, based on the above photograph:

IT’S OVER. Those two, simple words echoed in my brain. They were like the incessant gonging of a bell. IT’S OVER. IT’S OVER. As I watched my feet swinging through thin air, I couldn’t ignore the fact that I had become a cliché. Dumped at the altar, well, practically, the night before my wedding. Despite the beautiful vista of my hometown in front of me, all I could see were Anna’s vivid blue eyes, darkening in a way that was foreign to me, as she stepped back from our vows. At the memory, fresh pain ripped through my body, leaving me feeling weak and empty. A brisk wind would likely topple me over the edge, into the fathomless depths below me. IT’S OVER. But it’s not over. Even here, at the edge of reason, I know that I must go on. I must find a new path. I just wish it didn’t seem so daunting, so overwhelming.

Your assignment: Using the provided example as a guide, write your own internal monologue based on the above photograph. Ask yourself some questions about this character. Who? What? Where? When? Why?

Do not write your response on this blog. Instead, go to my Moodle page and find the assignment labeled Internal Monologue. Your response must be at least 5 sentences long.

And They're Off!

Wow! What a great year so far! I'd just like to compliment all of my students for coming back to school with winning attitudes and strong work ethics. I hope everyone can continue to maintain this high level of accomplishment throughout the year.

We're off to a great start!

A Thought to Start the Year

Welcome Back!

Greetings from Pike Central High School!

I am so excited to be returning to school this year, and I hope that everyone shares my enthuasiasm. It is always enjoyable to start fresh and meet new friends. For the freshmen, I know that making the transition from middle to high school can be both thrilling and challenging; I look forward to helping students navigate that change as successfully as possible. Please feel free to contact me with questions or concerns.

Email: lsmith@pcsc.k12.in.us

Phone: (812) 354-8478 X377

I truly believe open communication between students, parents, and teachers is one of the strongest assets we can provide in education. Thus, it is my hope that this blog will build strong relationships throughout the school year.

I look forward to working with everyone this year!