Ok, so there have been a few slight changes of plans for the week of December 14-18.
Change #1: There is a basketball game on Monday starting 4th hour, so I won't have any of the afternoon (4th-6th) hour classes that day. We won't have a Socratc Circle in those classes. My morning classes (1st and 2nd) will still have the Socratic Circle.
Change #2: Mrs. Johnson will be coming into my room on Tuesday, so I won't be in any of my classes that day. We won't have a Socratic Circle in any of my classes that day.
The only thing that this really should mean to you as parents is that, unless your child is in my first or second hour classes, there will be no grades for Socratic Circles on those days. My first and second hour classes will still have the grade for Monday.
Have a great break!
Friday, December 11, 2009
Thursday, December 10, 2009
December 14-18
Hello, parents!
It's almost Christmas break, and I'm sure that you are ready to spend some time with your kids. This week in English, we are wrapping everything up and taking the semester test.
Here is a brief run-down of this week in English:
Monday- Socratic Circle
Tuesday- Socratic Circle
Wednesday- Review for semester test (for those who have to take it)
Thursday- Semester test (for those who have to take it)
Friday- Study day for the students who have other semester tests today
Monday and Tuesday in class, we will be reading two short stories and doing Socratic Circles over them. I will give the students a short story on Friday to read for Monday, and then I will give him another one on Monday to read for Tuesday. During class, they will be doing a Socratic Circle discussion over these two short stories.
Wednesday in class, we will be reviewing for the semester test. The students who do not have to take their semester tests will either be able to read or do other homework.
Thursday in class will be the semester test. The students who do not have to take the semester test will be able to read or do homework for other classes.
Friday, many students will be gone from school, and the students who are in school will be taking semester tests in many of their other classes. These students will have a day in English to study for their other semester tests.
The only grades that will be taken for this week are the two participation grades for the Socratic Circles. Monday and Tuesday will each be worth 20 points, and the students will be able to earn these points by participating in the class discussion. Other than that, the only homework that they have for this week will be to study for the semester test on Thursday.
If you have any questions about English class, please feel free to contact me. You can either email me at kwalls@byngschools.com or you can call the school at 580-310-6744. I hope you have a great Christmas with your families!
It's almost Christmas break, and I'm sure that you are ready to spend some time with your kids. This week in English, we are wrapping everything up and taking the semester test.
Here is a brief run-down of this week in English:
Monday- Socratic Circle
Tuesday- Socratic Circle
Wednesday- Review for semester test (for those who have to take it)
Thursday- Semester test (for those who have to take it)
Friday- Study day for the students who have other semester tests today
Monday and Tuesday in class, we will be reading two short stories and doing Socratic Circles over them. I will give the students a short story on Friday to read for Monday, and then I will give him another one on Monday to read for Tuesday. During class, they will be doing a Socratic Circle discussion over these two short stories.
Wednesday in class, we will be reviewing for the semester test. The students who do not have to take their semester tests will either be able to read or do other homework.
Thursday in class will be the semester test. The students who do not have to take the semester test will be able to read or do homework for other classes.
Friday, many students will be gone from school, and the students who are in school will be taking semester tests in many of their other classes. These students will have a day in English to study for their other semester tests.
The only grades that will be taken for this week are the two participation grades for the Socratic Circles. Monday and Tuesday will each be worth 20 points, and the students will be able to earn these points by participating in the class discussion. Other than that, the only homework that they have for this week will be to study for the semester test on Thursday.
If you have any questions about English class, please feel free to contact me. You can either email me at kwalls@byngschools.com or you can call the school at 580-310-6744. I hope you have a great Christmas with your families!
Monday, December 7, 2009
December 7-11
Hello, parents!
I hope you all had a great weekend and are ready for your children to come home and spend a few weeks with you! The rest of the time in English class is going to be very busy. We have a lot to get done, and not enough time to do it!
Here is a brief run-down of what we will be doing in class this week:
Monday- read The Odyssey
Tuesday- read The Odyssey
Wednesday- read The Odyssey/ abstinence
Thursday- Mrs. Webb will be speaking to the classes about careers
Friday- reading logs are due/ read The Odyssey
Monday, Tuesday, and Friday in class, we will just continue on with our reading of The Odyssey. I will continue to read it aloud and play it on tape to the students, and then we will stop every once in a while to explain and discuss what is going on in the story.
Wednesday is going to be a somewhat confusing day for the students, because first and second hours will be abstinence training with Mrs. Harris and Coach Capps. For my first and second hour classes, I will send home some copies of The Odyssey for them to read, since that is what they will be missing due to abstinence. They can read these at home, and then we will get caught up on everything on Friday. The rest of my classes will just continue on with The Odyssey as usual.
Thursday in class, Mrs. Webb will be coming into my room all day, along with someone from ECU, to talk about careers with all of my students. I'm not exactly sure about everything that she has planned for the kids, but I know it deals with careers and the job market.
We will be finishing up The Odyssey in class this week, but reading logs are still due on Friday. This is the only real homework that they have in my class this week, and they are allowed to count The Odyssey on this log if they have been following along in class. We will just be finishing up The Odyssey and preparing for semester tests. I still have some thinking/ discussing to do concerning the semester test in this class. I would like to give the test on Thursday so that the kids won't have a test in every single class on Friday, but I'm not sure how that would work out. There are still a lot of factors contributing to whether or not that would work, so I will be posting that information on next week's blog.
Again, if you have any questions about anything in this class, please feel free to contact me at any time. I hope you all have a great week!
I hope you all had a great weekend and are ready for your children to come home and spend a few weeks with you! The rest of the time in English class is going to be very busy. We have a lot to get done, and not enough time to do it!
Here is a brief run-down of what we will be doing in class this week:
Monday- read The Odyssey
Tuesday- read The Odyssey
Wednesday- read The Odyssey/ abstinence
Thursday- Mrs. Webb will be speaking to the classes about careers
Friday- reading logs are due/ read The Odyssey
Monday, Tuesday, and Friday in class, we will just continue on with our reading of The Odyssey. I will continue to read it aloud and play it on tape to the students, and then we will stop every once in a while to explain and discuss what is going on in the story.
Wednesday is going to be a somewhat confusing day for the students, because first and second hours will be abstinence training with Mrs. Harris and Coach Capps. For my first and second hour classes, I will send home some copies of The Odyssey for them to read, since that is what they will be missing due to abstinence. They can read these at home, and then we will get caught up on everything on Friday. The rest of my classes will just continue on with The Odyssey as usual.
Thursday in class, Mrs. Webb will be coming into my room all day, along with someone from ECU, to talk about careers with all of my students. I'm not exactly sure about everything that she has planned for the kids, but I know it deals with careers and the job market.
We will be finishing up The Odyssey in class this week, but reading logs are still due on Friday. This is the only real homework that they have in my class this week, and they are allowed to count The Odyssey on this log if they have been following along in class. We will just be finishing up The Odyssey and preparing for semester tests. I still have some thinking/ discussing to do concerning the semester test in this class. I would like to give the test on Thursday so that the kids won't have a test in every single class on Friday, but I'm not sure how that would work out. There are still a lot of factors contributing to whether or not that would work, so I will be posting that information on next week's blog.
Again, if you have any questions about anything in this class, please feel free to contact me at any time. I hope you all have a great week!
Thursday, December 3, 2009
December 3- Bonus
Hello, parents!
I just wanted to let you all know about some bonus opportunities that your students will be having in my classes in the next few days. I realize that some students do not have the grades that they might like to have in English, and I am making these assignments as an opportunity for these students to raise their grades to what they would like them to be.
Overall, there are 6 assignments right now, which total 200 possible bonus points. All of the bonus assignments deal with The Odyssey, and they are all pretty creative ways for students to learn more about what we are reading, as well as raise their grades in English class. Two of the assignments are worth 50 points each, and the rest are worth 25 points each. Students can choose not to do any of the assignments if they are satisfied with their grades, or they may also do all of the assignments if they would like to do so. Earlier this afternoon, I entered these assignments into my gradebook, and I hypothetically put grades in for a few students to see how these assignments would affect their grades in my class. On average, the grade rose about 10 percentage points when I entered perfect grades for all of the assignments. This means that for most students, doing all of these assignments can potentially raise their grade in my class a whole letter grade.
I realize that all of you check Power School, so I know that these assignments will be showing up on my class's gradebook. Again, if your child does not choose to do these assignments, these assignments will not hurt his/her grade. I hope that this can help some students who might be struggling in English.
If you would like me to send yo a copy of those bonus assignments, I would be more than willing to get you one. Just send me an email at kwalls@byngschools.com. Have a great day!
I just wanted to let you all know about some bonus opportunities that your students will be having in my classes in the next few days. I realize that some students do not have the grades that they might like to have in English, and I am making these assignments as an opportunity for these students to raise their grades to what they would like them to be.
Overall, there are 6 assignments right now, which total 200 possible bonus points. All of the bonus assignments deal with The Odyssey, and they are all pretty creative ways for students to learn more about what we are reading, as well as raise their grades in English class. Two of the assignments are worth 50 points each, and the rest are worth 25 points each. Students can choose not to do any of the assignments if they are satisfied with their grades, or they may also do all of the assignments if they would like to do so. Earlier this afternoon, I entered these assignments into my gradebook, and I hypothetically put grades in for a few students to see how these assignments would affect their grades in my class. On average, the grade rose about 10 percentage points when I entered perfect grades for all of the assignments. This means that for most students, doing all of these assignments can potentially raise their grade in my class a whole letter grade.
I realize that all of you check Power School, so I know that these assignments will be showing up on my class's gradebook. Again, if your child does not choose to do these assignments, these assignments will not hurt his/her grade. I hope that this can help some students who might be struggling in English.
If you would like me to send yo a copy of those bonus assignments, I would be more than willing to get you one. Just send me an email at kwalls@byngschools.com. Have a great day!
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