Update!

Hello!

Well it's been quite a while since I've posted!  Since I've last posted, I've been quite busy with Of Mice and Men with my students!

I have so much to talk about regarding the last month I've spent teaching that I don't even know where to begin!

I've turned my door into a "Twitter Door"!  At the end of class, students are given a sticky note and must write a question, a comment, or summarize the lesson.  I go over it and use it as a tool to refine my lesson for the next day!

The kids love it!  They must follow the rules of no more than 140 characters, can use hash tags, and comment on other posts if desired.

In an effort to promote student achievement, I have incorporated S.W.A.G.  - Students with Academic Greatness.(Click on S.W.A.G.  to purchase my S.W.A.G. packet for your class!)  Criteria to be a member is to be present in class ALL week, have 84 or higher, and be respectful and focused at all time.

While I am a huge fan of technology, and will do anything with technology, I prefer to have hard copies of EVERYTHING.  Therefore, I have created binders for each unit that I do.  I have created 2 binders - one for The Odyssey and one for Of Mice and Men.  I am putting a master copy and answers into the binder each time I print a class set so next year, I have a solid unit plan in place and can just pull from my binder instead of scouting the internet for resources!  :)

I have also gone to quite a few workshops since the last time I posted, and boy were they awesome!  The first one was on classroom management.  Now, my classroom, if you walk in, it's chaos, but if you stick around a bit, you will see it's organized chaos and students are engaged, even if some are walking around the room :)  I took the following away from the workshop:

• Be consistent in your procedures and rules.
• Make sure your students know the procedures - even if you need to practice with your students!
• Make sure students know consequences and follow through.
• Do not make a scene in the classroom.

The second workshop I attended revolved around lesson-planning.  While my group did not get to develop lesson plans we were able to discuss the importance of lesson plans and how to develop a lesson plans.  Oftentimes, teachers plan without realizing we need to model.  Some students may just not know how to do something (we learn to drive first by watching, then by our parents giving us the play-by-play, then we get behind the wheel - we never hop in the driver's seat without having some idea of what to do!)

The final and most recent workshop I attended was actually just yesterday.  It was just a handful of new English teachers from two high schools.  We met to discuss how things were going, what we would do differently next semester, and to learn all about google-docs, Holt McDougal Online, OneNote, and Moodle.  Being a fan of technology, I loved this workshop! My 9th graders have laptop so I can easily incorporate these programs into my lessons!!  I'm so excited!!