It's back to the grind!

Day one back to school after our much needed Spring Break!  Students were obviously very chatty about their spring break!  A good tip regarding day after a long break - give the students that 5 or 10 minutes to chat about their break.  Remember, they probably haven't seen each other since before break and want to catch up, and that's human nature.  So give them that 5 or 10 minutes - it can make all the difference in the world in terms of classroom management.  An idea - have a timer on the board and let students know when the timer goes off, it's back to the grind!  Students will appreciate the time given.

I started Romeo and Juliet officially today.  Most classes seem to understand what is going on in the text, but one class seems to be a bit lost, which we are all working together to decipher the language.  One thing that thankfully is consistent with all classes is they all seem to enjoy the projects I have designed for them! 

One project focuses on Character Analysis.  Students are to write down the thoughts and feelings of their assigned character after an event occurs and if they are in the event, explain their actions.  They must do this in first person.  The thing that really gets the students excited?  They are doing it on Blogger!!  So part of their grade is to decorate their page to fit the character's personality and mood. The students did their first blog today and did not want to stop - usually it's like pulling teeth to get them to write anything!

If you struggle getting students to write, consider (if you can) having them create a blogger or something similar.  It's so much cooler than writing in a notebook or on loose-leaf paper.

Happy Marvelous Monday!

Ms. Bergin