Monthly Archives: December 2008

Cartoon Fun II.

December 26, 2008
By
Cartoon Fun II.

A “typical” period in Mr. Coward’s class in “pictures” Part II. After they have completed the warm up, we go over it. I use my wireless slate to circle the correct answers on the screen and write hints. I can also flip the pen over, and use the built-in laser pointer to emphasize (or annoy). Next we will often be working on grammar/mechanics, going over pink homework sheets or proofreading something (usually student work) live on the overhead or grooving on some Schoolhouse Rock (-ism #10). Their faves are “Unpack Your Adjectives” and “Mr. Morton.” (I had one class one year where several members would cry during that one; they felt sooo sad for Mr. Morton, even after it all ends well.) If it’s Wednesday, there will be vocabulary work. That means going over the homework, giving examples and usages, answering questions, and sometimes acting out the words. (OMG, they can’t cope when I undulate.) Then there’s the vocabulary pretest. A perfect score gets them out of that part of the test on Friday. It’s called being exempt (-ism #13), and in my class, it’s what they all crave. I use the Raffle King to decide whether they can use

Read more »

Cartoon Fun! (Also: The Popple)

December 26, 2008
By
Cartoon Fun! (Also: The Popple)

This cartooning for a living is hard work. I only have four (well really only three) panels done, and I’m already exhausted. Maybe it’s just Christmas. Anyway, here is Part One (minutes 1-6) of a typical day in Mr. Coward’s class, doodle stylie: As the kids come in, they know to take out their notebooks and get ready for the inevitable warm up. Most days, the warm up is a CPS lesson with our vocabulary, spelling, or academic words. There are usually 6 sentences they have to copy and fill in the  proper word for. I rerun these on Friday’s test. When we go over the warm up, I can write on it with my wireless slate (also good for writing instructions live). While they are doing the warm up (we’ll go over it in six minutes: cue the Timer), I circulate up and down the aisles (tripping over backpacks and gangly middle schoolers “low-riding” in their seats) checking whatever homework is due. This is a check. We’ll actually go over it and correct it later in the period. (U.M.O.P.P.C.A.S.S.= Unholy Mess of Papers, Pens, Cables, and Some Shtuff.) (aside) The Popple. Notice the slot in his belly for collecting

Read more »

A Typical Day – Part One (Mailbag IIa)

December 23, 2008
By
A Typical Day – Part One (Mailbag IIa)

Another question I get a lot is: “What does a typical period in your class look like?” As all we teachers know, there is no such thing as a typical day. However, as I have said many times, middle-schoolers crave routine, so there IS a certain groove to my class. Mondays are for going over the homework for the week, and taking/going over the spelling or academic word pretest for the week (I alternate those each week). Wednesdays are always vocabulary days, and Fridays are for Mental Floss and the weekly test. And then within each class period there is also usually a routine. Rather than writing about that routine, since we’re on vacation now, and I’m feeling sporty, I’m going to show not tell, in cartoon style.  Well, doodle style anyway. That might take a little longer, but for you it’s worth it. Here’s the first panel. I’ll be finished with the rest soon. I drew it with one of my wireless slates, like I use in the classroom.

Read more »

Mailbag I: The Paper Load

December 21, 2008
By

My seventh grade web site has been up since 1997, and I have received quite a few e-mails over the years. Many people have questions. I try to answer all the questions (and I really appreciate the kind words), but I’m sometime sort of lame about returning e-mails (I don’t answer the phone much either – and I will never own a cell phone).  Since many of the questions are about the same things, I sort of kept writing the same e-mail over and over. Now I have this blog thing. I can answer the most common questions for everyone, all at once. 1. “How do you keep up with everything?  It seems like you have a lot of activities and writing that has to be graded (outside of the CPS stuff) that would start to be overwhelming” Ummm. That depends on what you mean by “keep up.” I am often laggy about returning work. However, I can buy time as it were, as I lag on grading, by pulling examples from each class, making overheads, and grading them live in front of the kids. We use the rubric for that assignment (always use a rubric, and always give it

Read more »

Politeness Girl

December 18, 2008
By

One of my classes has only 20 students. That’s right on the verge of being too small for me. I had a class one year that, through attrition and other issues, was down to 12 by February. Not a beautiful thing. One: without enough voices and ideas, discussions are very hard to get going. Instead of eliciting ideas, I have to provide too many. Two: when there are that few, they seem to get the idea that class is like some family dinner, where they can just jabber out and “share” and not bother to raise hands and such. They drive me batty. That same year I had 12, I also had a class of 34. That class was nearly silent, and the Gang of 12 required the Quiet Stick almost daily. The upside is the greatly reduced paper load. This is nothing to sneeze at, but I like 20-25 in a class better. As I have said before, I don’t usually have a favorite class (although, now and then there is a least favorite). Most years, most classes have their own “endearing” qualities. I usually have a nickname for each period, although I never tell them their own nickname,

Read more »

Random Featured Post

“There’s already something on the back of mine.” (Also: Racial Harmony.)

It was our first day back in the classroom after 8 days in the library. We were all glad to be back. “Oh, my clicker…how I’ve missed you.” One of them actually said that. OMG. What a day. Full of action, and laugh after laugh. First there was the video. YouTube is blocked in our district. Our head of IST keeps bleating about CIPA and how YouTube doesn’t filter, and…anyway, we can’t use YouTube. But finally, they created a workaround for us. We have to do things from home rather than from school, but it works OK. We find the YouTube video we want to use, and copy the URL. Then we go to the district’s “safe video portal” and paste it in. Then we can approve our own video, and use the safe portal to show it at school. It’s a bit clunky, but it works fine. Yesterday I added a video. I hadn’t even showed it yet, when I got an e-mail from my principal. I have only added a couple of videos before, but both of them were of the nutty variety, rather than the “educational” sort.  One of them is near the top of the most [...]

more -->


Mr. Coward has been teaching on the beautiful central coast of California since 1989.

Archives

December 2008
M T W T F S S
« Nov   Jan »
1234567
891011121314
15161718192021
22232425262728
293031  

Recent Comments

Links

Privacy Policy

Tags

cartoons Charlotte Doyle Class Activities clickers CPS CTEL Flashback grammar high school idiosyncrasies irony Mailbag Me mechanics middle school teaching Monsters on Maple Street Moodle online learning oral reading Outsiders CHapter 5 Outsiders Chapter 7 RaffleKing Ray Bradbury Reading Richard Cory Seventh Grade Behavior Stories of Seventh Grade substituting Teaching Teaching Tips teaching with technology teaching with technology teaching writing Technology techology testing The Earth Men The Giver The Midwife's Apprentice The Outsiders Tips Tips for teachers Tom Sawyer Wiki Writing