We’re pretty much finished with the 120 Seconds presentations, and my aide has typed up the list of books we heard from so far. Not everyone has remembered to add his/her book to the list on the board — I know I heard some Unfortunate Events and some Goosebumps (from the EL kids) and even some Hardy Boys and Heidi of all things– but this is a good start. Repeats have been eliminated. Harry Potter frequency was down this year. Percy Jackson was waaay up. Half my classes are ready to camp out for the movie premier (in two weeks) of The Lightning Thief. (My boy is so excited about that, he can’t cope.) We also heard A LOT of Twilight (duh), and vampires in general were big. So was Alex Rider. But no Lord of the Rings this year. (Yeah!) We also heard from Holden Caulfield, read by a girl. (Jerome RiP.) The Shakespeare one was a simplified version, but still rocked. I gotta find the video of the kid who did The Hunt for Red October. His Russian accent was classic. That was Then, This is Now -S.E. Hinton Interview with the Vampire – Anne Rice Touching Spirit Bear –
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Here are a couple more good examples from our 120 Seconds presentations. My servants (sorry, student assistants) are typing up the list of books we heard from, so I’ll be able to post it this weekend. Here’s Deep M. reading The Cay, by Theodore Taylor, and he’s pretty stoked about it. And Dot (I love having a Dorothy in my class; so old school!) reading a new teen cult classic (whose author is from my neck of the woods, as Dot points out). This book, Thirteen Reasons Why, is pretty hot right now.
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Almost a week since the last post. So much for New Year’s resolutions… Last time we met, I was introducing the kids to the idea of writing 600 words/week of “whatever.” They were at the first stage of seventh grade grief/learning; unable to cope-ness. (Aside: Another teacher at my school, made semi-famous here for her classic faux pas, has a big sign that greets the kids as they enter her room, that simply says COPE. I gotta get me one of those.) “So, the whole idea here is that you will get in the groove of writing all the time about whatever interests you, and with any luck, you’re trying to make sure that whatever fits into one of the approved categories. That way, in a couple of weeks (and about monthly after that), when I ask you for a 600 word essay that fits into one of the genres, you’ll be able to go rummaging through that folder and find some bits and pieces–or even whole essays–that you can use to work through drafts and turn into a final product. Sort of…’Oh look, last week I was on a roll about how stupid it is that we have to learn square-dancing
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One of the problems with having 150 or so students, aside from learning the names, is having to read 150 essays on the same topic. It has its purpose, that is assigning one topic to the lot of them, like teaching Show not Tell and suchlike. But then, the variety of “showing” makes the reading of 150 “messy rooms” or “soooo funs” at least bearable. But 150 takes on “the theme of…” or “persuasive essay on…”? I can’t cope. So many moons ago, I decided to change that, for at least half the year. I guess the best way to explain it is to try to reproduce the speech I give the kids when I introduce… 600 words per week. (scream) “In the second semester, which begins week after next, this class is going to have more of an emphasis on writing. In the first half, a lot of our focus has been on vocabulary and reading and the like; academic words, vocabulary, KBARR, reading checks, etc. We’ve been trying to build vocabulary and understanding. In the second half, we’re going to try to put that learning to use…writing. “But the problem with assigning you guys more essays is that if
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Just a quick one today, to post an example of a fine 120 Seconds presentation. Also to share a revelation I had yesterday for an improvement to the whole thing. It was actually sort of a duh moment; like, it seems so obvious now. Why didn’t I think of it 10+ years ago when I started doing these things? I had one of my student servants make a chart for the wall with four columns: Book Title, Author, Reader, Blurb. After the kids finish their presentations they fill in the info about the book they read. I told them the blurb should just be a back cover sort of thing, or a sentence or two about why others should read it. That way, after a whole buncha these presentations, kids who remember hearing Tina read from a cool-sounding book, but can’t remember what it was called can easily find out. With an luck, they might even go read the book. Which is one of the main objectives of the whole thing. Duh. The ones that had already read were pretty anxious to get their shtuff on the list. They were all pretty stoked on the idea. Duh. It seems so
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(Friday Flashback – Last Year) “Mrs. G” has been teaching in our district for over 40 years. She’s been at our school since it opened in 1980. She’s taught English, art, social studies, music, and much more. She is literally an immovable object, and doesn’t need to rise from her chair to strike fear (well, not exactly fear any more, but…) into 8th graders’ hearts. She doesn’t care what people (parents, admins, other teachers) think of her, and speaks her mind whether it’s “appropriate” or not. She currently teaches 8th grade US history, and has been going toe to toe with a particularly pesky student I had last year. Now, this “Steve” sends me e-mails about how the posts he’s reading in the discussion forums on our Moodle don’t have enough thought behind them, and he has a real brain. But he’s a loud-mouthed pain in the rear, whose parents it seems, are wrapped around his finger. I was probably the only teacher he got along with…until Mrs. G. He’s still a pain, and though, like me she recognizes and likes the Steve underneath, she’s not afeared of giving what she gets. So… Food is not allowed in our classooms. [...]
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That reminds me of those great SNL skits about the Sofa King. You know, how the prices are "Sofa King" low, the deals are "Sofa King" great, etc. (You obviously have to say those phrases out loud to get the joke.)