Freaky Frantic Friday

I have 8 classes today....wow....and crazy end of the 6 weeks.  Haven't been able to keep up with the blog....bad bad teacher. 

Today is our GRIT Friday and we are reading our own book in the time we have.  We also have a log to enter 6 types of responses...

1.  connect - to your life and experiences / thoughts and ideas

2.  visualize - maybe a quote showing imagery or a thought about how you think it would look

3.  predict - make a prediction...been doing these since elementary school...what's going to happen

4.  question - these should be good questions...

5.  clarify - make sure you add in the clarification too....

6.  evaluate - agree or disagree with a statement made by author or character? explain what it is and why

I'm reading a new book for our new 6 weeks: 

  

I love this movie and I this has stories about how it came into being...and how it all fit together.  And today I am off on a new adventure into the land of Gildor and the Cliffs of Insanity.  

So....hope your journey is equally as interesting and exciting. 

And your new GRIT Log is due at the end of the 6 weeks grading period!

"As you wish" is the only appropriate response. 

Welcome to the 2nd 6 weeks. 

Tuesday 9/1/15

Today is letter writing day!!!

We first did a warm up with our IQ Preassessent...to see what you know about or think about your IQ.  

We also responded in our journal to an MLK quote: "Injustice anywhere is a threat to justice everywhere."  

Then we took a few notes on formatting our letter and brainstormed some ideas...and some dissenting opinions to our topics. This we got to collaborate on.....but then we had to create our letter to the editor....on our own 1-2 pages.

It is also was time for the library. So we started our library trips. GRIT is Friday so it is time to get a book. 

Friday 8/28/15 and Monday 8/31/15

   

First early dismissal!!  And 1st pep rally! What a weird week. 

We took notes today.....had to get moving. This was a short class day. So we started our Trope Notes & Beyond in the back of our journal. Wrote the definitions for 9 literary terms and devices:

Ad populum 

Anaphora 

Epistrophe

Isocolon

Loaded language

Metonymy

Motif / leitmotif 

Parallelism 

Pathos

Then we went through our eulogy and found these devices and annotated our text. Prepping for our letter to the editor!!

Happy weekend!!

Wednesday 8/26/15 & Thursday 8/27/15

Play time with Play- Doh. 

We got to know out teammates a little in the first 1-2 days, now we get to learn a bit more about our neighbors. What are they like....what represents them?  And have fun in the process!!

We also got started with our journals and got to know something about the people near us. 

We did talk a little bit about the maps and our upcoming research paper, and watched our eulogy and followed along on the hard copy. We also talked about some awesome word choices made in this eulogy. 

Monday 8/24/15 and Tuesday 8/27/15

WWelcome to Senior Year.  

         

There are a couple of things we will do today. The usual is, of course, rearranging the class schedule to get your new schedule.  Probably ought to pay close attention to the NEW SCHEDULE as it is quite different than what we are used to.  Mine will be posted as I will not remember this either. 

Agenda: 

1. Letter Home

2. Goals / Year

3. Mindset

4. Reading / eulogy 

We will discuss our year and our goals. 

1. Build growth mindset.  

We will discuss what this means throughout the year. It means adding braincells and success!!

2. Build critical thinking. 

This will come in many ways....doodling - creating visuals to aid our memory; a change in how we do our assignments....using a grid format to add choice, but also forcing higher level thinking skills; and adding more opportunitites for collaboration and student-led activities. Be prepared. 

3. Build leadership and collaboration. 

We will be working together to increase your participation. Think Socratic Seminars, think peer reviews of writing, think group projects and discussions. You need to get comfy participating. The more you participate, the more you'll learn, the more you'll improve. 

4. Build writing skills. 

This is a writing class....so....we need to prepare you for complex, college level writing. This is also something that more businesses are looking for and assessing. The easiest way to lose that job opportunity? Write poorly.  You will have to communicate in all areas of your life, so strengthening these skills is important.

5. Build reading skills.  

More and more, people are losing critical reading skills by....NOT reading and therefore, NOT understanding harder texts. We will read the hard texts. You will be expected to read on your own often. These readings will not always be readibly understandable...that is what the discussion and analysis will aid our deciphering of meaning.  Please keep up with your reading. 

Being a team, we need to encourage our partners to keep up with their reading, their work, so we can also benefit from their input. 

Grades will focus on improvement....and effort. If there is not effort or minimal effort grades will reflect that. You can do better than that sort of work. On the other hand, if there is maximum effort, that too will reflect in your grades. Effort counts!  And effort shows!! 

MINDSET:

*  Do you have GRIT?  - Grit video

Reading: 

*  Euology for Rev. Pinckney - by Obama 

Welcome Back

Welcome back to school!  Senior year will go so fast so this will be a chronicle of our year and will be there for you to look back on what we have done during the days and weeks ahead.  If you miss a day, the work will be addressed here.  Make sure you do to iTunesU to get any forms and/videos needed to complete this.  

So set your sights on high! We will be reaching for the stars.