It's been a long road for the graduating seniors, but they're near the end; today is their last class day. Good luck with all of your future plans, and I'll see you at graduation!
Yesterday afternoon, Art Club had its year-end activities. First, we assembled in Mrs. Schafer's room and had cupcake wars. Billie, Gabe, and Kierstan won first place with their "cemetary" cupcakes; Alex, Hailey, and Jared came in second with their multi-colored cupcakes, and Reed, David, and Jordan finished third with their giant "space monster" cupcake. Ms. Curia and I were the official judges. After the cupcakes, we adjourned to the Art room where Ms. Curia led the students in tie-dying shirts and socks.
Wednesday, May 9, 2012
Tuesday, May 8, 2012
Winding Down
The students in English II are taking their last test today, not counting the final exam, while the students in English IA are reading their last short story of the year. The seniors in Intro to Speech are doing their final speeches, and I'm as busy as a bee trying to keep up with all of the grading.
Tomorrow should be an interesting day with the shortened class schedule and PBIS year-end celebration in the afternoon. We'll see if the kids have honed their "chuck the ball" skills . . .
Tomorrow should be an interesting day with the shortened class schedule and PBIS year-end celebration in the afternoon. We'll see if the kids have honed their "chuck the ball" skills . . .
Monday, May 7, 2012
Time Travel
Last week, the students in English 1A read the Ray Bradbury short story "A Sound of Thunder." This is one of my favorite stories, and it always reminds me of our family misadventure on the dinosaur ride at Disney several years ago. I don't know why they have such a scary ride at the world's happiest place!
Anyway, the students went to the computer lab today to research time travel, a major plot element in Bradbury's story. They found a lot of interesting information from Einstein, Steven Hawking, etc. Wouldn't it be incredible if the scientific theories came true someday?
Anyway, the students went to the computer lab today to research time travel, a major plot element in Bradbury's story. They found a lot of interesting information from Einstein, Steven Hawking, etc. Wouldn't it be incredible if the scientific theories came true someday?
Friday, May 4, 2012
Awards Night
The annual Academic Awards Banquet was held last night, and it's always been one of my favorite events here at NHS. In addition to the desert buffet, I really enjoy seeing the students recognized for their hard work and success. Congratulations to you all!
Thursday, May 3, 2012
English IA
In addition to being one of the sponsors for the Class of 2015, with Mrs. Johnson, I also teach all of them in this course. We started the year by studying a pamphlet entitled "How To Make The Most Out Of High School." After that, we began studying various aspects of grammar. Former students would recognize this section of the course as the same content I used to teach in "Usage" class. We focus on learning the parts of the sentence, writing complete sentences, improving those complete sentences, and ultimately writing better paragraphs by using all of that knowledge. Along the way, students write several paragraphs and receive one-on-one guidance through the process.
For this course, students present a Personal Experience speech. I decided to increase their public speaking experience by adding a second speech this year, "My Favorite Holiday." These speeches took place right before Thanksgiving.
Second semester began with William Shakespeare's Romeo and Juliet. As always, many students complain and grumble at the beginning, but just a few short weeks later, and most them sing a different tune! There are still some who don't like the play, and that's fine; at least they've read it and formed a legitimate opinion. After finishing the play and the test, we enjoyed watching the classic movie version and then contrasted the movie and the written play.
For fourth quarter, we've been reading short stories. We do a different story each week and take a test after every third story. A big project for this section of the course is the students' opportunity to attempt writing their own short stories. It's taking me a long time to read and grade 58 stories, but I'm plugging away at it and enjoying their work. I like this project so much, that I even did it with them this year, writing and sharing my own short story. Be sure to ask to see your student's story after I've returned it.
For this course, students present a Personal Experience speech. I decided to increase their public speaking experience by adding a second speech this year, "My Favorite Holiday." These speeches took place right before Thanksgiving.
Second semester began with William Shakespeare's Romeo and Juliet. As always, many students complain and grumble at the beginning, but just a few short weeks later, and most them sing a different tune! There are still some who don't like the play, and that's fine; at least they've read it and formed a legitimate opinion. After finishing the play and the test, we enjoyed watching the classic movie version and then contrasted the movie and the written play.
For fourth quarter, we've been reading short stories. We do a different story each week and take a test after every third story. A big project for this section of the course is the students' opportunity to attempt writing their own short stories. It's taking me a long time to read and grade 58 stories, but I'm plugging away at it and enjoying their work. I like this project so much, that I even did it with them this year, writing and sharing my own short story. Be sure to ask to see your student's story after I've returned it.
Wednesday, May 2, 2012
English II
The sophomores started the year by reading one of my all-time favorite novels, Harper Lee's To Kill A Mockingbird. After finishing the novel and taking the test, the students then watched the movie, one of the best productions to ever come out of Hollywood. To conclude this lengthy unit, I instructed them on writing formal essays, focusing on a contrast between the novel and the movie.
It was around this time that an EIU practicum student, Ms. Kelly Knox, began working with me and the students in 1st hour. Her first unit was another essay which asked the students to identify issues and offers suggestions for school improvement.
Next, we moved into the How To Speech unit followed by Ms. Knox's Poetry unit. She did such an excellent job, I implemented the unit into 6th hour class and have permanently added it into my course plan. To wrap up this unit, and first semester, students were tested and then given the opportunity to display their poetry knowledge by creating posters analyzing song lyrics of their choice.
Second semester began with William Shakespeare's Julius Caesar. After completing the reading and the test, students experimented with writing in different genres, something I learned in my EIU night class this semester. The task was to announce Caesar's assassination in at least three different genres. They were allowed to choose from text, facebook status update, email, tweet, newspaper article, tv news report, personal letter, telephone call, diary/journal entry, encyclopedia/Wikipedia entry. They did such an incredible job that I had to take samples to show my professor, Dr. Binns! She was as impressed as I was, so we shared the students' work with my fellow students.
Finally, we've been spending 4th quarter by reading various short stories. After every three stories, we have a test, and the last one is coming up next week.
It was around this time that an EIU practicum student, Ms. Kelly Knox, began working with me and the students in 1st hour. Her first unit was another essay which asked the students to identify issues and offers suggestions for school improvement.
Next, we moved into the How To Speech unit followed by Ms. Knox's Poetry unit. She did such an excellent job, I implemented the unit into 6th hour class and have permanently added it into my course plan. To wrap up this unit, and first semester, students were tested and then given the opportunity to display their poetry knowledge by creating posters analyzing song lyrics of their choice.
Second semester began with William Shakespeare's Julius Caesar. After completing the reading and the test, students experimented with writing in different genres, something I learned in my EIU night class this semester. The task was to announce Caesar's assassination in at least three different genres. They were allowed to choose from text, facebook status update, email, tweet, newspaper article, tv news report, personal letter, telephone call, diary/journal entry, encyclopedia/Wikipedia entry. They did such an incredible job that I had to take samples to show my professor, Dr. Binns! She was as impressed as I was, so we shared the students' work with my fellow students.
Finally, we've been spending 4th quarter by reading various short stories. After every three stories, we have a test, and the last one is coming up next week.
Tuesday, May 1, 2012
Intro to Speech
I've taught two sections of a dual-credit course this year. Students enrolled in SPE 111 Introduction to Speech and received NHS English credit as well as three semester hours of credit at Lake Land College. The content is exactly the same as when I teach the course as an adjunct faculty member at LLC's Kluthe Center in Effingham.
Students delivered three speeches, "Significant Other," about a person of their choosing, along with informative and persuasive speeches on topics of their choosing. Since the NHS semester is longer than that of LLC, I add extra content. Fall semester students completed research papers and created multimedia presentations about Internet Safety, while Spring semester students begin work on a Selling speech today.
Students delivered three speeches, "Significant Other," about a person of their choosing, along with informative and persuasive speeches on topics of their choosing. Since the NHS semester is longer than that of LLC, I add extra content. Fall semester students completed research papers and created multimedia presentations about Internet Safety, while Spring semester students begin work on a Selling speech today.
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