Summer Plans

Grades are finished, and most of my end-of-the-year duties are completed.  Looking forward to the summer, I have several items on my agenda, just in case anyone is interested.

First, every weekday morning is scheduled for garden work, exercise, and driving practice with a certain teen driver.  Afternoons will be divided between reading and preparing for the next school year.  I plan to make detailed lesson plans for each lesson in each course I teach and align them with the new Common Core Standards.  That will be a huge task, but I need to do it.

I'll be teaching a night class at Lake Land's Kluthe Center campus in Effingham this summer.  If you haven't taken SPE 111 Intro to Speech, you should sign up!  In August, I'll be back to my long-standing assignment as Junior High Summer School teacher. 

Somewhere in there, I'll work in time for watching some Cardinals baseball and maybe some fishing.  Thanks to my brother-in-law, we have behind home plate tickets to see the Cards play the Royals in Kansas City in late June.  I hope they're not in a slump!

So, as you can see, I have a lot of plans.  Will I accomplish them all?  I guess only time will tell.

The Good Life

I figured out the "video upload glitch," so here we go!  I proudly present to you the 1950's style sitcom which my students in Fall semester Media Studies created.  We did this project as a prelude to our studies of the TV industry, and the kids got first hand experience in every aspect of TV production.  I gave them a very basic framework and turned them loose!  Of course, I was acting as Executive Producer, watching over and guiding every aspect, but the work was all theirs.  Kyle designed the virtual set consisting of several rooms in the characters' houses while the writing team cranked out the script.  The actors and actresses worked really hard to learn their lines, acquire various props and costumes, and rise to the occasion in front of the camera.  The editing team then went to great pains to replace the green screen with Kyle's virtual sets and then arrange the various clips into a finished product.

Due to standard classroom lighting, which is not anywhere near proper studio lighting, the chroma key (green screen) software displays some digital artifacts or visual noise.  The uneven lighting in the room caused bright and dark spots on the green screen which were too much for the software to handle appropriately.  So, even though their are some imperfections, they arose from situations beyond our control.

I am very pleased with the finished video and am even more pleased with the work ethic and enthusiasm displayed by every single student involved in the project.  Nice work!

Officer Elections Class of 2015

Last week, Mrs. Johnson and I held officer elections for next year's sophomores.  The results, you ask?

Morgan Partlow---President
Maddie Gibson---Vice President
Casi Blazich---Secretary
Kelsey Beard---Treasurer
Jordan Probst---Student Council Rep
Olivia Ott---Student Council Rep

Congratulations! 

Exam Day 1

Halfway through the day . . . I enjoyed the donuts, but I'm not enjoying all of the grading!  After a short break to eat a hasty, not tasty, lunch of some peanut butter crackers, I'll get back to it. 

Exams and a video in the works . . .

Today is the final day of exam review.  Each class is having self-guided review in study halls in Room 14 today.  Odd numbered classes, 1st, 3rd, 5th, and 7th hours, will have exams tomorrow, and even numbered classes, 2nd, 4th, and 6th hours, will have exams on Wednesday. 

Well, three hours have elapsed since I typed the preceding paragraph.  I've been trying to upload the video of the 1950's style sitcom created by students in Fall semester Media Studies, but I have not been successful.  I'll keep working on it, though, and will post it as soon as I figure out the glitch.

Exam Review and Unexpected Visitor

Today is the second day of Exam review in Room 14.  Yesterday, we reviewed third quarter material, and today we are reviewing fourth quarter material.  On Monday we will have a very quiet study hall, and students will be self-directing their studies.

Kellie K. made an unexpected visit to my room this morning, and we negotiated a deal.  She said that she'd read my blog if I included her in it.  So, that's what I'm doing.  Hi Kellie!  :)

I also learned how to insert pictures in my posts.  Chuck Norris appears solely for the amusement of Reed H. who presented me with his own award for "Most Chuck Norris references Made This Year."

The Dunk Tank

Three cheers for the PBIS team and the year-end celebration they planned for yesterday.  Several students finally put their "Chuck The Ball" skills to use when I was in the dunk tank.  Of course, Mrs. Eddinger had to help them out since they weren't throwing hard enough, so they've got some work to do on their throwing skills before next year.

Mr. Poggendorf and I supervised the lawn games . . . washers, bean bag toss, etc.  I got a bit of a sunburn, but we really had a good time, especially since we dominated all competition at washers. 

What a fun afternoon and a great way to wrap up the school year!  Of course, we have to buckle down to get through reviews and final exams, but the celebration was a refreshing break from routine . . . especially since that water was so cold!