Oh September...

Everyone keeps telling me that it gets easier, that September is survival month and I will be okay!  Thankfully, tomorrow is October the 1st, and I seem to have survived in one piece!

I wanted to share some of the latest happenings from around my classroom, let y'all know what we have been up to!

In English Language Arts 9 we have just completed our graphic novel unit and I could not be happier with the kids work.  They are really putting their hearts into this stuff!  I have just bought the third book in the Amulet series (Kazu Kibuishi), and am thrilled to see the kids passing it around the room - so they can all read it one at a time!  Last week I came into the room after lunch, to what was supposed to be art, and they were all silently reading - in ART!!!  I am extremely proud of them and their love of literature!  We are now moving into our poetry unit, which is built around the book "Immersed in Verse" by Allan Wolf (2006).  The kids are really enjoying it and I cannot wait for next week when they begin writing their own stuff!

It truly is proving to be a challenge teaching Social Studies 10 and 20 combined - but I am learning new tricks and methods and know it will be ok!  I have mainly been switching back and forth between the two groups, getting one working and then meeting with the others.  It definitely takes more time and I wish that I had longer with them - but at least it is a small class!  My Social 20 group has just finished their French Revolution projects (highly differentiated - so I am expecting a lot of different products!), and I cannot wait to view the almost 45 minute video that one group has made.  So Exciting! 

Art is SO FUN!  Today we started pen and ink and the kids were really excited to start something new.  None of them had even seen a calligraphy pen before - let alone the old school version with the quill and jar of ink!  I am really looking forward to seeing what they create.  My Art 9 class is completing a Pointilism project - and while they are complaining of going blind staring at tiny dots, their work is looking fantastic and I cannot wait to show it off.

I love my life. I love my work. I love my world. Life is great and I am truly blessed.

A Long Hiatus...

Welcome Back to Me!  It has been almost a month since my last post - and we are already 2 weeks into the school year!  Things are going wonderfully, I have a wonderful bunch of kids and a fantastic staff to work with. 

I am in the middle of my "Welcome to the Graphic World" unit, and have just discovered the website "Comics in Education" created by a teacher/cartoonist for his Masters thesis.  Check it out!  I have found that comics and graphic novels have greatly increased my student motivation to read - they actually go for the comics all the time, even at lunch and during breaks! 

Other interesting things that we are up to include: (Social 20) Dramatize the French Revolution in some way in a differentiated project looking at the development of nationalism; (Social 10) Media Madness & Globalization investigation (including a web quest and blog collaboration).  In Art 10/20 we are going to be starting an "Abstract from Nature" project using charcoal and chalk. 

I also found out on Friday that I will be teaching Leadership 9 this semester - but am not sure of what to do!  Any reader suggestions? 

I am also the teacher representative for our Student Council - and am looking for ideas here too!  We have our kick-off bash on Monday :)

Have fun in class!