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! 

And The Countdown Is On...

Well, how the summer has flown by - suddenly I start work in only 11 days!!!  I have been planning up a storm, and feel that my first 6 weeks are pretty much good-to-go.  I have the skeleton for the rest of semester one, but still have not done anything for semester two... Oh my!!! 

I hope that everything will go well, and I feel very encouraged by the confidence that my principal, family and friends have in me - now if only I could find that same confidence!

I will be maintaining this blog throughout the school year - please watch for links to student blogs and other exciting teaching and learning experiences.

Here goes nothing!!!

Social Studies 10 & 20 Combined Planning Resource

I created this document to help me plan out how to teach all of the content in social studies 10 & 20, in a combined classroom.  Using the textbooks, "Perspectives on Globalization" and "Perspectives on Nationalism" from Oxford Canada I pulled common themes from the chapters to help unify the class - even if we are looking at different information there will be common themes that we can discuss.

I do not plan on using all of the information in each chapter, but will pull out information from the chapters in order to meet the specific learner outcomes.  Learner outcomes have been taken directly from the Alberta Social Studies Program of Studies, and are highlighted in grey throughout the table.

(Although, I do plan on using the textbook as our primary source since it is my first year!  I am not ready to reinvent the wheel quite yet... But watch for some exciting teaching and learning activities!)

Social 10 20 Scope and Sequence _ Fall 2010

ELA 9 Unit #1: ImAGiNe!!!

I decided to try something new in planning and executing my first unit for English Language Arts 9.  Rather than use multiple presentations, I created ONE Prezi to guide us through the entire unit.  I love that you can integrate links, images, handouts and more!  Also, it is one way to illustrate the artistry of communication... You can find the Prezi online at this link: ImAGiNe!!!

Please check out my other Prezi presentations and remember, feedback is always welcomed!