It's a start..

Don't know why I'm distracted as I start-up the second quarter. I think it may be that I'm anxious to close on the condo and everything between now and then is just distracted by that thought in the back of my mind. But we're beginning Jurassic Park on schedule. Students got new vocabulary today with sentences due on Thursday and a quiz friday. They worked on their research projects which are due tomorrow and seem to be coming on OK. I need to set out a reading schedule soon and I need to get more books! But I have the unfortunate malady of midwinter malaise. Oh well, I'll be back on track tomorrow (or at least after February 4th).

A whole new world...

Hi me. I'm hungry and rushed today. I have a lot to do and not enough time and energy for it. Also, my grades are messed up from ac reading on the parent portal??? Oh well. Let's look at what's coming.

Jurassic Park - I need to read it and follow Walter along through the preamble. I have a lot of stuff in advance on the vocabulary and chapter questions. I have an idea that I would like to do a pre-research project on topics that students need to understand in order to understand the book. After the novel, I want to push a research project that requires students to report on a contraversial issue in science or technology today (or in the near future). Somehow, within all this reading I want to cover writing as well...

So today I reviewed paragraph requirements and assigned students to write a one-paragraph response to the prompt "I believe that technology will make life better/worse in the future". I realize that's pretty simplistic, but I thought it was a good start to get people thinking about a book which highlights the costs and benefits, the promise and peril. Today w gave the kids these topics:
DNA, genetic engineering, cloning, cross-breeding, genes, biotechnology. Kind of a pretest to get the kids thinking. But since there's no coding of it, the comparison from before to after will have to be affective/subjective.

I wonder if I have time to set up a pre-test using multiple choice tests so that I can see their growth. Take examples of events and ask what it is, etc. Also, maybe review the paragraph with them. See what w is doing, too, to try to stay on the same page until JVH takes over.

Gotta eat. I'll make that quiz then.
Oh, and I have a presentation after school of the Vision software to the rest of the school. Ugh. Gotta go.

During Finals

OK - the final exam is in place and students are taking it now. I have all the guides up, the exam typed and entered, back-up copies made in case the computers crash, and a little time to think. First - I should wrap-up the last-minute grades from Semester 1 (study guide 5, etc) and enter them on the portal. Second, I should enter them as report card grades. Third, I should start pulling together some reading passages for Thursday's AcRdg Test. Fourth, plan some time with Walter to try to build a schedule for Jurassic Park. Fifth, find some cool and relevant technology issues that can be related to the themes (if not exactly the science) of Jurassic park. Sixth, set up the vocabulary in advance. Seventh, plan the grammar and writing scope and sequence in advance. Eighth, think about how Ms. van Horn fits into all that (student teacher). And then, and then, and then. So let's put those last few grades in and print out grade reports (pre-final). Then let's hop on the ole' internet and find some good technology issues. Later

Ending the First Semester

All things considered, I'm in good shape. I've got the review guides for the grammar up on the Sharepoint now. I've had the vocab and notes up forever. I need to update the parent portal grades, grade the final OMAM study guides, add the extra credit grades for Pattern Projects, enter the OMAM questions for the final, compile the final, and deal with a few last-minute make-ups. Still, I should have substantial time during finals to try to plan ahead for the Jurassic Park unit.

I'm a little burned out I think, from all the excitement of the break. I think I need a break from breaks! I feel like I need a distraction so I hope I can spend some time looking for new outlets during the next few days. I think I would enjoy surfing a bit and looking for new ideas, including looking back at some old posts to get grounded. I still haven't given up on some of the more ambitious ideas about creating simulations and game-based learning, but I need to see something concrete to build off of.

BTW - played quizshow for the first time in a while with the kids for final exam review. It certainly added a lot of adreniline. Hopefully it also made clear the extent to which some kids are going to need to go to prepare for the test.

Got the big rejection on Jurassic Park audiobook, so I guess I have to find a copy of the paper (wha?) book in order to read this. Well, hungry and tired aren't the most motivating feelings in the world. Back to you tomorrow.

Short and Sweet

Welcome to the new year. I'm very far behind because I have missed the first two days of school due to the illness of my youngest son. He seems to have asthma or something based on the three episodes of breathing problems in the last three months. But I didn't want to lose any momentum either so I figured I'd blog for a minute or two and then get back to work. On a personal note, Nick seems to be better and the new house is really nice - love the location.

On a professional note - I need to get some grammar review activities together. The semester vocab and notes reviews are already posted. The last part of the final will be OMAM and I already have a lot of stuff for that as well. So I'm not in too much trouble in terms of gathering resources for the final. I just want to have enough time in class to do some review. Today we just reviewed main events from the story so far - fairly easy. We're more or less on schedule. The big weight is grading. I need to update grades with projects and finish the pattern stories in the next few days. I suppose I'll have to give a lot of in-class reading time in order to catch up, but that saves them a bit of homework anyway.

That said, let's see what else is up - I need to help launch Vision school wide, but there is an update scheduled for the software which could put things back a week or two. I haven't written any of the grant, etc., stuff that I wanted and I need to put a proposal together for the state Tech Expo within a week or so. Also, I need to chase Edutek down again to get the CD of that PuzzleView thing and the installation disk for Illinois State Standards. That's the tech news.

For this semester, I can only hope to find time to create and tag a lot of grammar practice so that I can see how students are doing on different skills. For next semester, I'd love to pretest and posttest everything that I'm going to do and tag the data for it all, but this is the first year, after all. Imagine next year - tagging a pretest, following the data all semester and then tagging the post-test. I know I could kick butt first semester and maybe I'll do that this summer and so be very ready for the fall this year. Exciting possibility, anyway.

Oops, my friend is in trouble. Certificate problems. Anyway, it's Nick's birthday so I'll run out of here and get back in the swing tomorrow (I hope!). Happy New Year.