Out of Her Mind -- Musings on Education and Life

  When students are able to clearly articulate what they are learning and what they are expected to do, they will be more successful.  I have been teaching for 22 years, and I have found that it is helpful to begin each new unit of learning by emphasizing a focus standard.  We know that the ELA standards are artfully intertwined, but picking a standard or two to really emphasize helps me to be intentional about instruction and for students to know the purpose of their learning. I am currently teaching English II in North Carolina, and I am helping students prepare for the North Carolina Final Exam.  I have been developing slideshows, guided notes, and graphic organizers to help students understand the academic vocabulary of the tested standards as well as to help them analyze informational and literary texts in the 9-10 grade band. These resources are available individually or bundled on Teachers Pay Teachers .   Add a free copy of   RL.9.10.1 Lit...

11-10-08 Workday, parent conferences. Students who come in love telling their parents about this project. I think I'll invite parents to come in for an "author celebration" or something. Students will present pieces of the finished project on Wednesday. I am excited, just after looking over the few projects I have. These students are the lowest-performing students at the school for one reason or another, and I say this lovingly. I think that they are quite capable; I never lower my expectations! But for those people who think that these types of projects only work with honors or AIG students--I just wanted you to know. Many of them were in summer school, have been retained, are in group homes, have been at the alternative school. I'm excited because they got excited! Of course there were some bumps, but everyone worked on these! I am going to work on a set of questions that will allow for student input on the project--what did they like, what didn't they like, wh...