Class Discussion Expectations

Someone shared these awesome class discussion guidelines on diigo and I thought I would pass it along.

The End of The Week Rundown

The big news: The netbooks have arrived- all 800+ of them. Quite a sight to see. I spent a few days this week in the computer lab helping to get them imaged and ready to be distributed to the students, although it looks like we are talking early October here. Still.... October is only a couple of weeks away. I am excited, really, really excited to get these computers into our students' hands.

I saw this post this morning on Teach Paperless:

Here's a challenge that went out on Twitter last night and has been gaining steam:

Hey PLN: let's make Fridays paper-free this year. No copies, handouts, notebooks. Just discuss & connect, tech or otherwise. Plz RT!

I am in. Eventually, other than timed essay prompts, I would love to be completely paperless, but it will be a transition. I will start with Fridays and work my way up. This is one of my goals for this year.

In other news: Our school does an Adopt-A-Senior program that tries to pair some of our at-risk seniors with a faculty member who can help keep them on the track toward graduation. Six of my homeroom kids are on that list. I have been reassured over and over again by our administrators that I have a particularly "challenging" HPT and the fact that six of my kids are at-risk is in no way a reflection of my ability as an adviser. And in my defense, two of those six I did just inherit this year (they should have graduated last year, but didn't). But I can't help but think about what I haven't done for them. How I haven't pushed them enough or offered them enough support. There must be more I can do. I will do more. I will graduate all of them. I will.

New Teacher: We interviewed for our empty English teaching position and I do believe we have a new teacher in our department. Yeehaw!

Obama's Speech

Check this out:

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Go Animate: Catcher in the Rye

Here's the movie I promised. It is NOT nearly done, but it is getting there.

GoAnimate.com: catcher in the rye movie by msmazzola


Like it? Create your own at GoAnimate.com. It's free and fun!

Animated Movies..... So Cool

A technology goddess at my school shared this site with me this morning. Here is a sample movie made, (not by me)

GoAnimate.com: The Great Gatsby by Deanna Lugo by deelugo (Click on the title)


Like it? Create your own at GoAnimate.com. It's free and fun!

It is so much fun- all sorts of cool features. I cannot wait to share this with my students for a project down the road. I am working on making one right now for an explanation of senior projects.... I will post it when I have it perfected.

Changing Gears for the Blog

Last week I read this article about why teachers should blog and it really got me thinking about the reflective nature of teaching. I realized that I should be blogging about teaching, I need to be blogging about it. I need to reflect more, instead of just venting on the ride home from school.

My goal is to use this blog is the following ways:
1. to reflect on my teaching
2. to share resources
3. to network with other teachers

So welcome to "The State of Denmark" and I hope you'll be back again.

Grammar Girl

Meet my new hero, Grammar Girl.  Check out her podcasts for grammar tips.  I have added her to my itunes and get a weekly updated podcast for free.  You should do the same.  

Grammar Girl logo compliments of:  Grammar girl (online image).  http://podbean.com, December 13, 2008.