Summer School

You have probably already read this, but the The Buffalo News ran an article Thursday about the BPS board meeting and gave details about summer school arrangements. Apparently summer school will only be available to students who failed a Regents course, seniors in need of a few classes to graduate, and students who are faring well and would like enrichment (I wonder if that is the PreAP class Anne was talking about recently.

Anyhoo, I know there was some question Tuesday about the availability of summer school for sophomores and freshmen. Lookie like no dice.

What's In My Mailbox?

Ah, now for another installment of "What's In My Mailbox?" It's a light edition today folks, but only in quantity. The quality and depth is thicker than jelly and deeper than Lake Erie. Well...almost.

First of all, Studio Arena sent me this flier today, announcing ticket sales for next year's productions. Next year they are performing To Kill a Mockingbird and Indian Blood. Here's the info:






































Also, Norton is offering some free stuff. You can get a free examination copy of The Norton Anthology of American Literature and other titles. Free is good.

Language! Walk Through

All right, for real this time. I mean, for real, for real. Really. They're coming through. At least, they claim to be coming through. Here's the memos:

AP Vertical Team - Meeting Minutes - 3/28/07

This morning we met in our vertical team in the library. We gathered in the comfy seats around the circular table. The meeting was intimate yet productive, carrying a tone reminiscent of an afternoon warm cup of dark roast sipped amongst friends in a dark corner of a local independently owned coffee house. Mmmm...I can smell it. Or, maybe that's just my natural aroma.

Anyway, we gathered to talk about portfolios. We would like to assemble portfolios that follow our students through each grade levle. We would also like to define the writing modes we would like our students to (ideally) attain mastery in by each grade level. This would help us become a little more structured, build off each other, and also provide a road map for any teachers new to the building next year.

Mia located a list of possible genres from a textbook, and we used that as a jumping off place. Here is that resource.



















We came to a few conclusions:

• we spent a lot of time talking about research papers in general, and literary research papers more specifically. We need to decide as a department where and when to implement research based writing, what we want it to look like, and what resources we have at our disposal.
• Some writing pieces fit naturally, like the folklore section with English I and family history in English II
• some writing pieces will become core pieces, while others will be extras or optional (such as limericks, cartoons, etc.)
• we need a list of database resources that we have access to for student research
  

Homework:

• Read over the list of contents and organize them into grade levels
• Decide if there is anything missing

We will either be posting these to the blog, bringing in a list, or some variation of the two.

ELA Correcting - Half Day

Tomorrow afternoon we will be gathering together to correct practice exams for the 11th grade ELA exam. Students wrote a task two essay yesterday in the cafeteria. In addition to correcting the exams, I think we should:

• discuss ways to help students write about nonfiction
• define the different types of writing we want to see at each grade level

* * * * * * * *
Here are a list of concerns that we noticed:

• use a quotation..."Miss, no one's speaking"
• quotations/citations from article given, but in isolation...not connected or explained why significant.
• one stat from chart (if at all), or chart reference not tied in well
  
• message not addressed to senator or inappropriate tone
• too much personal info
• very poor organization and/or no paragraphs, topic sentences , transitions,
  
• thesis not supported by text, examples, analysis etc.
• too much summary from articles...
  

Looking for a video...

Anyone have Death of a Salesman on DVD? I'm looking for a copy to use next week.

What's In My Mailbox

Ah, slow week last week, mailwise. Here are a few of the things I received (I apologize about the black and white...my scanner is acting very tempermental lately).

As you can read, there is something new called a digital video disc, and this company apparently sells digital video discs based on works of literature. It's crazy, some of these DVD's are like 99.95. I don't know if they bark at strangers or serve you guacamole, but that sounds really steep to me. A lot of these look really low budg, too. As I page through this catalogue, I am amazed. Here's a set of 12 DVD's, titled History Through Literature, for sale at $999.95! Now I know why my school taxes are so high. Jiminy Cricket. Anyway, if you're still interested , let me know.

Canisius has a new master's program called Adolescence Education. I heard it's a bargain at only $5000 a class. I've got two or three vouchers available. I'll trade you three vouchers for a set of "History Through Literature DVD's." I'll throw in chewed gum.
Pathways to Peace April 26th. Free and open to the public.

Also free, examination copies of some books. If you're looking for resources, this is a good move.

Vertical Team Meeting Minutes- Wednesday

So, Wednesday we had our latest AP Vertical Team meeting. We were to have read the setting portion of the guidebook and prepared a chart to try to start integrating the SIFT method into our instruction.

We also spent time talking about overall difficulties we've been experiencing getting our students to...well...think independently. I've always had a hard time getting my students to write responses that aren't plot summary. Mia was saying that sometimes her students are nonplussed when asked to find an important quote and comment on it, a la the double entry journal. We talked about how it seems that students need their hands held when it comes to things when anything requires that they come up with an idea and run with it.

Problem is, these kids need to develop a certain self-directedness (is that a word) if they are to be successful in the long run and get a 21st job. I've been listening to some things and reading some things that deal with our changing economy (The World Is Flat, Rise of the Creative Class, certain podcasts, etc.) that explore the disappearing job sector and the emergence of new jobs. Most of the sources argue that we should be helping students develop their global awareness, social consciousness, self-direction, critical thinking

Anyway, I lost my train of diatribe. If we want to develop this AP program successfully, we're going to have to work together. We're going to have to discuss how to do that. I think that widespread implementation of common language, expectations, and skill sets will help us better prepare these students.

Homework: Decide on the types of writing pieces we'd like to see students do by grade level, so we can discuss how to vertically align AP, create portfolios, and other stuff. Come in with a list.

Next Meeting: Wednesday, March 28th

SIFT Chart

My SIFT chart for imagery can be found here.

AP Vertical Team - Meeting Tomorrow

Hey guys, we are meeting tomorrow. Remember, as close to 7:30 as possible, in the library. Remember, we have homework.

If you're looking for stuff to tide you over, check out this AP website. It's chock full of deliciousness. This dude also has stuff for AP Language.

Apple Lectures

I don't mean to go Post-crazy today, but I received this in my email today. As you probably now, many colleges participate in Apple U(niversity), and offer lectures from professors. I've found some good stuff.


While I'm on the subject, Keith Hughes showed me the Discovery Channel's United Streaming site yesterday. It has a 30 day free trial membership. I nabbed a Ralph Ellison documentary yesterday, and there is much, much more. I know that you kind of need a projector to use the stuff, but, if there was something you were really interested, we could talk about finding a way to get the video onto DVD. They have almost 400 ELA movies, all produced by Discovery Learning (I think).

ELA Practice Exam Information & Fluency

Points of Interest:
* On March 26th, many of our juniors will be taking a practice exam in the cafeteria. They will be taking Task II. On March 27th (a half day), we will correcting these exams as a department. On April 24th, we will have most of our juniors take the Task III. On April 25th (a half day), we will be correcting these exams as a department.
* Fluency Update: Remember, Anne wants us to work in 5 minutes of fluency a day. This could mean many different techniques. I have a nice chart in my room, and my scanner is working again, so I'll post it later today. BTW, I have a bevy of fluency information in my classroom, so if you're interested and have an itchy fluency finger, stop on by 305. Also, Anne will be sending out grade level fluency assessments in May, which we are to administer four times. We are going to be recording the data, and forwarding this information back to her.

Vertical Team Meeting 3/15/6

This morning the AP Vertical team met in the library to further discuss ways to integrate AP strategies across each grade level. We were kind of at a static point, as we did not meet last week and we were kind of treading water with syntax. So, we kind of took a mental inventory, discussed English department stuff (which will be in a separate post), and then we talked about plans going forward.

Here were the main talking points:

• From now on, we are going to meet on Wednesdays as close to7:30 as humanly possible. The library provides a nice transparent meeting place, provides copy opportunities for we late planners (ok, for me :)).
  
• We decided that if we are seriously working to address what we are talking about addressing, then we need to have a contingency plan for any department turnover that may occur from year to year. On that note, we will be creating a department AP resource so we can easily share strategies, aims, and goals to any new members.
• Cheryl shared that she has started to use the S.I.F.T. method of analysis with her students. In her own words, she is "really into SIFT right now." Anyhoo, we're going come to next meeting armed with some sort of handout or graphic organizer related to this technique for analysis. Tis our homework.
  
• I've just recently decided that I like to use different colored fonts. Lookout if I figure out invisotext.
• We decided that the blog is cool, and Cheryl admitted that she has been "blogbad" by reading and not posting messages. We are/were all very impressed with her usage/creativity. She promised many 4:50 am posts in the very near future.
  
• Back to business...our other homework is to read from page 54-60 in our AP Vertical Teams Guide.
• I shared that all students will continue to take AP Language.

If I'm forgetting anything AP related, let me know in the comment section, or add your very own post!

Hey! What's That in Your Mailbox?

Alright, my scanner is working, for the most part. Well, the black and white scanning functions, but I am only getting halfway through colored scans before it dies.

First, the serious recommendation. Kristine highly recommends this organization's materials, as do the two AP Lit teachers from City Honors. These materials are aligned to the AP Literature course. Here's the website for The Center For Learning.

The Prestick House is an arm of Dover Thrift, or vice versa. I have a copy of their latest catalogue in my room. Cheap books.


Teacher Magazine arrived in my room last week. I haven't previewed it yet, but here's the table of contents in case anyone is interested.


The Weekly Reader

The Discovery School Teaching catalogue.

Something else.

Vertical Team Meeting - Thursday

Hello folks. We are having a vertical team meeting Thursday morning in the Library at 7:30. Meet at the round table. We will be discussing the syntax/grammar issues we started to delve into two weeks ago. I know that I'll need to review the material for Thursday, to refresh my memory. Please post ideas and thoughts in the comments section of the post. I'm copying and pasting mine and Lesley's comments from the original post. A productive meeting depends on preparation. Please post your thoughts.

March Lead Teacher's Meeting

Tuesday afternoon, I attended the latest meeting for lead teachers. We met at Performing Arts and discussed a number of things.

1. March 28th Inservices - On March 28th we will report to a as of now undisclosed location for inservices. I will be attending AP Lit training. Robin and Brian, I think, will be recieving further Language! training. Everyone else will report to a general session where they will receive training on three topics:

1. Fluency
   
2. Vocabulary
3. Explicit Instruction

The first two inservices are meant to further discussion and exposure to topics covered in last year's CORE training modules. The third topic is a newbie, and Anne says it follows the "I do, We do, You do" philosophy. She explained that this is the opposite of "implicit instruction," which I kind of think is related to the message from the Superintendent's article in the BPS report. In this article he argues that direct instruction (like Language!) is essential as "children can learn at an advanced rate if educators deliver instructions that are consistently clear, reducing the likelihood of misinterpretation and confusion." Anyway...there it is.

2. Fluency - We talked about fluency, talked about it some more, and then addressed it further. Teachers went over strategies, we got tons of handouts, and we addressed commonly heard concerns. I have tons of handouts. My scanner is temporarily on the fritz (and I am looking for a new program...argh), but as soon as it is up, I will scan them in and make them available. I believe you will be receiving them at the inservice anyhow. Here's the important information. In May, Anne will be sending out fluency passages by grade level to every teacher. We are to administer these fluency assessments four times and record the data for every student. Data will then be submitted back to Anne. In the meantime, we are TO CONTINUE WORKING TO INCREASE OUR STUDENTS' FLUENCY. ANNE SUGGESTS FIVE MINUTES PER DAY, AND SHE ASSERTS THAT IT IS EASY TO SEAMLESSY INTEGRATE THE PRACTICE INTO THE THINGS WE ARE ALREADY DOING. (Excuse the caps/bold combo. I'm not shouting. I just want to make sure anyone who merely skims still receives this message.

I'll be posting more information today when there's time, as we have the Barack Obama initiative up and running, and much, much more. Giddyup.

Department Meeting - Teachers Report Day

Today, we had a department meeting to discuss "increasing attendance, decreasing discipline [problems], and how we are using the methods from The Master Teacher to increase student learning."

Teachers in attendance were myself, Marty, Lesley, and Mia.

Student Attendance

• Create a student forum. We will gather frequently absent students together in the auditorium and hold a town meeting. During this town reason we will inquire what we can do to increase their attendance. If this is not feasible, someone could create a survey and have all students fill it out. After gathering this data, we would address their recommendations.
• Do funner stuff [sic].
• We could start a program like Niagara Falls has. Basically, seniors are given prizes for perfect attendance. As it has been widely recognized that student attendance is a systemic problem with many different root causes, it need be addressed globally.
• Create classroom portals for class news, assignments, handouts, and projects, in order to have a web presence that could be used to keep students up to speed when they are not in the classroom

Discipline

• Discuss the feasibility of allowing teachers to give out detention for disciplinary issues.
  
• Reinstitute hall sweeps, as hallway roaming students are becoming more of a problem

Master Teacher

Classroom Management Techniques that Cut Interruptions
* Category Three Interruptions - To minimalize interruptions about class homework, issues, or other questions that need not be addressed by teachers, teachers have done the following

1. Outlined in procedures that these questions are inappropriate
2. Clearly post instructions and assignments on board (on a pre-assigned area) or classroom blog
3. Post homework on the school website
   

Librivox

If anyone is seeking audiobooks for use in the classroom or at home, Librovox offers a nice selection of recorded books from the public domain.


They have a nice selection of short stories, poetry, nonfiction and novels.

Jeff Wilhelm Coming in September

I've never read his books, but I've heard good things. The WNYWP, along with a few other organizations, are bringing this guy to town. Since we work at a vocational (yet comprehensive) high school, maybe some people would be interested in checking out his book Reading Don't Fix No Chevy's: Literacy in the Lives of Young Men. God knows we have enough young men. We could do our own lit circle thingy. If anyone is interested, let's talk about it at our next meeting.



Here's the link to the flier.