Monthly Archives: January 2016

Jan 24 2016
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Week 4: Snow Week Redo

Well, as most of the nation knows (and world judging by BBC coverage), we didn’t have much school this week.  Therefore, you have no posted plans for Week 3.  This works well as it was a short week with diagnostic testing, but those things still have to be done.  Instead, we get to shift around a little bit and use most of Week 3 for Week 4.

  Standards/Objectives Detailed Agenda
W3

M

 Bell Ringer: Through the study of “Hansel and Gretel” students will be able to monitor GUM and identify the meaning of unknown words.

 

Prepare for Library Lesson: Discussion of Sunday News, Monday Views with assigned text.

 

Assessment: Students will take the English III Placement and Diagnostic Test Part 1: Multiple choice.

 

 Bell Ringer: 15 minutes

Caught ‘Ya (L11.1-3)

Etymology (L11.4-6)

~ G/AF: Sentence Corrections with guided questions with assigned weekly partner

~ Share outs (based on pacing)

 

Reteaching: Students will use library text to understand expectations of Sunday News, Monday Views Journaling expectations.

1. Students will have 10 minutes to answers the assigned questions.

2. Students will partner check their responses and identify the best response out of the two options.

3. Students will post answers and carousel through classroom responses.

4. Students will take worksheet home to process and revise before submission.

 

Assessment (30 minutes): Students will use the remainder of the block to complete the placement and diagnostic assessment.

 
W3

T

 Bell Ringer: Through the study of “Hansel and Gretel” students will be able to monitor GUM and identify the meaning of unknown words.

 

Assessment: Students will take the English III Placement and Diagnostic Test Part 2: Written Response

 

 Bell Ringer: 15 minutes

Caught ‘Ya (L11.1-3)

Etymology (L11.4-6)

~ G/AF: Sentence Corrections with guided questions with assigned weekly partner

~ Share outs (based on pacing)

 

Assessment: Students will use the remainder of the block to complete the placement and diagnostic writing assessment.

 
W3

W

 Bell Ringer: Through the study of “Hansel and Gretel” students will be able to monitor GUM and identify the meaning of unknown words.

 

Writing Wednesday: Through the study of The Art of Styling Sentences, students will be able to write thorough and concise sentences.

 

 

 Bell Ringer: 15 minutes

Caught ‘Ya (L11.1-3)

Etymology (L11.4-6)

~ G/AF: Sentence Corrections with guided questions with assigned weekly partner

~ Share outs (based on pacing)

 

Writing Wednesday: Sentence Pattern 2

O: Ss learn sentence pattern one through short writing lecture.

D/Ap: Students will identify S/V of the sentences to label the pattern and create their own example…

1. From vocabulary

2. From rhetorical précis of assigned text

3-5. From evaluating visual rhetoric in political cartoons.

Evaluate: Ss will create sentences using the pattern by arranging groups of words and when starting from scratch. Mastery 2/3 in each group.

 

 
W3

Th

 Bell Ringer: Through the study of “Hansel and Gretel” students will be able to monitor GUM and identify the meaning of unknown words.

 

Tutoring Thursday: Through the study of AP Rhetoric, students will be able to correctly identify and explain the given device in the task cards. (Mastery 8/10)

 

Cycle 3: Class lesson on ethics by Mr. Goff in the library.

 

 Bell Ringer: 15 minutes

Caught ‘Ya (L11.1-3)

Etymology (L11.4-6)

~ G/AF: Sentence Corrections with guided questions with assigned weekly partner

~ Share outs (based on pacing)

 

Tutoring Tuesday: AP Figurative Language Task Cards

I: Student are given 10 minutes to review the academic vocabulary associated with the excerpts on the task cards.   This is designed to help reteach missed skills, and definitions of unknown words are encouraged for learning outside of class.

D/Ap: Students will rotate through stations to complete a minimum of ten task cards each for a grade. Mastery = 8 of 10.

 

Vocab Assessment: Students will take a multiple choice assessment matching examples to the figurative language terms.

 

Ethics Overview: Class will meet in the library for Mr. Goff’s Ethic Overview Lesson.

 

 

 

 
W3

F

 Bell Ringer: Through the study of the fairy tale, students will be able to monitor GUM and identify the meaning of unknown words.

 

Academic Recap: Through the study of Lincoln’s 2nd Inaugural Address, students will be able to analyze the diction and language, including the effect in the audience.

 

Sunday News, Monday Views: Through the study of current events, students will be able to rhetorically analyze a chosen article from the weekend news.

~Note: This assignment becomes weekend homework due EVERY Monday.

 

 Bell Ringer: 15 minutes

Caught ‘Ya (L11.1-3)

Etymology (L11.4-6)

~ G/AF: Sentence Corrections with guided questions with assigned weekly partner

~ Share outs (based on pacing)

 

Review Lincoln’s Speech: Students will review the text and their notes on the overall tone.

1. Students will complete a SOAPSTone Analysis on the text.

2. Student group A will look for figurative language and analyze the effect on the audience.

3. Students group B will look for rhetorical appeal and analyze the effect on the audience.

4. Students will pair up and teach their skill to the partner.

5. Students will transition from a pair to a square to verify and compare answers.

6. Students will write a short analysis response to the text.

 

Sunday News, Monday Views:

O: Ss will learn the assignment expectations. (10 minutes)

D/App: Students will pick an article (5 minutes) and complete the analysis (15 minutes).

E: Ss will share with a partner for feedback (5 minutes each) and make revisions before submission (6).

 

 

I’ll come back later in the week and let you know how it goes.

Also, I’m doing a terrible job of updating TPT, but it is coming.  The load of grading the writing component of an AP class is huge.  I’m not complaining, but these guys literally must have never had a teacher read every word they write.  If you give a plethora of completion grades, I would encourage you to pick an assignment, read everything they write, and give detailed written feedback to them about it.  You’d be amazed at the things the students do – write the same answer for multiple questions or things like “I don’t know why we have to do this stupid stuff” or just random song lyrics that have nothing to do with the assignment given.  Plus I bet the strength of the writing itself could use a little support with grammar, usage, and mechanics.

Jan 17 2016
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American Literature, AP Lang, AP Lang and Comp, AP Language and Composition, Assessments, Data, English III, Instructional Delivery: Plan and Progress, Pacing, Starting a New Semester, Teaching, Uncategorized, Writing

Week 2: What REALLY Happened

Between absences, delayed schedules, extended pacing, and surprise assemblies, class plans seem to always go astray.  So, here’s the way Week 2 really worked:

Monday went on as planned. Multiple choice Monday appears to be a great idea.  I used questions 15-24 on the 2007 released practice test.  I gave the students 15 minutes, but I secretly paused the timer to give 20 minutes.  Each question was worth 5 points, and they had the option of selecting only one answer for a shot at the full 5 or giving two answers for a shot at 3 points.  Students then were to reflect on how they decided to answer the questions and what scores they gained.  This strategy worked well because students do not lose points for incorrect answers, and narrowing it to two means they have tried and increased their odds.  They were told to use the “Letter of the Day” strategy for the final two minutes, but I noticed students didn’t do that.  Next week we are going to readdress “Letter of the Day” and focus on doing a preview of the questions to help provide a purpose for reading and annotating the passage.

 

Tuesday went decently well.  We used BAT the prompt, and students seemed to understand that if I’m scoring it and I am telling you to do this, then maybe you should do what I suggest.  Thesis statements and identifying the correct response or even what to write about was a struggle, and I’m going to need to focus on that moving forward.

 

Wednesday it went astray. Big time. If you don’t know your subject and verb, a sentence pattern is nearly impossible to get.  I ended up having to complete an impromptu lesson on subjects and verbs, scaling back to focus only on the base of pattern 1.  This took much more time than anticipated, and when student frustration ran high, I swapped to a very short focus on diction  in Lincoln’s address.  Analysis of diction went over much better than sentence patterns. First, students read and annotated for understanding. Next, they were to look over their notes and identify words or groups of words that stood out.  From here, they identified the words/phrases as positive, negative, or neutral.  Finally, they have to identify the overall perspective based on the diction they identified.

 

Thursday during tutorials, I had students take a quiz to match the figurative language term to the examples. I knew they had not studied the vocabulary from last week, so I prepared task cards giving the definition of the term in a complex manner.  This will appear in the TPT store as a growing bundle soon. Hopefully this weekend, but I have two kids and my (eegads!) Christmas stuff MUST come down now.

 

During class, I decided to bring sentence patterns back.  I wanted to do it through some other skill we needed to work on, so I scrapped my plans and did something completely different.  Thursday because the less-than-alliterative Visual Rhetoric Sentence Pattern Practice.  I found a few cartoons and had students apply guided questions to analyze them.  The answers were written, and then a final response had to be written to one of the four sentence patterns.  We repeated this with a total of five, one for a model and then a we do before independent practice.  Students were told to mark the subject and verb, including vertical bars between the sentence parts.  Mastery was much higher this time around, and I created a plan for tomorrow to make sure they have it.  For the last bit of class, we revisited Lincoln’s speech and identified and justified overall tone from looking at the diction that was chosen. This created a perfect opportunity to look at a shift in the passage and how that might affect the audience.

 

For Friday, I noticed I didn’t update the objective on the weekly plan, but that was okay because our day went astray again.  It was one of those days where something happened and the students were really struggling, so I had to scale back and revise. For pattern practice, I gave the students five sentences and instructed them to mark the sentence parts and then identify the pattern.  Once they did this, they were to create their own sentence of the given pattern.  This worked very well, and mastery of the creation was much higher than before. In reviewing student work, however, this is because they used the same sentence and changed names or simple details. In my mind, this is cheating, but I didn’t give any kind of direction that they could not do this.  Who knew that would be the result?  Next we moved into a discussion of an article they will be using for a guest lecture next week.  The students were to read and annotate the article.  Next, they got with a partner to discuss the article. For homework, they were to create the Toulmin Model of the text, identify specific examples of diction and overall tone, and then respond to, “Is this right?”

 

Not sticking to the intended plan was rather unavoidable this week, but I hope next week will be better. It is a short week as a result of the holiday, they will have the diagnostic placement testing for the semester, and we have the guest professor lecture of an overview of ethics.  This should give me time to post some of my resources on TPT.

 

Any suggestions to help me push students toward a higher level of academic achievement? I welcome your feedback.

Jan 10 2016
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American Literature, Assessments, Common Core, English III, Grammar, Instructional Delivery: Plan and Progress, Pacing, Starting a New Semester, Uncategorized, Writing

AP Lang: Plans for Week 2

As should be expected, I had to make some modifications to the first week.  Alas, here’s the set for this week.  As you look at my plans, please keep in mind that this is the first time I’ve taught this course — the first time in 7 years it has been offered in my school — and I’m literally starting from scratch.

I welcome your feedback as I help prepare my students for success.

  Standards/Objectives Detailed Agenda
W2

M

 Bell Ringer: Through the study of fairy tales, students will be able to monitor GUM and identify the meaning of unknown words.

Hidden Agenda: Building background for allusion

 

 

Multiple Choice Monday: Through the study of an AP MC reading selection, students will be able to correctly answer the question, including justification for the selected answer.

 

 Bell Ringer: 15 minutes

Caught ‘Ya (L11.1-3)

Etymology (L11.4-6)

~ G/AF: Sentence Corrections with guided questions with assigned weekly partner

~ Share outs (based on pacing)

 

Multiple Choice Monday: Released AP Exam 2007 MCQuestions from Joyce Carol Oates passage

I: Student are given 15 minutes to read the text and answer the questions.

(Ss may select one final answer or one of two for half credit.)

D/Ap: Students will review answers and write corrections with argumentative stem. (15 minutes)

 

Reflection Closure:

1. What do you notice about the MC testing? What will be a strength to help you? What will be an area to work on before the test?

2. How does last semester’s learning seem to fit into what you now know about this course?

 
W2

T

 Bell Ringer: Through the study of fairy tales, students will be able to monitor GUM and identify the meaning of unknown words.

Hidden Agenda: Building background for allusion

 

Thesis Statement Tuesday: Through the study of an AP MC reading selection, students will be able to correctly answer the question, including justification for the selected answer.

 

Diction and Tone: Through the overview of diction and tone, students will be able to identify and analyze denotation and connotation of specific text examples.

 

 Bell Ringer: 15 minutes

Caught ‘Ya (L11.1-3)

Etymology (L11.4-6)

~ G/AF: Sentence Corrections with guided questions with assigned weekly partner

~ Share outs (based on pacing)

 

Thesis Statement Tuesday: Released AP Exam 2007 from Joyce Carol Oates passage

I: Students are given a writing prompt to analyze and describe the task in his/her own words.

2. Students will identify possible evidence for the prompt.

3. Students will write a thesis statement for the prompt.

 

Diction and Tone Overview (Practice 1/2)

O: Ss will REVIEW diction and tone as literary devices supporting effective rhetoric.

D/App: Students will practice identification throughout the scaffolded lesson.

Closure: Think about your answers and T’s answers.   What do you notice? What did you do well? What changes might you need to make?

 

 
W1

W

 Bell Ringer: Through the study of fairy tales, students will be able to monitor GUM and identify the meaning of unknown words.

Hidden Agenda: Building background for allusion

 

Writing Wednesday: Through the study of The Art of Styling Sentences, students will be able to write thorough and concise sentences.

 

Diction and Tone: Through the overview of diction and tone, students will be able to identify and analyze tone of specific text examples.

 

 Bell Ringer: 15 minutes

Caught ‘Ya (L11.1-3)

Etymology (L11.4-6)

~ G/AF: Sentence Corrections with guided questions with assigned weekly partner

~ Share outs (based on pacing)

 

Writing Wednesday: Sentence Pattern 1

O: Ss learn sentence pattern one through short writing lecture.

D/Ap: Ss will create sentences using the pattern by arranging groups of words and when starting from scratch. Mastery 2/3 in each group.

 

 

Diction and Tone Overview (Practice 3/4)

O: Ss will REVIEW diction and tone as literary devices supporting effective rhetoric.

D/App: Students will practice identification throughout the scaffolded lesson.

Closure: Think about your answers and T’s answers.   What do you notice? What did you do well? What changes might you need to make?

 
W1

Th

 Bell Ringer: Through the study of fairy tales, students will be able to monitor GUM and identify the meaning of unknown words.

Hidden Agenda: Building background for allusion

 

Tutoring Thursday: Through the study of AP Rhetoric, students will be able to correctly identify and explain the given device in the task cards. (Mastery 8/10)

 

Cycle 3: Through the study of The Crisis, students will be able to rhetorically analyze a given AP article, including analysis of diction and tone.

 

 Bell Ringer: 15 minutes

Caught ‘Ya (L11.1-3)

Etymology (L11.4-6)

~ G/AF: Sentence Corrections with guided questions with assigned weekly partner

~ Share outs (based on pacing)

 

Tutoring Tuesday: AP Figurative Language Task Cards

I: Students are given 10 minutes to review the academic vocabulary associated with the excerpts on the task cards.   This is designed to help reteach missed skills, and definitions of unknown words are encouraged for learning outside of class.

D/Ap: Students will rotate through stations to complete a minimum of ten task cards each for a grade. Mastery = 8 of 10.

 

Vocabulary Assessment: Students will take a multiple choice assessment matching examples to the figurative language terms.

 

Diction and Tone Analysis

1. Students are given the text of “The Crisis” to look for 4 examples of diction that support the tone.

2. Students are to write a response describing the tone and providing textual evidence.

 

 

 

 
W1

F

 Bell Ringer: Through the study of fairy tales, students will be able to monitor GUM and identify the meaning of unknown words.

Hidden Agenda: Building background for allusion

 

Free Response Friday: Through the study of The Art of Styling Sentences, students will be able to write thorough and concise sentences.

 

Sunday News, Monday Views: Through the study of current events, students will be able to rhetorically analyze a chosen article from the weekend news.

~Note: This assignment becomes weekend homework due EVERY Monday.

 

 Bell Ringer: 15 minutes

Caught ‘Ya (L11.1-3)

Etymology (L11.4-6)

~ G/AF: Sentence Corrections with guided questions with assigned weekly partner

~ Share outs (based on pacing)

 

Free Response Friday: Students will respond to an essay question as much as possible with a 15 minutes time frame.

1. Students will review the prompt and thesis from Thesis Tuesday.

2. Students will create a quick outline.

3. Students will begin writing their essay.

 

Sunday News, Monday Views:

O: Ss will learn the assignment expectations. (10 minutes)

D/App: Students will pick an article (5 minutes) and complete the analysis (15 minutes).

E: Ss will share with a partner for feedback (5 minutes each) and make revisions before submission (6).

 

HWK: Students will use the article from Mr. Goff to prepare for ethics overview.

 
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Jan 08 2016
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American Literature, Common Core, English III, Grammar, Instructional Delivery: Plan and Progress, Motivating Students, Pacing, Reading Informational Texts, Teaching, Uncategorized, Writing

End of the Week Update 1/7

Screen Shot 2016-01-08 at 12.05.43 AM

We actually did fairly well with pacing and made it through the plans as I had them set. Sort of. We had class meetings called, so I had to cut something. I decided to cut out the extra part of the class designed to fit the weekly structure.

The Caught ‘Ya bell ringer and etymology system is still working fantastically.  I love this system. As long as I teach, I will never, ever, ever use another system. The data speaks volumes.

We did, however, find time for a task card review of the definitions of the primary elements of figurative language that I want them to have mastered. I made them from scratch, and I promise I will put them in my TPT store and link them here this weekend.  Right now it is just the term and definition, but it will grow into identifying the examples and creating their own examples through the next few weeks. After all, you have to start somewhere.

For instruction, we did a SOAPSTone analysis of “Tribute to a Dog” as planned.  You can find this text at the website below.  We were able to read and annotate the text, move into a discussion about what he said, how he said it, and how it affected the audience.  Then, we completed a SOAPSTone analysis.  First, I had them complete the analysis individually. Next, they shared and compared with a partner.  Then, I had them write a paragraph to explain the differences in the student work and what changes they thought they might need to make to increase the quality of their analysis.  Then, I did what I think was the most powerful part: I showed them my answers and we discussed each of them in detail.  Why did this matter? Well, it allowed the students to see the expectations for college-level responses over the minimalist approach they normally take.

Text Resource: http://pne.browardschools.com/teachers/FOV1-00157D17/Tribute%20to%20the%20dog.pdf

In looking at student work, I needed them to focus on thesis statements and topic sentences, so I added the instruction of using the prompt as a sentence starter for the response into the lesson for tomorrow. And tomorrow we are going to watch a clip from The Colbert Report and do a SOAPSTone on that.  This will allow me to address satire, parody, and mockery in a quick blurb about a topic that is relevant to them.

Considering the learning regarding the depth of the SOAPSTone itself, I’m going to model it, but then I’m going to have students do it individually so I can collect that before I show them my answers.  For closure, they are going to complete a reflection on the quality of their work and how it has changed during the week. They will list differences in their work and my work in order to create a plan for achieving at a hirer level in the coming weeks.

Hopefully, this was as effective in the long terms as it appears to have been for the last few days.  If not, I’m sure they will get it. They are going to SOAPSTone the crap out of EVERY SINGLE TEXT WE READ. #sorrynotsorry #youllthankmeoneday

.

Jan 05 2016
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AP Lang: Week 1

The first week starts tomorrow, and I’m beginning feeling excited that my syllabus was approved. Hooray!

To help me get in the hang of this whole blogging thing, I’m going to start by posting my weekly plans. I can see that I do have readers, so I’m hoping that you can take from my page just as much as you will be willing to comment ideas for my classroom use. If you see I have something that is a terrible idea, tell me. If you have a suggestion, tell me. And if it seems cool, I’d like to know that also. Somehow in education, it always seems that the lessons you’re most excited about are the ones that totally fall apart with implementation.  Alas, week one.

  Standards/Objectives Detailed Agenda
W1

M

 No school for students.
W1

T

 Bell Ringer: Through the study of “Puritans” students will be able to monitor GUM and identify the meaning of unknown words.

 

Course Expectations: Through the study of AP Course Guide, students will be able to identify the expectations of this class and explain how it is different from other classes offered at AE.

 

Sunday News, Monday Views: Through the study of current events, students will be able to rhetorically analyze a chosen article from the weekend news.

~Note: This assignment becomes weekend homework due EVERY Monday.

 

 Bell Ringer: 15 minutes

Caught ‘Ya (L11.1-3)

Etymology (L11.4-6)

~ G/AF: Sentence Corrections with guided questions with assigned weekly partner

~ Share outs (based on pacing)

 

Course Expectations: Raising the Bar (15 minutes)

 

Sunday News, Monday Views:

O: Ss will learn the assignment expectations. (10 minutes)

D/App: Students will pick an article (5 minutes) and complete the analysis (15 minutes).

E: Ss will share with a partner for feedback (5 minutes each) and make revisions before submission (6).

 

Reflection Closure:

How does last semester’s learning seem to fit into what you now know about this course?

 
W1

W

 Bell Ringer: Through the study of “Puritans” students will be able to monitor GUM and identify the meaning of unknown words.

 

Writing Wednesday: Through the study of The Art of Styling Sentences, students will be able to write thorough and concise sentences.

 

Quick Review: Through the study of “Tribute to the Dog”, students will be able to rhetorically analyze a given AP article, including analysis of S answers and T answers.

 

 Bell Ringer: 15 minutes

Caught ‘Ya (L11.1-3)

Etymology (L11.4-6)

~ G/AF: Sentence Corrections with guided questions with assigned weekly partner

~ Share outs (based on pacing)

 

Writing Wednesday: Sentence Pattern 1

O: Ss will learn sentence pattern one through short writing lecture.

D/Ap: Ss will create sentences using the pattern by arranging groups of words and when starting from scratch. Mastery 2/3 in each group.

 

“Tribute to a Dog” (Application and Analysis)

O: Ss will use reading partners to annotate the text.

D/App: Students will complete a SOAPSTone analysis of the text and compare with a partner to find the perfect answer.

E: Ss will compare perfect answer to teacher answer and identify areas of growth for future SOAPSTones.

 
W1

Th

 Bell Ringer: Through the study of “Puritans” students will be able to monitor GUM and identify the meaning of unknown words.

 

SOAPSTone, Take 2 FINAL Review: Through the study of “Colbert Report”, students will be able to rhetorically analyze a given stimulus text, including analysis of S answers and T answers.

 

 Bell Ringer: 15 minutes

Caught ‘Ya (L11.1-3)

Etymology (L11.4-6)

~ G/AF: Sentence Corrections with guided questions with assigned weekly partner

~ Share outs (based on pacing)

 

“Colbert Report” Visual Analysis SOAPSTone

O: Ss will view the text and take notes to help complete the SOAPSTone.

D/App: Students will compare a SOAPSTone analysis of the text to assigned partner.

E: Ss will review video and make changes if needed. S work to be collected.

Closure: Think about your answers and T’s answers.   What do you notice? What did you do well? What changes might you need to make?
W1

F

 Bell Ringer: Through the study of “Puritans” students will be able to monitor GUM and identify the meaning of unknown words.

 

Diction and Tone: Through the overview of diction and tone, students will be able to identify and analyze denotation and connotation of specific text examples.

 

 Bell Ringer: 15 minutes

Caught ‘Ya (L11.1-3)

Etymology (L11.4-6)

~ G/AF: Sentence Corrections with guided questions with assigned weekly partner

~ Share outs (based on pacing)

 

Writing Wednesday: Sentence Pattern 1

O: Ss will learn sentence pattern one through short writing lecture.

D/Ap: Ss will create sentences using the pattern by arranging groups of words and when starting from scratch. Mastery 2/3 in each group.

 

Diction and Tone Overview

O: Ss will REVIEW diction and tone as literary devices supporting effective use of rhetoric.

D/App: Students will practice identification throughout the scaffolded lesson.

Closure: Think about your answers and T’s answers.   What do you notice? What did you do well? What changes might you need to make?

 

Snow is in the forecast, but I’m sure we can get through this first week with limited interruptions.  I’ll try to post an update later in the week because I’m sure I will need it.

Jan 03 2016
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Teaching a New Course: AP Lang

 

Screen Shot 2016-01-03 at 4.50.35 PMAP College Board mandates the course be open to any and all students who are willing to try.  In short, that means we are going to get along great.

 

I’m waiting for the approval of my syllabus, but I’m starting the first week Tuesday.  Since I’m not very good at the blog and I get so much email correspondence asking what I’m doing and how well it is going, I’m going to begin by posting my plans.  And, if you’ve been following me for a while, there are a few updates you’re going to need.

Technology: This course is not going to be designed for a full PLE structure.  While there are elements of the class that will be running through Canvas, the LMS used in our district, the majority of instruction is going to be for full class, traditional instruction.  I know. I’m sad too.

Time and Blog Commitment: Yep. I’m still just as busy as ever, but that has changed a bit.  I have completed and earned my Master’s in Learning and Technology, so it would seem I’ll be able to update at least weekly like I have always envisioned.  I do at least keep a journal to write my thoughts each night and an Individual Growth Plan to keep a journal of student achievement and teacher actions in the classroom, but sometimes the blog just gets left behind.

Resources: I’ve always thought that the smartest people in the world are the ones who know they have much more to learn. Perhaps that is because I hide it well.  While I’m posting, please keep in mind that I am still learning to be a great teacher. I’m still working to refine my classroom implementation. And now, I’m learning a new course.  I didn’t take AP in high school, and we haven’t offered this course in our school in the eight years I’ve been here. If you have any suggestions, please let me know.