Is it just me or does the spring semester always zoom by twice as quickly as the fall? We just finished fall finals and the new semester officially launches Tuesday. In Room H-9, that means we’ll soon be enjoying Greek mythology, The Odyssey, some Shakespeare, and – my new favorite – 20Time!
Monday
No students – teacher work day to finishing scoring last week’s exams, post semester grades, and prep for the spring.
Tuesday
Debrief/revisit the final exam.
Assign new seating charts and announce the new Third Quarter Trio groups.
Present the five-minute M.U.G. Shot (Mechanics, Usage, Grammar) Monday mini-lecture/bell-ringer. (Since we didn’t have class yesterday, I’ll use those slides today. In the fall semester, Tuesdays began with Lit. Term Tuesday slides, but we’ve now covered all of the essential literary devices so there’s no bell-ringer routine for Tuesdays in the spring semester. I might, though, start using a Brain Teaser to launch class on Tuesdays. We’ll see how it goes…)
Complete peer editing of the Argument Essays students began working on two weeks ago.
Identify and/or add three Write Like a Pro techniques to a classmate’s essay.
Demonstrate Turnitin.com, a fee-based plagiarism-check website that my school uses, and explain how to set up a student account. I’ll use a student volunteer as a model for the process, showing students step-by-step how to submit their Google Doc files.
For HW, students need to revise their essays and create their final drafts. Before school starts tomorrow, they’ll need to submit an e-copy of their essay to our class Turnitin.com account and have a printed copy also ready to give to me in class. (My school is not yet 1:1 or paperless.)
Wednesday
Open with a ten-minute Words on Wednesday vocabulary mini-lecture/bell-ringer.
Collect Argument Essay packets.
Introduce the spring semester 20Time Project with this Prezi lecture.
Begin brainstorming possible 20Time Projects.
For HW, students need to keep thinking about their 20Time Project proposal.
Thursday
Assign the 60-Second Pitch Assignment. These short “Guppy Tank” presentations (a kinder, gentler Shark Tank-style public speaking experience) will begin on Monday and classmates will vote to determine which 20Time Projects are worthy of pursuit. You can read more about this part of 20Time here.
As a solo assignment, students will read a non-fiction article and complete a series of deep-thinking questions, due at the end of the hour. While students work independently on this, I’ll move about the room, answering the many questions students are likely to have about their 20Time Project ideas and the presentation requirements.
For HW, students need to remember to bring their S.S.R. books to class.
Friday
Play three rounds of Brain Teasers with our new Quarter Trio groups.
Read S.S.R. books for the remainder of the period.
For HW, students will complete a few practice S.A.T. questions and be ready for 20Time Project Pitch/Guppy Tank presentations on Monday.
That’s it for this week. Teach on, everyone!