Jen's comments (member since Jul 30, 2008)

Jen's comments from the High School English Teachers group.

Thanks for these great ideas! I'm totally using them! I really like the idea of "Write Aways" as I do journaling in all of my classes to help them generate a body of work to pull from when writing personal and formal papers. Using the "Write Away" system is good because it also teaches them the skill of revision.

We're on a roll! Any other ideas?

That's a good idea. Thanks!

Feel free to "steal" it! I'm glad to share good ideas! It's for the benefit of our students. I don't get why some teachers are stingy about their "brain children". It's for the benefit of the kids - open up and share! :)

speaking of which, here's a link to my teaching blog:

http://languageislife.wordpress.com/

Hello All,

As I am preparing for the coming year, I find myself with an emotional blockage preventing me from planning for one of my classes.

This particular class, Applied English 12, consists of the same students I taught last year in Applied English 11 (we had some new hires and courses got shuffled). Last year was a tough year, as it was my first year teaching and I came in on the first day of the second quarter. Of all the classes, this is the one that was the most difficult. In a lot of ways, I feel like I did this group a great disservice last year. And now I have them again. Mentally, I know that this is a great opportunity to "correct the wrong", but emotionally, I feel like I'll fail them again.

Do any of you have any books to suggest that may help me process this, or any personal experience or tips? I really need to get going on this class, but I need to get beyond this blockage first.

Thanks!

No problem! I'd love to share a little bit about the book review binder, it's one of my brain children, in a manner of speaking. :)

What I do is get a big binder (I typically get a 4" binder) and get subject dividers and use them to set up sections for genres. As students complete reviews (more on this to come), I have a student organize them into the genre categories. I ask them to alphabetize them and on a sheet at the front, add the book title and begin a list. Also, for each book, I have the student make a book title page for it and on that page, list the names of the students who have reviewed the book. At the end of the year, all these pages get typed up and page numbers and AYs are added.

For the review, I simply ask students to read a list of book reviews from good reviewers to get a sense of how to do it, then they model their own on the mentor pieces. I give mini-lessons on how to effectively write about literature and review pieces. At the end of the review, I ask them to list who might be interested in this book, and what other books a person who liked this one may be interested in, too.

I have a reading challenge in my room where students are encouraged to read 400+ pages, outside of schoolwork, a quarter. I ask them to review these books plus any they read over summer break. I also encourage them to review stories or books they read in other classes. I do anything that motivates them to integrate their reading and writing.

Is that clear? It's been a lot of fun. I've done this project for 2-1/2 years and I've tweaked it to the present form.

Now that I've said this, I'm actually going to try moving this system to goodreads this year as it integrates technology and students love social networking and being online. Plus it encourages them to read when they start seeing the reviews of their peers (from what other students have told me who use similar services, granted they like to read already).

I'd be happy to speak more on this year-long project for all of my classes (one for my room!). PM me for my email if interested.

Hello! I'm going into my second year of teaching and I have one of each grade level this year! That means I'll be teaching over 15 novels! I'm super excited! Among them includes, and is subject to change, the following titles:

~ Ordinary People by Judith Guest to seniors who struggle in English (my school tracks, their group is called 'Applied')

~ Ethan Frome by Edith Wharton to either sophomores or the Applied Seniors, haven't decided yet, or it could be both!

~ Shakespeare - one play per grade, department requirement

~ Dracula by Bram Stoker to my sophomores - super excited about this one!

And others that I can't think of off the top of my head. And I'm really truly going to get off the computer and get ready for my meeting at school soon, too! :)

Oh and I add a great big nod to all the books noted already, too. And Peter is right on! :)

I'd also like to add:

Monster by Walter Dean Myers (actually, any WD Myers book!)

pretty much modern war history or historical fiction like Flags of our Fathers

and that's all I've got at 7 am in the morning. I'll post again tonight when I've visited my classroom (going there shortly) and have had a chance to poke through my student book review binder (a great idea! and I'm going to move the project over here to goodreads).