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Well, I just had another fantastic day at my new school in my new school district. It's a suburban school district which was originally a small town (but TEA apparently has it now classified as suburban). But it still has a small town feel--everyone WANTS to meet you and get to know you and support you and help you.
People are genuinely nice; they are truly in a position to help. Our principal told the dozen of us new teachers yesterday that he hired us over every other applicant because we had character. (Ok, he didn't have any other applicants for Latin, but he could have decided I wasn't worth the hire anyway!)
Every student I have met (and I don't think any will be my students) has been so friendly and so nice. And as kids tour through the school for freshman orientation, I thought that very few looked goth, very few looked like true misfits of society, very few looked disconnected from the world, AND THERE WERE NO SIGNS OF GANGS! No gang colors, no gang clothing or piercings or shaved eyebrows (the little nick in the middle) or the rosary beads or any of that.
The principal was really great; he was telling all of us--as I'm telling any of you--that your first year anywhere new is like being a first year teacher all over again. I've been telling myself that, but it was great hearing it from him. Affirmation.
My room, I decided, just really needed one thing to feel better: I needed to pull up the blinds on the windows! After all, there's nothing outside that would be a big distraction--no hallway or classroom.
I'm working on revising and printing up my room labels. I'm changing the colors on the labels from red and blue to maroon and gold. It seems wrong to have to use purpureus for maroon, but there is no color distinction, apparently. Purpureus runs from blood red to violet, so that's what I'm using. Anyway, I'm not sure when I'm going to madly tape down labels on the desks. I want to get a body count first and try to remove some of the desks. I'm not happy with the arrangement of the desks in the room. Two of the new English teachers have this neat sort of auditorium arrangement with wedge sections kind of curving around the room. But the desks are pushed back against the wall. This is not good for me, and certainly NOT what Wong recommends (Harry Wong __The First Days of School__). I want/need to be able to walk around the back of rows in order to circle around and hear students read Latin. This is a must for me.
And I've been thinking, I might do some choral reading in English too. Too many people are afraid/nervous about reading solo or even singing solo, but are happy to sing along in a group. So why do we make people read individually in English??? I think I do want to develop and ability to read outloud in English--reading a speech well is a skill many will need to master. So why not reading a short story or a poem well? A passage from a story?
I'm thinking--and I better start DECIDING instead of just brainstorming--of having projects with Latin each semester. A choice of 6 things, which they will do before the year is out. That is you'll pick a different one per six week. So you can't just all do oral recitation every time. One time you'll do an oral recitation of a story that is at least X lines long. Another time you'll do a brochure type project. Another time it will be a writing/composition project. Another time a word-power project. (Let's see, that's 4.) Another time.... Then again, maybe I should just have 6 projects and make everyone do the same thing each time.
I dunno.
But for the composition it could be to rewrite any particular story in the book but change up at least 3 aspects of it--like the ending or the people involved or something.
Then again, I did have this idea about having students write the secret life of one of the characters. Does Metella really sit all day? She seems nice, but is she really bossy? Has she ever tasted Grumio's cooking and gagged?
What about Cerberus? Can you imagine writing a secret life about Cerberus? Where does he go each day? How much food does he steal from the kitchen? Does he bury bones in the garden for Clemens to find?
The problem is, if I teach well, I'll be racing through Unit 1 by December. Eegads. Will I manage it??? And then what will the projects be in the spring for Unit 2?
Anyway. At least my mind is finally getting in gear.
People are genuinely nice; they are truly in a position to help. Our principal told the dozen of us new teachers yesterday that he hired us over every other applicant because we had character. (Ok, he didn't have any other applicants for Latin, but he could have decided I wasn't worth the hire anyway!)
Every student I have met (and I don't think any will be my students) has been so friendly and so nice. And as kids tour through the school for freshman orientation, I thought that very few looked goth, very few looked like true misfits of society, very few looked disconnected from the world, AND THERE WERE NO SIGNS OF GANGS! No gang colors, no gang clothing or piercings or shaved eyebrows (the little nick in the middle) or the rosary beads or any of that.
The principal was really great; he was telling all of us--as I'm telling any of you--that your first year anywhere new is like being a first year teacher all over again. I've been telling myself that, but it was great hearing it from him. Affirmation.
My room, I decided, just really needed one thing to feel better: I needed to pull up the blinds on the windows! After all, there's nothing outside that would be a big distraction--no hallway or classroom.
I'm working on revising and printing up my room labels. I'm changing the colors on the labels from red and blue to maroon and gold. It seems wrong to have to use purpureus for maroon, but there is no color distinction, apparently. Purpureus runs from blood red to violet, so that's what I'm using. Anyway, I'm not sure when I'm going to madly tape down labels on the desks. I want to get a body count first and try to remove some of the desks. I'm not happy with the arrangement of the desks in the room. Two of the new English teachers have this neat sort of auditorium arrangement with wedge sections kind of curving around the room. But the desks are pushed back against the wall. This is not good for me, and certainly NOT what Wong recommends (Harry Wong __The First Days of School__). I want/need to be able to walk around the back of rows in order to circle around and hear students read Latin. This is a must for me.
And I've been thinking, I might do some choral reading in English too. Too many people are afraid/nervous about reading solo or even singing solo, but are happy to sing along in a group. So why do we make people read individually in English??? I think I do want to develop and ability to read outloud in English--reading a speech well is a skill many will need to master. So why not reading a short story or a poem well? A passage from a story?
I'm thinking--and I better start DECIDING instead of just brainstorming--of having projects with Latin each semester. A choice of 6 things, which they will do before the year is out. That is you'll pick a different one per six week. So you can't just all do oral recitation every time. One time you'll do an oral recitation of a story that is at least X lines long. Another time you'll do a brochure type project. Another time it will be a writing/composition project. Another time a word-power project. (Let's see, that's 4.) Another time.... Then again, maybe I should just have 6 projects and make everyone do the same thing each time.
I dunno.
But for the composition it could be to rewrite any particular story in the book but change up at least 3 aspects of it--like the ending or the people involved or something.
Then again, I did have this idea about having students write the secret life of one of the characters. Does Metella really sit all day? She seems nice, but is she really bossy? Has she ever tasted Grumio's cooking and gagged?
What about Cerberus? Can you imagine writing a secret life about Cerberus? Where does he go each day? How much food does he steal from the kitchen? Does he bury bones in the garden for Clemens to find?
The problem is, if I teach well, I'll be racing through Unit 1 by December. Eegads. Will I manage it??? And then what will the projects be in the spring for Unit 2?
Anyway. At least my mind is finally getting in gear.
Room labels?
Date: 2006-08-05 09:02 pm (UTC)Michael Stewart
Re: Room labels?
Date: 2006-08-05 10:11 pm (UTC)And this year I want to do more with these labels, make students learn more terminology, etc etc.
(no subject)
Date: 2006-08-05 09:16 pm (UTC)Have each student create and present an original "Wonder of the World". They have to create a background story, a model and tell the reason it should be considered a "Wonder". Of course, some were wonderful and others lack-luster, to say the least. If this would be an option that someone chose, it would probably be one of the better presentations. He also had the classes vote on the best wonder (one per class). Overall, the students seemed to enjoy the project. However, with everyone presenting, it took a week, maybe more. That's more time than I'd like to devote to it.
Sandy
(no subject)
Date: 2006-08-05 10:12 pm (UTC)(no subject)
Date: 2006-08-05 09:29 pm (UTC)It sounds like you have 6 grading periods per year (3 per semester). Perhaps you could randomly assign each student to a grading period to do one of the options for that grading period. That way you only have to grade 1/6th of the students per grading period. You could increase that to one project per semester for each student and still have lots of projects being done but cut down on the time necessary for grading.
I teach Units 1 & 2 in Latin I and find that if I finish Unit I about two weeks before the first semester ends, things work out OK for completing Unit 2 before school is over. There are fewer stages in Unit 2, but, as you know, they are longer. The spring semster also gets hit pretty hard with students missing days/classes -- assessment testing, AP exams, field trips, day-long projects/activities for other teachers, spring fever, etc.
Sandy
(no subject)
Date: 2006-08-05 10:14 pm (UTC)