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WOW what a good day!
Got a couple of new students in Latin, and I'm betting I'll get some more next week when the transfers start coming through.
We did the pronunciation worksheet that goes with my procedures sheet and I think it went well. I guess I should go grade the sheets to make sure! But, hey, you KNOW you're doing something right if the students ASK to take home their Latin folder!!! They are having so much fun EVEN DOING THIS BORING, TEDIOUS stuff that they still want to show Mom and Dad. Sooooo Coooooool.
I want to take a moment to talk about warm-ups (praeparAtiOnEs) (heh heh).
Some people have asked what I put on warm-ups/what do I do. For the Latin 1A/1B it is almost always (but not always) tied to whatever we are studying. So, for instance, I had taken some time yesterday to go back to my extensive Procedures handout to point out some key questions I might as and how to reply:
labOrAsne? labOrO!
legisne agenda? legO! (aut nOn legO)
scrIbisne pEnsum? scrIbO!
facisne praeparAtiOnem? faciO! (They particularly like that one! ha!)
etc etc etc (I went through a bunch of them.)
So today's warm-up (praeparAtiO hodiernus) looked like this:
copy, complete and translate:
laborAsne? > labOr___!
legisne agenda? leg___!
scrIbisne pEnsum? scrIb___!
facisne praeparAtiOnem? faci___!
By doing this, I'm able to get them to focus on the details again. Reading is too passive; writing it is the first step towards them internalizing it/saying it.
I also greet students at the door with a white board with a question and a prompt written on it. So for the new 7th graders, I would ask the question that was written on it, "Quid nOmen tibi est?" and they would reply with the help of the prompt, "mihi nOmen est _____." The prompt gives them security, esp early on, but I was REALLY IMPRESSED with how many people PURPOSEFULLY looked away, demonstrating that they could do it without looking! How cool is that?
I'm going to push the question/answer (2nd person sing/1st pers sing) thing more with the 8th graders because it is review for them. Now... what could I ask them at the door on Monday???
No matter, I can really start asking them questions now in class... I can ask "facisne praeparAtiOnem?" and start getting the right answer...
Oh, one class thinks quid tU facis? might make a good club t-shirt... I might start working on a design. I need to check on whether CafePress has switched over all their printing to direct ink transfer to the shirts....
In teen leadership we talked about how to respect someone who doesn't deserve respect. This led to a little role playing activity I called, "taxi" where the customer is rude to the driver but the driver wants to be paid/wants a tip so has to stay polite. It was hysterical and the kids begged for more. I set the passenger up with a scenario--giving the driver directions because you don't like the way he's going, that his cab stinks to high heaven, that the music was too loud and obnoxious. Then I had a rude cab driver with a passenger that needed to get to the airport in a hurry to go to NY to see a Black Sabbath concert (she's a big fan). The girl that was the cab driver was WONDERFULLY obnoxious!
I suppose next week I should look at the packet of material to see what the other teachers are doing. I just want the students to think that what we're doing is real, and not goody-goody. That we must learn to respect people whether we like them or not.
EUGE! vIta est bona!
Got a couple of new students in Latin, and I'm betting I'll get some more next week when the transfers start coming through.
We did the pronunciation worksheet that goes with my procedures sheet and I think it went well. I guess I should go grade the sheets to make sure! But, hey, you KNOW you're doing something right if the students ASK to take home their Latin folder!!! They are having so much fun EVEN DOING THIS BORING, TEDIOUS stuff that they still want to show Mom and Dad. Sooooo Coooooool.
I want to take a moment to talk about warm-ups (praeparAtiOnEs) (heh heh).
Some people have asked what I put on warm-ups/what do I do. For the Latin 1A/1B it is almost always (but not always) tied to whatever we are studying. So, for instance, I had taken some time yesterday to go back to my extensive Procedures handout to point out some key questions I might as and how to reply:
labOrAsne? labOrO!
legisne agenda? legO! (aut nOn legO)
scrIbisne pEnsum? scrIbO!
facisne praeparAtiOnem? faciO! (They particularly like that one! ha!)
etc etc etc (I went through a bunch of them.)
So today's warm-up (praeparAtiO hodiernus) looked like this:
copy, complete and translate:
laborAsne? > labOr___!
legisne agenda? leg___!
scrIbisne pEnsum? scrIb___!
facisne praeparAtiOnem? faci___!
By doing this, I'm able to get them to focus on the details again. Reading is too passive; writing it is the first step towards them internalizing it/saying it.
I also greet students at the door with a white board with a question and a prompt written on it. So for the new 7th graders, I would ask the question that was written on it, "Quid nOmen tibi est?" and they would reply with the help of the prompt, "mihi nOmen est _____." The prompt gives them security, esp early on, but I was REALLY IMPRESSED with how many people PURPOSEFULLY looked away, demonstrating that they could do it without looking! How cool is that?
I'm going to push the question/answer (2nd person sing/1st pers sing) thing more with the 8th graders because it is review for them. Now... what could I ask them at the door on Monday???
No matter, I can really start asking them questions now in class... I can ask "facisne praeparAtiOnem?" and start getting the right answer...
Oh, one class thinks quid tU facis? might make a good club t-shirt... I might start working on a design. I need to check on whether CafePress has switched over all their printing to direct ink transfer to the shirts....
In teen leadership we talked about how to respect someone who doesn't deserve respect. This led to a little role playing activity I called, "taxi" where the customer is rude to the driver but the driver wants to be paid/wants a tip so has to stay polite. It was hysterical and the kids begged for more. I set the passenger up with a scenario--giving the driver directions because you don't like the way he's going, that his cab stinks to high heaven, that the music was too loud and obnoxious. Then I had a rude cab driver with a passenger that needed to get to the airport in a hurry to go to NY to see a Black Sabbath concert (she's a big fan). The girl that was the cab driver was WONDERFULLY obnoxious!
I suppose next week I should look at the packet of material to see what the other teachers are doing. I just want the students to think that what we're doing is real, and not goody-goody. That we must learn to respect people whether we like them or not.
EUGE! vIta est bona!
