I'm still here, just being consumed by the many end-of-year responsibilities that come with being a high school English teacher. My seniors have about two weeks left until they depart our fine educational establishment for good. I've been keeping them occupied with Lord of the Flies, which is an apt selection, as the urge to descend into savagery is strong at this time of year.
I'm wrapping up my poetry unit with the freshmen. Poetry anthologies are complete, we're currently doing our poetry recitations, and then we'll finish with a poetry slam before moving on to Romeo & Juliet.
My journalism kids recently pumped out our fourth issue of the year. Last week we won two awards at the New England Scholastic Press Association's annual conference at Boston University. The final issue will be produced by the junior year staffers. Next year I'm hoping to have us also create a web site with video, soundslides, Twitter updates, and other content that will make our news organization more timely and relevant.
The Celtics just beat the Magic. Awesome. I love the Celtics' heart. It's hard to say for sure if they'll advance. The key is Rajon Rondo. If he plays like he did tonight in Game 3, chalk up another W for the Green. It's fantastic to have the C's relevant again these last two years.
8 comments:
Congrats to you and the students on the awards. That is fantastic.
Kevin
Hi Kevin,
Thanks! I am in my first year of advising this particular school newspaper. The students have worked really hard to transition from what was a mediocre 8.5 x 11 newsletter to an 11 x 17 broadsheet. It's been nice to see their hard work pay off.
Our paper also picked up a few awards at the Scholastic Press Forum at American International College a couple months ago. Does your school have a paper? If so, I highly recommend entering these two contests. They're a lot of fun, and help to build camaraderie among the staff.
Hi from the Hudson River Valley. I teach 6th and 7th grade English and enjoy viewing your blog. My advanced students just finished reading the The Old Man and the Sea after finishing The Pearl just as yours seem to have done. I am currently working on my master's degree in Adolescent Literature and Technology and I find your page very helpful. I just established a blog page for my students and our goal to to have individual blogs as well. Please keep posting. My best wishes to you and your classes for a successful year and a relaxing summer.
Maria
Hi Maria,
Thanks for the feedback. Good luck with your degree. Glad to hear the blog has been helpful to you. I would be curious to check out what your students are blogging about. My students' blogs can be accessed from the "bgexemplar" page. Thanks for the well-wishes... the same to you! Have a great summer.
Hi - thanks for responding. You can visit our blog page at www.mmeza324.edublogs.org
It is definitely a work in progress. The first assignment was just to get their feet wet and they had to respond to the prompt of how they felt about the class reading of OMAS. I was quite impressed with their 7th grade insights.
Keep blogging! I learn a lot from you and your students - Maria
Hi Mr. B-G,
Enjoyed reading your blog. I am also an English teacher. My 9th grade classes just finished reading "Julius Caesar" and my 12th graders also read "Lord of the Flies".
I am currently taking graduate courses at Walden University and was given an assignment to read blogs and visit wikis from other students.
Hang in there, the end of year housekeeping does seem to be overwhelming at times.
Lora
Mr. B-Gm,
Enjoyed your site. Your curriculum sounds familiar. Just finished reading Julius Caesar with my freshman and also read Lord of the Flies earlier this year with the seniors.
This certianly is a crazy time of year. Summer is just a stones throw away. Hang in there!
Lora
Hi Lora,
Thanks for checking out my blog. Blogging has been a great way to connect with and learn from other teachers.
Lord of the Flies has generally been a good way to end the year with my senior class. Something about the content really resonates at this time of year! (Although, it is worth noting that this year's seniors were more willing to work than most of my previous classes... I had them working on a literary analysis essay on the second to last day of class!)
You mention your assignment for Walden (the name makes me think of the slacker college from Doonesbury) is to read blogs and wikis. What is the purpose of the assignment? Are you supposed to write or discuss anything? I'd be curious to know the extent of the activity, as it's something I might want to tweak for my students.
I'd also be interested in knowing if there are other teacher websites you recommend that aren't on my blogroll.
Thanks again for visiting. Happy end-of-year.
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