jeopardy terra nova

So, I've been searching for exciting ways to teach test-taking skills and review English skills with my 8th graders. They have to take the Terra Nova tests in March and while we don't like to teach toward the test, if they don't pass these tests, they don't pass 8th grade. The pressure is mounting, because while I love my students to death, I don't want to see them next year (because it will mean that they didn't pass). So here it is. It's not a revolutionary idea, but they're getting excited about this approach to going through the test prep book, and that's all we can ask for.

We've divided them into teams. They chose their teams, they chose their team names, they drew us a mascot which we put on a posterboard/scoreboard. I teach the lessons and they do the practice problems (in the book or in other resource materials that we've outlined that focuses on the same skill... such as inferencing, comparing and contrasting, sequencing events in a text) as a group, helping each other and needing to come to a consensus before they're done with the problems (this encourages group work, THINKING and students justifying their answers by using the text to back it up!!).

On Thursdays, they take the unit test (which means we teach 5-6 lessons in 3 days... but they're motivated by competition, so it's working, so far) and their test scores are averaged with the rest of their group members and posted on the scoreboard. On Fridays, we play Jeopardy! I've created a game that's based on Terra Nova skills and also connects to the novels we're reading, and also brings in grammar and usage skills. It's also a reinforcement and review of the skills they learned this week. We're rotating "team captains" every week so everyone gets to participate orally. TRying to figure out how to work writing into it, too. So far, it's been really successful as the kids want to compete in-class and with their colleagues in the other sections of our class.

We'll see how it develops from here. Just wanted to share. Happy hopeful snowday tomorrow, though if it is one, I'll be sad about missing Jeopardy.

Cheers,
Lauren

thoughts on special ed.

our staff meeting today was about the intervention process of identifying and working with students that we wish to refer for special education services. i had just been talking with ms. h about a few of my resource room students, and had a discussion with ms. p that was really enlightening. we discussed the difference between inclusion and self-contained classrooms in our school and how special needs students are identified, as well as how we service them, and how progress is measured.

we talked a lot about differentiation of instruction and the need for all teachers, general ed or special ed, to learn how to teach in a multi-modal way -- recognizing the different skill levels and learning needs of students, and thinking about this when we give directions for an assignment, design lessons and assessments. this can mean using visual aids, the board, saying directions aloud, drawing examples, modeling for students, individual tutoring and assistance (whenever possible), and individual, group and whole-class learning situations.

it seemed sad to me that she was so excited about my desire to learn and to assist my students as best i can, and said that most general ed teachers are too busy to take the time and make the effort to consider the students' learning needs. it really is up to classroom teachers to educate themselves about their students, know your kids and advocate for them, for the betterment of their lives. just because they're special ed students doesn't mean that they can't or won't live full and vibrant lives. to the contrary, making a decision like that about a student is to treat them with discrimination. it's important to check yourself and your pre-conceived notions about what dis/ability means -- we're all different in what we excel at, we all need help in some areas of our lives.

bottom line: i try to advocate for all of my students, know them, know their learning styles and consider this always. i live by differentiation on the daily.

more thoughts soon.
xo
lo

futurism vs. passeism

i've been listening to a lot of blonde redhead lately, a reminder that i too, was once 15 and incredibly moody. and as i'm trying to think of a way to close this out, i have been taking stock of the projects i've been doing:

- digital zine unit plan utilizing the conception of voice and writing workshops for peer and self evaluation of portfolio work. integrating web 2.0 tools into their productions so that they can have creative control of the medium that their writing best represents. (the possibilities are endless, how do i scaffold?)
- movie starring some very special 3rd and 4th graders.
- burning 20 copies of said movie for parents, as fundraiser for class.
- video starring our 4th and 5th hour, to be played for them on the last day before winter break.
- rwt, which i am *enjoying* putting together?!?
- DVD of kitze's and my semester so far.
- finish knitting scarf for kitze.
- myspace-ing my students. having j. send me an message today saying, "Miss, I promise to be better in class. It will start right now." after I pulled him out of class on Thursday.
- writing a grant for 3 books I will need in the spring.
- setting up gradual roots in cali.
- creative presents for the close few who love the made tokens.
- writing letters.
- reading for fun.
- blogging like a maniac.

only 4 on that list are sans technology, as in, technology that i have been loaned by this program. knitting, crafting, writing, reading. i've always been the same, i just keep finding more ways to express myself. writing lessons has become an obsession. collecting resources my hobby.

and yes, i've answered my own question. small increments of contact can sustain you for this long. i am proud of myself for looking forward. i've had a breakthrough. and i love my life. it always comes together in the end. i have been charmed.

xo
l

teleportation station

my final thoughts on technology:

(j/k, it's a poem about teleportation. final thoughts to come... after web 2.0)

this will eventually be a short story about the lengths that long distance lovers will go to in order to see one another, in this case, by volunteering to be a guinea pig for a teleportation device. purely hypothetically speaking, of course, heh. (i can't wait to be there, less than two weeks...)

*volunteer*

each time, i would volunteer.
i would be the first to test it,
let the metal bite down around
my shoulders.
i would drain seas and drink air,
open vortexes to new dimensions
in the same instant so that
my body can travel lightly.

these particles can distribute
themselves all over in an instant,
but i want the control.
i want to see two worlds at once.

risk is laid to cool rest
under my tongue.
i would empty my chest,
place my heart on the table
and let you watch it stop,
to show you what this means.
when my breath hits your face
and you smile. a sideglance
gleaming off of your cheek.
your index finger tracing
a circle around my spine.

these are why i'd risk dying everytime,
to open the latch,
let the smoke dissipate
and find you here.

---

this urgency has become a theme in all i do. i blame t.v. and it's focus on instant gratification (my kids wrote an essay about pro's/con's of TV).

xo
lo

RIP Phenzwaan 1977-2007

a dear friend passed away this morning, the circumstances of which are unfortunate, and he has been taken from this world much too soon. his talents were numerous and his voice, his spirit, his passion are things that i will always take with me. his impact on my life has been so large and i am one of so many that he has touched, through his words or through his presence. i am struggling to understand, but believe he will find us again, in another form. here is a poem that does not even begin to do justice to his beauty. you can find his work here: http://www.phenzwaan.com (i'm having trouble getting the link to post, sorry)

for phenzwaan

this has been a year
when the words died.
when great wordsmiths
have muted their breath
for a braver journey,
and i'm finding my heroes
slowly fading, stars
burned out in a galaxy
i have not yet found
on any map of mercy.

time rushes with age and
i find myself moving
too fast to reach back,
grasp your hands again.
you, ascending
and my acceleration
breaches the plane of
touch, this emotion
has exponents that my
eyes cannot look up
high enough to graph.

we make a mantra,
we mumble. we say it
louder, tomorrow is not
promised, bring me your best
everyday. i always say
i love you when i leave you.
and i am used to this,
but i never remember
the sharp slice and dull deluge.

how it feels to close my
lips around your name
and know that you will
never hear my voice.
the numbers on my hands
grow, the names i say
in my head in that
part of the prayer,
there are more lights
that fade in my eyes.

i don't know of a better
reason to meditate on
the moments of morse
code we sent back and
forth across violent seas
while trying to name
our reigns of lighting.
we licked the waves and
our wounds, afterward.

i command you now to heal.
i conjure every word you wrote
down and deem it doctrine
of this religion of verse
that i worship. you preach
every time a breath reaches
up to you. you breathe always
in the vibrancy of your voice.

love always,
lo

the four billy goats and the elephant.

is the name of the production we're putting on next friday at roosevelt elementary school in keego harbor. it's gonna rock! having just shot it today, i can tell you this for sure, especially with the effects that i'm figuring out on graffiti.vidavee.com (the link goddesses are not with me at this time). soooo looking forward to it. i was on the floor shooting the scenes from different angles and we had so much fun, then i stayed to play some games of set, got some real cute photos of all the kids. a slide show and bloopers reel will totally be on the dvd, not for nuthin.

hey, and in the name of some really great music, check out this video of the seven chakraz, one of my fave groups, at the elbow room last night with belikos. mmm belikos.

(insert here, as soon as the link works)

caroline and i had fun dancing with ourselves. paul and i wiled out, like we do. good times. back to mad studying. it was fab to get out for a minute, as i've been on the mend and stuck on the couch, watching many marathons of CSI with my dad. but oh, how life is great when dad and i can appreciate horatio caine (david caruso) with all of our hearts. thought i still love las vegas better. forensic science nerd, holla! happy weekend, i'll see you in the grad lab.

xo
lolo

digital zine thoughts.

so, i've been thinking a lot about a cumulative project for the end of my unit/end of the semester that is able to highlight my students' progess in myriad ways, utilizing the technology that we have available to us in order to give kids choice in how they choose to develop their work. i see it happening like this:

alt-x - where the digerati meet the literati (clever catchphrase!)
http://www.altx.com/home.html

a place either divided by genre, by topic, or even divided by students (such as, you can see all of destinee's work here) that can highlight a few pieces of their best work, which they would select and develop in preparation to "publish" it. workshopping would be integral to the process, we would also integrate editorials, persuasive essays, journalistic pieces, poetry, fiction, rhyming, acting, and i would allow students to visually represent their ideas, as well. i think about using comic life to create comic books, having them make videos of themselves performing their work (or videos as their work). there are endless possibilities to how this could go.

but we are limited by not being able to post these things online like as a regular e-zine, so i'm thinking a DVD format would work best. but i worry about students not being able to share it with their folks for lack of technology, so i would want to have a viewing of their work, inviting parents in to go through the zine with their kids, or even having live performances from their work in the zine.

all of these ideas are just forming, so this is a think-aloud, essentially. but i think that it could be an incredibly fun project for students and we could integrate much of the benchmarks into a semester-long mega-unit that culminates here. i'm going to propose it and i'm going to start getting the words into my head so that i can see what grants i can write.

and i'm glad i suddenly have my unit plan forming - but just like my individual lesson plans, which can never seem to fit into one class period, my unit plan will not fit into 5-6 weeks, ha. my inner overachiever really is a gay man with delectable taste - who tends to think large and elaborate. you know how i do.

oh, and having Pete come to us from Clemente yesterday was amazing! more about that soon.

cheers,
lauren