01.30 - Occupation: Trekker Volcanologist (Kayla Icovino)

I was not in school today so a substitute lead today's class.

Today, everyone was reading the article "Awesome Jobs: Meet Kayla Icovino, Trekker Volcanologist" and responding to the provided processing questions.

Handouts:
Article - Awesome Jobs: Meet Kayla Icovino, Trekker Volcanologist
Processing Questions for the Awesome Jobs Article


Homework:

If you did not do so in class, finish responding to the processing questions for the Kayla Icovino article from today's class.

Study for the set 9 roots and prefixes quiz on Friday.
Roots and Prefixes Set 9 - Word List
Roots and Prefixes Set 9 - Practice

01.31 - Roots and Prefixes Quiz / Week Review

At the beginning of class today, everyone had a few minutes to review this week's roots and prefixes. We then played a round of language ninja to review these words (directions and notes from our game below). Then, everyone took the roots and prefixes quiz which we then corrected together as a class.

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I then reviewed the work that we were completing this week and everyone had time to make sure they had completed these assignments and submitted them for grading this weekend. These assignments were:


Pete Seeger occupations paragraph
Processing Questions for the Awesome Jobs Article
Occupations discussion


Homework:

If you did not complete the assignments we reviewed today (see just above), do so for homework.

Revise/complete any work scoring below a 92.

Keep up to date on your grades through Pinnacle:
In school: 192.168.8.7/Pinnacle/PIV
Outside of school: http://pinweb.lisbonschoolsme.org/pinnacle/piv

01.29 - Pete Seeger's Occupation

Today, we started with everyone having time to work on their roots and prefixes set 9 practice.
We will have the quiz on this material on Friday.

Next we looked at Pete Seeger and his occupation as a musician to help us prepare for our upcoming research project on occupations. Everyone responded to the prompt question based on the videos (all are available below).

Before watching the video we talked about direct observations versus inferential observations since the prompt question requires people to infer things about Pete Seeger.

Prompt:
How did Pete Seeger use his occupation as a musician to benefit society.

Video:





Some of the inferences people made about Seeger based on these videos were:

He is a caring person because he sings about peace and freedom.
He likes music because he is still singing and performing at 94.
He encourages people to sing along with him and this shows he enjoys people.
Other people said how he influenced them to become musicians so this shows he is a role model.

After watching the video, we read a New York Times article on Pete Seeger. While reading the article, everyone took note of facts that  helped to reinforce and verify inferences made about him from the video.

For homework, everyone was asked to use two facts from this article to respond to the prompt question that we started with today

Homework:

Write a paragraph response to the question, "How did Pete Seeger use his occupation as a musician to positively contribute to society?" based on information from the New York Times article on Pete Seeger (your response should contain at least two quotes).

Study for the set 9 roots and prefixes quiz on Friday.
Roots and Prefixes Set 9 - Word List
Roots and Prefixes Set 9 - Practice

01.28 - Introduction to Occupations

We started today's class by reviewing the class performance on the Edward Snowden research and writing prompt assignment. I presented everyone with a graph of the grades form this assignment and asked them to record in their writer's journals two positive elements and one area for change. These were defined as follows:

+ (positive) - This is something that went well with the assignment. Either something you liked about the assignment or something that you can see went well based on the data.

triangle (delta/change) - This is the thing that you would most like to improve or change in doing this assignment again or is the greatest area for change that you see according to the data on how the class did.

After everyone had a chance to respond to this in their writer's journal, we shared out responses which were recorded by a volunteer student on the SMART board. I then shared with the class my observations on the assignment from having corrected the ones that were turned in so far (both graphs and notes available below).

Student Reflections:

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Mr. Collins' Reflection:

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Next, we began work on our next unit which is a project on "occupations". In this unit, everyone will be selecting an occupation to research. For the sake of this unit, an occupation is defined as any activity (job, hobby, or pass time) that is positively oriented in society. I handed out the Occupations Brainstorm sheet.

Everyone responded to the questions on the first page/front of the sheet for themselves.

We then had a concentric circle style partner discussion in which people had the opportunity to talk with a variety of different people about their responses to the questions and took note of what they said.

Next, everyone had the rest of class to respond to one of the five prompt questions on the back of the paper.


Homework:

If you did not finish responding to the Occupations Brainstorm prompt in class, do so for homework.

Study for the set 8 roots and prefixes quiz on Friday.
Roots and Prefixes Set 9 - Word List
Roots and Prefixes Set 9 - Practice
Keep up to date on your grades through Pinnacle:
In school: 192.168.8.7/Pinnacle/PIV
Outside of school: http://pinweb.lisbonschoolsme.org/pinnacle/piv

01.27 - Roots and Prefixes Set 9

At the beginning of class today, I reviewed how to use the class site with everyone including the new search feature and the email subscription feature. To see a a screencast of this talk, check out the video below.


(I recommend watching this video in full screen to see the detail on the screen)

Next, we began work with this week's set of roots and prefixes (see below).

Roots and Prefixes Set 9 - Word List
Roots and Prefixes Set 9 - Practice

I reviewed how to check the root meaning of words using actual, physical dictionaries and the dictionary on Google (the result you get when you type "define:" and then a word).

The examples below also illustrate this point. For the root/prefix "post-" notice how the word "posterity" has the meaning "follow" in its origin while the word "postulate" has the meaning "asked" in its origin.

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Everyone had about twenty minutes to work on the practice sheet for this weeks roots and prefixes.

I then handed out grade report sheets for quarter two and the midterm exam while several students helped me to return work. Everyone had the remaining time in class to finish the root/prefix practice sheet and to look at their grade and ask questions about assignments.

Homework:

Study for the set 8 roots and prefixes quiz on Friday.

Roots and Prefixes Set 8 - Word List
Roots and Prefixes Set 8 - Practice

Complete missing work and revise any assignment that scored below a 3.

01.23 - Midterm Part II

Today, we had our second day of midterms where we wrapped up the work we began yesterday.

Anyone who needs more time on the midterm had from 12:30 - 2 today and there will be another make up period tomorrow from 12:30 to 2.

Everyone is free to review the midterm materials outside of class. No materials can be brought into the midterm (aside from something to write with) and all materials must stay in the classroom. I will redistribute materials on Friday or when individuals come in to work on their midterm.

For the midterm today, everyone received:

Midterm Prompts

The "Marigolds" essay they wrote at the beginning of the year
(or a replacement copy if I did not have theirs)

A copy of the short story "Marigolds"


Homework:

Complete missing work and revise any assignment that scored below a 92.

Work from both quarters one and two may still be completed or revised for full credit.

 

Keep up to date on your grades through Pinnacle:
In school: 192.168.8.7/Pinnacle/PIV
Outside of school: http://pinweb.lisbonschoolsme.org/pinnacle/piv

01.22 - Midterm Part I

Today, we had the first two parts of our midterm and I introduced the third part of the midterm to everyone. We will finish all remaining parts of the midterm when we meet together as a class again on Friday.

If people feel that they will need more than the two class periods to complete their midterm there is extra midterm time available from 12:30 - 2 on both Thursday and Friday. Individuals can also talk with me to set up some time after school.

Everyone is free to review the midterm materials outside of class. No materials can be brought into the midterm (aside from something to write with) and all materials must stay in the classroom. I will redistribute materials on Friday or when individuals come in to work on their midterm.

For the midterm today, everyone received:

Midterm Prompts

The "Marigolds" essay they wrote at the beginning of the year
(or a replacement copy if I did not have theirs)

A copy of the short story "Marigolds"


Homework:

Prepare for Part II of the midterm as is appropriate for you.

Complete missing work and revise any assignment that scored below a 92.

 

Keep up to date on your grades through Pinnacle:
In school: 192.168.8.7/Pinnacle/PIV
Outside of school: http://pinweb.lisbonschoolsme.org/pinnacle/piv

01.16 - LRTC Presentation

Today, Mr. Cook from the Lewiston Regional Technical Center came in and presented on LRTC's program. While watching the presentation, everyone kept notes on important or interesting facts regarding the program using the provided note sheet.

People who are looking to further develop their note sheet can also reference the LRTC brochures that Mr. Cook handed out and the LRTC website.

After Mr. Cook's presentation we had our set eight roots and prefixes quiz.

When people were finished with their roots and prefix quiz, they could finish responding to the processing question at the bottom of the LRTC note sheet. These sheets should be submitted to me by Friday for assessment tomorrow.


Homework:

If you did not do so in class today, finish your notes on the LRTC presentation and processing response.

If you did not finish finding information that answers the three questions on the Edward Snowden Research sheet or the response prompt, you should do so for homework.

Complete missing work and revise any assignment that scored below a 92.

Keep up to date on your grades through Pinnacle:
In school: 192.168.8.7/Pinnacle/PIV
Outside of school: http://pinweb.lisbonschoolsme.org/pinnacle/piv

1.15 - Edward Snowden Prompt

For class today, everyone had time to complete their Edward Snowden Research.

At the beginning of class, we reviewed the directions for the research component of this assignment and then everyone had the rest of the period to read news articles online and gather facts/quotes that answer the questions on the research sheet.

When research sheets are complete, everyone should respond to the following prompt:

Edward Snowden Prompt

150 word minimum (longer is fine)

Based on what you have read about Edward Snowden, do you believe he should be brought to trial as a criminal? Explain why or why not using information from your research (quote your sources)?

We also decided today, that we will be having the set 8 roots and prefixes quiz tomorrow since everyone will be taking the ASVAB testing during class on Friday.

Homework:

If you did not finish finding information that answers the three questions on the Edward Snowden Research sheet or the response prompt, you should do so for homework.

Prepare for the set 8 roots and prefixes quiz tomorrow.
Helpful documents:

Roots/Prefixes Set 8 - Word List
Roots/Prefixes Set 8 - Practice

Complete missing work and revise any assignment that scored below a 92.

 

Keep up to date on your grades through Pinnacle:
In school: 192.168.8.7/Pinnacle/PIV
Outside of school: http://pinweb.lisbonschoolsme.org/pinnacle/piv

1.14 - Roots and Prefix Practice / Snowden Research

For the first 20 minutes of class today, everyone had time to work on the roots/prefixes set 8 practice either working individually or with an assigned partner. Everyone then had a few minutes to work with a partner of their choice to compare responses before we shared out and verified correct responses for the sheet.

With the remaining time in class, everyone was working on their Edward Snowden Research.

People could use Google News, sites mentioned on the research sheet, or resources familiar to them to find news articles that answer these questions.

Homework:

If you did not finish finding information that answers the three questions on the Edward Snowden Research sheet, you should do so for homework.

Prepare for the set 8 roots and prefixes quiz on Friday.
Helpful documents:

Roots/Prefixes Set 8 - Word List
Roots/Prefixes Set 8 - Practice
 

Complete missing work and revise any assignment that scored below a 92.

 

Keep up to date on your grades through Pinnacle:
In school: 192.168.8.7/Pinnacle/PIV
Outside of school: http://pinweb.lisbonschoolsme.org/pinnacle/piv

1.13 - Roots and Prefixes Set 8 / Assignment Reflection and Revision

At the beginning of class today, I used our document cam/viewer to go over how to use a dictionary so that it is the most helpful in completing these sheets. While we did go over how to look up words in the dictionary, the focus of this talk was in how to look at words that use the root/prefix as a prefix and then evaluate whether or not that word root is part of that word or if those letters just happen to occur at the beginning of the word.

Example:

The word root "pre" means before.

In the word "preview", "pre" means viewing something before so we know the root and word meaning are connected.

The word "precious" also has the letters "pre" at the beginning. However, "precious" means that something has a high cost or is valuable. It does not have a "before" sort of meaning so the root and word are probably not connected.

I then handed out roots and prefixes sheets for the set 8 roots/prefixes. Everyone then had about 15 minutes to complete the first sheet. We will work on the practice sheet later this week.

Roots/Prefixes Set 8 - Word List
Roots/Prefixes Set 8 - Practice

Next, we reviewed the class performance on the reading questions associated with chapters 3 - 7 and chapters 8 - 12 in Anthem. I handed out the assignments before reviewing general feedback on what people had done well and key areas for attention and revision. People can use this feedback to guide their revisions or to guide their work if they are still completing the assignment. Those who got their assignments back today may have additional or other specific feedback to pay attention to when doing their revisions. The graphs from class are available below.

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We then took a look at the grade distribution for the Anthem discussion that we had on Wednesday and Thursday of last week. In looking at this distribution, everyone used the data presented in the graph and their own recollections of the experience to identify two things that we did well and one thing that we could improve upon for next time (see below). We then shared out these pieces and a student recorded the feedback below the graph.

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I then had a couple people help me return work that was submitted last week and I handed out grade report sheets. Everyone then had the remaining time in the period to identify which assignments they need to complete or revise. I was on hand for questions and handed out extra copies of assignments.


Homework:

If you did not do so in class, finish the word list portion for the set 8 roots and prefixes.

Study the set 8 roots and prefixes in preparation for our quiz on Friday.

Complete missing work and revise any assignment that scored below a 92.

 

Keep up to date on your grades through Pinnacle:
In school: 192.168.8.7/Pinnacle/PIV
Outside of school: http://pinweb.lisbonschoolsme.org/pinnacle/piv

1.10 - Sharing Information & Edward Snowden

At the beginning of class today, I presented the class with an array of letters laid out in the middle of the floor. I told everyone that they need to find a way to spell a single word with the available letters and that although there were a lot of letters, they could still spell a single word. I told everyone that if they solved it in one minute, everyone would get a grade of "100", if they solved it in two minutes they would get a "92", and then a "70" in the next minute, then a "50", and finally a "0" if it took them over four minutes to spell a single word from the available letters. The letters made available were:

D, S, N, R, A, G, O, E, W, L, I

Within two minutes, one of the participants realized that I was not asking them to spell a single word or one word, but rather to spell "a single word."

I then revealed that I had rigged this activity by telling one of the people in our class what I was planning to do and what the trick was, but not to tell the class. With this information in mind, everyone then responded to the following writing prompt in their writer's journal:

Should the person with the "insider" information about this activity have shared the solution with the class since this would have helped everyone get a 100? If you had been the one who knew the answer and been told to keep it secret, would you have told? Why/why not?

When is it ok to withhold information from people and when is it not ok?

After everyone had a chance to respond to this prompt, we discussed their responses. 

Two people in the class felt that the person with insider knowledge should have told others, 12 people said it wasn't necessary for the insider to give up the secret, and two people were ambivalent on the matter.

This discussion of when it was ok to share information and when it was not ok, lead into our next topic which is to research and find out more about Edward Snowden. From our discussion in class, we established that he was someone who has been in the news for sharing secret information with people. All other details of the case are to be research by people in our class using reputable news sources. To guide everyone in this work, I gave everyone the following handout: Edward Snowden Research.

Everyone had the rest of the period to research news articles that provide answers on the questions outlined on the Edward Snowden Research sheet.

People could use Google News, sites mentioned on the research sheet, or resources familiar to them to find news articles that answer these questions.

Homework:

If you still need to find information answering two or more of the research questions on the sheet provided today in class, you should work on the sheet for homework. You will have about half an hour to wrap up your work on this sheet in class on Monday.

Complete missing work and revise any assignment that scored below a 92.

 

Keep up to date on your grades through Pinnacle:
In school: 192.168.8.7/Pinnacle/PIV
Outside of school: http://pinweb.lisbonschoolsme.org/pinnacle/piv

 

1.09 - Anthem Discussion Wrap Up / Revisions

For the first half of class today we continued our discussion of Anthem that we started yesterday.

The questions that we discussed today were:

Do you think Equality's plan for a better government will work?

Would Ayn Rand allow federal prison inmates to use the internet?

Would you rather live in Equality's world or the world from Harrison Bergeron?

Why does Liberty 5-3000 call herself "Gaea"?

Is Equality 7-2521 a true hero? Why or why not?

With the remaining time in the period, everyone worked on the assignments identified yesterday when grade report sheets were handed out.

Homework:  

Continue to revise and complete assignments as necessary.  

Especially focusing on:

Reading assignments for chapters 3-7 and chapters 8-12 in Anthem.

Poetry and Language

Complete missing work and revise any assignment that scored below a 92.

Keep up to date on your grades through Pinnacle:
In school: 192.168.8.7/Pinnacle/PIV
Outside of school: http://pinweb.lisbonschoolsme.org/pinnacle/piv

1.08 - Class Discussion for Anthem & Revisions

For the first part of class today, we had a class discussion using the "Questions from a Construction Helmet" format (outlined below).


From yesterday's class:

 

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Our use of the questions today:

  

(click image to enlarge)

The questions we discussed today in class were as follows:

Do you think she (Ayn Rand) would allow prisoners to have the internet?

Why do you think the council doesn’t want the people to know about the unmentionable times?

How would you describe the feeling Equality had the first night in the house with the Golden One/Liberty 5-3000/Gaea? How would you feel if you were in his shoes?

Who do you think you’re more like: Equality (the leader and doer) or members of the society (who follow others and don’t like change).

I helped to facilitate the discussion and took note of individuals' participation.
Participation in the discussion will be counted as both speaking and listening in the Speaking and Listening section of the grade book. We have a few more questions to discuss and will wrap these up in the next couple of classes.

In the remaining time in the period, we looked at who still needed to submit the question responses for chapters 3-7 and chapters 8-12 in Anthem as well as the Poetry and Language work we did with Poetry Out Loud. I also handed out grade report sheets from Pinnacle so everyone would know what work was in the grade book and what work still needed to be revised.

We will have an opportunity to work with this more on Thursday and Friday.

Homework: 

Continue to revise and complete assignments as necessary.  Especially focusing on:

Reading assignments for chapters 3-7 and chapters 8-12 in Anthem.

Poetry and Language

Complete missing work and revise any assignment that scored below a 92.

Keep up to date on your grades through Pinnacle:
In school: 192.168.8.7/Pinnacle/PIV
Outside of school: http://pinweb.lisbonschoolsme.org/pinnacle/piv

 

1.07 - Assignment Review and Revision

At the beginning of class today, everyone wrote in their writer's journal what they had chosen to draw for a badge (representing something they have achieved so far this year) and an image representing a goal they have set for themselves to improve their performance in the class.

Those who did not finish these drawings yesterday had the opportunity to do so. People who finished this response early were able to identify ways in which they could begin to measure their progress towards their identified goal.

In light of yesterday's discussion in which people said they wished we had more class discussions as part of our work, we looked at what makes a good discussion question (I presented students with two questions) and then had an opportunity to write discussion questions for Anthem. We determined that good discussion questions achieve the following:

1 - Are focused on topics people will be interested in discussing.
2 - Don't have a simple right or wrong answer.
3 - Encourage people to think more about what we have been covering in class.

We focused our discussion through the following slide:

In discussing the question about the Pink Floyd quote above, we referenced a poster I have hanging in the room in which this quote is written as graffiti on the Berlin Wall. I explained how the Berlin Wall connects with Soviet Russia which we have already talked about extensively with Animal Farm and Anthem since the bad governments in these books were modeled on the Soviet government.

We will use the questions people wrote tomorrow in class.

Next, we reviewed class performance on the Poetry and Language and Poetry Out Loud recitations.

As we reviewed these assignments I returned each assignment to students. I discussed student performance on the Poetry and Language sheet. We looked at the recitation grades and students used the data from grades and their own experiences with the work to identify areas of strength and areas for change. These graphs are available below.

 

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Everyone had the remaining time in the period to work on revisions (taking into account the information of what worked well and what generally needed to be improved with these assignments).

Homework: 

If you have not done so already, finish the reading assignments for chapters 3-7 and chapters 8-12 in Anthem.

Continue to revise and complete assignments as necessary. 

1.06 - Reciprocity Flags Revisited

Today in class, we revisited the reciprocity flag activity that we did at the beginning of the year.

At the beginning of class, we reviewed and evaluated the goals that everyone made for themselves at the beginning of the year. These observations were recorded in everyone's writing journals (see prompt below).

Next, everyone added two drawing to their reciprocity flag. One is a badge for something they feel they have achieved so far this year and the other is another image which represents a goal they would like to set for themselves for the next month (see prompt below).

 

(click image to enlarge)

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Homework:

If you have not yet done so, finish responding to the questions from class on 1.02

1.02 - Finish Anthem (Substitute)

I was not in class today. I left the substitute with the following directions:

Have students finish reading Anthem (chapter 8 through chapter 12) and responding to the questions for this section.

If they have extra time, they can work independently on other work.


Homework:

If you did not finish responding to these questions in class, do so for homework.