Spring Break

Arizona Marches On #Sweet…

There are no updates this week. Spring Break is upon us, and this is the time we take to prepare ourselves for the final stretch for the 4th Quarter. When I say we, I mean students as well as teachers… I will be taking the time to relax as well as catch up on some planning for next year when we switch over to common core standards. I’m currently working on my curriculum map for Language Arts/Literature for next year [see here]. With the focus on informational text being emphasized with next year’s switch to Common Core Curriculum, I will have to shift a few things around to meet those standards. However, it won’t be a major shift because informational text has been a point of emphasis during my first two years of teaching via Daily Reading Comprehension Worksheets, Vocabulary, and Active Reading Activities that focus on the previously mentioned. I look forward to the challenge.

Any students, parents, educators reading this enjoy your break because I know I will;) Arizona is still in the NCAA Tournament, so it will be an easy thing to do. I will also spend part of the break hoping my bracket numbers pick up the pace because my students are going to have a lot to say if they all beat me in our March Madeness Bracket Challenge…LoL

As a quick reminder to those who took advantage of the extension I offered, please make sure you turn your Research Paper Assignment in on our first day back, 4/3/2013…

March Madness Bracket Challenge = Teacher For a Day;]

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[*Printable Bracket via SB Nation] As March Madness sets upon us, I have decided to let the students that are interested get a taste of the madness for themselves. Throughout the year, various students have asked if they could be the teacher for a day. They’ve either asked because they think I’m boring, or they think they can do a better job than I can;) Well, today is their chance. However, like in life, nothing is given, they must earn this via our March Madness Bracket Challenge. I’ve been scavenging the internet for a Language Arts lesson that connects the NCAA Tournament into the classroom, but I’ve had no luck. I did find one, but it was for math. I did find a few writing prompts that I will use for bell work. They can be viewed [here]. If anybody has one for Language Arts, please send it my way. I digress, participation will be optional. When I made the announcement, I had a medium level of interest. I think the whole idea of taking over the class is what really piqued their interest. I always welcome competition in my classroom. The winner will get to be the teacher on a to be determined half-day in April during their specific class. The winner will sit down with the teacher (me), and we will go over how to make a lesson plan with an objective for the class to reach by the end of the class period. This will not be a free for all;) The winners will be expected to teach the class something, and they will receive as much guidance as they need…

Don’t Forget To Have Fun ;]

On Friday, we had an Honor’s Assembly, and we ended up having some spare time in our Homeroom class. The kid’s decided to challenge yours truly to a race. They must have sized me up, and they figured I couldn’t carry my big frame too swiftly. They were sorely mistaken, and they learned a good lesson – never judge a book by the cover. I did promise the class that I would post a visual in the form of a video on our blog, but due to privacy issues, I decided against it. That being said, we will be viewing the race in our class during Homeroom.

The day before, I  used the Pac 12 Tournament as an opportunity to have some fun after school. I invited anybody that was interested in watching the Arizona Wildcats play the Colorado Buffaloes to stop by my classroom. We had about 10 to 12 students stop by to watch the game. Although the streaming on the Pac12 Network was a little bit infuriating at times, the kids and I enjoyed ourselves. During the invite, I recounted a story of how I snuck a miniature television into school during my sophomore year of high school to watch the first round of the NCAA Tournament in 1995. The kids all laughed at me, and they found that story completely outrageous;) I’ve said this before, and I will say it again, I think it’s important to connect with students on more than just curriculum. When you do that, it pays off, and they are more receptive when you are trying to teach them the planned curriculum. Plus it makes the classroom a lot more fun…