Day 169- Presentations Day 2b and 6 words

My other English classes finished up their presentations today. I still had 3 in one class who somehow, despite the weekend and iPass yesterday, couldn't finish their presentation on time. Two of them are not going to pass the class anyway, so I wasn't really surprised.

My creative writing class did their last writing of the year. I am looking forward to reading their stories, and I hope many of them made some changes. I will do this part of the class better next year though. Their last writing of the year was to make a table of contents of their high school careers with subheadings. Then, they had to write a short summary of each year. After that, I shared a Google Doc with them, and they all had to write a 6-word memoir of their high school experience. I have shared some of them below.

Endings are only starts of beginnings.- Mr. Brown

Was not what I had expected

Made me ready for any obstacles.

It went fast, just too fast.-

When one door closes, another opens

Scariest freaking time of my life.

Blinked; graduation day about to happen.

Day 168- Presentations Day 2a

Today was a black day, so I only had one group of seniors meet. My blended class finished up their presentations, and it took right up until the final bell. I have enjoyed this class this year, and I won't see them again until we collect Chromebooks later in the week and then again at graduation. This has been a fun group, and a great blended class.

Today was also the last Monday of the year. Hoorah!

Day 167- Presentations Day 1

Today was the beginning of presentations for all my English classes. The groups of students in each class performed as I thought they would. My blended class had stellar presentations, and they were all on time. My second period class had the most late presentations and probably did the poorest of all my classes, which I expected. This class just doesn't have much pride in their work or work effort. My last period class actually surprised me and did a nice job with their presentations and had minimal who were late.

In creative writing students had a writing day to finish their short stories. In the future, I will do this part of the class differently and have more writer's workshop type sharing and reading of the stories, no matter how much objection I get from the students. I think it will make for better stories and peer review. I have read parts of all of the students stories, and while some are stellar, others are way off point. I conference with the ones struggling today and hope they rectify their wrongs. The deadline is 3:00 p.m. Monday, and any edits made after that will result in a 10% deduction for being late.

Day 166- "It's a magical world Hobbes, O'l buddy, let's go exploring." -Last Calvin and Hobbes comic strip

English 12 found themselves another lab day. The presentations start tomorrow, and they will be completely random on who is called. If the presentation is not ready, they automatically lose a letter grade. Some are panicking, and these are the ones who did not use the first work day wisely. I have a fairly good idea who will be ready and who won't tomorrow, and I can probably tell you right now which class will have the most students with late presentations. I'm guessing period 2.

Creative writing had their last non-fiction writing day. I showed them the last Calvin and Hobbes comic strip written, and told them it was the end of that strip. They then had to use that as springboard for a non-fiction writing piece.

Day 165- 10 days left

I'm still not counting down the days yet, just making an observation of how many days I have left this school year. Today was another great black day where only my Read 180 and the lab class met. My blended class had a virtual work day on their projects. I'm sure there is no way I'll have a blessed schedule like this next year.

Day 164- 11 days left

11 days left, but who is really counting? In all my English 12 classes they had a work day for the projects and presentations which will count for a project grade and a final grade. I hope they put forth the work and effort needed to do well on these.

In creative writing, they had a final descriptive writing assignment titled "After the rain" where they had to use very vivid, descriptive writing to describe a scene or the feelings or sensations after a rainfall. Their poems were stellar, and I'm hoping they put together all the elements they learned with descriptive writing to make this their best piece all year.

Day 163- "Your day of reckoning is coming, when an evil wind will blow through your little play world and wipe that smug smile off your face." Seinfeld

Today was the Fallen Angels test in my senior English classes. We also returned to our regular scheduled programming, and today felt amazingly short, although it was just 36 minutes shorter. Hopefully they all did well, but I'll see after I grade them.

For creative writing, this week I am doing a final writing for a few of the areas we covered, and they are to make it their best effort in each genre. Todays morsel of writing was on poetry, and they had to write 1 long poetic piece or 2 short ones using many of the elements we covered during our poetry unit. I'm looking forward to reading these and seeing how they have grown as writers this semester.

Day 162- "The world has moved on" The Gunslinger

Today is the last day of our extended schedule. 2:56 will no longer be our ending time and we will revert to the glorious dismissal of 2:20. I never thought I would be so glad to see 2:20, but that prodigal time returned with the hope of salvation of surviving these last few weeks. A group of us who are regular Friday revelers in the end of week partook in a celebration of the end of the wretched extended schedule at our normal local establishment. One of our esteemed colleagues had an hourly email countdown going, which kept us forging on.

Today was thematic as the celebration at the end was only the culmination of a fairly routine black day. Read 180 and the lab class were the only academic classes I had today, and 3 of those 11 kids were absent. Not too shabby.

Day 161- "I couldn't tell if there was too much to see, or if my eyes were getting bad. Maybe I just didn't want to see some of the things I was seeing." Fallen Angels

White Thursdays are great because they are the Silver Surfer to black Fridays! English 12 reviewed the book, characters, themes, etc as we have the test on Monday. This drew the ire of many of the students as their prom is this weekend and they claim they won't have time to study. After I wiped the single tear that fell from my eye in sorrow for them, I told them they had tomorrow, before prom, and Sunday to study. They were not amused.

Creative writing was quite a bit of fun today. I had them write two love letters to inanimate objects or places. The examples I gave were their phone, bed, or Starbucks. They did a really good job of personifying these places and showering them with adoration. I just hope their significant others get as much love and adoration as their inanimate objects of affection.

Day 160- " Sweet Jesus, war does terrible things to people." Gangs of New York

Today on this red Wednesday, English 12 discussed war atrocities we have read about in the book and also others in Vietnam history such as the My Lai Massacre. We had a really good discussion on how war changes the rules of normally accepted behavior, and how this is also seen in sports as well. The class was divided up in groups and each given an atrocity in the book or real life to read over and discuss, then share out with the class. I was fairly pleased with how well the classes did with this.

For creative writing, I gave the a writing day to work on their short stories as they are beginning to panic a little bit. They don't know panic yet.

Day 159- I'm out of catchy black day titles

Not much to report on this black day. My blended class met for us to talk about archetypes and the upcoming end of the year project. Other than that, Read 180, the lab class, iPass, and prep filled the minutes that turned into hours.

Day 158- "Ka is a wheel." The Wind Through the Keyhole

In English 12 today we discussed archetypes. Not surprising, the overwhelming vast majority of my students had never realized that archetypes appear across stories, but once we started talking about them, they began to see it. They did a really good job of finding the archetypes in Fallen Angels and Slaughter-House Five. Hopefully this will carry on with them through their lives and they will see these patterns in other stories.

In creative writing, we wrote a resignation letter to something or someone. Some students chose a relationship, others chose a job, but most of them chose to resign from high school. This was a fun assignment and they did really well with a creative resignation letter to something or someone.

Day 157- "If there is hope, it lies in the proles." 1984

In English 12, my numbers finally rose back to near normal as ECA testing for the re-testers was winding down. Due to the many absences the this week for testing, we spend the class reviewing and catching up on the last four chapters and updating character maps. I also handed out the papers for their project for this book and discussed what was expected of them for it. They will have a couple work days in class, but I wanted to give it to them before hand so they could start working on it now since we are being blessed with mini laptops for our work days.

In creative writing, I had my last observation of the year. I knew it was coming as everyone else in my department had already been observed, and I had a feeling it was coming during creative writing as rumor has it people want to see what I do in there. I pulled out my marathon writing lesson which has the beauty of being a totally different animal every time I do it. I had a couple prompts preloaded, but the students came up with the rest. They had some very thought provoking prompts, others that were very applicable for this time in their lives (How do you feel about high school coming to an end?), and seemed to enjoy the ones I had chosen as well. I showed my age, and the age of my evaluator, by putting the word "wonderwall" as a prompt and being the only two people in the room who knew the song. The students were brilliant today, sharing out with each other what they wrote, not being afraid to share or open up, and some of them wrote more than they had all year. I was very excited with how they did, not because of the evaluator, but because the wrote for over an hour and they loved it! Days like today, well, they give me the hope to carry on.

Day 156- "I see a red door and I want to paint it black." Rolling Stones

Second black day of the week. I'm tired. My blended class met today and we got caught up in the book and talked about what is coming ahead. Most of them have AP testing next week, so even on days we should meet there won't be many of them available. I answered questions about the project and we went our separate ways. iPass, prep, and the Read 180 lab with a skeleton crew of kids because of ECA testing rounded out my day.

Day 155- "I guess at the end you start thinking about the beginning." Mr. and Mrs. Smith

I had 8 kids show up for my second period 12b class because of ECA testing, so today was a reading day for them. I'm not sure the rest of the week will get any better.

In creative writing, we read an article called "Goodbye to All These Things" were the author writes about the ending of something and reminisces about the beginning. We took this mantra and wrote our now pieces about a time we said goodbye to something and how it all ended.

Day 154- "Hates him with the fire of one thousand suns." 10 Things I Hate About You

With the way we administer the ECA to our special education and EL population, my classes will be disrupted for most of the week. In English 12, I had 8 kids in my first period class, so it was probably a good thing that we were finishing up our Dear America video. I'm hoping we get at least something accomplished this week.

In creative writing, the kids had a blast with today's writing. We wrote a memoir on someone we dislike or are afraid of. They really took this and ran with it. I actually had a couple kids who were too upset with the person they were writing theirs about to finish it in class because they were so upset they were getting angry. Who knew I could provide that kind of therapy in class.

Day 153- I have no catchy quote or title for today.

Black days are a great start to the week, especially when I had to be out on the previous Friday. Fairly routine black day.

ECA testing started today. I don't give it, but quite a few of my students are retaking it. I could go on a huge rant about testing and how I feel we handle it, but either I'm just too tired or my bad judgement has finally taught me something. I'm leaning toward the former.

Day 152- Personal Day Soccer Style

I took a personal day to coach my club soccer team in a college showcase in Oxford, OH. Beautiful weekend to spend on the beautiful campus of Miami of Ohio University.

My English 12 started watching a video called Dear America: Letters Home from Vietnam while I left my creative writing class with a choice of writing about a piece of furniture in their lives or a key in their lives and how it has molded and shaped them.

Day 151- “After nourishment, shelter and companionship, stories are the thing we need most in the world.” Philip Pullman

This is my last day of the week, and it was long since I worked my butt off during my prep to get my grading caught up and my plans ready for tomorrow. My English 12 classes watched a video on tunnel rats (soldiers who ventured into the VC tunnels) during the Vietnam War, jigsawed some articles on the tunnel rats, and discussed chapters 11-12. After all this, we had about 10 minutes of class remaining, which I gave them to start reading their assignment for tomorrow. My last period class thought it would be fun to sleep during the video instead of taking notes like they were told, so I turned the worksheet I had for them into a little quiz over the video. They were none to happy, but neither was I about their sleeping. Guess it ended up being a win-win for us all.

Creative writing was fun, well it usually is, but they seemed to really enjoy the writings I had for them today. The quick write was my favorite as it can be adapted for many different purposes. I'll post it below. After the quick write, they had to write on a family tradition they have with the stipulation that the reader had to feel like the were really there at the event.

Quick Write:

Answer the following questions to make a short story. You must answer them in the order below for the story to make sense. You have 15 minutes to answer these questions in complete detailed sentences.

• How long have you been driving?
• Where were you going?
• Describe the two people who are with you.
• Why did your car break down?
• When you decided to leave your car, how far did you walk?
• What were you looking for?
• Describe the spooky looking house you come to.
• When you knock, who answers the door?
• Why did you go inside?
• Why did you start to explore the house?
• When did you realize that something was following you?
• Describe the creature.
• While you were running away, you tripped and fell. What happened?
• Who all made it out of the house?
• As you run screaming for help, who stops to help you?
• Where did this person take you?
• Why did he take you there?
• What was the big surprise at the end of your story?

Day 150- "“Just breathing can be such a luxury sometimes.” Up in the Air

Mundane black day. Blended met and we discussed the Cu Chi tunnels (they had a friendly fire online activity to complete). We got caught up on our character maps and class discussion, then dismissed.

iPass, prep, and the Read 180 writer's workshop followed and ended out my day.

Day 149- "You fail only if you stop writing." Ray Bradbury

In English 12, we discussed chapter 10 in Fallen Angels, then I showed them videos and pictures of the Cu Chi tunnels, the vast network of tunnels the VC used during the Vietnam War. I also showed them booby traps the VC set up and explained how these simple punji traps were very effective simple weapons of war against the US troops.

In creative writing, I did the activity below:
Begin with the conventional notion of titling an essay:

On ____________ (such as the Stephen King book, On Writing)Make a list of at least six titles that represent things you might like to write about, things that interest you and you feel confident you know something about. These may be abstract or specific. (i.e. On Movies, On Living in the Midwest)Make a list of six subjects you do not want to write about, and wouldn’t show to anybody if you did (i.e. On My Insecurities)Make a list of six titles in which the preposition “on” could be a pun: On Speed, On The Net, or On My Feet.Make a list of six titles dealing with subjects about which you know “nothing at all.” For me, that may include On Being a Woman, On Taxidermy, On Brain Surgery

They then had to choose 2 of the titles they came up with write one page on each of them. The struggled with the puns, but they seemed to enjoy this activity and the writing that came with it.

Day 148- "Maxim 15: Only you can prevent friendly fire" The Seventy Maxims of Maximally Effective Mercenaries

This is the start to a short week for me as I have to take a personal day Friday for my other job, which means I'm sure these 4 days will feel like 6. Today is a red day, which means a fresh rotation to start the week, but only one oasis this week.

In English 12, we discussed some instances of friendly fire in the US military. In our book, we just came across a part where friendly fire kills some men in another unit, so I wanted to show that this type of tragedy does happen in real life. I divided the class and had a few small articles for them to review and read and share out with the class. We then watched a 60 Minutes segment on Pat Tillman and his friendly fire death and how it was falsified and dramatized. We then compared this to how there were some scandals or inaccurate reports that were seen in our book as well.

For creative writing, I had them write about a time they go in trouble in their lives, and they had to use the voice of the age they were when they got in trouble.

Day 147- "Maybe you're the one who is gonna save me. And after all..You're my Wonderwall." Oasis

Ah black Friday. Not a bad way to end the week! I felt a little hopeful today as my blended class had at least heard of Dylan and CCR and Springsteen, so I haven't completely lost all faith in humanity. iPass, prep, and the writing lab (which is writer's workshop) are always fun, great way to end a week.

Day 146- "I ain't no fortunate son." CCR

Kids today know nothing. I wanted to put my head as far through a wall as I possibly could after today's English classes. I truly fear for the future of not just our country, but the human race. We did a lesson on Vietnam era music today and how it affected the attitudes of the country and we compared those attitudes to the soldiers in our book. No one in the classes had ever heard of CCR, Springsteen, or Bob Dylan. The only song I played they had heard of was "War", and that is only because of the movie Rush Hour. They really struggled to see how music can influence a whole culture, but I'm sure that is due to the crap music that is out now. After we analyzed the lyrics and they understood what was being said, they started to see how music influenced the thoughts of the society at the time, yet they still struggled to see how music could be so powerful to influence cultural change.

For creative writing, I gave them a day to work on their short stories.

Day 145- "Mercy!" Catelyn Tully Stark A Storm of Swords

Red Wednesday. For some reason, this reminds me of the Red Wedding. Let's be thankful today didn't take that turn, although it would have made for a much more interesting day. Anyway, in English we continued on with our book, reviewing and discussing chapters 5-6. I showed them pictures of some of the weapons referenced and how mines were used. I then gave them time to read their next chapter.

In creative writing, I did a prompt where they looked at a picture then had to ask 20 questions about that picture. They then had to trade with a partner and answer the 20 questions. Then, they had to write a 26 line short story where each of the lines started with the next letter in the alphabet, one line was one word, and one line was a question. Structured writing like this (such as a sonnet) can produce some very interesting results. I look forward to reading them.

Day 144- “It’s called reading. Top to bottom, left to right — a group of words together is called a sentence." Tommy Boy

My oasis has arrived, and another will be up the road shortly. My blended class met today, and we jigsawed and discussed chapters 2-4 as well, along with updating our character maps. They are getting the character map idea better than my other classes, but I also believe they are doing a better job of reading the book. iPass, prep, and Read 180 lab following, rounding out a pleasant day.

Day 143- "Don't tell me the moon is shining, show me the glint of light on a piece of glass"- Chekov

Back at it again, and today was a long day. In my English 12 classes, I jigsawed chapters 2-4 in Fallen Angels since I missed Friday and we weren't able to review it. I also gave each group a character or two they needed to discuss for the character maps they are doing for the book. Most of the groups in both classes did a good job with this, yet some struggled with the character maps because it was a large section to cover. If they would have done the maps as they read, this wouldn't have been a problem.

In creative writing, I gave them a free writing day as their rough drafts for the short stories are due in a week. Some are panicking, and others are not panicking enough.

Day 142- Personal Day

I had to take a personal day today. In my absence, I left the sub with plans to have my English 12 kids discuss the draft with an article I had jigsawed for them, and my creative writing kids were to play a type of telephone writing game where they each wrote for 5 minutes, passed the story on to someone else, and they picked it up and wrote. This was done with 4-5 people, and the I'm truly looking forward to the results of their efforts.

Day 141- "I wish you had more time."- Man on Fire

Black days are divine. Read 180, blended 12b (which was a smooth rerun of yesterday), iPass, prep, and the Read 180 writing lab. I actually worked crazy hard during my prep today. I will be out tomorrow, so I had to make sub plans and prep for the first 2 days next week since I won't be in tomorrow to prep for Monday and I don't have a prep Monday. Anyway, it was a busy day.

Day 140- “You must stay drunk on writing so reality cannot destroy you.” Zen in the Art of Writing

Even after a long break, I still hate white days. I had my blended class meet today, so this was a full day of teaching. This class didn't let the previous day's classes lack of knowledge show them up, and one girl asked if Kwanza was a 15-year old boy's birthday. It just felt normal. We had the discussion about Vietnam, and this class new slightly more than my other classes, but still left a lot to be desired. 

In my other 12b classes, we discussed the reading from chapter one, and I modeled how to do the character maps for them. I let them listen to chapter 2, and showed them how to update the character maps and start new ones on characters that they came across.

In creative writing, we had a free writing day. The students have a big project, their short stories, due soon, and I wanted to give them time to write and conference with me on them.

Day 139- "Well son, the world needs ditch diggers too." Caddyshack

I am back after my slightly extended spring break, although, I would rather be working than have to deal with kidney stones again. This was kind of fitting that it was my first day back and we were starting off on a red day, so a new cycle began.

In English 12, we started a back for our next novel, Fallen Angels. This is a Vietnam War era book, so we discussed the Vietnam War and that time period. This being a senior class and the fact that they had U.S. History last year as juniors should make this a free-flowing fluid discussion, but apparently they either didn't listen well or don't recall much because they knew absolutely nothing. Actually, they knew less than nothing. During our discussion, I asked what social movement was going on during the 1960's, and two of the answers given were "slavery" and "the depression". It was all I could do not to email our social studies department and ask them what the heck is going on over there! It was painful. I told them they may learn more about the Vietnam War in this class than they did last year in U.S. History, but also after today, I think that may have been accomplished.

Creative writing got back into the swing of things by disucssing the elements of a good story and then we made some rules we wanted for our short stories. We ended the class by writing a one-page description of a bitterly cold scene. The object was to use such language with verbs and nouns to make the reader actually feel cold.

Day 138- Sick day kidney stones version

I  was out today recovering from kidney stones over the weekend. Freaking bane of my existence.

Day 137- "He is the One"- The Matrix

Last day before break! Senior Slaughter-House projects were due today, and I believe all but one student turned in their projects. On first inspection, many of them did a very nice job while others left something to be desired. We finished up the movie version of Slaughter-House and continued out in-depth comparison and contrast of the novel and movie. I think after watching the movie, many of the students have a higher respect for the novel.

In creative writing, we finished up our hero's journey of The Matrix. We discussed the elements we saw in the movie and how it fit perfectly into the hero's journey formula.

Day 136-"There is no spoon." The Matrix

These last 2 days before break fell perfectly into the planning of my second semester. It actually worked out great for both 12b and creative writing. The students in 12b started watching Slaughter-House Five as my blended class did yesterday. They were also assigned to spot and note any difference in the movie from the book, which there are several. After we watched a portion of the movie, we discussed all the changed that we saw.

In creative writing, I wanted them to see the hero's journey played out, and since The Matrix was actually written to follow this cycle, we started viewing that. They were responsible for noting every aspect of the journey, and also for finding other elements such as the trickster, prophecy, goddess, lone animal going into an enchanted forest, and several others. We also discussed the elements of foreshadowing, symbolism, metaphor, and allusion that are seen in the first part of the movie.

Day 135- "“The measure of intelligence is the ability to change.” Albert Einstein

Last black day before break, and my student ran into a slight bump in their projects. The computer labs and the IMC were both closed today for some type of testing the school had to do, so none of my students could use iPass to work on their projects. This effected more than just my students, but I told them this is a real life situation they have to learn to adapt to, and their projects are still due Friday. The project was assigned 3 weeks ago, so it is no one's fault but their own if they waited until today to start it.

My blended class met today, and we began watching the movie version of Slaughter-House Five. We watched the first half to the movie, than spent the second half of class discussing the movie and how it contrasted the book. I noted over 50 differences between the movie and book, and we had a nice discussion of what was different. This isn't a well-done movie, but the contrast from the book is worth noting. Surprising, Vonnegut liked this movie, but I think it is actually making my students appreciate the book more.

Day 134- “The latest incarnation of Oedipus, the continued romance of Beauty and the Beast, stand this afternoon on the corner of 42nd Street and Fifth Avenue, waiting for the traffic light to change.” The Hero with 1,000 Faces

Creative writing was fun today, well, it's typically quite a bit of fun, but we delved into the hero's journey, or the monolithic journey. This theory states that most heroes go through the same process or formula, and all hero stories are in essence the same, or have the same elements. One student had heard of this before, but a few balked at the idea that all stories with a hero are similar. I went through the cycle with them, and showed them an example of how this is shown in Star Wars. I also relayed to them that almost every Disney movie follows this formula. We discussed Finding Nemo, Cars, and The Lion King and how the elements of the hero's journey tied into each. I wanted them to see this before they started writing their short stories so they had heard about it and if they wanted to write a story with a hero, they had a mold to follow.

Day 133- "What happened to your nose?/I used it to break some guy's fist." Lucky Number Slevin

Last week of class before a much needed two week spring break. It would start on a red day, which means I have two white days and my black day is on the early release day. I guess there could be worse tragedies in life. The pacing of my classes actually worked out better than I could have planned it, and I realized I was aided by a plethora of snow days, so I'll have to adapt this schedule for next year to mimic where we end up around break time.

In English 12, I gave my classes a work day in the lab to do the writing part of their projects, which are due Friday. They have had three weeks since this was assigned, but since many don't have computer access outside of school, I wanted to give them a day in the lab to write. I again informed them that short of death, they had no excuses to not turn in their projects on Friday.

In creative writing, we continued to discuss character development and how to reveal a character to a reader. Today, we discussed revealing a character through image and voice or dialogue. For dialogue, I showed them, literally from a script, some dialogue from Lucky Number Slevin. We read a scene that gives us a great picture of the character, how he acts, and his attitudes just through his dialogue. I can't show this in class because it is a little naughty, but I think them reading the dialogue instead of seeing the scene actually drives the point home anyway.

Day 132- "Would I cheat to save my soul? No. But to save my G.P.A.? Yes.” - Luna

I"m thankful for days like today. I only had one class of instruction because my blended class didn't meet and I had iPass and prep. I spent those three straight periods grading tests though, which is not much fun. At least I got all my grading done before the nine-weeks ended, so it should make my weekend a little bit easier.

Day 131- "Is this a test?" Captain America: The First Avenger

Today was a long day, but it was fairly boring day. I gave tests in all but one of my classes, and I didn't have prep today, so this was just a day that drug on and on. My blended class took the majority of the time on the test, while my second period class finished rather quickly. My last period class was about in the middle. This test was in two parts with one part being matching and the other being short answer and essay. If I had to bet, I would lay the farm on the theory that the classes that took longer to finish the test did better than those who finished it more quickly. I guess I won't know until I grade it, but I'm usually right about these sorts of things.

In creative writing, we moved on to how to develop a character. We discussed the ways characters are developed or revealed in a story, and we went over how to develop a main character for a story. This will be a challenge for some of them, and I hope they welcome it. I think I failed to mention this yesterday, but we are also reading through the second part of Stephen King's On Writing. I assigned the first chapter in his toolbox on Monday, and we discussed what he wrote today. The kids really loved how he writes, how blunt he is, yet how practical he is too. I hope they enjoy this book as much as I do.

Day 130- "What is writing? Telepathy, of course." On Writing

Today is Slaughter-House review day for English 12. I put them in groups and gave each group 3-4 characters and a questions they needed to answer from the book. They had to work in groups to find the answers, then discuss them and tell the rest of the class about them. I was really happy with how they did this and how it turned out. If they read the book faithfully and listened in class, they should do well on the test tomorrow.

In creative writing, we started to prep for our short story. We discussed as a class what makes good fiction and bad fiction. We did this by talking about some of our favorite stories, some of our least favorite stories, and what made us love them or hate them. We compiled a list, then we made a list of "rules" we wanted for our class short stories. We will continue to add to this list before and during our writing.

I spoke in cluster again today, and this time it was on how I teach introductions for narratives. I use movies and teach this as a narrative is just a story and movies are stories. Kids seem to relate to this, and they get it. I presented this same lesson at the Hoosier Writing Project and received great feedback on it, so I thought it would be a good one to present. The feedback I got in cluster was just as positive, and I think I may have shown my colleagues something they can actually use. Professional development at its finest.

Day 129- "Poo-twee-weet." Slaughter-House Five

Black days help alleviate the pain of white days, but I still miss my daily prep. In Read 180, the students took their workshop 6 assessment, which they did very well on. My blended class met today, and we discussed the last chapter of Slaughter-House Five, then reviewed for the test. iPass and prep followed, which were a little busier than usual. I had my coaching evaluation during prep, which again went very well. I also met with our cluster leader as I am again presenting in cluster (no, hell hasn't frozen over, but it may be getting chilly there). I could go on a rant about something that irritated me about my coaching evaluation, but I'll save that for another time and place.

Day 128- "So it goes." Slaughter-House Five

White Monday. If this day was a person, it would be the bastard child of Hitler and Stalin that was pure evil. No one likes Monday, and this is a long, long, long day. Did I mention it was long?

Once saving grace about today is that my first period blended class doesn't meet physically, but I did have students come in for help on things. My other English 12 classes finished discussing the last part of Slaughter-House Five, and I believe a some through a party that it was over. Sad, because this is such a great book. I think the ones who actually read most of it really did enjoy it. The ones who didn't or slacked off were a little lost.

In creative writing, we continued our descriptive writing theme. I had them do the writing below, and I critiqued their description. If it wasn't descriptive enough, I asked them questions that spurred them on to add more detail. Some loved this, others struggled to add enough detail for the reader so see, hear, and feel it. They are getting better, which is encouraging and exciting.

Write down a bumper sticker you like.

Describe the car (van, truck, SUV) this bumper sticker is stuck on- make, model, color, condition.

Open the door and describe the smells and textures.

Name and describe three objects you find inside the car.

Name and describe a fourth object you are surprised to find in there.

You look up, and the owner is coming. Who is he/she? How is he/she walking? What are they wearing? Are they carrying anything? What facial expression are they wearing? (Describe all of these in vivid, rich detail.)

The owners says something. What does he/she say?

Day 127- "Good description is a learned skill,one of the prime reasons you cannot succeed unless you read a lot and write a lot. " On Writing by Stephen King

Friday! I finally made it. This felt like two weeks instead of one. Ending my week on a red day is a nice gift into next week where I will have two black days and one of them being on Friday.

English 12 almost finished up chapter 9 in Slaughter-House, but I intentionally held off because I had something I wanted them to do. In the Vonnegut Library, there is a letter on display that is sealed. Vonnegut Sr. wrote this letter to his son while Kurt was in Germany. Kurt Jr. never received the letter as he was a POW, and the letter was returned to sender. When Kurt Jr. arrived home, his father gave him the unopened letter. Kurt Jr. never opened it. It was passed along to his son, and is son donated it to the library on the condition it would never be opened. For a writing activity, I explained all this to the class, then I had them write what they thought the letter said. There is an actually contest held by the library for this very activity, but I can't find any information on it for this current year.

In continuing our theme of descriptive writing in creative writing, I went back to the senses. I told my students I want to be able to hear, see, and feel the places and people they are describing in their writing. I gave each one of them a mini Milky Way bite sized candy piece. I told them I must truly love them to give away my favorite candy, so they should feel very privileged. I placed them on the desks and said they couldn't touch them. They then had to describe what they looked like and what they saw. We went through all the senses and I wrote their descriptions up on the board. I then allowed them to eat it and describe the taste. I then explained they had to write a narrative about a person who had never eaten or seen a Milky Way before and describe in vivid detail the experience. I told them from now on, I want to be able to see, hear,  and feel their writing. I then had them polish up their writing from the last day we met and use as much description as possible. This was then submitted for a grade.

Day 126-"What day is it? It's today." Winnie-the-Pooh A.A. Milne

Despite this day being an oasis for me, I was for sure it was Friday all day. Just keep thinking 6 more weeks...6 more weeks then we get to return to our normal schedule Again, I understand why were are going the extra time and I do think its the best option as I don't really want to go into June, but today, going into June sounds absolutely heavenly.

I gave my English 12 blended class my two question quiz, which some thought was hysterical that I legit had a two question quiz, but others found it less funny when they realized my quiz/tests/project grades count for 45% of the class. Guess they should read. Despite their quiz scores, the class discussion went very well and they seem have a good grasp of the novel. Actually only a couple students didn't do well on the quiz. This group tends to believe me when I tell them they need to read.

iPass and prep accounted for over three hours of my day, so I really have nothing to complain about there! I am currently all caught up on grading and have planned English 12 out until spring break. I'm just ready for a nap.

Day 125- “Description is what makes the reader a sensory participant in the story." On Writing by Stephen King

Is it Friday yet? It has to be close. I didn't think anything could be worse than a white day, but today, I found out that I was terribly wrong. Extended day white days on a Wednesday have become my new bane. I understand why we have them, but it doesn't change the fact that at the end of the day I just sat at my desk, sort of stared ahead, and was in a daze for a few minutes. Well, maybe more than a few.

English 12 kept trekking through Slaughter-House, and we are almost done. I gave them another one of my infamous "did you read quizzes" today. For this one, I had a mere two questions. 1. Did you read the assignment? 2. If so, prove it by discussing one event in the assignment. Yep, that happened. My second period class doesn't quite get I mean what I say when I tell them to read, and I have a feeling their quizzes will show that.  The students had to tell me by today what project they were doing, and they all at least have one chosen. I hope they take their time on these and they turn out well. I know some are already working on them, which is necessary. 

Creative writing was an exercise in patience, improvisation, and surprise. Our school is having a group from Advanced-Ed here today for our reaccreditation, so there could be visitors in our classrooms at anytime. Even though I knew this and was prepared, the events of this class threw me off. First, as a class we were going to listen to Capotes' A Christmas Memory as they followed along. I almost didn't print these off, but I wanted to give them the option to mark up the text. These turned out to be what saved me today because about 5 minutes into the class, our network went down. Typically this isn't a big deal, but in a class where the students have a 1-to-1 device and we use it for writing and sharing this can be a bit tragic. Unfortunately, the audio to the story was also online, but that was nothing my iPhone hooked up to my speakers couldn't solve. As we are listening to the story,  I stop it at one point to discuss his use of descriptive language, and I see a strange man in my room. Ah yes, welcome Mr. Advance-Ed person. I'm glad he wasn't packing or we would have all been dead. Guy must moonlight as a ninja though. Anyway, I've regressed. We listed to about half the story, then I showed them a scenic picture of an old rowboat next to a shore at sunset, which they had to describe to someone who wasn't there. They just started on this and I didn't expect them to finish today.

Day 124- "She was a dull person, but a sensational invitation for making babies." Slaughter-House Five

Wow these days are long. 36 minutes is truly brutal to add to a day. This will be short due to being exhausted. In English 12 we finished up chapter 8 and started into chapter 9 Slaughter-House. We discussed one of my favorite quotes in the book, which is the title of this post. Vonnegut's humor in this book shocks these kids. I told them they better read for tomorrow as there will be a reckoning, but I'm not sure they listened. In creative writing we began working on descriptive writing and really trying to put the reader in the scene they are writing. I had them write about an thrilling or anguishing moment in their lives. We then discussed descriptive writing and I read them an excerpt from a story that used very descriptive language. I then let them go back and try to make their moments more descriptive. This will definitely be a multi-day lesson.

Day 123- Time is the longest distance between two places." Tennessee Williams

For the next 8 school weeks, we will be adding 36 minutes to each day. Since we have had an abundance of snow days, the state DOE has let schools get creative with how to make up the school days. They are allowing us to "bank time", which means we can add time to the day and use the extra time as banked time to make up for the days we have missed. 36 minutes only adds 6 minutes to each period, but 6 minutes added to a class feel more like 6 days. Thankfully today was a black day, so my load was lighter than usual, and I have an extra long prep, but having the end of the day hit at 2:56 after 10 years of 2:20 is a little brutal. In a cruel joke, today was the first Monday of the month, meaning we had a faculty meeting right after school. Yeah, that didn't make the day shorter.

My blended class met today, and I handed out their project requirements for Slaughter-House Five then discussed it. I laid into them a too. They are extremely lazy, and I let them know that if they didn't start working harder, then this class would cease to be blended and they would meet every single day like the regular classes. All their privileges of a blended class would be revoked and they would have to sit in class, in longer classes at that, instead of meeting virtually. They got quiet really quickly because most of them know me well enough that they know I'm dead serious. As of 10:30 tonight, my school inbox is flooded with notifications for assignments coming in. I'm hoping this is the last time I have to have this talk with them.

Day 122- "She was a junkie for the printed word. Lucky for me, I manufactured her drug of choice." Wonder Boys

Today is our last day of school ending at 2:20. Starting next week and until May 9th, we will be adding 36 minutes a day, which is roughly 6 minutes a period. I have a feeling those 6 minutes will feel more like 6 years. A few of us are going out in style at an off-site meeting place that knows us well.

I believe my seniors read today, which showed in the discussion of the assignment. I guess a few "did you read?" quizzes actually does spur them on to reading. Can't fathom not wanting to open a book and dive in until I drowned in the words, but I guess these kids are just missing out! We had a profitable discussion on the first part of chapter 8, and the kids got a good picture of one Kilgore Trout. One of my favorite lines in the book is coming up, and I hope they don't miss it!

CW was a writing day. I had them choose which one of their 1st or 3rd POVs they wanted to submit for a grade, polish it up, revise it, and submit it. I also had them do the same for one of the quick writes we did this week (finish it, polish it up, submit it). I wrote with them as well, and look forward to seeing where their writing is taking them.

Day 121- It's gonna be a really tough project. You're gonna have to use your head, your brain, and your mind, too." School of Rock

I told my seniors to read chapter 7, but they didn't listen to me. I gave them a short quiz over the short chapter, and I heard "How badly with this hurt my grade?" Many times today. One would think by now they would know I give them quizzes, but apparently they have yet to learn. Silly kids. Anyway, after I gave the quiz, I put them in groups and made them discuss what parts of the chapter they did read, then we came back together to discuss the chapter. I then handed out the paper for their project for Slaughter-House Five. They have 6 different options for the projects, and I've attached it to this post. I told them they have until the day before break to turn this in, no late work accepted. Welcome to the real world kids.

In CW, I let the students analyze my 1st person story that I wrote, and we discussed the elements of it, the drawbacks and benefits. I then had them share their first person writing with a partner and discuss it. We then took the same story, and wrote it in the 3rd person. I wanted them to see how they would have to change things and what details they would need to add to make it interesting to the reader. I again, wrote with them and made my 1st person into 3rd person. I'm excited to read what they have to write.

Slaughter-House Five Project

            To show your knowledge of the book, its concepts and themes, you will choose one of the following tasks below. You will present you project to the class, and you will present the project and written components to myself. This project is worth 100 points and will be considered as a test grade.

The Tasks (you choose one):

• Video Production Option: Film Trailer or Scene
• A Slaughter-Houser Five movie needs to be remade and updated . You (and a group of your peers, if you choose) are to produce either a trailer for the film, or a key scene from the film. This scene must be of your own creation; it can use any applicable movie software, can include filmed footage and/or still images, should include transitions, titles, and effects, and must include a slide that identifies all students who took part in the project (ex. “Directed by…”). You are encouraged to include at least one backing song or audio narration if creating a trailer. The final clip should be a minimum of 2 ½ minutes long.
• Photography/Visual Option: Movie Poster
• Create a movie poster to advertise the film. You can use computer software or physical materials to do so. The poster should be at least the size of a standard page of paper (if done with computer software) or larger. Additionally, you will include a written explanation and reflection on the choices you made in constructing the poster (ex. Explain why you presented certain images, focused on certain theme(s), character(s), etc.).
• Use the humans as a millipede concept to create a continuous motion college or picture representing a point in time. Write an analysis of why you chose this event and discuss why the Tralfamadorians would see time in this way. This must be an original creation of your own and not copied from the Internet
• Written Option: Newspaper or Blog Article
• Write a newspaper or blog-style article persuading the audience (your peers: target audience ages 17 to 25) about why they should read this book. Make sure you discuss both the theme and content of the book, and why it’s important for young audiences to see and engage with the ideas in this film. 2 pages double-spaced, minimum. Use Pages/Publisher software or the like to integrate visuals in your article.

• Music Option: Film Soundtrack
• Create a soundtrack for the film. The songs should tie in with the novel’s themes, characters, and key scenes. Consider all aspects of the songs when choosing those that connect to the film/novel, including but not limited to lyrics, mood, and the genre of music. You should include a minimum of 6 songs: 2 connected to different themes, 2 connected to different characters, and 2 connected to different key scenes.
• Additionally, you will include a written explanation and analysis of why you chose each song (Specifically, for each song, identify the artist and song title, identify the aspect of the novel it’s connected to, and explain, in one or two developed paragraphs, how the song connects lyrically, in terms of mood, etc.).
• You are not required to do so, but you may burn a copy of the songs onto a CD and submit this for bonus points on the assignment.
• Construction
• Based on the description of a Tralfamadorian, construct a life-sized replica of the alien species. Additionally, you will write a description of how you built the replica and you will discuss, in writing, how their bodies contrast with their abilities to see in four dimensions.

This project will be graded holistically (i.e. a letter grade that considers the project’s attention to all required elements) on the following elements:

• Completion of all listed project requirements
• Project’s representation of novel’s theme(s) and content
• Originality and creativity of ideas
• Professional presentation

If you have any further questions about the requirements or allowances of the project, or would like assistance with using any of the software, please see me.

Day 120- Cry havoc said he who fought chaos with chaos and let slip the dogs of war." House of Cards (with a little Julius Caesar)

From a teaching standpoint, today was a very non-stressful day. Read 180 and the lab were solid, and the students are really, for the most part, finally understanding how to write an engaging introduction. We will keep working on this as I know they haven't written much in their entire lives.

My blended class met today, and we discussed all of chapter 6, and I gave them a "you need to work harder and turn your stuff in or you won't graduate" talk. They are starting to get lazy, which means I need to light a fire under them. F's tend to do that, so a pop quiz may be coming soon. They are all ready for spring break, which is 3 weeks away. This group will be tough to keep going after break, but I'm hoping the fear of failure will spur them on since wanting to be successful is not.

Today, hell froze over and I led cluster. Yes, I actually led cluster. I'm not kidding! I presented how I attack a prompt and help my students learn to how break it down and answer it. I started the presentation by discussing how I teach writing and I don't use gimmicks like a 5 paragraph essay or anything like that. I teach writing using 4 questions: who am I writing to, what am I writing, why am I writing, how am I going to write. I feel by answering these 4 questions, a person can write for anything, whether it be a test, ECA, creative writing, or composition. I told the group why I believe this and gave examples, then applied this philosophy to writing to a prompt. I modeled how I teach my kids to do this through asking these questions, then we discussed in groups. The feedback I received was all extremely positive, and one teacher even told me they felt cluster should be like that every week. The cluster leader wants to collaborate with me for the rest of the writing unit because he told me he learned more from two conversations with me that he did in all his weeks of research. It was really hard for me to not say "I told you so", but I somehow accomplished this feat. I think I deserve a medal. Its also possible I may have raised my professionalism score to a "1", which is allegedly the lowest a person can receive, but I'm pretty sure I broke new ground and hit "0" a few months ago. I guess I can only go up!

Day 119- "Now just think... if you had any class or style like me, somebody might've mistaken you for somebody." Band of Brothers

In English 12, we discussed chapter 6 in Slaughter-House, and I showed them a video from Band of Brothers that depicted a concentration camp. I assigned them chapter 7, and told them they better read. One would think when I make threats like that they will listen, but I'm not sure they are getting the idea I can give a quiz any day.

In CW, we started going into point of view and the benefits and drawbacks of 1st and 3rd person POV. I showed them a video that depicted this well, then we had a nice discussion. I then had them write a 1st POV depicting a person who was sitting outside of their boss's or principal's office, and they were in trouble awaiting their fate. During class, I wrote with them. I love that I get to write with my students daily. Hopefully we can all grow together as writers.

Day 118- Partial sick day...again

I only went in for first period today, then I had to leave because my wife woke up with a high fever. I've missed more days this year than ever before. Hopefully this trend will cease quickly.

I had my Eng 12 students work in groups to discuss the first part of chapter 6, and my CW students were to find a weird news story online and write the backstory for it. They appeared to have fun with this when I read over their writings they submitted.

Day 117- Partial sick day

Today, I didn't come in until third period. My wife was having a rough morning physically, so I stayed home to get one boy on the bus, and dropped the other one, the the first time ever I might add, at his preschool. It's things like that that many people may take for granted, but as a teacher, I don't have the type of job I can go in late to take one of my boys to school or go have lunch with them or do many school activities. I do wish I could do more of that.

I was at school for iPass, prep, and my Read 180 lab. In the lab, we went in depth into how to write an introduction, and the kids practice writing a sample one for an essay we will be working on for a few days.

Day 116- "You're a strange-looking cat." Milo and Otis

For a white day, this one was more than bearable. My blended class met virtually, so that is a nice way to start the day. In English 12, we discussed some mental health issues associated with Slaughter-House Five and possible disorders or conditions Billy may have had. We specifically discussed PTSD and schizophrenia. I went over what these mental health conditions were, and we looked at both and discussed if we could see how they related to Billy. We also discussed if we could see evidence that maybe Vonnegut could have suffered from PTSD. The class determined he has symptoms of PTSD, but we don't know enough about his personal life to make that distinction. They thought Billy and the book were examples of him working through his demons of Dresden. In one class, I had a student share that her mom has schizophrenia, and she told the class about her mom's experiences and her condition. It was a little awkward at times for the class because it made it more real that just me talking about it, but the student was very comfortable with it and I was glad she was brave enough to share.

In CW, we did something a little different. I brought in the move Milo and Otis, and I had the class watch the first 10 minutes. (This movie is about a cat and a dog and other farm animals where the narrator gives each of the characters voice and dialogue, even thought none actually talk). After they got the feel for the movie, I then muted it and played a 2-minute clip. I played the clip a few times as I had them write the dialogue for the movie. They did a good job with this and had fun with it too. I have some other ideas to advance dialogue and work with it, so those will come in the following days.

Day 115- “We have to continually be jumping off cliffs and developing our wings on the way down.” Kurt Vonnegut

Today was a different day. I had four classes meet today, and I had to do 4 completely different things with them. Typically I have classes repeat, but since we missed last period Monday, I had to get them caught up on chapter 5 of Slaughter-House while my other English 12 class discussed parallels in the novel. I also had Read 180 and CW, so today was a fairly tiring day due to teaching 4 completely different things in my classes.

I was fairly happy with how well my students found the parallels in Slaughter-House with Billy and Vonnegut, Tralfamadore and the POW camp, and the Kilgore Trout novels and the Tralfamadorians. I have two more classes to do this with, and I'm hoping they do just as well as this class did.

In CW, I gave them a day to continue writing anything they have been writing all semester and turn it in for me to look over. I'm excited to see what they submit and how they take some of the writings we have started.