Comments for Our English Class

Comment on Vocabulary and a Rubric by Mr. Scott

Mr. Scott — Wed, 09 Sep 2009 19:33:05 +0000

Comment on Vocabulary and a Rubric by Marett Richardson

Marett Richardson — Wed, 09 Sep 2009 01:07:51 +0000

Where is the final rubric because I can not find it?

Comment on Grammar and Flowers by Mr. Scott

Mr. Scott — Wed, 18 Mar 2009 15:04:55 +0000

The site you were trying to access uses Moodle. This is like the software we used for the reading group, only on steroids, several times over. It’s my second year working with it, and I’m only now really beginning to see how I can use it effectively in my teaching.

Your first question is the initial concern: What happens to kids without Internet? I only use it with English I right now, and all but one student has internet access. One could use it in class occasionally, but that doesn’t appeal to me (which is why I don’t use it for other classes right now). I solve the problem by having that student do her assignments by hand, or coming in before/after school and using the internet here. She sometimes uses the internet during our lunch outside time.

“How much time does it take to maintain this daily?” The site uses WordPress, which, as you remember, is what we used for the reading group blog. It takes me about 5-10 minutes daily to write up the day’s events. ” I am not a fast typist and have to look at the keys.” That’s the key. You need to get Mavis Beacon! :) Seriously, if you can’t type fast, it might take you an inordinate amount of time.

I also use Google Calendar to give parents and students a long-term sense of what we’re hoping to do.

I found it to be particularly helpful when I was planning over the summer. I made significant changes to my years’ plans, and I used what I’d written last year to see how accurately I’d gauaged coverage time. I could see how long it took to do this or that, and that helped with my pacing, so much so, that I was dead on schedule until all this testing and stuff began.

Comment on Grammar and Flowers by Priscilla Solomon

Priscilla Solomon — Wed, 11 Mar 2009 16:47:29 +0000

Hi Gary,
I was taking a look at your web site – pretty cool!
I was frustrated that I could not enter the second period class as a guest.
I wanted to look at the link for sentence types for 4th and 6th period and was continually looped around to the same page that contains the link.

What happens to kids without Internet?
How much time does it take to maintain this daily? I update my web page daily but only with the homework for the day. I like the idea of including what we covered during the day. I am not a fast typist and have to look at the keys.
Do you allow the kids to use texting abbreviations and are you having a problem with that spilling over into their written work?
I spend a lot of time working with my kids on capitalizing proper nouns and punctuation. Much of the work they turn in to me must be written in complete sentences. I have had a devil of a time this year with students writing non standard letters. At this point I mark answers wrong that have non standard letters. Are you having this problem in 8th?
Thanks for the info,p

Comment on With the Pumpkins by Ashton

Ashton — Fri, 30 Jan 2009 19:57:22 +0000

awwww :)
she is REALLY cute!

Comment on Slow Day by Mr. Scott

Mr. Scott — Thu, 29 Jan 2009 00:38:31 +0000

You have a good eye — the vision of a photographer — to notice that detail.

The trick to such photos lies in an open aperture.

Comment on Budapest at Night by Ashton

Ashton — Wed, 28 Jan 2009 17:13:52 +0000

AWESOME!!! :)

Comment on Slow Day by Ashton

Ashton — Wed, 28 Jan 2009 17:09:54 +0000

I like how the bottle is focused and the man is sorta blury.
I like pictures like that. It’s really neat. i try to make some of my pictures like that but i cant.

Comment on Shopping by Crystal Adamson

Crystal Adamson — Thu, 30 Oct 2008 02:05:37 +0000

I went to see a friend who was in Brest, Belarus. Warsaw was the easiest place for us to meet. It’s kind of a long story; I’ll send you an email.

Comment on Shopping by Mr. Scott

Mr. Scott — Tue, 28 Oct 2008 23:40:38 +0000

My wife is Polish — we eat that for breakfast every day!

I’m curious: what took you to Poland? And did you get to see any other cities? Warsaw is definitely not my favorite. I prefer Gdansk and Krakow.