I was trying to think of a fun way to do a dialogue lesson with my alt ed creative writing class. I came across Janis Cramer's Collaborating to Write Dialogue.
I steal lesson ideas from various places online all the time, but usually I have to tweak them quite a bit. Not this time!
This lesson, as the author admits, is the result of years of tweaking. Been there, done that! (I sometimes feel sorry the students I had in my early years of teaching!) Her tweaking worked perfectly with my students, and the only thing I did differently was breaking the whole process up into numbered steps so students go work somewhat independently--not to mention smaller task means the students freak out less. (Of course, some students worked much faster than others...)
This activity took most students several days. For us, it went something like this:
Day 1--introduced assignment and students brainstorm to create characters
Day 2--created dialogue between their characters
Day 3--added details and tags
Day 4--finished composing and rewrite final dialogue on paper in correct format
I can't believe how engaged the students were as they created their characters and wrote the dialogue. The part where they had to incorporate details to make tags confused a few students, but in the end, not only did students have a dialogue, they had a short story--or a slice-of-life story.
And, they were quite impressed with their wonderful writing skills! I highly recommend this to any secondary teachers out there who are looking for a good way to get students to write dialogue.
October 24, 2009
October 12, 2009
Home-less or Home-ful?
My sweetie and I are currently going through a rite of passage called "Buying Our First Home."
Actually, it feels like some kind of hazing ritual with everything we've gone through in the last few months. When we first started this process, the realtor made it sound so easy. Well, kind of. We learned very quickly that if we were interested in a house, we had to put a bid in quickly--like within hours of seeing it. At one point, we were putting bids in on houses without physically seeing them first. In fact, that's exactly what happened with the house we are buying. Just in the month or so that we were looking, we definitely had the sense that the market was getting more and more aggressive.
Of course, after our we had a bid finally accepted and we started working with the mortgage broker, things became a little more complicated as we had to supply every important document imaginable. Understandable, though.
Once we sent our massive package of papers to the underwriters, we thought it was going to be easy-breezy. Oh no! The underwriters kept questioning this and that, requiring more and more documentation. Once we would produce the documentation they required, that would just open up another can of worms. Or five cans.
It's been an emotional roller coaster. We think things are going smoothly, and then there's just one more thing we have to produce. And about every other time, it has required money to fix it up.
Just a week ago, I was in tears. We'd already told that our paperwork made it through the underwriters with stipulations, which we thought we can cleared up. We had already put in our notice to the property manager that we were moving by the end of the month.
And then...the documents we provided were not good enough, and there were no such documents that they were demanding. Nope, did not exist!
It was an insane bit, too. The underwriters wanted documentations stating that my sweetie does not pay child support. Pay child support to whom? He has had full physical and legal custody of his children for three years. Their mother has no rights whatsoever. He had two documents stating so, and he also had a statement showing the last time he did pay child support, the balance due and the amount paid. (He overpaid and did not get a refund.) Not good enough. So, he had the California family services fax a document stating that his account was paid and closed. Not good enough.
And this is what I was in tears over. We'd paid a lot of money, and put in a lot of time to get some of our hurdles cleared, and now we were at a stand-off that made no sense.
We found out that it was Veteran's Administrator underwriter who was hassling us so much, so my sweetie started making phone calls. He reached a supervisor who understood how California courts worked and agreed that we had provided more than enough documentation. Furthermore, he was willing to review our files and talk to the other underwriters, too. Phew! Wonderful.
But while on the phone with the nice supervisor, a new question, "Did you have a termite inspection?"
What? Nobody has ever said anything about that! Much like the insurance hassle, where, two days after paper work was submitted to my insurance agent, the underwriters decided we needed flood insurance, too. I could have told them we were in a flood zone since the back of the house neighbors a wash. Yea, we don't get a lot of rain, but we do have have monsoon season for real some years.
And two days after I went to the insurance agent to sign the paperwork, I found out I had to pay for the flood insurance up front for the year. Nobody could have said anything so while I was waiting 45 minutes at my agent's desk while he tried to get the paperwork figured out that perhaps I could go ahead and pay? That would have been considerate of everyone's time, right?
And so it goes...termite inspection. Just another thing.
As far as I know, things are pretty well ready to go, but tomorrow I'm expecting that we'll need to have a seance to check the house for restless spirits. And then perhaps a shaman will need to cleanse our almost-home.
Or perhaps we'll need to pay for UFO insurance, as I'm betting we're in the flight path between Area 51 and Nellis Airforce Base.
So, anyway...
Rite of passage.
I've had a few friends tell me that the struggles and hoops we've gone through are pretty typical. Funny, nobody ever bothered to prepare me for the mental anguish I was about experience when I embarked on this journey.
Thanks a lot.
Actually, it feels like some kind of hazing ritual with everything we've gone through in the last few months. When we first started this process, the realtor made it sound so easy. Well, kind of. We learned very quickly that if we were interested in a house, we had to put a bid in quickly--like within hours of seeing it. At one point, we were putting bids in on houses without physically seeing them first. In fact, that's exactly what happened with the house we are buying. Just in the month or so that we were looking, we definitely had the sense that the market was getting more and more aggressive.
Of course, after our we had a bid finally accepted and we started working with the mortgage broker, things became a little more complicated as we had to supply every important document imaginable. Understandable, though.
Once we sent our massive package of papers to the underwriters, we thought it was going to be easy-breezy. Oh no! The underwriters kept questioning this and that, requiring more and more documentation. Once we would produce the documentation they required, that would just open up another can of worms. Or five cans.
It's been an emotional roller coaster. We think things are going smoothly, and then there's just one more thing we have to produce. And about every other time, it has required money to fix it up.
Just a week ago, I was in tears. We'd already told that our paperwork made it through the underwriters with stipulations, which we thought we can cleared up. We had already put in our notice to the property manager that we were moving by the end of the month.
And then...the documents we provided were not good enough, and there were no such documents that they were demanding. Nope, did not exist!
It was an insane bit, too. The underwriters wanted documentations stating that my sweetie does not pay child support. Pay child support to whom? He has had full physical and legal custody of his children for three years. Their mother has no rights whatsoever. He had two documents stating so, and he also had a statement showing the last time he did pay child support, the balance due and the amount paid. (He overpaid and did not get a refund.) Not good enough. So, he had the California family services fax a document stating that his account was paid and closed. Not good enough.
And this is what I was in tears over. We'd paid a lot of money, and put in a lot of time to get some of our hurdles cleared, and now we were at a stand-off that made no sense.
We found out that it was Veteran's Administrator underwriter who was hassling us so much, so my sweetie started making phone calls. He reached a supervisor who understood how California courts worked and agreed that we had provided more than enough documentation. Furthermore, he was willing to review our files and talk to the other underwriters, too. Phew! Wonderful.
But while on the phone with the nice supervisor, a new question, "Did you have a termite inspection?"
What? Nobody has ever said anything about that! Much like the insurance hassle, where, two days after paper work was submitted to my insurance agent, the underwriters decided we needed flood insurance, too. I could have told them we were in a flood zone since the back of the house neighbors a wash. Yea, we don't get a lot of rain, but we do have have monsoon season for real some years.
And two days after I went to the insurance agent to sign the paperwork, I found out I had to pay for the flood insurance up front for the year. Nobody could have said anything so while I was waiting 45 minutes at my agent's desk while he tried to get the paperwork figured out that perhaps I could go ahead and pay? That would have been considerate of everyone's time, right?
And so it goes...termite inspection. Just another thing.
As far as I know, things are pretty well ready to go, but tomorrow I'm expecting that we'll need to have a seance to check the house for restless spirits. And then perhaps a shaman will need to cleanse our almost-home.
Or perhaps we'll need to pay for UFO insurance, as I'm betting we're in the flight path between Area 51 and Nellis Airforce Base.
So, anyway...
Rite of passage.
I've had a few friends tell me that the struggles and hoops we've gone through are pretty typical. Funny, nobody ever bothered to prepare me for the mental anguish I was about experience when I embarked on this journey.
Thanks a lot.
October 4, 2009
Barely Breathing
I'm really bummed that this blog is dying.
There is so much keeping from here at this point in my life. To sum it up, I am overwhelmed and always days behind in life. The factors:
I'm still around. I read my feeds when I can. I have 636 unread edublogger posts in my Bloglines account this morning, but I need to get to work on grad homework, grading papers, and doing some yearbook stuff so my staff isn't sitting around doing nothing because I'm unorganized.
How I long for my semi-busy life rather than this frantic, unrealistic one I'm living now.
I imagine it barely breathing in a hospital bed, resting peacefully, experiencing no pain. It's a little lonely because friends (you) and family (me) don't come by anymore, but it's not ready to die. As it is unconscious, it cannot say anything to friends and family about how it doesn't want to die just yet. Life has been good, yes, but does it have to be over?
If I had more compassion, I'd pull the plug, and let it sink into the Internet abyss where abandoned blogs go to die, but I'm not ready.
Instead, I visit when I can, waiting for some new special treatment that can breath new life into my poor blog. Maybe it just needs continued care, but maybe it needs a life transformation--a rebirth.
For now, all I can do it watch helplessly, waiting for something--anything to help, but deep down, I carry the guilt knowing I am the reason it is dying.
There is so much keeping from here at this point in my life. To sum it up, I am overwhelmed and always days behind in life. The factors:
- grad school (3 1/2 more classes--wahoo!)
- working every night at alt ed high school (used to be just 2 days a week)
- I'm not on autopilot in my classroom like I was last year. New lessons. More planning.
- IB authorization is starting to hurt.
- I'm an English teacher. Too much to read.
- buying and moving into a new home (closing next week!)
- I'M TOO OLD TO KEEP THIS PACE!
I'm still around. I read my feeds when I can. I have 636 unread edublogger posts in my Bloglines account this morning, but I need to get to work on grad homework, grading papers, and doing some yearbook stuff so my staff isn't sitting around doing nothing because I'm unorganized.
How I long for my semi-busy life rather than this frantic, unrealistic one I'm living now.
September 27, 2009
Let's Do the Time Warp Again
On Friday, we had a fun dress day: Nerd Day!
Since our students have to wear collared shirts (most wear polos) in a choice of only a few colors, I think they already look pretty nerdy, but that's a different story. Also, some teachers viewed this day as a little insensitive to real nerds, but that's a different story, too. The kids were also off-the-hook all day, which I guess isn't technically scientific data on how uniforms make a difference in education, but that is , again, a different story.
Here's the real story for today:
Students were encouraged to dress nerdy, but they also had the opportunity to be out of our school's strict dress code. So, many students dressed in their best normal clothes, which I guess is what would be fashionable nowadays.
The whole day was a mind trip to me. Most students dressed like Steve Urkel if they were nerdy, and the rest of them looked like they were straight out of the 80's, but apparently, they weren't participating in a dress-up day.
I had a hard time telling who was intentionally looking goofy and who was being fashionable.
Large plaid? Really?
Leggings? Seriously? Well, I guess they look best on middle school girls anyway.
Neon colors? Could I get some Ray Bans, please?
All we're missing are some bangs to heaven.
I'm so old and out-of-touch...
Since our students have to wear collared shirts (most wear polos) in a choice of only a few colors, I think they already look pretty nerdy, but that's a different story. Also, some teachers viewed this day as a little insensitive to real nerds, but that's a different story, too. The kids were also off-the-hook all day, which I guess isn't technically scientific data on how uniforms make a difference in education, but that is , again, a different story.
Here's the real story for today:
Students were encouraged to dress nerdy, but they also had the opportunity to be out of our school's strict dress code. So, many students dressed in their best normal clothes, which I guess is what would be fashionable nowadays.
The whole day was a mind trip to me. Most students dressed like Steve Urkel if they were nerdy, and the rest of them looked like they were straight out of the 80's, but apparently, they weren't participating in a dress-up day.
I had a hard time telling who was intentionally looking goofy and who was being fashionable.
Large plaid? Really?
Leggings? Seriously? Well, I guess they look best on middle school girls anyway.
Neon colors? Could I get some Ray Bans, please?
All we're missing are some bangs to heaven.
I'm so old and out-of-touch...
September 16, 2009
Living in a Dream
Vegas Art Guy made a good point about me being where I should be considering my student were all on task after my last post. Things are going well!
I'm afraid to admit it...Something bad might happen...
Last year, I had such a horrible time at night school, and in the five years that I've worked there, each year is a crap shoot. Because the students earn credits by the quarter, each quarter can often be a crap shoot, too. For the most part, once the students start the year with me, they pretty well stay with me the whole year, but adding or subtracting students each quarter can severely change the dynamic of a class.
I have a small section (10 students) of seniors trying to pass their proficiency exams, and they are a pretty good group of students. Most of them have been at the school a few years, which means they are more likely to be leaders and know the rules. The classroom has tables, so everyday the boys come in and move the tables together so we sit all together around a long table. Of course in that setting, we're becoming like some dysfunctional family. Oh yes. Dysfunctional. We started off learning to write paragraphs, and we are just moving into forming full essays. Considering how remedial some of this stuff is, they have been cool. Most nights I can feel the gaps filling in. It's times like this I feel like I can be effective in teaching lower-level students. I'm happy with them, and they are happy with me. Tonight when they started getting wiggly, I told them that they were not going to be my favorite class anymore, and a couple of the boys furrowed their brows in concern: "Miss, are you serious? We're not your favorite anymore?" Man, that's rapport!
My other class is a little wilder, and at times so much more hopeless. Creative Writing. This year it's really creative writing, and not a facade for remedial writing, either. Most of the students have passed their exams, but that doesn't mean they really like writing that much. My only saving grace with them is that I've built a good rapport with them, too, and they like some of the assignments we've done. Somehow we are having a good time in there, too.
There are a couple of boys who are stubborn, but they don't act out, and I seriously doubt they'll be in the class next quarter because they aren't earning credits by constantly saying, "I'm not good at writing." How do I explain to them that there are only a couple of students in the class who are good at writing? Of course, I can't because then my rapport with the rest of them will fly out the window! I just keep saying, "It's okay. I'm just asking that you try..."
I'm just asking that they try. You know, that's all I'm asking of any of my alt students this year, and they are totally buying it. Some years, I wonder if I come off as a pushover, so students have not been inclined to just try. I'm not sure what's different this year, but I am thankful to have such a nice bunch of young people to teach in the evenings this year!
I'm afraid to admit it...Something bad might happen...
Last year, I had such a horrible time at night school, and in the five years that I've worked there, each year is a crap shoot. Because the students earn credits by the quarter, each quarter can often be a crap shoot, too. For the most part, once the students start the year with me, they pretty well stay with me the whole year, but adding or subtracting students each quarter can severely change the dynamic of a class.
I have a small section (10 students) of seniors trying to pass their proficiency exams, and they are a pretty good group of students. Most of them have been at the school a few years, which means they are more likely to be leaders and know the rules. The classroom has tables, so everyday the boys come in and move the tables together so we sit all together around a long table. Of course in that setting, we're becoming like some dysfunctional family. Oh yes. Dysfunctional. We started off learning to write paragraphs, and we are just moving into forming full essays. Considering how remedial some of this stuff is, they have been cool. Most nights I can feel the gaps filling in. It's times like this I feel like I can be effective in teaching lower-level students. I'm happy with them, and they are happy with me. Tonight when they started getting wiggly, I told them that they were not going to be my favorite class anymore, and a couple of the boys furrowed their brows in concern: "Miss, are you serious? We're not your favorite anymore?" Man, that's rapport!
My other class is a little wilder, and at times so much more hopeless. Creative Writing. This year it's really creative writing, and not a facade for remedial writing, either. Most of the students have passed their exams, but that doesn't mean they really like writing that much. My only saving grace with them is that I've built a good rapport with them, too, and they like some of the assignments we've done. Somehow we are having a good time in there, too.
There are a couple of boys who are stubborn, but they don't act out, and I seriously doubt they'll be in the class next quarter because they aren't earning credits by constantly saying, "I'm not good at writing." How do I explain to them that there are only a couple of students in the class who are good at writing? Of course, I can't because then my rapport with the rest of them will fly out the window! I just keep saying, "It's okay. I'm just asking that you try..."
I'm just asking that they try. You know, that's all I'm asking of any of my alt students this year, and they are totally buying it. Some years, I wonder if I come off as a pushover, so students have not been inclined to just try. I'm not sure what's different this year, but I am thankful to have such a nice bunch of young people to teach in the evenings this year!
September 14, 2009
How Did I Get Here?
Sometimes I have this thought pop into my head, "How the hell did I get here?" During most of the instances I am waiting at an eternal stop light in the middle of traffic, wondering how I ended up living in Las Vegas. I never really imagined myself living in a big city, but here I am. After living here for several years, I've come to see that it's not really that big of a city, but compared to the other places where I have lived...wow! (Remember, before moving here, I lived in a town with only 3,ooo people.)
Tonight, I was walking to my desk in the back of the room from the trash can near the door, and the room kind of tilted. For the most part, the students were on task, helping each other with the assignment and having a little side conversation. It was a kind of casual, collaborative evening because I was first able to get my gradebook up and going on Friday, and I was behind on my grades. Anyway, the room tilted, and I found myself looking right at Ernesto and hearing what was going on in the classroom. I was disoriented for a few seconds as I thought, "How did I end up here?
Seriously. What causes these little time/perception warps? Why is it that my brain questions my location from time to time? Am I suppose to be somewhere else?
Tonight, I was walking to my desk in the back of the room from the trash can near the door, and the room kind of tilted. For the most part, the students were on task, helping each other with the assignment and having a little side conversation. It was a kind of casual, collaborative evening because I was first able to get my gradebook up and going on Friday, and I was behind on my grades. Anyway, the room tilted, and I found myself looking right at Ernesto and hearing what was going on in the classroom. I was disoriented for a few seconds as I thought, "How did I end up here?
Seriously. What causes these little time/perception warps? Why is it that my brain questions my location from time to time? Am I suppose to be somewhere else?
September 6, 2009
What's New?
Throughout the day, I think of things that could be "bloggable," but by the time I sit down at a computer all of those things are gone. Daily! I'm averaging about 6 posts a month now, and I claim I have something to wonder on a daily basis! Hard to believe, huh?
If only I could blog straight from my brain!
Here are some highlights of things you've missed out on.
If only I could blog straight from my brain!
Here are some highlights of things you've missed out on.
- When will I have time to pull that boy aside and start talking to him about his thumb sucking? I heard about him before he came to my class. A few years ago another teacher just about had him broke of it, but then his dad died, and nobody wants to say much. He's a nice kid, but he's going to get his ass kicked in high school next year.
- I wish I could get the concept of theme across to my yearbook staff. Thankfully, one of the smart girls thought of one, but now getting them to think of ways to develop it is about kill me. I have no more creative ideas. It is becoming more and more evident that I'm a sham of a yearbook adviser, and this year, our school's 50th anniversary, is not best year for it to be revealed. I have called in reinforcements from my rep, though. I need it.
- Speaking of ass-kicking...there are some odd boys on my yearbook staff. Which teacher recommended them? I have three boys this year, and one of them is one of two returning students from last year. His nickname is "Thing One" (aka Cosa Una). The new boys are more immature than he is--and just plain weird. Maybe they'll be more blog fodder, though.
- We have some new teachers on our team this year, and we all ROCK! A few years ago, it was easier for our IB team to work together as a team because there was just one teacher per core subject, but in the last few years, the program has grown and we have a lot of teachers teaching half 8th grade IB and half something else, like regular courses or a different grade level. Communication has been difficult. This year, we have some new personalities, and some new strategies. I'm not in anyway disparaging any of my previous co-workers because they were awesome and I miss them a lot, but I'm just saying we're off to a HOT start this year, and we might be able to figure out how function more cohesively.
- This is a good year to get our ducks in a row. We have our IBMYP re authorization visit in the spring. Yikes!
- I've been closely collaborating with the other IB English teacher, which is something I have not really done much of in my career. Collaborating--yes. Lots. Establishing matching procedures and units that we hope to teach exactly the same--nope! It's find of fun, but exhausting.
- My night school students are cool so far. No riots. I haven't been driven to drink yet. One class is a small group of seniors who are desperate to pass their state exams. For the first few weeks, we have been sitting around a table, going step-by-step learning how to write paragraphs. Oy vey!
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