Spring Break is almost here and this year is quickly coming to an end.  We are at the end of the third nine weeks already.  I must applaud my students that completed the extra credit projects.  They did AMAZING!  I am very proud of each student who completed the project.  Most were very nervous concerning the oral presentation, but they did wonderful.  

One more week to Spring Break.  I hope each of you have a wonderful week.

It seems like yesterday I was anticipating the first day of school and now we are two weeks away from Christmas break.  The students have been working hard on their "Road to Revolution" projects and I am looking forward to reading their entries next week.  I expect each of my students to do well on this project as we have been working on the rough drafts during class as we discuss each event.  I am so blessed to have the group of students that I do this year.  Each of them have blessed me daily and are wonderful and smart young ladies and gentlemen.  They helped make my birthday extra special as each class sang "Happy Birthday" to me last Wednesday.  I could not ask for a better group of students and they are each very special to me.  I enjoy each day with your child and I look forward to the next half of this year. 

Please check active parent for any missing assignments.  I am sending home a letter this week concerning the project and missing assignments  I want each of my students to be successful and part of that is attempting to have the zero's of missing assignments replaced with an actual grade.  Also, note the upcoming tests:  Chapter 7 test and Semester Tests.  They will receive a study guide for each of the tests and we will spend time reviewing for the tests. 

I hope each of you had a wonderful Thanksgiving.

It seems hard to believe the end of this week will also end the first nine weeks. It does not seem like our first grading period should be over already. I hope your child is enjoying not only my class but the rest of his/her classes as well. I am blessed to have your child in class and enjoy the time we spend learning and discussing the various topics and unit studies. They each add so much to the class. Thank you for sharing your child for the brief time they are in my class.

Please note that this week the students have a Personal Narrative due (Wednesday). This should be typed, double spaced with a title. The Personal Narritve is a life event that the child experienced and the lesson they learned from the event. I spent this morning reading each rough draft and Monday they will edit and revise to include more details. Thursday is our Chapter 5 History Test. The students will be given the study guide on Tuesday but it is available through school notes now. The test is fill in the blank (with a word bank) and short answer. If they study they will do well on the test but they will need to study.

Friday is make up day/reading day. Students will be making up missed assignments before the nine weeks ends the next Monday. I want each student to be successful and thus want to ensure every student has completed all assignments. Thus, I have also implemented a new form for the classroom. When a student does not turn in an assignment, a "missed assignment" form will be filled out by the student stating the assignment title, date and why they are not turning in the assignment. The student will sign the form, I will sign the form and they will bring the form home for you the parent to sign and then it should be returned the next school day. If a form is not returned I will be calling you to notify you of a missed assignment. I am trying to eliminate some of the late work. Late penalties will still apply to the assignments but as I have told the students - any grade is better than a zero.

The new book orders are also available. I am trying to set up online ordering and will update school notes with log in information once that has been accomplished. Book orders will be due October 14th. With the last book order we were able to add six books to our classroom library - including the Percy Jackson series. Book orders help us build a classroom library with a diverse selection of books in an effort to span the diverse reading interests of the students. Students are allowed to borrow/check books out from our classroom library to enjoy.

The Washington D.C./ New York trip is now full but we are still adding students to the watiing list. You can still go online and add your child to the waiting list. I am excited about this trip and the learning experience it will provide. For those who did register their child and who will be participating in the trip, upcoming fundraising information will be sent out soon. The first fund raiser will be at Newk's later this month.

I have also added a "classroom wishlist" page to school notes. Some parents have inquired on how they can help with classroom supplies. As I recieve items I will update the page to eliminate some of the items or add other items as they are needed. Thank you for all your help the last nine weeks. I enjoy each and every student and believe they are all capable of great things.

Each day I am reminded of how blessed I am to have such a great group of students.  This week they once again showed me how dedicated they are to their studies as our Prefix / Context Clue test scores were, on an average, fantastic.  It was a short week with the holiday on Monday but we accomplished quite a bit in the four days.  Today we completed the test and then watched some video clips from September 11, 2001.  I previewed clips at home for a couple days in order to find video segments that were not only tasteful but appropriate to show my students.  Even after ten years I still become a little emotional watching the clips.  The last class of the day touched me, one of the slide show clips of pictures contained background music of "I'm Proud to be an American."  I was quietly singing along with the pictures and soon several of my students joined in - singing along.  Very touching at the end of the day.  This is just one of the reasons I'm blessed to be a teacher and to work with wonderful young people.  

One of my professors dropped by my first block class this morning so some students may comment that they were introduced to my teacher - Dr. Miller.  The students know that I will have visitors throughout the year and I think some were surprised to see I too have teachers and homework while I work toward my Masters degree.

Next week we will still be reading some short stories and the end of the week we will transition back to History with chapter 5.  Again, I have a great group of students and I am not only proud of them but blessed by each student.