Wednesday, 8-18-10

Here was our objective today: Today I am learning about the people in my class and my teacher. This will help me understand the people who are here to support me.

Finally, we get to talk about our favorite topic-- ourselves!  As we are beginning Communication Skills we are learning about each other.  Students began by examining artifacts that I gave them to represent me.  They discussed with their table what they thought they could learn about me from these items.  The class shared out predictions and then I clarified.  the students did a great job making inference about who I am.  Through this activity, I was able to observe team work, the class understanding of symbolism, verbal expression and inferences.  The students were able to understand who I am and my philosophies on teaching (including why I do what I do) and classroom management.  We then worked together in each class to develop classroom expectations.

Here are our class rules:

Come to class prepared to work hard and learn.

Take ownership of your mistakes.

Listen carefully to others in the classroom and make only thoughtful responses.

Homework:  Read 30 minutes and create a collage of pictures or words that represents who you are.  Then write a paragraph or two that explains how these things demonstrate who you are.  This should be completed on an 8x10 piece of paper.  Students may draw, cut and paste, or use the computer to complete this assignment.  All collages are due tomorrow.

Please Note: 1st hour ran behind due to great conversation and questions about symbolism.  They may work on the collage tonight, but it is not due until Friday because I did  not have an opportunity to go over expectations and answer questions about the assignment.  4th and 5th hour is expected to complete the assignment tonight.