Thursday, March 22, 2012

Seventh Inning Stretch

OK I'm not a baseball fan by any "stretch" of the imagination but that's where we are at this time - the home stretch.  Only six days and The Research Papers will be turned in.  And while my students are basking on beaches and sleeping late during our spring break, I will be eagerly grading them with red pen and iced tea in hand.  I've been impressed with their work thus far.  First drafts looked pretty good and I'm anxious to see how they turn out.  Other than a handful of students who are a bit behind, I'm confident that the grades should be good and the experience will be worthwhile.  So thanks for making such a great effort and I look forward to seeing your final versions.

In the meantime, we've begun 1984 and, having only read the first nine pages, its already sparking some interest.  I've gathered numerous articles within the past couple of years dealing with technology and government, two major themes of this novel, and after sharing only three of them with the class, the discussions have begun.  My goal is to raise awareness with these teens so they don't end up with mush for brains because the computers, smart phones, GPS devices, and government provisions do everything for us. 

Anyway, as spring time settles in and we think of wrapping up another year at MHS, we've still got a few loose ends to tie up.  So, students, hang in there and tell me what you think:
  • What are your thoughts about the social issue research paper?
  • What's been your favorite novel this year?
  • What classwork did you enjoy?
  • Do you feel you've grown and improved as an English student this year?  How?
  • Do you think you're a bit more prepared for life in college thanks to this course?  How?
  • What might you miss the most about MHS?
  • What advice would you give to students taking this class in the future?

5 comments:

  1. My thoughts on the research paper were that in the begining it was intresting but it became rather tedious finding the same information over and over again.

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  2. i liked Researching it didnt like writing about it.
    1984.
    yes i feel i have.
    yes i am more prepared for college life dont really know how i could be less prepared but whatevs.
    friends and some cool teachers

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  3. Researchign my topic was actually interesting since I wanted to know how are country was treating recess. So far this year 1984 has probably the most interesting so far. The classwork I have most enjoyed would be are little random group efforts we have. My english abilities have improved slghtly due to that research paper. I think the research paper definately helped a lot of people seeing as we haven't done anything like that before. The thing I will miss most about high school will be the friends I have grown up with. To future students all I can really say is don't procrastinate.

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  4. I thought that I was going to bomb the research paper completely because my subject was hard to take sides but when I got my grade back I was satisfied.

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  5. finding all my information for my research paper was very interesting to me and i gained alot of knowledge from the facts i obtained.

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