True Praise

“Thou that has given so much to me,
Give one thing more–a grateful heart;
Not thankful when it pleaseth me,
As if thy blessings had spare days;
But such a heart, whose pulse may be
Thy praise.”

– George Herbert

How about better parents?

The NY Times published a fabulous article on Sunday regarding parents' roles in their childrens' education and success. Read it here.

TGIF

More TGIFs...I am loving this Friday ritual. So easy. And such an encouragement to read.

2ND YEAR

So, I realize that my posts at the start of my 2nd year have been a bit lacking...okay, nonexistent...but here's a brief and concise re-cap of the past few weeks in the form of a Six-Word Memoir: Two preps. Hard Stuff. Strep throat.

I started a little Friday ritual today and wanted to fill y'all in. I hope to keep this up each Friday, but we'll see about that...Enjoy! 

JWN4 and I have been reading a book together called The Gifts of Imperfection. In her book, Dr. Brene Brown discusses the inherent (and research-based) connection between joy and gratitude. It makes total sense, so in an attempt to cultivate some joy in my classroom, Fridays will now end with a "TGIF Exit Ticket." I explained that we have much more to be thankful for than the fact that it's Friday, and I invited them to share their nuggets of gratitude with me. My kids live in a neighborhood (and frankly, a world) devoid of bright light, and I just wanted- for a moment- for them to forget that.
 

  

Things I Think Are Funny

1. The fact that male students find it "noble" to walk their gal to class and then be 5 minutes late to their own, which is on the other side of the building. Keep in mind that 3 tardies = 1 Absence. 4 Absences = no Finals exemptions. Oh, the sacrifices the young make for love.

2. That even on the last day of class, students are still trying to hand me papers instead of turning them in to the proper box, which has been the procedure every day. All year. My response to them at this point: "Have we EVER turned something in this way?"

3. The fact that my new name is Miss. Not Ms. Hunt. Just Miss.
     "What's my name? Oh na na. Oh what's my name? Oh na na, Oh na na."

4. "Miss, do you want to see _____________'s fight with that sophomore on YouTube? It's awesome."


5. That my kids have adopted my language, or "Em-isms" as JWN4 calls 'em:
                       "Miss, quit being so sassy."
                       "Kapeesh?"
                       "Praise clap on 3! 1, 2, 3!"
                                                     
6. Ms. Hunt: "Alll right, if you're wearing blue jeans today, I need you to stand and be ready to share your answer!"
   Florence: "Alll right, if you're wearing a dress today, I need you to stop teaching and let us sleep."                                                     

Is it Summer yet?

I am so ready for the end of the year. It's not even funny. I am aching to be free of my first year! My kids are tired of being here, and frankly, I'm tired of having them here. Love 'em, sure. But they need to be Sophomores already! I want to start fresh with my new Freshmen! I'll be teaching English I-Pre AP and English I- Childress next year, which I am obviously excited about. 

Things to think about for next year: 

• Implementation of my Shutterfly class website: is it fair to expect my kids to check the website weekly? Even with limited access to computers at home?
• Facebook group for Ms. Hunt's classes: is this a dumb idea? Will I actually use this, or should I focus on my class website instead? Do they basically fulfill the same standards and serve the same purpose? Which would be better for my kids?
• Better use of their Writing Portfolios! (more frequent use)
• GRAMMAR GRAMMAR GRAMMAR (How to? Image Grammar, Harry Noden-read up this summer!)
• Revisit The Odyssey- yikes. This was a train wreck. Need to get them into the computer lab for research. The "Stations" activity I did with them was not too effective for Mythology background information.

2ND PERIOD MOMENT

Angelica: What are we going to do today?

Ms. Hunt: You'll see!

Angelica: But I don't want to see; I want to know!

A Picture of My Classroom These Days

 Our character wall! I just loved building it because it brought so much color and livelihood to our classroom! My kids also used it frequently as a quick reference tool once they started writing...

 Making relational connections between characters

Yes, I bought all those colored index cards. 

 

Student Work up close

 Oh, and Happy Birthday to me (and Jamie)! I hope my kids remember to bring cupcakes...

"How To" Paper Gone Wrong

This is exactly as written – very funny – even funnier if it weren’t  so sad.

“How to write an paper”

Haven’t you ever waned to write an good paper? Just for the fun of it or because you needed to, but you just couldn’t?

  Well writing a paper is not that hard at all, in fact is very easy to write one! All you need is your brain, a pencil and allot of paper.

  When you have all that all you need to do is start to think of what you want to write about, you can write about anything you want like for example you can write about a time you when to the Zoo or a birthday that you really like or even about your regular day in school or at home. You can write about pretty much anything you want.

  To start writing a paper is very easy when you know about what you want to write.

  The first thing you want to do is make up an title that would get every one’s attention, some thing that sound’s smart but at the same time not boring.

  With the title chose go ahead and start writing your first paragraph, this paragraph should be the “Introduction”, here you write about what you are going to write about or some times its the very beginning of the story.

  Then you move on to the second paragraph which is the paragraph in where you write all the story but the beginning and end in other words you write the middle of your story but don’t forget that this part can be more than one paragraph.

   Now that you have wrote the “beginning/introduction” and the “middle” of your story you are ready to write the last paragraph is this part you write about the end. Here you say the parts that need to be clear down or questions are answer.

  But don’t forget to make an draft and then write an final copy. And ALL WAYS do crammer check and read your work to see if it makes sense.

Robert Billings

My students recently did a Facebook project as part of a character analysis for a book they just finished reading. Here's one of my students' work. Please note the final "Activity" listed. Hee haw.

"People know me."

So begins my reign as the Class of 2013 sponsor...

Volleyball Banquet

I loved celebrating our girls' efforts at the Volleyball Banquet! A few pictures to share with y'all:

A few little gifties I put together for our girls

Coach Garcia, I, and Hunt

My girls munchin' on their BBQ

Reading Aloud

Pulled this from the NY Times Education section; the bold words are mine: 

In “Heard Any Good Books Lately, Zelda?” an article about “Gatz,” a seven-hour performance focused around a reading of “The Great Gatsby,” Charles McGrath reminds us that “listening is how we begin our acquaintance with books, as our parents read them to us.” (Read the rest of the article. It's awesome.) Reading aloud recreates the early magic of reading for both our students and ourselves, and is valuable in classrooms at all levels and in all disciplines, as well as at home. (Not to mention, anything Shakespeare was meant to be read aloud, not as a novel).

Teachers might try a few of the following techniques to engage their students:

• One New York teacher uses a technique he calls the “Spirit Read” in his classroom. Students take turns reading when “the Spirit” moves them, taking turns as they see fit. [Try and tell me they didn't rip this idea off from charismatic churches]
• A variation on this, which helps keep student readers on their toes, is the ever-popular “popcorn read” — one student begins reading and when he tires (or reaches the end of a paragraph, or whatever ground rule you set), he yells “popcorn” to get everyone’s attention and calls out another student’s name. The “popcorn” gets everyone’s attention and the named student takes over reading. This means everyone has to be following along, as anyone’s name could be called any time.
• To increase student participation in reading aloud, try an Interactive Read-Aloud, a technique from the National Writing Project. Read aloud, stopping every few paragraphs or pages depending on your goals and the density and level of your text. Then, ask either classic literacy skills questions like “What predictions can you make about what happens next?” or mix those up with more whimsical questions like “If this character could say what he really wanted to say right now, what would he say?” or “Draw a quick illustration that could accompany this part of the text.” Invite students to turn to a partner and share what they’ve written or drawn, then have a very brief whole-class share before you continue reading.

The March issue of Parenting magazine offers more ideas for how to make reading fun and engaging. If only I could send a copy to every parent at Northbrook.

Do you trust me?

1st period moment just now:

Ms. H: Soooo we're missing Maricruz and Vanessa this mornin'?

Idalia: Miss, we need to call Vanessa to wake her up.

Ms. H: Does her Mom not wake her up? 

Idalia: Nah, her Mom works early.

Ms. H: Well how is she going to get to school if her Mom's not there?

Idalia: Miss, you have a car, right?

Ms. H: Mmm hmmm. 

Idalia: Do you trust me?

BAHA YEAH RIGHT.

Why do we need grammar?

 As we all know, the English language is dynamic, and it will continue to change. Still, I feel it is important to pass on the “rules of engagement” to my kids to the best of my ability. In my opinion, reading is the best way to internalize a strong feel for grammar, but I also teach it. I have yet to shove grammar workbooks under my kids' noses, but I make it a point to review it with my kids in their reading and their writing. I also find it best to have them look for and find their mistakes to make corrections.

I ran across these 10 Grammar Rules and literally laughed out loud...

1. Verbs has to agree with their subjects.

2. Remember to never split an infinitive.

3. Parenthetical remarks (however relevant) are (usually) unnecessary.

4. Never use a big word when a diminutive one would suffice.

5. Use words correctly, irregardless of how others elude to them.

6. Use the apostrophe in it’s proper place and omit it when its not needed.

7. Eliminate unnecessary references. As Ralph Waldo Emerson once said, “I hate quotations.”

8. Who needs rhetorical questions?

9. Exaggeration is a billion times worse than understatement.

10. Last but not least, avoid cliches like the plague.

My name is not "Miss"

Punk #1: "Miss, you look so different in pictures." 

Ms. H: "What pictures are you talking about?" (Slight fear of Facebook discovery. Not that I have anything to hide. Tee hee.)

Punk #1: "The ones on your board." (Pointing to bulletin board behind desk).

Punk #2: "Yeah miss, you look like a woman there."(Hint of surprise).

Awkward pause. 

Ms. H: "So, um, I look like a man?"

Punk #2: "Nah, miss. You look like a schoolgirl."

Hm. I shall have to fix this. New wardrobe? Pair-haps.

My name is not "Miss" by emilyannhunt featuring a knee length pencil skirt

Four Seasons

One of my students is writing a persuasive argument about how students should be allowed to listen to music on their iPods while they read (pshhh not in my class, Lil Wayne). It isn't a new idea that music can be a distraction to your work, that any kind of multi-tasking makes you use the wrong part of your brain. Watching JWN4 try and navigate his Garmin while simultaneously listening to a story of mine is perfect proof. Imagine if he tried to listen to Gaga and write a sermon at the same time; that'd be some interesting theology.
Tee hee. 

Regardless, I have heard that the right kind of music can contribute to your ability to concentrate. So I did a bit of google work and came across some suggestions: alllll classical baroque music. My kids and I have been listening to Vivaldi's Four Seasons all day. Quite a "classic" image: my kids silently working or reading whilst listening to Vivaldi. And actually, the kids have really taken to my choices of music. Loves it. It's like those Baby Genius CDs some parents leave playing for their babies while they fall asleep...

Maybe my babies will turn into geniuses in my class. I can only hope.

Cry Me A Freaking River

Just told my 7th period to "cry me a freaking river" when they complained about writing a sentence...

and then I played this...

Warning: the following is very negative (obviously not very Emily-esque).

When I was in school at TX, my fellow secondary Education students and I constantly heard that the first year of teaching was going to be one of the most difficult years of our lives: we'd be out of college and in the real world, attempting (with only a couple years of study under our belts and 0 years of hands-on experience, mind you) to make a difference in the lives of teenagers. At the start of the year, I braced myself. I have been pleasantly surprised, however. It has not been the most difficult year of my life thus far. This week, though, I have begun to feel the weight that certainly our Education professors and Master Teachers warned us about.

Causes of this weight: I was called a "f***ing b****" to my face on Monday. Long story, which I won't get into. I am not an ESL teacher, and yet, 1/2 of my students are English Language Learners. I have no idea what I'm doing. Many students cannot write a complete sentence if you ask them to. I fear for my kids' futures. I am afraid most of them will not be very successful in this world. I fight them. I fight them every day to do their work, do their work, do their work. Try. Try. Try. Look at this. Notice this. See how cool this is? A few do. Most don't. They want to leave class. They don't want to be here. They skip. I hear them talking about this girl getting pregnant, and that guy dropping out, that "b****" and this "hoe." They like me, sure, but are they learning anything that is going to benefit them in the lives they choose for themselves?

I'm required to teach them persuasive writing, but how can I teach them the pieces of an argument and require an essay if they cannot construct a well-written sentence? I know that it requires building blocks. I know that I have to start with what they can do and be careful of slipping into the habit of looking at what they can't do. But when your job is to teach these students English, and they can't, you try being 'positive Polly.'

How do teachers do this for 40 years?

H-U-N-T = P-I-M-P

TRANSCRIPT FROM A 7TH PERIOD MOMENT TODAY: 

Maricruz: Miss, why do we alllways have to write in complete sentences?

Ms. H: How else are you going to learn to write in complete sentences or even think in complete sentences? Lord knows not from your text message conversations with all those “idk” and “lylas” and “luv u”s y’all use. Y’all should see my texts. I literally text in complete sentences with correct commas and all that jazz; it always takes me at least two pages to type a full text.

Maricruz: Miss, you don’t say “luv u” when you text your boyyfrrieeeend?

Norma: Nah, she doesn’t say “luv u” 'cuz SHE’S A PIMP!!

Try conducting a class of 17 girls after someone makes a declaration like that about you!

Ms. Hunt's Mohawk

 

A student's response (who literally never speaks- I know, I'm working on it) to this Writing Workout:

"If I wanted to persuade Ms. Hunt to get a mohawk, I would use pathos, and I would tell her about how she could live forever and get rich."

LOVE MY STUDENTS

Learning to Change-Changing to Learn

I agree with a good majority of the things said in this video. It is a challenge for teachers (and parents, too) to re-shape their understanding of what the classroom should look like. We are in a new age with a new type of learner sitting in those desks. The difficulty, too, is finding ways to teach our students to synthesize, critique, gather information, create something digital, etc. with limited time, resources, and money. I feel we're lacking the push we need; we're on our way to being a kind of education system that supports digital classrooms, but we're not quite there. We need more access to tools that teach to this new kind of learner. And let's be honest, we need more money to do this.