General Comments about Spring 2013 Grades

Grades for the Spring semester have been sent out.  I've divided the scores into 4 categories:  Writing, Literature, Grammar, and a Combined Score.  Sometimes a student is stronger, or weaker, in one area, so it helps to know the breakdown of the scores.  As I've said before, these grades are suggestions for you as homeschoolers.  Writing is a challenging subject to grade.   As homeschooling parents, you know that  some children are "naturals" in an area while others put a lot of extra time and effort in order to achieve the same results.  Sometimes a high score means quality and sometimes it means quantity.

I've thoroughly enjoyed this class this year.  We had a good sense of community, and I believe we learned a lot.  I hope to see many of you next year in Writing 2!

Writing 1 Class Notes -- May 8 (Week 15 -- Final Class)

Greetings!

Well, we're done with another wonderful year of writing.  I've had a great 2 semesters teaching these hardworking students.  For our last class together, we had a little more fun than work.

For our Quick Write, the students were told to write a "There is" sentence.  All year we've discussed how sentences using this kind of construction are weak and wordy.  "Lame," as a student from another class called them.  Once they had a sentence written, they handed their papers to the person on the right who would write another "there is" sentence to continue the story.  We did this 4 times.  My favorite set of sentences was:

1. There is anger in Mrs. Prichard because I just use the phrase "there is."
2. There is anger in Mrs. Prichard because I just used the phrase "there is" because I could.
3. There will be fire in Mrs. Prichard's eyes because we have all used the phrase "there is" multiple times.
4. There might be a clown, Mrs. Prichard's dad, in the class today.

Our next activity for the day was a "Rhyme Off."  Like a spelling bee, we went around the class coming up with sentences that rhymed with a given word.  If they couldn't think of any or repeated a word, they had to sit down.  Due to the clues and extra time given, it really wasn't very competitive.

Our last activity of the day was our Final Exam, which looked an awful lot like a Bingo Game.  The students brought prizes to add to the ones that I had.  (Our town has a HUGE booksale in April, and on the last day, you can get a bag of books for $5.  All of my prizes came from that sale.)  They each had 2 cards with titles, authors, grammatical and writing terms, and punctuation marks.  I would give clues, and as a class they would give the answer.  Since I limited the prizes to 3 a piece, they could trade/steal prizes from classmates.  As always, some items were more sought after and others were quickly abandoned.

As I've said, I've had a great time teaching this class.  I will have Grades out within the next few days.  I'd like to direct you to a blog post that I wrote after the first semester.  This gives my thoughts on grading.  

Next year I will again be teaching Writing 1, Writing 2, Writing 3 -- Research and Writing (fall semester), British Literature (spring semester) and a new class, Latin I.  You can find descriptions and schedule on the CHAT website.  I hope to see many of you again!

This week's blog

Have a great summer!

Mrs. Prichard

The Value of Reflection Papers

I've asked my students from my classes this year to write an end-of-the-year paper that will cause them to reflect on their classes and on themselves as students.  They groaned a bit because  they realized they would have to put some deliberate thought into this assignment.  

I thought I'd give some of my thoughts about reflective work that students can do in order to be more effective learners.  Reflection, put simply, is looking back and thinking about what you've done, where you've been, what activities you've been involved in, and what you've learned.  It's taking time to allow think about the information you've learned and your performance as a student.  When students take time to "think about their thinking," it affects their retention and enables them in future studies.

How does this happen?  Firstly, when a student is forced (at least that's how if might feel to him) to take stock of what he's learned and how he's learned, he owns his education to a greater degree.  He not only has learned stuff, but he's aware that he's learned it.  He also might be more aware of how he learned it.  Secondly, being reflective helps them in future classes.  The more a student is aware of how he learns, the better he will learn new material.  According to Republic Polytechnic in Singapore, "Learning is not just a process of accumulation of information. Instead it is about how the new knowledge that the learner encounters is integrated with his existing schemata of prior knowledge ... Reflective thinking is not only an organic component in the learning cycle, it is simultaneously the very ground from which knowledge and belief spring.  Reflective thinking, in short, is both process and product."

Other thoughts about reflection:
1.  Reflection helps turn an experience or academic information into genuine learning.  It's crucial for integrating material in a real way.
2.  Reflection helps a student assess his own goals, values, and progress.
3.  Reflection can help improve basic academic skills; it promotes a deeper understanding of the class materials and its relations to the rest of the world.
4.  Reflection papers force a student into higher level thinking by causing them to look at his own personal development, sense of self-awareness, and capacities.
5.  The writing process itself often brings new ideas to mind.

 

Writing 1 Class Notes -- May 1 (Week 14)

Greetings!

We're at on the home stretch for CHAT classes.  Next week is our last week.  Since we haven't had any snow days for our classes, we'll be done on schedule.  This week's Quick Write was:  (the person on your right) wants me to __________ , but (the person on my left) thinks I should ______ .....

Our Latin Phrases were:

Domino, dirige nos -- Lord, direct us (the motto for London)

Domino illuminatio mea -- The Lord is my light

Domino optimo maximo -- The Lord, best and greatest (the motto for Oxford University)

Domino vobiscum -- The Lord be with you

I handed back their final drafts of their Evaluation Essays.  Again, they've done a great job on their essays.  They each improve with every set of papers.  I also handed back the Grammar Test which focused on commas, our primary grammar topic for the semester.  They handed in their take home Writing Test which I will grade and give back next week.  

This week the students were to prepare a piece of Poetry to recite for the class.  They could choose one from our book, something written by another poet, or write one themselves. They each did a wonderful job.  I know that poetry is not a favorite of theirs, but they've been troopers.  Someday they'll believe that it's good for them.  

Next week, we'll have a "final exam" in the form of a Bingo Game.  I'd like each one to bring a prize for the game.  It can be a white elephant, candy, or something from the dollar section.  I'll bring plenty of prizes for them next week.

They have one final writing assignment for this class.  I would like them to write a Reflection Paper about their time in this class:  "Describe yourself as a student in my class."  They should include thoughts about their likes/dislikes, strengths/weaknesses, and accomplishments. I'd like them to think about their roles as readers, writers, and class participants. They can comment about what they've learned and what they would have like to have learned.  Finally, I would like them to tell me what grade they think they should get and why.

Assignments for Next Week:

-- Find a Bingo Prize

-- Write a Reflection Paper

This week's blogs:

Class Notes

Rumor is that the Cities are snow-free, while we have almost 7 inches in Northfield.  This weather is simply amazing!!

Have a great week!

Mrs. Prichard