Today The School celebrates Halloween...well, not so much celebrate, but we allow the boys to don their most creative costumes and have a middle school version of a Halloween Parade. This morning, I was greeted by Pac-Man and a not-so friendly ghost, a huge "My name is..." name tag, a hoard of punk rock chics, a paper bag, and even a minature version of Jack Black's Nacho Libre character. I decided that I'd be a Queen Bee, minus the tiara, of course. What an awesome start to the day.
Yesterday (and borrowing a discussion tool from a colleague), I decided to try a partnered silent discussion with one of my English sections. I haven't yet done it with the boys in my study, but I have a feeling it will go over well. Using three critical questions that I initially put in my research protocol, I crafted a worksheet that would allow the boys to "discuss" important themes, symbols, and ideas in the short story, "Girl." Yesterday, I found that by allowing the boys the time to think, write, and respond to each other (instead of getting lost in a whole class discussion), I am better able to assess their understanding and hear their voices. Beyond this, the activity seems like it'd work well for prediscussion too.
I'm looking forward to seeing how it goes...
Signing off...
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