The Tardy Teacher

Moving Day

2007-08-13T20:14:00.000-04:00

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Just as bad as the students - TKAM thoughts

2007-08-13T10:14:00.000-04:00

Yep, give me an assignment that I'm not in love with and I procrastinate just like the students do.

I finally sat and read the first three chapters this weekend. Just read. Didn't focus on curriculum or vocabulary or anything but getting the gist of the book.

I think this was a good point to carry in for the actually lesson planning of this unit. If the students are expected to focus on the vocabulary and decoding and understanding every single word then you will have students who will give up.

My first recommendation is to to read this book aloud to the class. Let them hear you occasionally pause and work to decode a word - it teaches them you are human too. Book on tape is fine, and helpful on a day where you just need to get caught up on something else, but reading to them is an option I hope you consider.

In Chapter 3 Scout has a run in with her teacher about reading. Her teacher is less than thrilled that she has been reading with Atticus and wants her to stop reading with him so she can "undo the damage". Scout doesn't remember learning to read, she doesn't know how she knows the vocabulary she does - she's just absorbed it through the years.

In the opening of this book, I'm not sure I would focus on anything other than hooking the students into the story. How excited would they be if you left out the vocab? It's just a thought.

As I'm letting thoughts of HOW to hook them into the story rumble around in my head, my original idea was to make the comparison between the social structure in a high school and the social structure in a small town. However, this gets dicey when considering the race issues in the book. Do you have a group who can tackle the comparison of how African Americans were automatically the lower class with whatever group your students perceive to be the lower class in the high school structure today? Would they understand the nuances that you were NOT saying that African Americans are automatically lower class today? I like the idea of comparing small towns to high schools - especially since there are many small towns with a smaller population than a suburban high school - but the comparison of social class in TKAM to today's high school is one that would really depend on your comfort level as a teacher and the make up of your student's personalities and the general group dynamic.

Off to read more!

TKAM Prep Work

2007-08-06T14:29:00.000-04:00

Yahoo Education has the Cliff Notes - it's definitely worth a look -

Click here to link to Yahoo Education.

I am two pages in and I am DYING here. I have 16 vocab words and phrases. Things that I understand through connotation and context and experience with the words - things that an average high schooler will not have heard of and an academically challenged high schooler - no chance.

In looking online I am seeing again and again that this book is at a high school level. I have found information indicating it has a Degrees of Reading Power (DRP) Score of 54 here. I have seen it stated that it has an 8th grade reading level, Amazon lists it with a Fog Index of 13.2, Flesch Index of 53.8 and Flesch-Kincaid Index of 10.4. I used an online readability calculator and at the end of the first five paragraphs had a calculated Flesch-Kincaid Index of 14 and an a Flesch-Kincaid Reading Ease score of 45. So while overall this book should be more or less appropriate for 9th and 10th graders, the bang at the beginning is incredibly difficult - So we have to look at how to make this a positive start for all your students.

Did you know it takes approximately 15 exposures to a vocabulary word to make it start to take meaning for a student?

As I tackle this project I will be doing my best to figure out how to make this more accessible to your below average student. This is important, because as soon as your lower ability students realize this is unfamiliar territory, if they cross the line into believing they aren't going to understand this no matter what they do, they will tune out and all your behavior problems are soon to begin attracting attention.

To Kill a Mockingbird

2007-08-05T14:41:00.000-04:00

Confession:

I don't love To Kill a Mockingbird.

I know. Gasps of shock, surprise and disbelief that a teacher doesn't like TKAM. I get that it's a great book with an important story, it's just that when people list it in their top five favorite books my reaction is always more of, "Really? Mockingbird?"

This is the reason I'm choosing Mockingbird as the first book to read and write curriculum for on this site. I know it's a common book to read in high school, and I never had a student who was gleeful to be doing the TKAM unit in 9th grade.

My goal is to read the book and try to find the fun in it for myself, and hopefully that will convey to your students.

Day One starts tomorrow!

Word of the Day - portfolio

2007-08-02T14:54:00.000-04:00

portfolio

click above for link to definition

I've been reading the financial pages, which is where volatile and portfolio came from.

Book Cover

2007-08-01T23:14:00.000-04:00

This is a LOT of work to go into a book cover - but I know some schools require students to make them, and this might be a decent starting point for instructions. If any FACS classes teach sewing it can be an immediate, practical project.

Click here for book cover project

Word of the Day -volatile

2007-08-01T15:01:00.000-04:00

volatile

Click above to link to definition

Word of the Day - entail

2007-07-30T15:08:00.000-04:00

entail

The dictionary definition leads toward many references to real estate and such, when I ran across it and decided to include it for WOTD it was in the context of "include" in the question "What do the requirements for the job entail?"

This works with the previous WOTDs when discussing points such as "What will acquiring your goal entail."

MyDeathSpace.com

2007-07-30T14:55:00.000-04:00

Up for discussion in the ranks of internet common sense is this site. At the time of this posting the site is timing out when I try to check into it, but I attribute it to the coverage it received on the AP Wire today. (email me if the link is broken and I will look for a new link to the article).

Your students may first tell you that "No one uses myspace anymore, it's old, the cool kids use facebook, blah blah blah". The concept of this site is the same regardless of where the profiles come from - it could be DeathBook.com, DeathXanga.com - it's the idea we want to look at.

Is this a good idea? Bad idea? Why? Do they know anyone who could have a place on the site? How would they feel seeing someone they knew on the site? What are the potential problems of this site? (ex: Misidentification of people - a live person being put on the Death site) How can it help? (ex: It's a relevant way to remember people in a way that they participated in when they were alive.) How is it like other ways of grieving? (ex: roadside memorials, both are public and not something that everyone feels the need to do) How is it different from other ways of remembering the dead? What are the risks of having a link like this? (ex: exposing vulnerable loved ones of the dead person to the risk on people who will try to take advantage of them when they are grieving).

Word of the Day -acquire

2007-07-27T20:55:00.000-04:00

acquire

(Click above for link to definitions)

What do you need to provide you with the incentive to acquire your goals? What goal represents the epitome of what you want to accomplish?

A tool that may be helpful in organizing goals is the "pocket mod" which can allow your students a way to see goals written out in a concrete fashion with some real world application (depending on the type of goal it is).

Word of the Day - incentive

2007-07-26T14:43:00.000-04:00

incentive

(Click above for link to definitions)

What a great concept for back to school. Can spark conversation about goal setting for the class/day/week/quarter/trimester/semester/year. What kind of incentive is there to focusing in your class and trying to achieve a grade of their/your/their parents' choosing? Maybe there's not any kind of incentive - maybe that's a whole other conversation....

The Walk Score

2007-07-25T14:06:00.000-04:00

This awesome little tool lets you type in an address and it gives a score for how "walkable" the neighborhood. Good for social studies, fitness or math.

Click here for Walk Score

(they are supported by ads. just something to keep in mind)

Word of the Day - epitome

2007-07-24T14:46:00.000-04:00

My goal with WOTD is that I'll try to find usable words and then give ways to tie them together. That's the idea anyway...

WOTD 1

epitome

(click above for link to definitions)

I love this word. This word is the epitome of how difficult the English language is to learn. There is no way without a dictionary or hearing it that you would ever guess "epuh-tohm" would be pronounced "eepit-oh-me".

Salaries for College Grads

2007-07-12T10:48:00.000-04:00

This lists salaries for several college degrees - mostly business/tech related but some liberal arts as well.

Click Here for salary information

Sounds for Reading

2007-07-09T16:21:00.000-04:00

I haven't spent much time on this site, but it's developed by a retired teacher and speech pathologist who used grant money and her retirement to work on a way to help children read with greater success. It's geared for younger students, I'm curious how it could assist in remediation of reading difficulties.

Click Here for Words Ahead

Scott Counseling

2007-07-07T11:39:00.000-04:00

A website from a middle school counselor full of topics you'd likely ask your own school counselor about. Good information and springboard for a variety of topics.

Click Here for Scott Counseling

Online Measurement Conversion

2007-07-05T23:03:00.000-04:00

I admit to all the FACS teachers out there - when I had a student who could not work fractions and you gave him or her a worksheet to do that involved converting measurements (how many Tbsp in a cup sort of thing) I just pulled up this site and let them do it this way. I wasn't going to be able to teach several years of math just to cover one assignment. And frankly if I needed to do this in my own this is exactly how I'd do it.

Their tagline is "Convert just about anything to anything else. Over 5,000 units, and 50,000 conversions."

onlineconversion.com is a free site, but they do have ads and can make money if you click the ads to check out their sponsors.

Click Here for Online Conversion

Integrating Standards Curriculum

2007-07-03T17:02:00.000-04:00

The Collaboration of three Minnesota Intermediate School Districts has lesson plans specific to special ed curriculum, but may be worth others looking at - especially social studies.

Click Here to see Integrating Standards Curriculum

Adjectives

2007-07-03T16:49:00.000-04:00

Sorry for the length...

If you would like a pdf of this, email thetardyteacher (at) earthlink (dot) net

(I've lost the citation, I am looking for it and will add it when found.)

adventurous
superstitious
dependent (on)
unfriendly
aggressive
clueless
innocent
active
old-fashioned
anxious
adaptable
decent
moral
annoyed
irritated
arrogant
irritating
enlightened
well-informed
upset
excited
open
open-minded
sincere
honest
crazy
flipped-out
well-balanced
stable
shy
timid
talented
gifted
excited
enthusiastic
crazy
mad
persevering
persistent
dogged
helpful
well-known
famous
crazy
loopy
mad
zany
popular
modest
humble
self-effacing
demented
crazy
possessive
spellbinding
fascinating
silly
ignorant
stupid
spiteful
evil
angry
mean
spiteful
well-behaved
good
chaotic
disorganised
charming
cool
thankful
grateful
dumb
self-centered
ambitious
honest
jealous
selfish
simple
plain
conceited, arrogant, smug, vain
unique, matchless
lonely, lonesome
vain
very mean, detestable
gross, disgusting
elegant, classy
touchy, sensitive (to)
sensitive, feeling
energetic; assertive
committed, dedicated
narrow-minded
successful
serious
first-class
fair
fantastic
fascinating
lazy
cowardly, fainthearted
fine, refined
firm, unchanging, solid
fit, feeling good
hard-working, industrious
progressive, progress-minded
saucy, cheeky
kind, friendly
happy
cheerful, merry
thoughtful, considerate
hospitable, generous
educated, cultured; well informed
patient
dangerous
full-of-feeling, sentimental
witty, brilliant
stingy, cheap, tight
rude, low, ignorant
pleasant
brilliant, genius
just; fair; impartial
valued, dear, appreciated
clever, skillful
skillful, clever
closed, reserved
chatty, talkative
sociable
healthy
conscientious
greedy
reliable, trustworthy
apathetic (towards); unconcerned (about), indifferent (to >>
happy, lucky
coarse, rude
generous
good
well-dressed
in a good mood, good-humoured
well informed (on)
good-natured
half as ...as...
stubborn
hard
hard-headed, stubborn
domestic, home-loving
cheerful
bright, clear-headed
uninhibited, unworried
wonderful, magnificent
heartless
helpful
cooperative, helpful
deceitful, tricky
haughty, proud
snobby, stuck-up
polite
hungry
idealistic
impulsive
intellectual
smart, intelligent
interesting
interested (in)
being interested in many things
intolerant (of)
irascible, in a bad temper
young
cold, unfriendly
fond of children
childish, puerile, silly
like a child, childlike
great, super, terrific
petty, nitpicking, fussy
clever, intelligent; smart
strange, funny, weird
complicated
consistent
conservative
outgoing
creative
critical
unstable, moody
slow
boring
easy-going, laid-back
moody, ill-tempered
loud
lively, active; cheerful
shallow; careless, reckless
passionate, serious; enthusiastic
quiet, soft
eager to learn, studious
liberal, tolerant
dear, nice, kind, pleasant
kind, pleasant, genial
funny (witty, humorous)
melancholy, pensive
unusual, strange
miserable
mistrustful, wary
sympathetic
modern
fashionable, stylish
moral
alert, lively, upbeat
musical
courageous, gutsy; daring
careless, slack, sloppy
close to nature, fond of being outdoors
natural, genuine
envious
nervous
nice
curious
depressed
cute
normal
superficial, shallow
open
optimistic
tidy, neat, orderly
partial (to)
biased, prejudiced (against)
passive
pessimistic
phlegmatic, calm, unemotional
fussy, finicky
practical
punctual, on time
radical, revolutionary
refined, elegant
rough
rebellious
dogmatic, know-all, always must be right
honest, sincere, has integrity
rich
mature
religious
correct, proper, downright
romantic
inconsiderate, careless
considerate
calm, placid, laid-back
sarcastic
clean
angry, sour, cross
chic, stylish
messy, dirty
clever, tricky
bad
in a bad mood, bad-humoured
dirty, not clean
fast
uncommunicative, reserved, taciturn
shy
weak, poor
clumsy
unselfish
self-confident
independent
selfish, ego(t)istic(al)
strange, weird
sensitive
safe, secure, certainly
carefree, free of worries
careful
thrifty, careful with money
late
spontaneous
athletic
mocking, making fun of
strong, cool
proud
quarrelsome, loves to argue, aggressive
sweet, nice
likable, friendly, nice
tactless, indiscreet
tactful, discreet
lively, high-spirited, has much character
fond of animals
daring; foolhardy, reckless
lethargic, lazy, sluggish
sad
loyal, faithful
typical(ly)
crazy, too tightly wound
exuberant; ebullient
concerned for the environment
independent (of)
naughty
clumsy
easy-going
inflexible, uncompromising
disobedient
clumsy
enterprising, adventurous, keen to do things
irresistible
responsible
responsible
uptight, mean, spiteful
glum, ill-humoured, annoyed
reliable
embarrassed, self-conscious
reasonable, sensible
crazy
trustworthy
confused
pampered, spoilt (brat)
in doubt, desperate
careful
insane, crazy
friendly
warm hearted
repulsive, disgusting
wild
funny, smart-alecky
uncommunicative, reserved, taciturn
wonderful, great
absent-minded
single-minded, purposeful, determined
angry
satisfied, content
reserved; uncommunicative; cautious
dependable, reliable, trustworthy

Sunrise/Sunset Calendar Times

2007-07-03T16:21:00.000-04:00

Site with MANY sunrise/sunset times already on the front page, but also has the capacity to be programmed for specific places.

Click Here for Sunrise/Sunset Calendar

Make your own planner

2007-07-03T16:12:00.000-04:00

Ah, organizing students (or ourselves). One of the greater challenges in our profession.

This site lets you make a personal organizer with a cover and 6 pages inside.

You can choose from the following options to put inside the organizer:
Cover, Blank, Writing lines, sizes of grids, table, story board, music staff, music tab, calendar (daily, weekly, monthly, deadline, appointments full year 06 and 07), lists, shopping list, contacts, check book, food diary, conversions, formulas, tip tables, morse code, Dvorak keyboard, dots, SuDoku, SuDoku Blank, tic tac toe, folding guide, Franklin's Virtues, and emergency contacts.

www.pocketmod.com is a free site, but they do have ads and can make money if you click the ads to check out their sponsors. (Like this site, only their ads are at the bottom of the page rather than the right side)

Whew.

Click here for The PocketMod personal organizer

Free Graph Paper pdf

2007-07-03T16:09:00.000-04:00

You can set it to inches or centimeters; choose your paper size, line gauge, size of boxes and number of rows and columns. If you have access to a color printer you can select colors.

www.incompetech.com is a free site, but they do have ads and can make money if you click the ads to check out their sponsors. (Like this site, only their ads are at the top of the page rather than the right side.)

Click Here for graph paper

Online Book Reading

2007-07-03T08:34:00.000-04:00

The Screen Actors Guild Foundation currently has 21 books being read online in the style of the old school "Reading Rainbow". Geared for younger ages or DCD, I used it for free time activity in a DCD classroom. Each story comes with related activities and discussion questions.

Click Here to see Storyline Online

Top Books for Boys

2007-07-02T17:58:00.000-04:00

Times Online - a UK source put together a list of ... Top Books for Boys. It's been received with mixed reviews, but here's a link for you to decide if it's helpful to you:

Click Here to See the Times Online Top Books for Boys

Word Search Maker

2007-07-02T00:20:00.000-04:00

Word searches can be good for initial exposure to vocabulary - and any other reason you can think of :)

Or even to use Madeline Hunter: An Anticipatory Set.

Click Here to see the Puzzlemaker Word Search Maker

Online Graphic Tool

2007-07-02T00:10:00.000-04:00

This was forwarded on by an awesome Media Specialist:

Gliffy allows users to create diagrams that can be posted on the Internet and shared between users and groups....

Math teachers...can use Gliffy to create diagrams for algebra or geometry

Social studies teachers....can create timelines and historical flow charts

Science teachers...can create flow charts for experiments.

FACS teachers....can create floor plans for homes as Gliffy has furniture graphics!

And more.....

For those of you really, really, really into classroom technology you can create a wiki and add "live" Gliffy charts...meaning that if you edit or revise a chart/diagram/experiment/timeline, it is updated LIVE to your class wiki!

Click Here to see the Gliffy graphics tool

Photographs of Food

2007-07-01T23:54:00.000-04:00

Saskatchewan Canada Schools have pages of a variety of food photographs. We used these when needing to provide photos for assessments but these could be used for nutrition units as well.

Click Here for food photographs

Boardmaker for Books

2007-07-01T23:36:00.000-04:00

The Baltimore City Public School System has amassed 76 pages of books that already have downloadable Boardmaker pages to go with them. At the bottom of the first page is an Excel file listing all of their books - this file is a good resource on it's own with the spreadsheet including the Name, Author, Subject of the book, and Library Call Number.

Click Here for Boardmaker pages