Long time no blog! Yes, Mrs. Merrill is a true technophobe, and found herself utterly confused for quite a long time. At her principal's suggestion, she sought help from those more skilled than she and found a patient and kind teacher in her colleague Mrs. Crofts. There is much more work to do, but my hope is to update the blog on a weekly basis, and eventually, to share links and photos.
This week in my English classroom we are completing our preparation for the NYS ELA Exam, which will take place on April 1,2, and 3. My students are aware of the format of the exam, and we have done sample reading comprehension and short response questions. I've asked them to bring home the printed copies of the reading they've done for these samples, and I will return their short responses and provide some more support and give some more strategy then. We will also do a long response this week, and will reference the ELA/ Six Traits rubric I have used throughout the year.
I have seen some excellent growth in writing skills, particularly with my eighth graders, and I hope to see my students complete several wonderful essays next week. I hope to make all the middle school students comfortable and confident as they enter next week's busy test time.