I must apologize if this post sounds like a bit of a rant, but it was a fascinating conversation that we had in class today about taking school seriously, not complaining about homework, and mostly, just putting in the hard work it takes it earn good grades.
Using a different video from Connect A Million Minds, found here, we began the discussion on why the United States has been falling in test scores to all of these others countries. We talked about how not every subject will be a class favorite, but it's something that we need you to learn. We talked about how prairies may have no part in your life when you grow up, but the skills that we are teaching you while you are learning about them will. You will have to take notes. You will have to make presentations to peers. You will be held accountable for your work.
These are some of the over-arching skills and values that we are working on instilling in our students here at Horizon and here in Pewaukee. So yes, not every speech will be graded, but we will continue to make speeches and read journals aloud in front of our classmates. So when we are being graded, either by Mr. Finn, a future employer or a college admissions counselor, we will have had the practice and feedback to give our speech with confidence.
In addition - and Mr. Finn is really going to start pushing this - we are going to stop complaining over every single assignment, every worksheet, journal entry, or map that we have to complete, write, or navigate. It's one of those lessons that will serve a lifetime, the quicker you get to work on the homework, the faster it will get done. Complaining and whining have no place in the classroom any longer.
On to more academic notes:
In language arts, the students have been attacking similes, metaphors, and hyperboles with a vengeance. We have used them in isolation on a variety of worksheets and practiced using them in our writing during journal time. Using these figures of speech in writing helps increase the students voice and word choice, pushing them towards the advance columns on their rubrics.
Social studies has shifted into ancient Mesopotamia. We will be studying Babylonia, Ur, and Sumer. Instead of a final test, the students will be researching and putting on skits about what a day would be like for a boy or girl in ancient Mesopotamia.
To end on a light note - here is a rather funny quote from class today:
Grace: He is a stick. (she was trying to make a metaphor for being skinny)
Maria: But sticks can be fat!
Callie: (in a very matter-of-fact attitude) That would be a log.
Gotta love the minions!
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