Introducing Mallory Jo

Mallory Josephine Mangano
"Mojo"

Today after school, we went to visit Ms. Mangano and her baby, Mallory Josephine.  Mallory is officially 10 days old today, and she is adorable!!! Ms. Mangano calls Mallory "her little Mojo." I cannot think of a more perfect nickname.

Prayers in a Song

Here's the music video we watched in class, "Prayers in a Song."  To learn more about the context of the song, click here. To hear more from Tall Paul and learn about Ojibwe and Native Culture, check out the website The Ways.

Critical Consumer--Assignment #5

Essential Question:

How does advertising reflect and impact culture?

Guiding Questions:

• How can we critically analyze advertisements to be informed consumers?
• How can our awareness of culture and identity help us critically analyze advertisements?

Today in class, you will be working in groups of three to analyze the advertisements you brought in.

Annie's Way: Bullying in Relationships

Today, we will be using the resource Love is Respect to study what bullying in relationships and emotional abuse looks like.  We will be looking at the Power and Control Wheel to learn about different types of bullying behaviors and what these may look like in teen relationships.

During class, you will be working in groups of threes.  Each group will be studying one specific spoke in the wheel.

Your Task:

• Read the text and watch the video relating to your topic.  
• On one piece of paper, write down examples of red flags.
• On another piece of paper, write down examples of what you can do if you find yourself in a relationship where you are treated this way.
• On a third piece of paper, write down examples of what you can do if your friend is in a relationship where he/she is treated this way.
• Present your topic to the class, using the following format:
• Introduce your topic
• Tell us what your topic is and give us examples of red flags.
• Give us a short summary of what happened in the vide (~30 secs)
• Share the examples you wrote down of what you can do if you find yourself in a relationship that looks like this.
• Share examples of what you can do if one of your friends is in a relationship where he/she is treated this way.

Group Topics:

• Group 1: Peer Pressure
• Group 2: Anger/Emotional Abuse
• Group 3: Social Status
• Group 4: Intimidation/Threats
• Group 5: Minimize/Deny/Blame
• Group 6: Threats/Intimidation
• Group 7: Coercion
• Group 8: Isolation/Exclusion

Student Blogging

Next week, we will be creating student blogs.  You will be creating your own blog page and writing weekly blog posts.  Our student blogs will serve as a format for you to increase your technological literacy, develop your voice, and make connections with others.  The blogs will serve as a meaningful space for you to create and share knowledge and publish your written work.  As you requested, our blog will be a way for us to incorporate more technology in the classroom in a meaningful way.

In order for us to do this, you must have parent/guardian permission.  Permission slips will go home today, and must be returned by Tuesday, April 1st.

I'm excited for our blogging adventure to begin!

Critical Consumerism--Assignment #4

Essential Question:

How do advertisements impact and effect teen culture?

Assignment #4

• Bring an advertisement to class on Monday to analyze.
• The advertisement can be print (ie. from a magazine or newspaper), digital (ie. from Facebook or youTube), or audio (ie. from the radio).  
• Make sure it is in an accessible format for class.  You will have access to computers.

Due: Monday, 3/31

Literacy Night

What: Literacy Night
Where: Whitehorse Middle School
When: Tuesday, April 29th, 5:00pm-7:00pm
Why:  To celebrate student literacy

Students will have the opportunity to attend workshops on various literacy events including:

• Cartoons
• Bookmarks
• Round Robin Writing
• Letters of Thanks
• Positivity Posters
• Drama
• Spoken Word

The night will culminate with an Open Mic, where students will be able to share their work.  Come and share your favorite song lyrics, a poem, monologue, speech, short story excerpt, spoken word piece....any literary work of art!

Sign up:  Located on the chalkboard.

Bowling Fieldtrip

What: Bowling Fieldtrip
Where: Dream Lanes
When: Friday, April 11, 2014, 9:15am-1:00pm
Why:  To celebrate the end of the school year and positive student behavior!

The following behavior criteria will be used beginning 3rd quarter (Monday, Jan. 27th-Monday, April 1st);

• If a student had a behavior referral during 3rd quarter, they must participate in restorative justice to reinstate their eligibility.
• If a student gets an out of school suspension during 3rd quarter, they will not be eligible for this celebration trip; however, they are expected to attend school.

Cost: $7

Note: You may bring additional spending money to buy a snack or play games in the game room.

Permission slip due: Wednesday, April 2014

Additional Information:

• We will return in time for lunch
• All school rules apply; NO ELECTRONIC DEVICES
• Each student will be able to partner up with four friends and play two games of bowling
• Sign up for your bowling team on the sign-ups in the hallway

Critical Consumerism--Assignment #3

Essential Question:

How do advertisements impact and effect teen culture?

Assignment #3

1. Like with assignment #1, you job tonight is to engage in at least 30 minutes of media usage.
2. During this time, have Worksheet #1- Desires and Advertising with you.
3. As you see advertisements, jot down which desires they address in the "Corresponding Ad" column.
4. Come with this filled out and prepared to share on Thursday.

Due: Thursday, March 27th

Critical Consumerism--Assignment #2

In preparation for Wednesday's lesson, you have another assignment.

Assignment #2:

Bring a PRINT advertisement from a magazine you or your family reads.   You will be analyzing the advertisement in class on Wednesday, so make sure to pick one that you would authentically look at.

Due:  Wednesday, 3/26

Critical Consumerism--Assignment #1

Essential Question:

How do advertisements impact and effect teen culture?

Today in class, we addressed the following guiding questions:

• What is culture?
• What is your culture?
• What is American teen culture?
• How is culture represented in advertising?

Assignment #1:

1. Engage in media usage for at least half an hour (ie. watching TV., looking through a magazine, listening to the radio, being on Facebook).
2. In this time, tally the amount of advertisements you see.
3. While tallying, choose one cultural component we discussed and analyze the advertisement for that component.  Choices include:
•  Language and Communication Styles
• Family Norms
• Bodies and Relationships
• Gender Roles
• Privilege and Racism
• Success
• Teen Experience
4. While tallying, begin to ponder the following questions:
• What cultural norms were represented?
• How often were they represented?
• How were they represented?

Due: Wednesday, 3/26.

Note:  All you need to bring to class is a record of the type of media, time (half an hour or more), and tally.  We will be answering the questions and analyzing the results in class on Wednesday.

Annie's Way

"...the problem with stereotypes is not that they are untrue, but that they are incomplete. They make one story become the only story.” 

~Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie

Today in Annie's Way, we discussed the power of stereotypes, labels, and judgements.

As we grapple with this tough issues of fitting in and making friends, I challenge you to think about the following question:

Are there more differences between groups or within groups?

Democratic Voting

Today in Social Studies, we continued our study of Jacksonian Democracy and democratic voting through a class activity.  The class was given the task to vote on youTube videos to watch.  We first started with a small group of students voting, and then the whole class had the opportunity to vote. While we were voting, we discussed the impact of voting population and voter turnout.

Fifth hour voted to watched "Sports" and sixth hour voted to watch "Random."  Check out all of the videos at the links below:

• Animals
• Sports
• Obama
• Random

Spoken Word From Today's Class

Today our class had an informal Poetry Slam, where we shared our spoken word poems.

To give us some inspiration, we watched a trailer for the film Louder Than a Bomb.




If you were interested in the trailer, you can check out the whole movie.  It's on Netflix, for free!  I've also included several clips of students performing poems in the movie below:







Also, here's the video of the Black Bruins we watched in class:

Birth Announcement

As of 6:08am this morning, Ms. Mangano had her baby!! She is named Mallory Josephine. She's a girl!  She weighs 7lbs 11oz. .  Congratulations Ms. Mangano!!!!!

Hour 4 and 5 Expectations

Today as a class, we set expectations.  As Ms. Cina have been together since the beginning of the year, and Ms. Duffin has been in the classroom since the beginning of the semester, I realize that I am the new person in the classroom.  Because of this, today, I wanted to open up a dialogue in which the students could tell me the rules.

I posted the following questions around the classroom:

• What do you expect of your classmates?
• What do you expect of yourself?
• What do you expect of the curriculum?
• What do you expect of the teachers?

Then, students were given four post-it notes.  Using the notes, they wrote their expectations, and posted them in the room.  I've compiled the expectations our class created below:

STUDENT-SET EXPECTATIONS

I expect MY CLASSMATES to:

• Respect me
• Behave well
• Treat Ms. Gould with respect
• Listen
• Have fun
• Talk less and work more
• Be nice
• Ask questions
• Stay awake in class
• Respect the teachers
• Work together
• Participate
• Cooperate
• Be helpful

I expect MYSELF to:

• Work Hard
• Participate
• Not fall asleep in class
• Be patient
• Respect others
• Cooperate
• Participate
• Get good grades
• Learn
• Listen and respect Ms. Gould like I would Ms. Mangano
• Have fun

I expect THE CURRICULUM to:

• Include hands-on projects
• Teach me new information
• Include group projects
• Be fun
• Be challenging
• Prepare me for high school
• To include partner work
• To include the internet for work

I expect MS. GOULD, MS. CINA, AND MS. DUFFIN to:

• Make learning fun
• Be respectful to us
• Explain information well
• Assign group work
• Be fair
• Make learning fun
• To help anyone who needs it
• Teach
• Encourage good behavior
• Create a safe and focused learning environment
• Be patience

TEACHER-SET EXPECTATIONS

As individuals, we expect OURSELVES to:

• Be open-minded
• Prepare students for high school

We expect OUR STUDENTS to:

• Take ownership of their learning

We expect THE CURRICULUM to:

• Be fun and challenging
• Prepare students for high school

As a team, we expect OURSELVES to:

• Collaborate
• Cooperate
• Ensure student success

Hour 3 and 6 Expectations

Today as a class, we set expectations.  As Ms. Cina have been together since the beginning of the year, and Ms. Duffin has been in the classroom since the beginning of the semester, I realize that I am the new person in the classroom.  Because of this, today, I wanted to open up a dialogue in which the students could tell me the rules.

I posted the following questions around the classroom:

• What do you expect of your classmates?
• What do you expect of yourself?
• What do you expect of the curriculum?
• What do you expect of the teachers?

Then, students were given four post-it notes.  Using the notes, they wrote their expectations, and posted them in the room.  I've compiled the expectations our class created below:

STUDENT-SET EXPECTATIONS

I expect MY CLASSMATES to:

• Respect me
• Listen when the teacher is talking
• Participate in group projects
• Be kind
• Help me when I need it
• Have fun
• Be appropriate
• Work hard
• Respect the teachers

I expect MYSELF to:

• Work Hard
• Do my best
• Complete my work on time
• Get good grades
• Stay focused
• Learn

I expect THE CURRICULUM to:

• Include projects
• Include group-work
• Teach me helpful information
• Be important for my future
• Be fun
• Include activities
• Include individual work
• Be accurate
• Include presentations
• To challenge me
• Include multiple components, like videos, posters, essays, debates, flashcards, workbooks, textbooks, etc.

I expect MS. GOULD, MS. CINA, AND MS. DUFFIN to:

• Make learning fun
• Help me learn
• Let me work in groups
• Give me work time in class
• To make sure I am doing okay
• Keep me motivated
• Help me when I need it
• Be respectful towards me
• Challenge me
• Encourage our success
• Be kind
• Not underestimate me
• Be understanding
• Be responsible
• Explain assignments and curriculum well
• Give us choice

TEACHER-SET EXPECTATIONS

As individuals, we expect OURSELVES to:

• Be open-minded
• Prepare students for high school

We expect OUR STUDENTS to:

• Take ownership of their learning

We expect THE CURRICULUM to:

• Be fun and challenging
• Prepare students for high school

As a team, we expect OURSELVES to:

• Collaborate
• Cooperate
• Ensure student success

Where I'm From

To introduce ourselves this week, we will be writing and sharing "Where I'm From" poems.

Background:

These poems are based off the poem "Where I'm From" by George Ella Lyon.  However, the final product does not need to resemble anything like her original poem.

Your Task:

Write a "Where I'm From" poem.  You may use the template provided, modify the template provided, or totally create your own structure.  Use the poem as a creative space to introduce yourself, and tell us a little about your life.

You will be sharing these poems in small groups, and you will have the opportunity to share your poem with the class.

Creative Inspiration:

To read George Ella Lyon's original poem, click here.  To listen to George Ella Lyon's poem, click here.

For more modern inspiration, check out the video by Chief the Poet below:



Note:  In class, we've been using this video starting at the 2:46 time.

Additional Materials:

For the copy of the poem and the poem template, click here.

Note: Visuals are not required

Introduction Letter from the Weekly Word

A couple of weeks ago, an excerpt from my introduction letter was included with the Weekly Word.

Click "Read More" to see the letter.

Introductions

Dear Students and Families,

Thank you so much for welcoming to your classroom.  I'm very excited to be teaching and learning with the students in Room 211.  Between a formal transition day and several subbing days at Whitehorse, I've had a little bit of a chance to get to know the students.  Now, I'm looking forward to being in the classroom full time, and getting to know the students even better.

During our time together, I will use this blog to keep you updated on classroom learning, homework and projects, important dates, and school events.  Should you have any questions, please feel free to contact me via classroom phone or district email.

I'm looking forward to finishing the year together!

Warm Regards,

Lauren Gould