Little Miz English : 2013

Monday, December 30, 2013

Holiday Lunch Min2WinIt Games!

As we have with the other major holidays (Halloween and Thanksgiving), the SBOs conducted Holiday min2winIt games for the lunches on our last day before the break. Check out these pictures of the activities.

Check out the Video:
Jaxon demonstrating the Ruldof Nose


Rudolf Noses!

Marshmallow Wreath Toss- Watch out Carter!

Santa Races!

Toilet Paper Snowmen!

Fun with Compound Sentences!

We have been studying how to identify and how to make compound, complex, and compound-complex sentences. First, we practiced making the different types of sentences by dancing around the room in different dance styles. Students were given a card that told them what part of the sentence they were (the independent, dependent, or punctuation part). They had just a few minutes to dance around and match up with other cards to form the three different kinds of sentences. This was a fun and crazy way to practice the sentence structures. Naturally 5th period insisted on having a dance off to see who was the best performer. The winners were Cooper, Alema, Haley, and Marissa. You can see their great dance skills in the following clips along with my other classes.

Hawaii 5-0

Chariots of Fire

I like to Move It 1

I Like to Move It 2

Stayin' Alive

Complex Sentence Example

Compound Complex Sentence Example

Dance Off Videos

Stayin' Alive Dance Off

Chariots of Fire Dance Off

Hawaii 5-0 Dance Off

How Santa Got His Job

As a final project for our Compound/Complex Sentence Unit, we read the book How Santa Got His Job. This book details all the previous jobs Santa had before becoming Santa. All of his previous jobs helped him to develop the skills he needs to be Santa, such as staying up late, slipping in and out of chimneys without getting all black, and developing a very round belly. After reading the book, students worked in groups to write their own stories about other characters and how they got their jobs. They had to include 5 compound sentences, 4 complex sentences, and 2 compound-complex sentences. See if you can identify those sentences in their "dramatic readings."

The groups working on their projects whilst listening to Holiday music

How the Easter Bunny got his job #1

How Mother Nature got her job #1

How Batman got his job

How Cupid got his job #1

How the Tooth Fairy got her job #1

How the Easter Bunny got his job #2

How the Easter Bunny got his job #3

How Mother Nature got her job #2

How the Geico Gecko got his job

How Aphrodite got her job

How the leprechaun got his job

How the Minions got their job

How Cupid got his job #2

Sock Drive Update!

WOW!!! Way to go COLTS! We ended up collecting nearly 3,000 pairs of socks that we took to the Road Home. Great job! Mrs. Park's class was our winner! They donated over 400 pairs of socks! On the following Tuesday, Mrs. Park's TA class came down to the faculty room where the SBOs gave them a round of applause and served them donuts and hot chocolate. Here are some pictures from our sock drive.

Friday, December 6, 2013

All I Want for Christmas is SOCKS!!!

Our School is doing a service project where we are collecting socks of all shapes and sizes! We will be donating these socks to a local homeless shelter. With all of these frigged temperatures, people need to bundle up and need warm socks! So, please, please, please donate some socks! When you bring your socks, give them to your TA Rep who will give them to the SBOs. We are keeping a tally of socks for each TA class and the class with the most will win donuts and hot chocolate!!


Have a Colt Christmas!

You have until December 13th to donate your socks!!!!! Please no socks with holes or stains.

Here is a little video the SBOs put together to encourage you to donate some socks:

All I Want for Christmas is Socks!!!!!!

Wednesday, November 27, 2013

Informational Picture Books

This year I decided to have my students create picture books rather than have them write informational essays. I assigned several classes different topics. My first period collaborated with fifth grade students in Wales who were reading about the Stuarts. So my students researched topics from the Stuart era and created picture books they shared with their little Welsh buddies. My second period created picture book about different punctuation marks that we would like to share with the students in Brazil and my seventh period created picture books on topics from their Biology class. The rest of my classes chose a topic they were interested in and created an Alphabet Book about that topic.

Here is a link to my class webpage where we have posted the picture book files:

Picture Books

You'll need to scroll down to see the file called "Picture Books"

Students working on their picture books

Saturday, November 9, 2013

On Top of the World

      Our school Copper Mountain Middle's theme this year is "A Year of Firsts." In line with that theme, the SBOs (I'm one of their advisers) decided to use the song "On Top of the World" by Imagine Dragons as our theme song for this year. We wanted to instill as sense of school pride. We also picked this song because Imagine Dragons is a Utah band and VERY popular among the teenagers in Utah. At the end of each of our announcements, the SBOs remind the students that they are the very first Colts and they are "on top of the world."

Check Out our SBO music video featuring all of our CMMS SBOs and the advisers!
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NfgFMS4QExY

        Last week we had our first Spirit Week.   We started the week off with Mix it Up Monday where students wore their clothes all mixed up (i.e. two different shoes, their shirts inside out, etc.). Tuesday was Twin Day! Students/Faculty dressed the same as someone else at the school. Ms Putnam and I decided to match each other. She tore her Achilles on our first day back to school during our faculty "Amazing Race" competition. She has had to wear a boot for several months now. I borrowed my dad's boot from his ankle surgery to make sure we were definitely twins! I must say I now have so much more empathy for Ms Putnam as it was almost impossible to walk in the boot! I didn't even attempt to go up the stairs! She's a trooper!

Gavin and Jaxon were twins!

      Wednesday was our Colt Colors day because we had our "Minute to Win It" assembly. If you have ever watch the game show you know that the idea is for contestants to complete task in a minute or less. Some of our competitions were tuna bowling, junk in the trunk, naughty noodles, and Vaseline Nose. The teachers competed against the students. In the first assembly, the teachers creamed the students! But, the students redeemed themselves in the second assembly by beating the teachers. The losers had to dress up in animal costumes and dance on stage to the popular song "What does the fox say?" The SBOs and Mr. Vickery (the other adviser) did an awesome job!
   Throwback Thursday was next. Students and teachers dressed up in clothes from past decades. We had poodle skirts, hippie bell bottoms, and neon eighties colors!
    We ended the week with crazy sock day on Friday. Throughout the week, TA classes participated in service projects where they heart attacked our staff members and each TA class has created a scrapbook page that will be put in our school's scrapbook so all the future Colts will be able to see the students from our school's first year.
As SBOs we will keep our school's spirit going by having several more lunchroom activities and service projects throughout the year. I'm very excited to be a Colt this year and we are definitely ON TOP OF THE WORLD!


Ms Putnam and I as twins!

Tuesday, October 29, 2013

Thursday, October 24, 2013

Awesome 12

http://youtu.be/084mIpYgeDc

Awesome 11

http://youtu.be/k_bvPCQXDeE

Awesome 10

http://youtu.be/1MpoySNNHQE

Awesome 8

http://youtu.be/EnjB2s7YaSI

Awesome 7

http://youtu.be/4jpy-pNEy30

Awesome 6

http://youtu.be/ndwCRy52IhQ

Awesome 5

http://youtu.be/c2SAyNPfoAQ

Awesome 4

http://youtu.be/SY6YdbGpn3M

Awesome 3

http://youtu.be/-87O3v8EnYI

Awesome 2

http://youtu.be/G3r3l2pgWiU

Tuesday, August 27, 2013

To my little Copper Mountain Colts:

Dear Colts,

Welcome to ninth grade! This is a big year for you. This year counts towards your high school graduation. It may seem like its just another year at the middle school, but this year is really your first year of high school. You have new expectations. No longer are you a lost little seventh grader or a coasting eighth grader. Now you are an accountable ninth grader, and I will be treating you as the freshman you are. I will not coddle you like a seventh grader or nag you like an eighth grader. The academic and behavior expectations have been raised. This may be a shock for some of you, but it will be a good shock. It’s best to learn reality now than later when the consequences are much higher.

We will be implementing Standards-Based Grading in a greater capacity in this class than in most of your classes. That means that your entire grade will come from mastery of the standards. Homework, behavior, and assignments will not count towards your final grade (they will count towards your citizenship-which now accumulates throughout high school like your GPA). Homework and assignments are your opportunity to experiment and practice without consequence and fear. Take advantage!!! You may think, “Sweet, I can sit back and do nothing in this class and then pass the standards.” CAUTION: Practice is the only way to master something!!!! Those of you who play sports, a musical instrument, or participate in any hobby know this already. Don’t fall into a procratinative pit. Show up to class, be prepared, participate, and take risks. The rewards will automatically reflect in your mastery of the standards and your grade and you will learn life skills that will serve you throughout college and your future careers.

Along with a new way of grading, we will have a global focus this year. What? This isn’t a Geography class? We will have the opportunity to digitally interact with students in different countries. You will be expected to be respectful and empathetic with those students and their culture. You will be able to improve your written communication skills as well as your collaborative skills. You will be able to make new friends and learn from those who have very different lives and school experiences from yours. As you work with your classmates and students from around the globe, remember, “You are no better than anyone else, but you are just as good.” Tolerance begins with perspective and we will look at many different perspectives this year, including your own.

So, let’s get started!

Tell me what your thoughts are about working with students in other countries. What are your expectations, fears, and anticipations? What questions do you have about this class or about Miss Ewell?

Follow the posting format: Period#FirstNameLastInitial

If there is more than one of you with the same name in a class period, follow the following format: Period#FirstNameFirstThreeLettersofLastName.

Sincerely,

Miss Ewell

Saturday, August 10, 2013

And Finally the Favela Post!

It took me a bit to get this post because I wanted to make a movie instead of adding photos. So, it’s a bit out of order. One of our activities in Rio was to tour a Favela. Favelas are shantytowns where the people just made their homes out of any kind of material. They are controversial because the people in Favelas do not pay taxes. There are very poor conditions because they don’t pay taxes. They do not have hospitals, garbage removal, sewage facilities, etc. As you can see from the video, the electrical is crazy! They just put wires wherever. Favelas are named after the plant that grows in them. As we were walking through the favela, we heard the song “People like us” by Kelly Clarkson playing in one of the houses. I thought it was fitting and decided to put the picture to the song. Erica and Liza took the pictures. The Favela we toured was the largest in Rio.

Here is the link for the video:

Favela Movie

Educational Visits

On my last day in Jamaica, Mrs. Denis (a Senior Education Officer for the Ministry of Education Region 6) took me on a tour of Ministry 6’s office, Spanish Town High School and an elementary school. I met some amazing people at the ministry office, including one of the accountants in charge of checking the school budgets.

The best part of the Ministry of Education Region 6 was Mrs. Denis! She is an amazing woman! She is respected and admired by everyone who works with her. I witnessed her putting out fires, handling conflicts, organizing events, and directing a conference. She is extremely thoughtful! When she knew my friend and I were going to switch vehicles with her, she made sure we had cold drinks and snacks. She always made sure she had dressy shoes in her car and was always dressed very professional. Her answers to my questions were educated and very innovative. She made the most yummy chicken I have every had. I feel so blessed to have met her and to be able to learn from her.

One of my educational heroes! Mrs. Denis and I at Port Royal.


The accounting department at Region 6

Mrs. Denis' office

Mrs. Denis took me to one of the regions best elementary schools. The elementary was closed because it was summer, but a custodian let us in and a teacher was there and she answered my questions. The school has a beautiful campus that is very inviting. The teacher knew lots of resources and strategies. She was the reading specialist who worked with students in a pull out program (sort of like our resource at the elementary level). She has seen a lot of improvement with students’ reading. She also helps parents to know what they can do to help the students. She works very close with the teachers and administration. When she is unable to assist a student, that student is sent to a special education school. She had a brightly painted yellow classroom (it was being painted while we were there) with only one large chalkboard. But, she has obviously spent hours making manipulative to help her students. The school had very good test scores and was a school of choice. I was very impressed with it.

After the ministry, Mrs. Denis arranged for me to spend some time with the Dean of Discipline at Spanish Town High School. It was registration day and it was caotic to say the least. The DofD was bombarded with parents asking her questions. She explained to a couple of parents that their child would not be able to return to school until he/she had completed a counseling session with the parents because they had received too many discipline marks. The dean told me she had been a teacher for a few years and then decided she wanted to get to the bottom of things in regards to discipline. When a student gets sent to her (usually from a teacher), she tries to find out why the student is acting out. She even makes home visits to see what is going on at home. There was a large gang problem at Spanish HS when she first became the dean. She worked with local police, local gang leaders, and surrounding high schools to get rid of the problem. She said she was able to break up the students who were the gang leaders by taking some other students from the surrounding high schools as a swap program. Her assignments are not totally defined so she has a huge responsibility to parents, student, and teachers. She is suppose to meet with the principal often but usually is not included in most administrative meetings. I was extremely impressed with the dean and the work she is doing to make the school better. She said they are still working to improve their low-test scores and one of her biggest concerns is how loud and busy the high school is because it is right in the center of the city. While I was there I had to ask her to repeat her comments a couple of times because large trucks were driving by and I couldn’t hear above the traffic.

Education in Jamaica may be behind the US as far as technology and resources , but there are amazing educators like Mrs. Denis, the dean at Spanish Town HS, and the reading specialist at the elementary who make education valuable. In all of my travels this summer, I have learned that the teacher makes the greatest difference. Not technology, not facilities, and not the culture. Teachers are a students greatest resource for knowledge and motivation.

Wednesday, August 7, 2013

The Ministry of Education in Jamaica

The Ministry of Education in Jamaica

Because I’m an education nerd, I always try to visit a school when I travel to different countries. I think observing schools is the best way to learn the culture of a place because schools are where culture is passed on. I was so lucky because my friend’s mother-in-law, Evette Denis, is a senior education officer for the Ministry of Education Region 6. While in Jamaica, I was able to attend a principals back-to-school conference, hear the Minister of Education speak and tour the region 6 offices, a high school, and an elementary school. Here are some things I learned during my time in Jamaica.

Children in Jamaica actually start attending early childhood programs at age 3. Most children are able to read before they start official school at age 6. When I was interviewing Mrs. Denis, she remarked that this is the best part of education in Jamaica. The country does a good job in supporting early childhood education. This was evidenced to me at the conference I attended because there were lots of resources for early childhood education.

Children can either attend a public or a private school. Private schools are better but are very expensive and most parents cannot afford it (see my earlier post on the economy). Jamaica is currently not zoned for schools, which means students do not have to attend the school that is nearest them. Schools are able to set their own requirements to accept students, though the ministry is working hard to make sure schools do not use an entrance exam and look at things like enrollment numbers instead.

After Early Childhood is Primary School. At the end of the primary school (grade 6) students take one of two exams: The Technical Entrance Exam for the technical schools or Grade Nine Achievement test for the public/private High Schools. The technical schools focus on skills such as carpentry, mechanics, and sewing.

High schools typically go to the 11^th grade. Some students then choose to go on to Tertiary schools that offer grades 12 and 13 which help to prepare students for college.

Most schools and even the Ministry is behind as far as technology goes. Most schools have at least one computer but most classrooms do not have a computer and most schools do not have a computer lab. As a teacher, I have no idea how I would function without a computer in my classroom, let alone a computer lab and classroom computers (and recently iPad labs). Everything is recorded by hand. In Jamaica, when a person is hired for a job he has a file that contains his birth certificate, school records, and employment history. So, if the teacher takes a sick day, has a baby, changes schools, etc., it is written in their file. Each region of the ministry (there are 6 total) holds the files for the employees in their region. The staff who works at the regional ministry have their files held at the National Ministry office. When a teacher is nearing retirement, the regional ministry notifies them and has them fill out the pension papers. Then the regional ministry sends the teachers file to the pension office in Kingston who then is in charge of the teacher’s pension. Again, this is all done by hand and not by computer. When I visited Region 6’s ministry of education offices, I was impressed by the amount of files housed there. The files for individual students are housed at the schools they are currently attending.

A little bit about the organization of the ministry. The ministry is headed by the Minister of Education who is appointed by the prime minister. The current MoE is Reverend the Honorable Ronald Thwaites who became the MoE in 2012. He is a lawyer by profession and has never been a teacher. The national ministry deals with legislation and the regional ministries deal with managing the schools. The ministry is divided into six regions.

Schools are funded by the government, fees, and fundraising. The latter depends highly on the personality of the principal. The principal needs to be dynamic in order to fundraise. This leads to great differences within the schools. Those schools that have lots of fundraising have lots of supplies and those that don’t, go without.

Principals are evaluated by the senior officers of their region (Mrs. Denis is over all of the senior officers for Region 6). The senior officers see that the principals manage their budgets and check their data. If a principal fails an evaluation, he or she will need to create an action plan and if they continue to fail, her or she can be fired (this does not happen very often and ineffective principals are often managing schools).

The principals compile a report (their budget and school data) and give it to the senior officer at the regional ministry who compiles a report that is sent to the national ministry where they compile a yearly report for the minister of education.

The Principals’ Back To School Conference:

The conference was held at a Presbyterian church in Helshire, which is right along the coast. The theme for the conference was “Leadership with a mission developing a culture of performance.” There was a big challenge to principals to make literacy a priority in their schools. Principals were to be literacy instructional leaders. It was mentioned that literacy is not really being addressed at the higher levels and lots of students are still struggling to read. Principals are encouraged to have their teachers create data and to visit all classes during literacy time at least once a year. They call this a “walk-about.” In September, Region 6 (which is the two largest parishes in Jamaica, St. Catherine and Clarendon) will get a literacy coordinator.

The national Ministry of Education’s motto is “Every child can learn, every child must learn.” I saw this posted on several documents and in schools. After the conference I noticed there were more female staff members than male. I only saw one person on his cell phone throughout the meeting. No one had a laptop or tablet. They were all dressed in business attire.

One shocking statistic is that 60-70 percent of Jamaican students are below grade level. Also surprising is that Jamaica does not have a substitute teacher program. When a teacher is gone, classes are either combined or cancelled.

During the conference the minister of education spoke to the principals. First the conference opened with a prayer, the singing of the national anthem and a prayer by the pastor of the church where the conference was held.

The minister stated that the main purpose of the department was to make sure the next generation had a better education to look forward to. He stated that principals have not been using data efficiently. He then talked about how there is a weak connection between the school and home. He encouraged parents to have their children attend Sunday School classes and discussed how many children do not have fathers involved in their lives (some of this sounds like issues in the US). When he first became the minister, 3% of the budget was going to early childhood education. Now 14% is going to early childhood education. Around 20% of the student population falls in the special education category. There is little if any help for those students. They are working to send in officers to identify special education students. Their plan is for 100% proficiency in literacy and 85% proficiency in math by 2014 (sounds a lot like NCLB-and based on my observations, they will have the same complications in meeting that lofty goal!)

The department is trying to shift the focus of the final exams to critical thinking and not memorization (according to teachers I talked with, the exams are basically the same).

56% of schools were deemed inadequate this past year. There were 105 primary schools deemed inadequate. The school year is 190 days. Teachers are paid for 12 months (however, this is still significantly lower than the US who only pays teachers for 9 months). The minister also suggested training for school bus drivers, who have received no training in the past. Most students have to leave at 5am (some at 3am) to get to school by 8am because of the traffic going into Kingston each morning. The minister encouraged zoning (where students go to the school whose boundaries they live in). This will be almost impossible to enforce due to the current set up. There is no way to regulate it.

Building maintenance is an issue with the schools as well as they are old and the budget is very limited. Some schools do not have the water tanks and therefore have no water when it is shut off and have to close school. During the conference it was pointed out that most of the ministry’s resources are being used for a pilot program that puts tablets in classrooms so there is no money left for a lot of building maintenance. One person actually commented that there’s nothing wrong “with the days of crayons and paper” so schools should be content with the supplies they do have.

The ministry is planning to have all teachers certified to teach in 2020. There are a lot of teachers who have not been certified or received any training on teaching. The comment was made that “things in education have to change because society keeps raising expectations for schools.”

How to use your program to hide talking on the phone while the minister is speaking.

The minister of education-sorry it's blurry.

Snazzy shoes for the conference

Tuesday, August 6, 2013

The history of Port Royal

Port Royal

Port Royal was once know as the “wickedest city on earth.” It was home to many pirates and colonists during the 17^th century. It was one of the biggest ports in the Caribbean. On June 7, 1692, the city suffered a tremendous earthquake, which cause two-thirds of the city to fall into the ocean. One of the remaining buildings is half sunk. At least 2,000 people were killed instantly. The town never recovered and was later used as a naval port.

Today it is a small fishing village where you can get some delicious fish! In the little museum there are a few naval items. My favorite was a little trinket from “the battle of Jenkin’s ear.” I looked it up (as the title brought up such questions as “Who was Jenkins? What happened to his ear? Why did his ear lead to a battle?”). The battle was between the British and the Spanish (Spanish Town was the first capital of Jamaica but the capital was changed to Kingston when the British took over as they didn’t want their capital called “Spanish” Town). Robert Jenkins was arrested by the Jamaican government. He claimed the Spanish had cut off his ear. Most people did not believe him and thought his ears were safely hidden under his wig. Whether the British thought it was true or not, they declared war on Spain in 1739.