October 30

October 30

Mr. Janz was in today.

ENGLISH 10

Today students practiced their creative writing skills. We spoke about how these skills will be important at the very least when writing final exams. Students wrote their first piece of creative writing to submit to their new writing portfolios. They also completed their list of types of writing from 'eh' to 'zed' (A to Z).

HUMANITIES 8

Class finished viewing "The Outsiders". With the time left over, we discussed the differences noticed between the novel and the film as well as which medium is best for telling story with depth and thoroughness.

October 29

October 29

Mr. Janz was in today.

ENGLISH 10

This class was the same lesson as the English 10 classes yesterday, October 28.

HUMANITIES 8

In class today we talked about the students' impression of The Outsiders and how it might still be relevant for today's youth. We revisited some of the themes which are important to understand and are still as applicable to life in our society today as when Hinton wrote this novel in 1967.
From there we started viewing the film "The Outsiders" which we will finished tomorrow.

October 28

October 28

Mr. Janz was in today. It was a PLC day with shortened classes.

HUMANITIES 8

Today was "Game Day". Student game design teams kept one member with their game to facilitate game play with other students and answer the teachers questions to assess the team's game. Throughout the class, teams switched out their representative so that everyone had the opportunity to play other teams games.

ENGLISH 10

Class started with chapter reviews for Grandmother Gives Me Some Advice, Tears of a Clown, and Halloween. We discussed whether grandmother was right about Roger and why Roger started treating Arnold with respect.

We then discussed 'what is trauma?', examples of how people deal with trauma, and examples of trauma that Junior has ended so far. Types of trauma brought up included emotional, physical, psychological, and spiritual. Ways people deal with trauma included substance abuse, ignoring it / depression, professional help or help from loved ones, personality changes (such as aggression), and risky lifestyle choices (like BASE jumping or multiple sex partners).

Students received a new worksheet: "Literary Log - Coping with Trauma". The worksheet asks to find examples of Junior's traumatic events, a quote (with page number) showing Junior's reaction to the event, and the student's analysis of why he reacted as he does.

Students were given time to read the two next chapters: Slouching Toward Thanksgiving and My Sister Sends Me an E-mail. Students were asked to complete the first side of the worksheet.

October 27

October 27

Mr. Janz was in today.

ENGLISH 10

This is the same as yesterday's classes: Class started with a review of chapters Rowdy Sings the Blues and How to Fight Monsters. We considered some questions while thinking about the chapters: Why is Rowdy do mad at Junior for going to Reardon? Why did Junior resort to violence when faced with the racist comments from Roger? Why does Roger not respond with violence?

Class then read the next three chapters: Grandmother Gives Me Some Advice, Tears of a Clown, and Halloween. After a brief discussion on what 'culture' is, students had to answer the fourth set of questions for ATDPTI:

1.     What expectations do:

A.     Your parents or guardians have for you?

B.     You have for yourself?

C.     We have as Canadians?

2.     What expectations does Junior have:

a.     From his family?

b.     From his tribe?

c.     About himself?

d.     About his peers at Rearden?

3.     How does culture impact what we expect of ourselves and of others?  Use your answers from above to support your answer.

4.     What is respect? 

5.     How do people earn your respect?

6.     Who do you think Arnold respects the most at this point in the novel?  Why?

HUMANITIES 8

Today was the last in-class day for student design teams to complete their The Outsiders game. TOMORROW IS 'GAME DAY'.

October 26

October 26

Mr. Janz was in today.

HUMANITIES 8

Today was another day for students to build their playable game based on The Outsiders. Tomorrow is the absolutely last in-class day to build the games. Wednesday is "Game Day".

ENGLISH 10

Class started with a review of chapters Rowdy Sings the Blues and How to Fight Monsters. We considered some questions while thinking about the chapters: Why is Rowdy do mad at Junior for going to Reardon? Why did Junior resort to violence when faced with the racist comments from Roger? Why does Roger not respond with violence?

Class then read the next three chapters: Grandmother Gives Me Some Advice, Tears of a Clown, and Halloween. After a brief discussion on what 'culture' is, students had to answer the fourth set of questions for ATDPTI:

1.     What expectations do:

A.     Your parents or guardians have for you?

B.     You have for yourself?

C.     We have as Canadians?

2.     What expectations does Junior have:

a.     From his family?

b.     From his tribe?

c.     About himself?

d.     About his peers at Rearden?

3.     How does culture impact what we expect of ourselves and of others?  Use your answers from above to support your answer.

4.     What is respect? 

5.     How do people earn your respect?

6.     Who do you think Arnold respects the most at this point in the novel?  Why?

October 22

October 22

Mr. Janz was in today.

ENGLISH 10

In today's class, students compared the opening line of Charles Dickens' The Tale of Two Cities to Alexie's allusion on page 50: "And let me tell you, we Indians were the worst of times and those Reardan kids were the best of times."

Following this, class discussed 'stereotypes'. Students discussed stereotyping in sports logos and popular culture while viewing a PowerPoint slide show presenting examples found in professional sports teams and cartoons.

The final part of class was used to continue with the 'Aspects of Identity Assignment'. THIS ASSIGNMENT IS DUE ON TUESDAY, OCTOBER 27.

HUMANITIES 8

Class design teams continued building their games based on The Outsiders.

October 21

October 21

Mr. Janz was in today.

HUMANITIES 8

Today students completed their final quiz on The Outsiders. Following this, we went over the details of their final project: small groups develop and create a board game based on The Outsiders using plot, theme(s), characters, and setting. This class was used to develop the details of how the groups games will play - rules, layout, etc. Each group needed to submit a proposal for the teacher to approve. All students present have had their proposals accepted.
Tomorrow groups will begin the construction of their games.

ENGLISH 10

Class started off by reflecting on Dickens' Tale of Two Cities literary allusion on page 50 of The Absolutely True Diary of a Part-Time Indian. We compared the opening lines of 'Two Cities' and ATDPTI in reference to the assignment started last class ('Aspects of Identity Assignment').
Then we discussed stereotypes. Class viewed a slide show on the use of stereotypes in logos especially those of professional sports teams.

Finally, students were given more time to work on their 'duality of identity' assignment started last class. THIS ASSIGNMENT IS NOW HOMEWORK AND DUE MONDAY.