Learning, Laughter, and Love in Middle School English

It's that time that always seemed so far away-the time when my first born is getting ready to leave for college. He just received his dorm assignment, and my heart sank.  He was assigned to a TRIPLE.  He will share his room with two other students (and still have the same size room as someone assigned to a double). It's also not the dorm I wanted him to get.  I immediately turned on the helicopter mode.  I had to fix this and fix it fast!  How will  he survive with two roommates?  Where will he study?  Where will he put his things?  I contacted the housing department and explained that my son had requested a double, not a triple.  The young man explained that there are no guarantees in assignments...blah blah blah.  I was pretty upset but maintained my cool.  When my son came home, I told him he had received a triple.  His response, "Oh.  What time's dinner?" I am embarrassed to share the above story with you, b...

It's summer!  I don't have to wake up at 5:30 (although unfortunately, I still do)!  So how have I spent my first week of vacation?  On Monday, I met my best friend and colleague at Starbucks to work on revising our Essential Learning Outcomes and create formative assessments for each one!  I loved every second (yes, I know I am weird).  In four hours,. we accomplished so much.  It was especially nice to do this right after school got out, when the year was still fresh in our minds.  On Tuesday, I attended our district's Achievement Summit. This was a day well-spent.  Several teachers from my school, as well as our amazing principal, attended.  The last hour was spent setting goals and brainstorming ideas for the upcoming school year.  Wednesday, I met my best friend and colleague at Starbucks again to continue our work from Monday. Thursday I had to meet with administration about the master schedule. In between all of this, I have been ...

Last week I attended an all day meeting with my fellow English department chairs.  As a team, we created goals for our department for the upcoming year.  It was a great day! One of the benefits of these kinds of meetings is the informal sharing we do among ourselves.  One teacher shared a new technology she was using in her classroom that not only engaged students and reviewed important content, it REQUIRED them to collaborate with their team members.  Of course, I tried it the very next day and was so glad that I did! Here's the scoop: 1) It's called Quizlet Live (new from Quizlet).  Teachers can create their own questions and answers, or they can use an already created set.  Images and audio may be added. 2) The teacher shares the join code with all students, and each student joins the game by entering the code, as well as his name. 3)  The computer immediately places students into groups which are projected onto the screen.  Each grou...

Today one of my students came in and said, "Mrs. Karney, I made up a riddle!"  Of course I wanted to hear it!  It was too good not to share~  I tweeted it, had him share it with the class, and shared it with the entire staff.  Here it is: What has a body but no soul? What uses hooks but does not fish? What argues but does not talk? Answer-An argumentative essay! I love my students!

My amazing student teacher will be leaving us next Thursday.  When she told the kids today, they let out a collective groan.  Poor kids will be stuck with me after that!   As we read  The Giver , she had the students take notes on various aspects of Jonas's community-religion, occupations, education, etc.  They also read several articles about real "Utopian" communities.  As the final project, students had to create their own Utopian Community in groups.  She gave them numerous options including: creating a video. a Prezi, a Google slide show, or a poster .  Students were so engaged in this project today that I jokingly said to her, "We could go to Starbucks and come back, and they wouldn't even notice that we left!"  Monday, students will present their communities to the class, and the class will vote on the "best" place to live!  Finally, students were assigned an argumentative about why their community is superior ...

I forgot my Paypal password last week.  While trying to reset it, I was asked the security question: "Who was your favorite teacher?" I typed in three different names and none were right!  Favorite teacher?  How could I have picked just one ?  It could have been any of the following: Mrs. Whitlock- My third-grade teacher at La Paloma Elementary.  I idolized this woman.  She was "groovy".  Not only did I master my times tables like a boss, she let us listen to Led Zeppelin on rainy days and keep a pet spider in the terrarium. Mr. Sherman- My fourth and fifth-grade teacher at La Paloma Elementary.  This was my first male teacher.  He was hilarious, loved sports, and loved teaching.  He brought in a Pong table so that we could have a Pong tournament before the holidays.   Mrs. McKee- My seventh-grade English teacher at Valley Middle School.  This woman was like my second grandmother.  She was so kind and nurtur...

Over the past few years, I have been rethinking some of my classroom rules and expectations.  I always thought that it was important that students  sit up straight in their chairs with both feet on the ground After all, that is what I did in school!  I also remember hating it.  It felt like being strapped into an airplane seat for six hours straight.  Today I looked around my classroom and noticed a change. The "comfy" chair On the floor On the table   Few of them were sitting up straight in their seats with both feet on the ground.  One student was lying across the table, another was sitting in my "comfy" chair, and another was lying across the tables!   Students were reading a play, and every single one of them was engaged in what we were doing. They read  their lines with enthusiasm; some of them even adopted accents!  They looked comfortable and happy! This is my Read 180, so I have fewer students and more room....