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Monday, September 30, 2013

The Six Traits

You might not know this about me, but I'm a little bit obsessed with the Six Traits.

Last year, I was introduced to the Six Traits of Writing, a framework for teaching quality writing... and instantly loved the catchy "VOICES" acronym and related writing strategies.  I began to implement these strategies in my classroom right away and yes, of course, I created a related Pinterest board.  Since then, I have read the official Six Traits book and researched how this model could help my middle school students become better writers.  

The Six Traits of Writing are voice (tone or style), organization (structure), ideas (content), conventions (mechanics), excellent word choice (using exciting words), and sentence fluency (rhythm and flow).  These writing focus areas have a prominent place on the bulletin board in my classroom, where I plan to post the strategies one by one throughout the year.

The Six Traits apply to the English classroom most obviously, but there are implications for each of the other subjects as students complete projects, write responsive or formal essays, and think critically about the content.  This Wednesday I presented a Six Traits professional development workshop for the middle school staff.  Most of the other middle school teachers aren't English instructors, so we focused on implementing the Six Traits across the curriculum.  It was a great time of sharing, brainstorming, and working on aligning our evaluations with the Six Traits.  I absolutely loved seeing my colleagues working together in content-area teams to discuss how they could see the Traits come alive in their classrooms.  I'm eager to see how the Six Traits continue to influence our teaching over the course of this school year!

Saturday, September 21, 2013

Happy Autumnal Equinox!

After an introductory unit in Geography 7 that included a study of the seasons, we HAD to celebrate the Autumnal Equinox!  Basically, that means that this weekend marks the beginning of fall. :)

And since every good celebration involves food, so did ours!  Here are some snapshots of the students icing their circular sugar cookies - to represent the sun and the earth, the key players in the equinox.



We're off to a yummy start to the school year!

Saturday, September 14, 2013

Month at a Glance: September

The September days are flying by - we are already halfway through the month and the days are beginning to feel more and more like fall!

Here's September at a glance:

September 2:  New student orientation
September 3:  Opening ceremony and first day of school!
September 9:  Parent Teacher Fellowship
September 16-20:  Spiritual Emphasis Week
September 17:  "Chrysalis" (middle school) and HS small groups begin
September 18:  First-ever Impact Day (service to our local community)
September 20:  Middle School "Grillin'" (barbecue and games)
September 21-22:  Pottery market in town
September 22:  Basel "Run to the Beat" Race - I'm running a 10K!
September 23:  English 6 class begins reading Number the Stars

More stories and pictures to come.  Thanks for praying!

Sunday, September 8, 2013

Back into the Swing of Things!

Three weeks ago, I arrived back in Germany to my new apartment (empty), my classroom (packed with my apartment stuff), and a lot of work ahead!  It has been a busy three weeks of moving and setting up the apartment... on top of spending time with new and old friends, lesson planning, and beginning the school year.  I'm so blessed by the willingness of others to help with our move and offer encouragement in the beginning of this new school year.

Thanks, friends, for your patience in hearing from me again!  In the midst of all of this transition, our phone and internet service was accidentally cancelled - twice.  Hopefully, that will be working again in the next few days, so then I will be able to update you more often.

I so appreciate your prayers for the beginning of this year as I continue to figure out my weekly routine, establish connection with new students and co-workers, and seek new opportunities God provides for me this year.

As our Academic Dean said during All-Staff Conference: "We can expect great things from God, but we can't expect Him to do exactly the same great things."  I'm filled with anticipation thinking about what He might do this year - and trusting that He will work in His way and His timing!

BFA Opening Ceremony (You can find my friend's blog about it here)

Delivering poppyseed muffins to our new German neighbors!

New apartment from the outside!