Teachers,

I'm in the process of linking all of my PDFs, so any handout that I've previously linked here for my students will be available to you. I still have them in this file that I use to build the website, so it's just a matter of creating new links. Give me a week or so, and you'll be able to find any of them and print them from the page called All PDFs.

Also, I have already activated the link to each individual week of homework, for first semester and for second semester...just in case you're interested. It might give you a clearer picture of how the actual year plays out for me. The only pages I still have are the tenth grade ones, so that's what I'm sharing. The dates will not be accurate, and most of them, of course, will be from last year...but again...just in case you want to get a clearer picture of how my school year runs.

I did start this year differently, as I discussed this summer. I asked my students to write a letter of introduction, and I did the literary analysis work paired with Indiana Jones. It was all intertwined, and I found that the letter of introduction changed our relationship, heightened our ability to bond quickly. Even in the little time I had with my students this year, it was VERY hard to leave them because I had already fallen for them. Those letters were a big part of that.

There was an added bonus, too. (There isn't ever a subtracted bonus, so why be repetitive and redundant?) The bonus was that our work on writing broadened my focus in those first few weeks. I did get to film analysis before I left, but we also had a chance to study grammar in "The Sea Devil." We looked closely at a couple of paragraphs of "The Sea Devil" to help us study how to add concrete detail to our letters of introduction. I was feeling very efficient, teaching all of the language arts through one piece.

And I'm still working on that rubric I talked about this summer. Given my new position, it's more important than ever, so I'm making it "perfect."

Please feel free to email me if you have any questions or comments. I will love to hear from you.

Sincerely,
Ayn Grubb
23 September, 2007

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