Weekly overview, Sept. 24

Part One - Weekly Update

Part Two - Some Helpful Suggestions (email homework relates to this reading).

I. What’s going on in class this week in LASS7 Rodgers:

Class Website

Always review the weekly schedule on the class website.

Projects/Units tab

1. If you miss any notebook entries, please refer to the projects/units tab - Notebook TOC. 
2. Also on the projects/units tab Look out for the Roman Unit page that is taking shape, 
3. and the Stargirl page also taking shape. 
4. Important links for each unit will also appear in the weekly calendar.

Notebooks will be collected this week, five or six a day in a random manner until all notebooks are graded. Grades for five key entries, will be awarded - two for SS7. The notebook will be graded as a whole as a major writing category grade in LA7

SS7 - Beginning the Roman Unit: Review of foundations of Rome - Etruscans, Greeks, Republican government, Patricians and  Plebians, Senate and Assemblies, Equestrian  Class, Roman Censor, 12 Tablets, Civil Rights. Punic Wars. Our unit will then jump to the collapse of the Republic next week, followed by the Julius Caesar debate. We will survey key emperors, and major shifts in the empire, before examining some of its later weaknesses, division and Fall of the West. Along the way, we will examine the religions of the day, look at the birth of Christianity and its eventual rise in the East and West. We will also look at powerful women’s issues, concrete and Roman Architecture, trade, how the Parthians (Persians) viewed Rome, and examine the life of Cicero. We will develop a class wide historical atlas of the rise and fall of Rome, discuss the canonization of the New Testament and cover early Christian schisms. Along the way, we will evaluate some great Sword and Sandal film classic clips from the 1950s and 1960s - Spartacus, Ben Hur, I Claudius (BBC), and Cleopatra to examine the accuracy of some common conceptions of Roman History, along with a brief discussion of Shakespeare’s play, Julius Caesar.

LA7

We will continue reading the in class novel, Stargirl. Students will receive directions on our first speaking contest to take place the week of October 2 in class based on the completion of our outside Realist Fiction novel assigned the end of August. The final round of the contest will take place on Wednesday, October 4, in the library and judged by Mr. R, Ms. King, and Ms. Merrill. We will continue writing entries in our notebook based on Stargirl that will be used to help us develop a personal narrative piece and a record keeping system for our second class pocket book that will start at the end of the week. Details to come.

(homework question sent in email follows from this section below):

II. Some helpful suggestions 

for completing assignments and getting help: A couple more suggestions to doing your best.

Give me Five!

1. When you think you are finished with an assignment:

• Reread the directions to make sure you did everything needed to fully complete the assignment. Finish what you did not cover.
• Reread your work. 
• Correct any mistakes.
• Add details that you know you can add that will improve the assignment.
• Fix any parts of  the assignment where you know you cut corners or did not do very well on. 

2. Put a star next to your best part of the assignment.

1. At the bottom of the front page of the assignment, write down any questions that you would like to ask about the assignment before turning the assignment in.

Things to do before starting an assignment

1. Find the listing for the assignment on the website. Refer to any in class directions or handouts.
2. Read the directions completely. Highlight any directions that need rereading for better understanding.
3. Gather ALL of the necessary materials before starting the assignment.
4. Do all of the required reading before attempting to reply to the activity prompt, questions, or activity sequence. (Usually the reading will make the directions much clearer).

How to ask for help 

1. Always bring your work in progress to class so the teacher or friend can see where you need help.
2. Reread the directions.
3. Always sketch out or plan what you think you are bring asked to do if you are not completely sure. Sometimes this step will help you understand the directions.
4. Highlight specific elements of the directions that you need help with. 
5. Email a friend and/or the teacher if at home with your specific questions.
6. If in class, 

• ask a neighbor what they are doing with this assignment during the appropriate work session.
• ask the teacher the specific questions that you have.
• Make sure you get the help you need from the teacher before you walk away. Never walk away if you do not understand after asking for help.

7. If you still need help, then schedule additional time to meet with the teacher - recess, lunch, after school, or during advisory.

1. If you need more time, you can ALWAYS turn in an assignment (does not apply to quizzes or tests) late, with a small penalty, if you need to redo part of or all of an assignment. 

• BUT if you can show a good effort of the work, the penalty may be waived for one day in order to make corrections. Always bring work to class in order to get help with good feedback.
• It is always better, for your own complete learning and class performance to redo and do an assignment better, that to turn in a poor or misunderstood effort. The grading penalty is usually less than an improved assignment.

Somewhere in between: Notebooks: Standards based Grading Categories, versus Total Points

This week students in LASS7 will complete a number of different process orientated assignments: in SS7 - The final world map, two geography themed quizzes, the notebook (first assessment), and artifact research and writing.; in LA7 - students will receive a first assessment on the notebook. I stress process sequences at the beginning of the year so that students understand that this class is not about turning in a bunch of worksheets, or jumping through hoops to get a grade. The advantage of the LASS7 core curriculum is to allow students to learn the set of processes that make up units.

Looking at the Notebook table of contents, it is clear to see that it is used 2 - 3 times a week for all variety of elements that will be used to complete each assignment in class. The notebook builds background information - both personal and based on sources - through a variety of activities - brainstorming, organizing ideas with charts and outlines, and sharing ideas with classmates in order to enrich each student's understanding. At least once weekly, students are required to write a "Quick Write" for a fixed amount of time about the various big ideas and themes that are covered in class. About every other week, students will go through a harvesting activity, and find best sentences, great ideas, and great words, that each student has used in notes and quick writes. These harvesting sessions will be shared with partners, on bulletin boards, as well as randomly sharing their ideas by reading a "quotable" passage of their own selection from their writings.

It is a puzzle to some how teachers grade a notebook. Imagine a rubric to grade such a collection of writings: 1. It is a record of students daily involvement in the personal and class discussion of several ideas. 2. Students must engage with these ideas and show their thinking, which is helped through regular paired sharing and class wide scavenger hunts for other student ideas. 3.  Students will regularly engage in discussion on these different entries.  4. The Notebook Process also records several developing steps of a theme or concept that culminates in assignments that may combine 3 - 4 entries. 5. The recording of details as an observer of video clips, online research, response to in class readings, notes from in class presentations by both the teacher and students.

For several years I graded every single assignment to generate points, that were totalled to produce a simple percentage grade. It is a very simple and easy to understand method. After examining Standards Based grading for the past two year, I feel that moving to grading based on weighted categories, where each category has a very specific rubric (based on the categories standards) offers a happy medium with more traditional grading. Please read my grading categories link:

For more on Mr. Rodgers Grading Categories (to do email homework): Read HERE

I do not use content categories, nor do I use categories such as Homework, Classwork, Tests, and Projects. Each of these TYPES of Assignments are embedded in the Category standards.

If you have any questions, or would like to make suggestions, please email me at my school email address.

Dealing with Interruptions to the things that really matter to each of us...

As we get older, we find that the extra time we need to do the personally rewarding things, that extra time starts to disappear. Even as 7th graders, sports, chores, tutoring, evening classes, homework, and weekend tournaments eat into that play time we used to have that may have evolved into drawing or writing for fun, listening to music, having time for a hobby. One of the great secrets of many writers, artists, musicians, and star athletes, is making time for those personal pursuits is a necessity, but it must be balanced out with all of the other daily pressures that we have. Finding this balance is what makes each of us a complete person.

In class, we read a short essay by Sarah Ruhl about her struggle to keep writing while taking care of three very young children. Her struggle is not unlike our own. We read this essay in class for LA7 this week.

Please read Sarah Ruhl’s Essay HERE

Here is short review of Sarah Ruhl’s essay, “On Interruptions” that we read in class for LA7: ChicagoNow

Getting help from Mr. Rodgers AND using vital resources to succeed in class.

Throughout the entire year, Mr. Rodgers is focused on student organization. Over several years students have needed extra support in the areas of organization, and Mr. Rodgers has always been there.

Students are highly encouraged to advocate for their success by Mr. Rodgers. Many students are very successful personal advocates, but other students are encouraged to have a friend with them to help them advocate if they feel nervous about being a self advocate. It is an essential step to maturity that students address their issues. Of course parents should be involved, but maybe as coaches in the beginning in order to allow students to build confidence in dealing with school issues.

In the event that students have sustained difficulties, or fail to do their best in class, Mr. Rodgers will contact parents readily, and parents are also encouraged to contact Mr. Rodgers if they feel that their son or daughter is not doing their best. At times, our Counselor, Julie Auslander, will also be involved, especially if a students is having issues in other classes, or has continued difficulties from sixth grade or throughout the seventh grade year.

Below is a list of how organization is supported, as well as some of the key guidelines for staying organized and doing well in class.

1. The use of the LASS7 notebook reinforces labelling each entry with title, date, and entering entries in the Table of Contents - Notebooks are checked about every three weeks, besides constant teacher monitoring of correct format during writing activities.

1a. Students must print their first and last name, the title of the assignment, the due date, and the class the assignments is for at the top of each assignment that is turned in.

2. The class website is shown in class at least 3 days each week. The website is the OXYGEN for all assignments, supplies, and due dates. Students must review the website in class several times each week. Students must ALWAYS use the class website in order to review important information.

3. Google Classroom will be used only when assignments are required to be typed. Most assignments will be completed in the Notebook, or on binder paper.

3a. OXYGEN PLUS - Unless specified, students must bring the handwritten or printed page to class when the assignment is due. Assignments left un-printed on a home computer, or in the student's Google Drive will be considered late until they are printed. If students want to use a computer to do homework, then they MUST make sure the home printer is working before they start their work. All assignments that students elects to do on a computer must be printed at home. The Library printer is often not reliable and should be counted on to print assignments (it is merely provided as a convenience).

4. Email is the best way to reach Mr. Rodgers. Usually, Mr. Rodgers will not respond to emails after 7:30 pm at night. Emails sent after this time will typically be answered in class, either with the students, or in class as a whole, since many emails pose great questions that can help the entire class.

4a. Emails from parents about student progress are very important

4b. Emails will also be sent to students and parents on a regular basis (More OXYGEN). Students must check email every day in order to get class reminders and helpful suggestions. Email will also be sent to individual students to schedule meetings during recess, lunch, or Advisory as reminders for missing or late assignments, as well as suggestions for improvement.

4c. Parents are encouraged to email Mr. Rodgers with questions about communications, emails, and student progress. I am happy to return your email.

In the subject line - type your son or daughter's full name and your question or concern in the first line of the text.

5. Advisory Classes (Major OXYGEN boost) will be held once a week on Thursdays for 56 minutes. Advisory is the best time for students to meet and have in depth conversations with Mr. Rodgers to deal with missing work, or to go over assignments in order to understand how an assignment was assessed and the grade was earned.  Students may also schedule shorter meetings during before school, recess, lunch, and immediately after school, barring other duties or responsibilities.

5a. Organization clinic during Advisory. When students are having issues getting in work, Mr. Rodgers will engage in a student binder cleaning with the students. This search usually yields completed, yet missing assignments (the most common place I find "lost" work), as well as partially completed work. After an Organization clinic, parents will be contacted about work that was found, and what needs to do to get back on track.