The Adventures in Mrs. Ripp's Class

We will also be starting stations in English; 14 minute rotations that the students will work through in their book club groups.  This offers me chancre to give them more independent reading time, as well as targeted instruction challenging them at their level of need.  We are spending the next few days previewing expectations as well as the work they may do in a station.    Our station schedule is as follows

Group 1	Group 2	Group 3	Group 4	Group 5	Group 6
Mini-lesson	IR	Skills Application	Writing (Vocab grammar, language review, free write)	IR/Book Clubs	Writing (Vocab grammar, language review, free write)
Skills Application	Mini-lesson	IR	IR/Book Clubs	IR/Book Clubs	IR/Book Clubs
IR	Skills Application	Mini-Lesson	IR/Book Clubs	Writing (Vocab grammar, language review, free write)	IR/Book Clubs

Group 1	Group 2	Group 3	Group 4	Group 5	Group 6
IR/Book Clubs	IR/Book Clubs	Writing (Vocab grammar, language review, free write)	Skills Application	Mini-lesson	IR
IR/Book Clubs	IR/Book Clubs	IR/Book Clubs	IR	Skills Application	Mini-lesson
Writing (Vocab grammar, language review, free write)	Writing (Vocab grammar, language review, free write)	IR/Book Clubs	Mini-lesson	IR	Skills Application

We have been deep in grade discussion today as throughout the day I have asked students to define the letter grades that I have to give this semester.  I wasn't surprised at the in-depth discussions this prompted, but more at the harshness with which the students defined certain grades.  Each class got a letter to define and then the other classes added their input.  Tomorrow, students will select their grade and then provide reasoning on a sheet for why they belong in that category.  I will then meet with each student to debate the grade with them and we will set goals for the future.

So how did the students define their letter grades?  Behavior seemed to play a large role which lead to many interesting conversations, since we grade behavior separate from part of understanding. These are their thoughts....

To get an "A" in English, a student is:

To get a "B" in English, a student is:

To get a "C" in English, a student is:

To get a "D" in English, a student is:

To get a "F" in English, a student is:

What:  

Wednesday, January 21st, students in Mrs. Ripp’s ENglish class will be documenting what a typical day in the life of a student looks like.

Why:

This is to take part in the #studentlife challenge that is taking place on February 5th, where students around the world will be sharing what a typical day looks like for them via social media.  This challenge was created to highlight what a typical day in the life of a child around the world may look like and build understanding of the world.  

How:

Students will use their devices to take pictures throughout their day from when they wake up to when they go to bed and save them on their device.  On February 5th, we will create blog posts to showcase a day in the life of them, this way students do not have to have a social media account to participate.

Safety:

We will discuss safety and appropriateness of the types of pictures students may take and share and I will monitor, as always, all content before it is shared with the world.  Also, any student who does not have permission to have their photo on the internet will be notified and precautions taken.

Where:

This initiative will take place on Twitter, Kidblog, Instagram and any other social media platform that schools have access to using the #studentlife hashtag.  

Devices:

Anything that can take a picture will be allowed.  Students will then email their image to themselves to use in their blog posts.  If a child does not have a device, they will be buddied up with someone who does and they can share images.  

Questions?

Contact Mrs. Ripp psripp@oregonsd.net