Last day of exams went off without a hitch; only a few students missed who will need to make up in January. My goal is to spend the rest of this morning and afternoon finishing grading so I can go home and enjoy two glorious weeks off with my family and new vacuum cleaner (yes, I’m pretty sure Santa is bringing me a vacuum – and I am super psyched).
Some of my higher-level students have begun trying to use more advanced vocabulary in their writing, sometimes to an effect other than the one they intended. For example, one of my boys was writing about “preserving through the tough times.” I think he meant “persevering”, but his guess wasn’t that far off. It’s also funny how often they misuse “of” for “have”, like “people could of reconsidered, but…” But I suppose a lot of people mess that one up; I can’t be too hard on my tenth graders. Overall their scores have improved loads since the last common assessment – still a low passing rate, but I now have 5 or 6 kids passing in each class instead of one, and many of the rest are now getting 69% and 57% instead of getting 37% or 23%. We are improving slowly, but we are improving! What a nice way to end the semester.
Merry Christmas, dear friends!
And for your viewing pleasure, a prezi on the End of the World.
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