St. Luke Introduction

Summer 2020

Who’s ready for this year to be over?  2020 has not been good to the world, but we are only half way through, so we must persevere.  I haven’t updated this blog in over a year – it’s always the last on my list of things to do. To be fair, not even on the list. But I was updating my website, and I thought I should really make an effort to blog this month.

Spring semester ended with a whimper, definitely not a bang.  I did get by to see the majority of my homeroom students, and a number of students when they came to pick up their belongings from the school.  I am spending time this summer checking on our house that’s under construction, helping my children get ready for return to college (well a beginning for one), and preparing for what I sincerely hope is a return to the regular school day in August.  I will be adding some new seating and arrangements, and letters will be going home to homeroom students next week.  I don’t want to write too much, or I might get into the woe is me and woe is this stupid COVID virus, and as we continue to struggle for racial justice in our society, it’s easy to get bogged down in negativity.  However, as a child of God, I believe the hope and salvation of Christ.

From Psalm 37:

Commit your way to the LORD; trust in him and he will do this: 

6 He will make your righteous reward shine like the dawn, your vindication like the noonday sun. 

7 Be still before the LORD and wait patiently for him.

As I prepare for a new academic year, my prayers are for healing both physical and spiritual, for peace in our communities, and love in our hearts. 

Welcome to St. Luke Parent Association Open House

Homeroom Student Manifestos

New Year, crazy days

The 2017 school year has begun with some routine expectations, but some unexpected occurrences too.  We had the Great Solar Eclipse with an early dismissal day, followed by Labor Day weekend, followed by Hurricane/Tropical Storm Irma blowing through the Valley causing some damage and power outages.  Things are beginning to normalize, and we are gearing up for Grandparents Day and the end of the first nine weeks.  Whew!

My new seventh graders are awesome and really working hard on their assignments so far.  I am posting some new “Where I’m From” poems under the Student Work section of this blog – enjoy! 

Second Semester Shenanigans

Obviously, I have not done a decent job of blogging about classroom activities this year.  With our new RenWeb, I have busy keeping up with announcements through the web items and entering grades differently.  But excuses, excuses – I’ll stop now.

We finished The True Confessions of Charlotte Doyle with our book floats.  Yesterday, we did a pre-reading activity for The Wednesday Wars.  We utilized the new breakout boxes purchased by the school.  Students competed in teams to find information relating to the novel.  It was a big success.  Check out the photos!

Halfway through the 1st nine weeks

I can’t believe we are actually more than halfway through our first nine weeks at St. Luke.  I am loving my new seventh graders.  I started the school year meeting new students and parents and grading summer reading assignments.  We did away with Accelerated Reader (AR) in the middle school last year, and replaced the AR tests with a Google assignment of critical thinking questions about the selected books.

We have written letters, poems, and now are working on mini-biographies of someone the students know first-hand. My favorite comment today was “My dad was more interesting than I thought.”  A few weeks ago a student said, “I’m going to give my grandmother another chance.” I think she meant another chance to have something important to say, and I’m happy to report she was glad she did. I love when learning continues past the classroom.

We just started our first class novel, Moon Over Manifest, on Friday. I can’t wait to watch my students as they discover Abilene, Gideon, Shady, Ned, Sadie and other characters of Manifest, Kansas and the secrets they are hiding.

We are also learning grammar, sentence correction, and new vocabulary words.  My aspiration is that they will begin incorporating all of these skills into their writing, making it more enthralling and less vapid.  Coming soon are the essays that will be submitted to the local George Walton Chapter of the Daughters of the American Revolution (DAR).  St. Luke has had winners on the seventh grade level for the last several years at least.  Some have become regional and even state winners!

The independent reading assignments that are replacing AR goals are due on October 3rd.  I’m looking forward to seeing the myriad choices the students have made in both book selection and presentation of information.

This month is our 7th grade mission JDRF (Juvenile Diabetes Research Foundation).  Our seventh graders have been so generous.  Thank you families for sending in your dollars!  Pantry items this month are cereal bags or boxes.  Thanks for supporting our local food pantry.  The JDRF One Walk is October 1st. We would love to have a large St. Luke group come walk with us.  Grandparents Day is also fast approaching, and we have a cool song to share at this event.  It’s been a great six weeks, and I’m looking forward to more!

Winter Break

Winter Break is a new concept for me coming from the Phenix City Schools, but I must say I love it!  Time to regroup, catch up, and do some planning and of course relaxing.  This weekend has been particularly challenging for our church family with the loss of a dear child.  Shaw High School is mourning as well.  But in this time of grief and struggle, we are reminded that we put our trust in the Lord who will see us through the wilderness of grief.  I do want to mention that as a teacher I love and care for my students, and if any of you is feeling lost, please come to me and let me help you get the help you need.

I wanted to share a few pictures of class work.  These were taken while writing summaries for Charlotte Doyle and while reviewing for a test via Quizizz.com.  

Blog Assignment – Charlotte Doyle

Respond to one of the following questions in the comment section below.  Identify yourself with your first name, last initial, question # and class color.

1.  In chapter six, Mr. Barlow speaks to Charlotte and suggests that Captain Jaggery’s ordering the men to do all those things with sails, ropes, and rigging was for no reason.  Why would Captain Jaggery do that?
2. What does Charlotte mean when she says both Captain Jaggery and Zachariah are courting her?  What are their motives for doing so?

What’s new?

This may be a long blog post since it’s been a few months since I’ve added to our class blog.  We are now on Thanksgiving Break – this year is flying by, at least to me.  When we return, we need to finish our parts of speech review- conjunctions and interjections, and read Scrooge and Marley, a dramatized version of Charles Dicken’s A Christmas Carol.  We will also be reviewing for our mid-term exam, which will count twice (two test grades). Then, you will finally be able to clean out those binders in preparation for spring semester.

Last Friday, we had our Thanksgiving luncheon – it is so refreshing to see children, parents, siblings, and grandparents gathered for a meal at school.  Prior to the luncheon, we had a pep rally to recognize the tennis and basketball teams.  Nice work cheerleaders, dance team, Mrs. Holloway, Coach Bunn, and all others who contributed to this fun event.

7th grade boys at Pep Rally

Some of new baskeball players

 

At the park after the show

Earlier in November, the seventh grade attended a field trip in Albany, Georgia.  I plan to write more on my performing arts blog, curtainupcolumbus.net. It was my first time driving one of the St. Luke buses – there was one moment of anxiety, but we made it safely.  After viewing the Encore production of Chamber Repertory Theatre at the Albany Municpal Auditorium.  We watched live presentations of several short stories we read in class including “The Celebrated Jumping Frog of Calaveras Count,” “The Tell Tale Heart,” and “The Raven.” After the show, we enjoyed a picnic lunch at a local park.

I am looking forward to the next few weeks as we wind down our first semester.  My plans include a Victorian party with foods from Dickens’s era, think plum pudding, wassail and more.  We’ll be researching some of these topics and the life and times of Charles Dickens.

Albany Municipal Auditorium

Love my students

Ashley Murphy in Fancy Nancy joined by a group of her friends from St. Luke School

Recently, my daughter and I attended a performance of Fancy Nancy, the Musical at Family Theatre in Columbus.  We went to see some of the students in the show, including Ashley Murphy who is in my Language Red class.  I was pleasantly surprised to see a large group of her friends from St. Luke there to support her.  What a wonderful surprise for Ashley!  I am blessed to teach this great group of young women.

Go Lions!

Friday before last, St. Luke had its first peprally.  It was spirited, and incredibly loud!  Even though eighth grade went home with the spirit stick, I thought seventh grade represented well.

This week in Language Arts, we will continue reading Moon Over Manifest.  We will have a test on vocabulary and reading on Wednesday, Sept. 30th.  This week I will also post something on the class blog about your reading, and students will need to respond in the comment section.

Reminder that AR grades are going in the computer Monday, but you still have until Oct. 8th to read and test.  Friday is Grandparents and Special Friends Day.  I can’t wait to see the videos of the grade levels, especially ours!  1/2 Day on Friday – and the following Friday for Report Cards.  Fall Break coming very soon too!

Have a great week.