The Croad Less Traveled

It’s finally time to introduce you to our classroom computers. Hopefully this will make procedures in our class run very smoothly and give you access to school work and assignments even if you are not at school.

Please remember that the laptops are not your personal computers and the settings are not to be changed. Even backgrounds and screen savers should remain unchanged unless you are instructed otherwise. These computers are also exclusively for school use. Games, shopping, social networking, etc. are strictly off limits. However, you may participate in school email communication, message boards, and chats. Please use our laptops carefully and for their intended purpose.

The two primary services we will be using in class are gaggle and edu 2.0. Gaggle is a service that you will use for email, digital lockers, and homework dropboxes. Edu 2.0 is a class site where you will take tests and participate in message boards. This site, edublogs, is my current blogsite. Once we get comfortable with edu 2.0, I may move the blog to that site as well.

Happy computing!

We got eight more vocabulary words, defined and discussed what theme is, and began reading “American History” by Judith Oriz Cofer. Wednesday we will continue reading and discussing the story and do a fill-in-the-blank practice activity with the vocabulary words. If your class does not finish the reading Wednesday, the vocabulary activity will be for homework.

Overall, I have been pleased with the number of you that had your homework today. However, fourteen of you will receive a HEAT assignment for failing to complete homework. Please keep on top of your work to avoid this in the future!

Thanks,
Mrs. Croad

Today we recorded 8 vocabulary words and completed a Frayer Model for each one. A Frayer Model includes a definition, three antonyms, a sentence using the word, and an illustration of the word’s meaning. The assignment is to be finished for homework. Any absent students should get the words and a Frayer Model example from a classmate tomorrow and complete the assignment as soon as possible to avoid HEAT.

Mrs. Croad

I hope everyone had a great first week at Minden High School. I think we accomplished a good bit in English I this week despite the schedule changes and frequent interruptions. We did have a test today on classroom rules, the discipline policy, and the Alma Mater that was worth ninety points. The Biopoem assignment was also due today, and it is worth twenty points.

Next week we be diving in to the short story unit, and the real work will begin. I hope you all come prepared to work.

Also, please remember your $5.00 English fee by Tuesday.

Thanks for a great week,

Mrs. Croad

As we begin this year of English I together, I hope you quickly become comfortable with the new routines and formats of all of your classes. This site hopefully will prove to be an invaluable one for you. From here, I will provide you links to other online tools  we will use such as Quia and Gaggle as well as keep you updated with what has been going on in class. This will be the site to check when you are absent to find out what has been going on. If for some reason it has not been updated, you are always welcome to email me through our Gaggle account. Please encourage your parents to check this site so they can know what is going on in your class as well. 

I’m looking forward to this year with you and hope that all the technology that has been made available to us makes our learning process run more smoothly than ever!

Feel free to leave appropriate and relevant comments on here at any time. I ask that you only use your first name and last initial for privacy/safety reasons. An email address is required to comment; you may use your Gaggle account for this purpose.

Mrs. Croad