A Room with a View

We are fourteen days into a new school year.  The transition back from summer vacation has been smooth, but hot.  The kids have been real troopers, especially the afternoon classes when Room 121 is at it's hottest.

I have two professional goals for myself this school year.  Goal #1 is to create lessons that are engaging, but challenging, so my students gain an appreciation for reading and the craft of writing. Goal #2 is for the families of my kiddos, and it is to allow my classroom to come with a view.  This weekly blog is that window.

Below are ways to keep up with Room 121 and in a roundabout kind of way participate in some of our activities:

- Google Classroom - have child log in and then you can see what's happening
- Google Sites - visit my site and click on the "Calendar" tab to see what's happening in the classroom and due dates
- Twitter - follow @aprok for the school year on twitter for school/class updates and participate in extensions beyond the classroom walls and school day
- Remind101 - get updates and reminders by subscribing
- Prok's Blog - weekly updates and things to think about for the upcoming week
- Infinite Campus - make sure your parent/guardian portal is active and ready for weekly grade updates
- Facebook - "Like" MHJH's charitable 5K Dash4Dignity and stay up to date with its latest news - we run for one of our own ... MHJH 9th grader, Ashley Martincic

As Room 121 continues to create an environment for students of equality, respect, and commUNITY, like Gander, Newfoundland (see blog post from Friday, August 26) a bi-weekly conference began today.  It is my opportunity to check-in with each one of my English students, talk to them about their progress in my class and see how things are going for them as a whole.  It's Prok's spin on Check & Connect, but it includes EVERYONE because in Room 121 everyone is equal and treated the same. While I'm touching base with students individually, the others are at their seats silently reading or working on assigned writing projects, and/or personal writing pieces.  This schedule allows for instruction and practice Monday-Thursday, and an entire class mod for individual work/progress towards our reading and writing goals.

The final purpose of this weekly blog is to help frontload families on what's coming the next week. Things to think about and study are:

1.  Think about the word "courage" and ideas about courage
2.  Think about the word "memoir" and different life experiences where you learned a lesson
3.  Be prepared to use the Twitter handle @MHJHTitans #Room121Courage next week
4.  Study your Summer Vocabulary terms for the quiz on Friday, September 9th

There are a lot of new things happening in Room 121 this school year.  Hopefully, it will all come together to help students not just survive, but thrive.  Check back weekly for regular updates on our progress.