Graduation and Yearbook Signing

Hey guys, please sign my online yearbook. I am going to miss you so much! Stay in touch.

Personality

Continuing with our unit on Identity, we will begin today by taking an online assessment and finding out more about our personality types. You can use this information to determine which jobs you are best suited for, how your friends see you, and how you will act as a parent. Enjoy!
Myers-Briggs Personality Test

After taking the test, you will be given a 4 digit code. Type it into Google and you can read all about yourself on The Personality Page. When you are done reading, think about everything you learned about yourself. Do you agree with the analysis? Would you like any of the jobs that were recommended for your personality type? Did anything surprise you?

Here is an example of the type of blog response you will write:

Personality
Today I found out that I have an ENFJ personality type, according to the Myers-Briggs Personality Test. That means that I am A Giver. I am people-focused and have a talent for bringing out the best in others. It also said that I get along with many different types of people. Although I have strong opinions, I sometimes keep them to myself to smoothe over social situations. Sometimes, people with ENFJ personalities use their people skills to manipulate or control others, but usually our motives are unselfish. Knowing this kind of worries me, and I am going to make a conscious effort to avoid being manipulative. The portrait concluded that, "In general, ENFJs are charming, warm, gracious, creative and diverse individuals with richly developed insights into what makes other people tick. This special ability to see growth potential in others combined with a genuine drive to help people makes the ENFJ a truly valued individual."

Career
I was pleasantly surprised to see that Teacher was one of my recommended careers, along with Social Worker, Psychologist, and Writer.

Reflection
I feel like the results were pretty accurate, and I am impressed that every type of person can be described by one of only 16 different types. My friend told me that sometimes he feels like he is the only one who thinks and acts a certain way. When he took this test, he found out that there are many others like him, and he felt comforted by knowing that. I am curious to find out more about the people in our class and at our school, and to see if anyone shares the same personality type.

Social Studies Test Review
Directions: Look up the answer to one question online, and then share the answer with the class.

Field Trip to FDR Park

Terrible Things, An Allegory of the Holocaust by Eve Bunting

I decided to try something new and ambitious today, but it didn't quite work, and I think it was because I tried to cram too many things into one day.

When students entered the classroom they were inspected to see if their index and ring fingers were of equal length or if one was shorter. Students with uneven fingers were asked to wear a red rectangle on their shirts and to sit on the left side of the room. Students with even fingers were asked to sit on the right side.

One student immediately figured it out. "We're the Jews, and they're the Nazis. These are like the yellow stars they made them wear." I told him, "Shh..." No one else seemed to have heard.

Then I passed out Eve Bunting's story about the animals in the forest who did not speak up when the terrible things came to take away the birds. Then they returned to take away the squirrels. Still, no one said anything. The Terrible Things keep coming back until finally they come for everything that is white. The white rabbits look around, bemused, and say, "But we are the only things that are white." The Terrible Things roar, "We have come for you." The rabbits cry out for someone to help them, but there is no one left to help them.

Most of the students seemed to understand the connection to the events of the Holocaust, but some were confused, or disinterested. They wanted to take off their rectangles and go back to their seats. I was hoping this frustration with being segregated would translate into genuine feelings and thoughts about fairness and equality and otherness, but the clock kept ticking and we ran out of time before the epiphanies hit. I am trying to figure out where to pick up tomorrow. I don't want to let this go, I feel like it has potential.


" In Europe, during World War II, many people looked the other way while terrible things happened. They pretended not to know that their neighbors were being taken away and imprisoned in concentration camps. They pretended not to hear cries for help. The Nazis killed millions of Jews and others in the Holocaust. If
everyone had stood together at the first sign of evil would this have happened?
Standing up for what you know is right is not always easy. Especially if the one you face is bigger and stronger than you. It is easier to look the other way. But, if you do, terrible things can happen." -Eve Bunting

Common Assessment 8th Grade ELA Rubric

Short Story Rubric

The hot seat game

My morning class was small today, so everyone had a chance to read aloud multiple times, even Matthew who never reads. It was a big breaking point for him, to realize that his classmates are actually supportive and wouldn't make fun of him. In the afternoon, I taught after a substitute had shown a movie, so I had to be the unpopular teacher who turns it off and transitions into classwork.

The students say that they are sick of reading The Outsiders and want to get it over with. (I believe this to be a lie. No one wants to be the lame kid who admits to loving a book. They want to know how it ends, that's all I can hear. Yes, we will finish the book today.) I read each character with a different voice, tremble as Johnny is lying on his deathbed, cringe when the police shoot at Dally in the vacant lot. They make fun of me, but later, privately, two students confess that they really liked it.

Then we played a new game. One student sat at the front of the room in the hot seat. Everyone else thinks of tough questions about the text. The person in the hot seat has to answer each question. If they get it correct, they get a point. If they get it wrong, the person who asked the question comes up and takes the hot seat. Ralph P. was the unbeatable champion of the day! No one could stump him, not even when Dailin asked him to interpret a poem from 5 chapters earlier. It was impressive to see everyone wrack their brains for obscure details from the book to try to beat Ralph, and then to see him rattle off the answers like it ain't no thing.

Look what Mr. Wagner made for us!

Students, please click on the link below and complete the reading survey. Thanks! We are trying to find out what you want to learn so that we can design lessons that fit your needs. All of your responses will be automatically entered into a Google Docs spreadsheet.

Reading Strategy Goals Survey - Take One, it's Free

What does it mean to be an outsider?

As we continue in S.E. Hinton's novel, The Outsiders, we reflect on our own identities and the groups we belong to. Today, we are webbing the unique qualities that tie together all 339ers, and then comparing our in-group to an imagined outsider. What would a true outsider look like? What would make them stand out? And, what is it about the folks at 339 that bring us all together into a community, and not just a crowd?

Thinking of you, Ariel

Ariel Castillo is undergoing weight loss surgery today in the hope that he will be able to walk if there is less pressure on his knees. Ms. Rosa is at the hospital with him and his family. The girls in 165 made a big beautiful card for him. Our thoughts and prayers are with him. If you want to send him a message, you can post a personal comment on his blog.

Identity Lesson Data

I entered our data from the identity survey into an Excel spreadsheet, and these are the patterns that I found. Look to see how your responses compare to those of your classmates. It is interesting that almost everyone identified very strongly with their race, and geography. I wonder if students who live in a city that is less famous than the Bronx would identify as much with their hometown.


The pie chart below shows students' age identities. (You can read the chart by looking at how much of the circle is filled by each color. Then look at the key on the right to figure our which color represents each age group.) You can see that the majority of the respondents said that they were very much teenagers. Two students said that they were very much children, and 5 identified strongly as young adults. Since these age groups were presented as 3 separate questions, students could answer very much for more than one age. Are you surprised by these results?

The Outsiders - Group Membership and Identity

Click on images to enlarge.

April Fools: One Teacher's Confession

It was a day of pranks and folly. Sure, there were the predictable, "You've got gum on your foot, Ms. Blake" remarks, when in fact, there was no gum. Notably, Jimmy fooled me into believing that he had ripped up all of the work in his portfolio. Robert hid Ms. Rosa's prized chair under a pile of coats. Dailin, Rebeca, and Ralph tricked Ms. Hernandez by calling to report that her car had been side-swiped outside. These tales were pretty creative, but it must be said that I took the cake with my prank 9th period.

It just so happened that April 1st was the day when letters of acceptance to high schools were handed out. I spent my lunch period creating fake letters of rejection for half of the students in my homeroom. The other half would receive letters of acceptance to strict boarding schools where they would not be allowed to see their families except on Christmas and Thanksgiving. (Originals below)

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Dear Mr. ______,

We regret to inform you that you have not been accepted to any high school at this time. Due to the high number of applicants and your low grade point average, we are unable to offer you a spot. Please continue to work hard at school, and reapply next year. We wish you the best of luck.


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Dear Ms. ______,

Congratulations! You have been accepted to the Bronx Boarding Academy. We are an excellent school that will prepare you for college. Please begin packing up your belongings, as we will be expecting you on July 1, 2008. You must say goodbye to all of your friends and family. You may see them twice a year at Christmas and Thanksgiving. Welcome to your new family at the Bronx Boarding Academy.


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My accomplice? Ms. Sowin took pictures as I handed out the letters. At first: they were confused. "School starts in July? I can't go to PR?! I'm not going (to the boarding academy)!" Another student rips his rejection in two. Imagine their dismay and outrage, or if you lack imagination, you can just look at their faces in the pictures below. (I call this miniseries: Chaos erupts.)






And then, after 90 or so terrible seconds, Ms. Sowin and I yelled "April Fools, we got you!" The students looked at each other, looked at us, shocked, impressed. In the following minutes, it was like we were all star athletes, they came up and gave us high-fives and applause. "That was a good one," they cheered, and eventually asked, "Can I get a new copy to show to my parents?" Then, I handed out the real letters, and you better believe that the students were exponentially more excited to see that they had been accepted to real high schools, ones that they applied to.

Evidence of happy students at day's end. (I call this miniseries: The "Gotcha" Rejoice)