Why 9th Grade Will Be Better This Semester

I don't have much say in which classes I teach on a yearly basis, but I did volunteer to take a few sections of Language Arts 9 this year. LA 9 is just as challenging as you might think; it asks for solid grammar chops; it requires clever lessons in order to keep students engaged; it demands infinite patience for reasons that should be obvious.

Keep in mind I was awarded a cool grant at the beginning of the year that resulted in a class set of netbooks. The paperless classroom has always been a professional goal of mine, so we spent the first semester test driving various web technologies like blogs, online word processors, and we even did a little web design. These skills are mostly useful in today's world and jived nicely with a district initiative concerning 21st century skills.

They were not, however, always relevant to the English classroom. Worse, I didn't always assess in meaningful ways, and worse than that, my online grade book didn't reflect the realities of our hard work. Perhaps worst of all, I tried a new grading scale that resulted in very few points available (not to mention displayed in the book).

Now if this sounds like typical (if routine) self-flagellation, I'll admit that I'm my worst critic. However, I'm also pretty disappointed in how LA 9 went this semester, especially considering how much fun I've had with that class in the past.

So after tomorrow's professional development, Tuesday brings changes to E 203. I've never been a fan of workbook learnin', but as with all content areas, some language arts components simply require memorization and repetition. Therefore, my LA 9 students can expect old fashioned pen-and-paper assignments. Does this mean worksheets? Yes, but they'll be tailored worksheets, and I assure you my worksheets are hilarious in a dorky English teacher kind of way.

We begin with Much Ado About Nothing and prefixes. Onward!