Funny Teacher Story: I overslept. No. I REALLY overslept!

 

I had been teaching about five years or so, I guess, when this happened.

I stayed up late one night reading. No. Really. I knew I was going to have a hard time getting up the next day for school, but the book was just sooooo good. (Okay, I know you ELA teachers can relate. lol!)

I don't know if I forgot to set my alarm or if I just turned it off and rolled over, but the next thing I knew, my phone was ringing. I looked at the clock. 10:00. I grabbed the phone and said, "I'm on my way." The school secretary just laughed. I threw on my clothes and rushed to work. By the time I got there it was third block. THIRD BLOCK.

Now you may be asking yourself, Why did no one miss me before third block? Was I off the first two blocks? Why, no. No I was not. However...

The first two blocks were very small classes for struggling readers. I also had students who acted as my teacher's aides in each class. They always checked roll and put the list of absent students on the clip in the hallway. (Before the days of computers, folks. lol!) 

The classes were so quiet that no one noticed I wasn't there. Nobody went to the office to ask where his/her teacher was. They just hung out. 😅

Who knows when they would have noticed? But another teacher stopped by to ask me a question, and when she asked where I was, the class confessed that they hadn't seen me at all. 

Every time I think about this, I crack up. I didn't even get into too much trouble because my principal was too busy laughing. 

But after that, they did implement a sign-in procedure. 😇

Black History Month for the ELA Classroom

Black History Month is a great time to remind students of the contributions black men and women have made to the literary field. This is a great product to use in your ELA classroom. 

The following brief articles are designed to be used during Black History Month. There are four short articles about four black authors. Accompanying each article is a short literary piece by each author, either a poem, short story, or excerpt from a longer piece. The articles are in the forms of guided notes with blanks to be filled in as students watch the accompanying PowerPoint Presentation. A key is provided for each article if you do not wish to use the PowerPoint Presentation. Questions follow each literary selection. A key is also provided for the questions.

The four authors featured in this packet are as follows:

1. Matthew Henson-Henson accompanied Commander Robert Peary on his Arctic expeditions. He wrote a memoir about his experiences titled A Negro Explorer at the North Pole. An excerpt from this memoir is included.

2. Alice Dunbar-Nelson- An American poet, author, journalist, and political activist, Alice Dunbar-Nelson was among the first generation of African-Americans born free in the South after the Civil War. In 1895, her first collection of short stories and poems, Violets and Other Tales, was published. A story from this collection is included.

3. Langston Hughes-Hughes is a renowned black American poet, novelist, and social activist. He was one of the major leaders of the Harlem Renaissance movement. His works are often included in student anthologies. One of his poems is included.

4. Alexandre Dumas-Dumas is the only non-American in this packet. His father was the son of a French nobleman and a slave of Afro-Caribbean descent. He is one of the most widely read French authors. His works include The Three Musketeers, The Count of Monte Cristo, and The Man in the Iron Mask. An excerpt from The Count of Monte Cristo is included.

You can find this product here in my TPT store.

BOOK RECOMMENDATIONS: Dystopian YA Novels

 

Dystopian novels are very popular with our pre-teen and teen readers. Here is a list of dystopian YA lit that my students always loved. Some will probably be very familiar to you, but hopefully you will find a few to add to your classroom library.

1. Hunger Games series by Suzanne Collins

2. Divergent series by Veronica Roth

3. Maze Runner series by James Dashner

4. Uglies series by Scott Westerfeld

5. The Selection series by Kiera Cass

6. The City of Ember by Jeanne DuPrau

7. The Giver series by Lois Lowry

8. Shadow Children by Margaret Peterson Haddix

9. Mortal Engines series by Philip Reeve

10. Delirium series by Lauren Oliver

EASY MEALS: Crockpot BBQ Chicken

 

3-4 chicken breasts

16 oz bottle barbeque sauce

1/2 cup Zesty Italian Dressing

1/4 cup brown sugar

Mix all ingredients in bowl. Put chicken in crock pot. Pour mixture on top. Cook on low 4-5 hours. 

Then you have some options:

1. Shred with fork and put on hamburger buns for delicious chicken sandwiches.

2. Leave whole and serve with mashed potatoes and vegetable of choice.