Sooner than I thought:

I am officially getting sick. Boo.

Last night I went to class, and thought I might pass out from bodily fatigue, so I skipped my second class and went home. I went to bed eight-fifteen, and stayed there all the way til my alarm at 6.40am. Wow. I felt quite awake this morning, which was something new for me.

However, as the day wore on, my head began to ache dully and my tummy to feel weird. And just generally feeling-shitty-ness.

Okay, done whining. For now.

Yesterday one of my Class 1 girls came up to me between classes and said she'd told her mom about me, and her mom wanted her to tell me that she (the mom) really liked my standards. I asked what she meant and what she'd told her mom about me, and she said, "that you make sure no one's talking, and they do the work, and you explain things really clearly, and you teach really well."

Aw, you guys! This was so awesome to hear. It definitely made my month. I was touched that my student told me that she told her mom about me. You know?

Yesterday in class we started plot. I did a neat activity to start class. It was a story-building exercise, and they had to pass the paper to the student on their right:

1. Write two sentences about a character. ANY character.
2. Write two sentences about a setting, ANY setting.
3. Write two sentences about a goal the character has.
4. Write two sentences about the obstacles between the character and their goal.
5. Write two sentences about someone or something that helps the character overcome the obstacle.
6. Write two sentences about how the character finally reaches the goal.
7. Write two sentences about what the character learned during his/her journey.
8. Write one sentence to end the story.

I talked briefly about how all stories need characters with a goal, and some kind of obstacle. "Let's say we're writing a story about a 17-year-old boy named Billy Bob. Billy Bob really wants play in the state football game. But maybe he breaks his leg and can't walk. Or maybe his girlfriend threatens to break up with him if he keeps playing. Or maybe he gets kidnapped by aliens before the game. Or maybe he gets to the game, only to discover the football is not a football, but a bomb."

I showed them the graph of the elements of plot, and gave definitions for each: exposition, conflict/rising action, climax, falling action, resolution.

Today, pairs of students completed the worksheet I made last year matching parts of Aladdin and Lion King with elements of plot. If they had time they could take another story (some did Harry Potter, Spiderman, Matilda, etc) and identify each element. I saw lots of great cooperation and smart work. Hurrah!

Oh, I found a great site that I hope to use for daily grammar/punctuation warmups: dailygrammar.com. My plan is to print out about sixteen copies, then put them in sheet protectors, and give each pair of students a dry erase marker. Quick and painless way to practice mechanics and editing, which is part of the new test.