This week we not only welcome a few new students to our 10th grade honors English class at the start of our new semester, but we also welcome Ms. Lohr, our student teacher this semester. Ms. Lohr comes to us from Grand Valley State University, where she is majoring in English, Education, and German with an Applied Linguistics minor. She has worked with students in a variety of settings. She has helped tutor high school students in E2020, a credit recovery program in English, math, and history. She also spent last semester teacher assisting in an eighth-grade classroom in Kentwood, Michigan. Previously, she was a mentor to sixth grade students at the Grand Rapids Museum School in downtown Grand Rapids. 

WELCOME!

Uh oh! Another snow...ice day.  Remember, in addition to your objective reading exam for our English 10 honors course, you also need to turn in a self-assessment of your online writing portfolio.  In case you need some help assessing your online writing portfolio, the tutorial video below walks you through how to copy the rubric and grade your writing pieces.

It's research week for us, and we've been getting hands on with our research!  On Wednesday, our tenth graders used a Google Hangout to learn from Ms. Ondrea Spychalski, the Water Projects Coordinator at the West Michigan Environmental Action Council. Then on Thursday, we used a Hangout to learn from Ms. Emma Marris (check out the videos below). Students also interviewed staff and volunteers at Ionia's animal shelter on Thursday as they volunteered their time. On Friday, we have a crew of students cleaning the vacant lot in town across from our McDonalds, teaching Rather Elementary students about trees and bees, and we have a group canvasing local businesses about their recycling habits. We are learning hands-on!

In the upcoming week, we are pulling together all of our readings in order to think through how we have impacted our local ecosystem and what we might do to address an environmental issue in our area.  Students in our class have already started to research and connect with local experts on conservation, local bat populations, the decline of honey bees, our deer population, recycling, and so much more.  During the first full week of December, students in our class will be interviewing experts and planning ways to address these issues.

In fact, on Thursday, December 8th, our tenth grade students will be virtually connecting with Emma Marris (whose recent TED Talk is above) to ask her questions about her experiences researching ecosystems and the environment.  We'll be recording our conversation, so be sure to check back next week to see how our conversation went!