Janice in NJ Posted June 25, 2011 Share Posted June 25, 2011 I've worked through parts of the the first few chapters of this text with my dd a couple of years ago. Ds is headed into 9th grade in the fall. His entire "program" is all set. Now I'm thinking about messing it up. Jean, did you use this text? Where did you find alternate examples? Do you have a nice list all prepped somewhere on your computer? How did the pacing go? Do you have any paperwork/lists/rubrics/etc to impose the spiraling that my 9th grader is going to need? Of course I can do this. I just don't want to........ WAHHHHHHHHH!!!!! I hate it when I sit and think, and really assess what my kid needs. (Knowing what he needs doesn't always help, because then I have to do it.) Why can't he just need what it sitting in my bin? It's ready to go! Why? I'm starting to implode. I'm starting to really hate this job. ;) Ok. Not. But kinda...... :glare: Off to go fold laundry. Peace, Janice Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
bugs Posted June 26, 2011 Share Posted June 26, 2011 :lurk5: Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jean in Wisc Posted June 26, 2011 Share Posted June 26, 2011 And I am not going to be much help with this. :sad: We read the sections (skipping the gross stuff), discussed it, didn't do the questions, but looked at the examples, and then they had to write one of their own....or two or three of them depending upon how good, bad, or ugly their 1st one was. We worked on it until they "got it" and then moved to the next chapter. Each child moved at his own pace, and when I ran out of time, we quit. No rubrics. No schedule. I may have googled for some other examples, and I may have used a few of the other books I had that had examples of the progymnasmata...:confused: Don't recall. And this year I might be using it again with my youngest. I'm sure I'll be just as scheduled and demanding with this kid. :smilielol5: It's kinda funny (in my own twisted sense of humor, of course) that after that discussion on how we grade our kids' composition papers, I realized that I'm an easy grader in this subject. I just make the kids do their papers over and over and over until they "get it" and then grade their last paper. I figure this will predict what they are going to be able to do when they get to college. Obviously I am not in the majority here. :lol: I would be concerned if I didn't see that it has worked-- (WARNING--mommy brag ahead)my dd has a 4.0 in her senior year, and her teachers have always liked her papers. My ds has been told by 4 profs (English and history) that he is handing in some of the best papers they've seen since they started teaching. So...I'll keep on keeping on. And since I got up at 5:30 this morning to participate in Civil Air Patrol Search and Rescue Exercises :auto: and then spent the night doing an astronomy program at the park (aren't there some smilie stars somewhere?)...and it's already past midnight...I think I'll go to bed. Seems appropriate. :D G'night, Janice! Jean (Do you think 2 cans of Dr. Pepper will impair my ability to fall asleep? Or, perhaps that explains the nuttiness of this post. Hm. Yes. I could delete and try again tomorrow, but nuttiness wins. :biggrinjester: Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Janice in NJ Posted June 26, 2011 Author Share Posted June 26, 2011 Jean, I hear ya! I think I've got it. Just work through the book. Don't worry about hopping over the bad examples - just look for something at the time that fits. Use the good stuff. Then just turn the page and use the next good thing. (I have all of my ducks in a row concerning the forms of papers; I'm just looking to tweak the content/slant/etc) Hey, you can't argue with results, eh? Life is full of things that need fixing. This isn't one of them. As usual - great advice, Jean! Woo-Hoo. Filing the book in the bin with some of my other stuff. And off to enjoy summer! Thanks! Janice Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jean in Wisc Posted June 26, 2011 Share Posted June 26, 2011 (edited) Use the good stuff. Then just turn the page and use the next good thing. That, in a nutshell, is how I teach high school composition. I find materials that fit a hole in their writing skills and use whatever part of it that meets our needs. If they need to go back to sentence combining, we do it. If we need to practice paragraph construction, great. If we struggle to quickly write a short paper or if a research paper is hell on earth, I look through available resources and use whatever looks like it will help us. And then we "turn the page and use the next good thing." My dyslexic child has gone back to the beginning a number of times, but his junior research paper made mommy proud (and yes, he wrote it twice before I graded it because the 1st was was both bad and ugly. LOL!) He'll be ready in another year to face his professors. You would never have guessed when you looked at his writing in 8th grade that he would be putting so many good thoughts on a page as coherently as he does. It was just a matter of filling the holes and using all those "good things"....and lots of patience. :001_smile: Edited June 26, 2011 by Jean in Wisc Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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