Today is a Glorious Day in the Classroom

As the post title suggests, it was a glorious day in the classroom. I felt re-energized by the students.

The 9th grade seminar kids had to physicalize Hamlet's "Too Too Solid Flesh" monologue. The acting troupes were awesome. They put their time, effort, and creativity to work. Hopefully I can post their video soon. Not only that, the students after performing, admitted that they understood the speech more than they had the first time they read it. They were able to answer the following questions with in depth thought: What does Hamlet think about his mother at this point? How does Hamlet feel in general? Why does he say he needs to hold his tongue? The idea of subtext is coming through and the relationship he has with his mother and uncle are clear to the students. Tonight they need to evaluate Polonius's family and compare it to Hamlet's. I wonder what they will discover.

My ESL kids are also doing great. Igor, from Brazil, is such an awesome kid. I love having him in class. He helps to inspire the others. Now that that the class is divided into two groups, I can see the growth happening with my ESL kids that need more language practice. Also, the other group, now that they have been accelerated, are also dong great things and having great discussions about persuasive text.

Yes, there are 2 more periods in the day, but I will be working on data and organizing Link Leaders. Ugh. The day begins to dim. What to do with the Link Leaders. I need to have a meeting with them.