words can change the world

Hi students, if you’re reading this it means that we are back in school and I have given you an assignment. As with every year, I hope that this one brings growth, fun, and cool learning. I created this blog last year, but we never used it in class. This year I really hope to change all that. I have some teacher friends in Georgia and Mississippi, and I hope I can get them and their students to participate. I’ll stop now b/c I’m baking cookies and don’t want to burn them. See you soon… Ms. Blakely

Read the Washington Post article about an upcoming Supreme Court case that considers whether life sentences for juveniles are constitutional.  How do you feel about that? How long of a prison term should children under age 18 receive? What kinds of crimes are so bad that we should sentence 13 year olds to life in prison? How responsible are kids for their actions? What do you think?

Go to www.fairsentencingforyouth.org and find the Get The Facts page. Read the brief that introduces adolescent development. What does it say about the brain and thinking skills of children under 18? How does this information affect what you believe about child punishment in the court system?

Hello again, students. It is now October 6th, and as you can see, we haven’t gotten to the blogging part yet. I am still trying to figure out a lot of things myself. I hope that we are up and running with our integrated technology in the very near future. We had the 1st 6 weeks’ TEKS check last week and came in 3rd in the district. I am proud of you and hope you continue the good work.

Hello students and welcome to 6th grade English! I am excited about the upcoming year and can’t wait to meet all of you. I hope we spend our time working together and learning from each other in an environment where everyone contributes.

Every year I am amazed at how much my students grow and learn from August to June and I’m sure this year will be no different. I want you to know, however, that this year we will actually take time to explore and investigate how leaders are made – what kind of circumstances cause them to grow and learn? And, how can you grow and learn and become a leader in your own right?

Another thing I do every year is incude a great deal of ”group work”. One of  the new twists this year will be to make technology an integral part of our cooperative learning experiences. I plan to stretch our collective minds to the limit as we explore problems and create solutions that can only be achieved with the assistance of technology. I want all of us (you, me, your parents, your friends, our community) to realize that we can only solve some of the world’s problems if we put our ideas and resources together.

So, put on your hard hats and bring your toolbox as you enter Ms. Blakely’s 6th grade English Learning Zone!

See you soon…