Tech Fund-Raising

Please Note: This is a fictional blog. Please do not respond to it.

Greetings to you all, and thank you for taking a moment to learn about the effort the PTSA and I are making to raise funds to support the addition of technological resources to your child’s classroom. I hope that by reading this, you will understand how important these resources are for your child’s education and why we are trying so hard to acquire them.

Let me begin by saying that I understand that many parents may be concerned that technology distracts students from learning. It is true that as educators we must often fight against the use of cell phones and i-pods in class; that many teenagers spend more time on social networking sites than they do on their homework; and that the internet can be responsible for exposure to potentially harmful content. But it is also true that, when used properly and effectively, technology can be a powerful learning tool. It can provide us with methods of teaching and learning that we would not otherwise be able to provide, in the ways of both direct instruction and interactive learning. Let me take a moment to explain.

Behaviorist theorist B. F. Skinner advocated a concept called operant conditioning in the mid twentieth century which advocates that stimulus-response connections shape behavior. According to Skinner, “instruction must provide the right stimuli and reinforcement to achieve desired learning responses” (Roblyer and Doering, 2007). Computer programs can provide exactly these kinds of exercises for students to become proficient in a certain subject areas.

Other theorists advocate a constructivist model of learning, based more on cooperative learning which stresses development of global problem solving skills, group collaboration, and addressing what Howard Gardner refers to as Multiple Intelligences, the theory that individuals respond differently to methods of learning depending on their innate intelligence (linguistic, musical, logical-mathematical etc.). Technological resources support the multiples intelligences of students by offering a variety of multimedia approaches to the same content area.

I am proposing three technology-based activities which incorporate both of these learning theories; first, I would like to make software available to students to drill rote skills such as conjugating verbs. This way, students would be able to work at their own pace and would receive immediate feedback. Second, I would like students to have access to websites which contain games, songs with accompanying lyrics, and podcasts to support the learning of concepts covered in class. Lastly, I would like students to be able to create school e-mail accounts and establish a sort of “buddy-system” with other members of their classes, which would serve the purpose of keeping up with material they miss when they are absent, as well as allow them to collaborate remotely on group projects, which would also be easier to do if they had (limited) access to the internet and word-processing software in class.

I hope this post has been informative and that you are now as excited as I am to take advantage of all the beneficial opportunities technology can afford our students! Please feel free to post comments, questions, or suggestions.

Madame Pummer

Progress Reports

Don't forget the deadline for this grading period is Friday. Please turn in all your missing work by Thursday pm.

Homework due Friday, 4/30

Here is a list of the homework assignments due Friday, 4/30:

French III (per. 2): WB pp. 55, 56, 57, 58 (top), 58 (bottom), 59, 60, 61 (top), 61 (bottom)
80 pts. total

French II (per. 3): WB pp. 136, 138, 139 (top), 140 (top), 140(4) & 141(6), 144 (top), 145(5) & 146(7)
Vocab: text pg. 148
(90 pts.)

French I (Per. 4,6,7): WB pp. 153, 154, 155, 156, 181, 182 (top), 183, 184, 185, 186 (top), 186 (bottom)

Change!

Bring in all your pennies so we can beat Mr. Khulken's class!

French I EXAM!!!!

French I Students- Don't forget tomorrow is your Unit 5 Exam!

Homework for tomorrow (Tuesday, 3/22)

French III- Study the vocab on pp. 196-198

French II- Do pg. 138 in the workbook (bottom half on a separate sheet)

French I- Study pp. 172-176 for the quiz tomorrow (lesson 20)

Help us get books!

Everybody visit donorschoose.org/mrspummer !

French Homework for all!

Once again, here are the lists for the homework assignments due tomorrow (for progress report grades!)

French III- WB pp. 45, 47-51

French II- WB pp. 127-129, 131, 133, 134

French I- WB pp. 141-151, plus three vocab stamps

Also please note, any missing work from this semester must be turned in before progress reports in order to receive credit.

For Tuesday, 3/2

French II- Don't forget you have a quiz on lesson 8 tomorrow.

French I- Homework is page 150 in the workbook.

French III- you have a petit interro tomorrow. Please don't forget to get your permission slips signed.

Wednesday, Feb. 24th.

French II and III (periods 2 & 3)- Tomorrow is your day to work on your group projects in class. You must be prepared to work on them during the entire period- your group will be penalized if you are off-task.

French I- Your homework for tonight is workbook pg. 149.

French III- Don't forget to complete the worksheet for Friday.

Homework for Monday, Feb. 22

French II- pg. 133 in the workbook

French I- pg. 148 in the workbook

Homework and Upcoming Quizzes

French II- Don't forget to get started on pg. 133 of the workbook this weekend.

French III- you are having a quiz over object pronouns and the coiffure vocab on Monday.

French I- you are having a quiz on Tuesday on lesson 18. BE PREPARED!

French I Homework

For tonight- please finish pg. 146 in the workbook. If you have trouble with it, come see me during one of the breaks (break, lunch, or advisory).

Mardi Gras Celebration on Tuesday

Don't forget to bring in your assigned contribution on Tuesday for our celebration!

The four topics are: carnival and krewes, beads and doubloons, religious significance, and New Orleans celebrations.

Feel free to bring in any treats or beverages you want to add to the celebration!

Homework for Friday, Feb. 12th

French III- Worbook pg. 49 (bottom, 1-10)
French I- Workbook pg. 145

French II Homework Tonight

Please do the top half of pg. 131 for homework tonight.

French I Homework

Tonight's homework is workbook pg. 143 and 144 (bottom only).

Quiz tomorrow!

Quizzes this week

French III- you have a quiz on 'y' and 'en' tomorrow (Tuesday)
French II- you have a quiz on lesson 7 on Wednesday.
French I- you have a quiz on lesson 17 on Wednesay.

Upcoming Quizzes

All levels-Please note the upcoming quiz dates:

French I- Wednesday, 2/10
French II- Monday, 2/8
French III- Monday, 2/8

Homework for Friday, Feb. 5th

French I- Workbook pg. 142
French II- Workbook pg. 129
French III- Workbook pg. 47 (A&B)

Homework for Thursday, Feb. 4th

French I- Finish pg. 141 in the workbook
French II- Finish pg. 128 in the workbook.
French III- Finish pg. 45 in the workbook

**French II, please note- There will be a quiz on lesson 7 on Friday.

Homework for Wednesday, Feb 3

French I- Worbook Pg. 141 (1 & 2)
French II- Workbook Pg. 127
French III- Etudiez pour l'interro de vocab (pp. 152-153 du texte)

French I Homework for Feb. 1st

French I (per. 4-7) Don't forget to do the vocab for homework tonight. It is the sections labeled people on pg. 161 and physical features on pg. 162 of the workbook.

Please also don't forget to turn your text book in to the book clerk by tomorrow if you are not planning on keeping one at home.

Final Averages

Class averages for the final exams were as follows:
French II- 63% (D)
Period 4- 73% (C)
Period 6- 68% (D+)
Period 7- 67% (D)

A modest curve was implemented for French I finals.
Needless to say, I am a little disappointed in the results; based on the poll results so far, I'm thinking it's because nobody studied- so you're pretty lucky I like you and gave you a curve anyway!

Finals

Hey Guys- Feel free to use the comment space here to tell me how you felt about finals. Were they hard? Easy? Did you study?

Exam Results

Attn: Periods 2 & 6
I will have your final results by tomorrow- please come by and see me if you want them.

French II Final Exam Review

Class- your final exam is at 8:55 am on Wednesday, January 27th. Here is a list of things we did not get to in our classroom review that I suggest you review for the final exam:
farm vocabulary (pg. 100)
activites du weekend (lecon 5)
expressions with avoir and faire (pp. 56-58)
expressions with etre (pg. 44)
family (pg. 34)
talking about yourself (pg. 32)

Thanks!

Thanks everybody for following the blog and voting on the poll! I will definitely give you guys a chance to do some more fun projects next semester! Hang in there, finals will be over soon!

Homework due Tomorrow!

Don't forget homework is due tomorrow! See below for a list of assignments.

Oral Exams Tomorrow!

Don't forget oral exams are tomorrow (French I and II).
We'll review a little at the beginning of class and then I'll be calling you back randomly.

French I and II homework tonight

French I- Pg. 115 in workbook

French II- Passe compose packet

Homework due Friday!

Here is a list of the assignments I will be collecting on Friday (please read the list that corresponds to your class):

French III- Vocab pp 90-91 & 112. Workbook pp 33, 35-38, 40

French II- Workbook pp 6, 119-125. Prendre x-word puzzle. Translations from pp. 75-76 (text).

French I- Vocab pg. 114. Workbook pp. 105-110, 112-115. Verb worksheet.

Please don't flake out on this- it will make or break your grade!

Welcome!

Bonjour tout le monde! Welcome to our new blog. This is where you'll find all your homework assignments and other important announcements from now on. You should check this blog frequently, as I will be posting reminders of quizzes, tests, and all due dates. My hope is that this will make all of our lives easier from now on! See you in class!