Bad Timing

Monday. I arrived early to get some stuff done. That's when I saw the email about the "social media threats". It was non-specific, and I really didn't want to know any more. We were assured that administration was dealing with the issue.

But, "threats". 

I wasn't terribly surprised when first period arrived and a third of the kiddos were missing.

And now I had a dilemma. The next class session they were to have a test. And while I had hinted at this test the prior week, I hadn't officially announced it. 

Luckily, they do have a Google Classroom.

So, I posted the study guide assignment in Google Classroom for the missing students, and we went on with our day.

(From what I've been able to pick up, the threats were directed at another school, but then picked up on social media towards other schools. Law enforcement was notified. Nothing happened at school that day.) 

When test day rolled around, some of the students who had missed were a bit surprised by the test. But, when I started the class back in August, I read through the syllabus with them, and I explained that it was the responsibility of the student to find out what they missed if they were out of school. 

I reminded them of this, and then I told them, "A good place to start is to see if I've put anything into Google Classroom." 

(I keep a list of the daily agendas in Google Classroom. I have since week two. I showed them all this.)

When I went to collect their study guides, I got a surprise. A couple students who had been absent actually had papers to turn in. They were a bit worried about having done it on paper (rather than the worksheets I had passed out that they didn't get because they were absent), but I assured them that paper was perfect. 

Some of them are paying attention. And some of them are trying. (Actually, more than some.) 

When I went to check, some of the absent students had actually done the assignment digitally. (Which was fine.) 

I mean, there are a whole bunch of students who didn't do it. But I was pleased how many had figured out how to take care of what they needed to do. (And as I accept late work, those that missed out can still turn it in.) 

This is excellent for seventh graders. I'm rather pleased.

And as for the test, it went rather well. The grades were pretty good on average.

Facebook is for Old People

Eighth grade English. They are starting their Diary of Anne Frank unit, and as an intro, they had an article to read.

I was drawing the discussion out a bit. I didn't want to give them too long to work on the questions they had that went along with the reading. Students, especially middle schoolers, have a tendency to rush through questions just so they can have "free time" at the end of the period (read: time to go insane and make my job harder).

I mentioned that the Anne Frank Center was on Twitter (@AnneFrankCenter), and considering that they'd be studying not only the diary but the surrounding history and such, they might be worth a follow.

As soon as I said it, I realized the 13/14-year-olds might not be into Twitter. But the first group assured me that Twitter was still lit.

The next class, however, informed me that Twitter was for old people.

To the third group, I prefaced my remarks with, "I know Twitter is for old people..." They wanted to know who thought that. Facebook, they said, is for old people. Twitter, they said, is OK. It's great for memes.

As for the last group, they seemed to be divided. They agreed Facebook is for old people, but Twitter could be OK.

Which just goes to show that they don't even have a consensus as to whether or not Twitter is cool. Mostly, they stick to Snapchat, I think. At least, they will until the next big thing comes along.