I have thoroughly enjoyed teaching online these last few months, but it will be nice to enjoy the slow down tomorrow and next week. The VHSG Chemistry class will be out for one week so the kids can participate in local National Chemistry Week activities and the Literary Analysis class will be focusing on reading Dicken's Christmas Carol for the next and final analysis of the first semester. Actually, the original schedule was to have the final novel in mid-November, when the holiday season was ready to gear up, but due to other activities in the class we decided it was best to move that one up. With these two classes not meeting, that leaves only the two 1st grader classes, algebra I, and composition. I am looking forward to the interview with comic strip artist Stephen McCranie next week. We are doing a  survey of narrative genres in composition class and next week will be comic books and comic strips.

I don't want to waste that week of lighter schedule, so I have my to-do list:

GOAL 1: Catch up on grading.  I have some compositions to catch up on grading from Comp and LIterary Analysis. I definitely see that having four different ways that the kids can turn in assignments and not having them name files to a set pattern has been a mistake. I have been nibbling at the task of getting them all gathered and organized. I am putting together notes on what to change for the next semester and that is definitely on the list. The kids will spend the last two weeks of the course refining their narratives and I want to have them all set and easy to find and update.

GOAL 2: First Grader Classes - Make new slides for Phonics and Math. I have used the Saxon Phonics Lesson sequence and pace and found that the kids are a tad breathless. I am going to spend a little time with them on consolidating all that they have learned so far. We have done the entire 1st semester since we started over the summer. I feel like they will benefit from time to work on speed instead of adding new phonograms and sight words. In Math 1 I am having the opposite problem. The kids have burned through every topic in first grade math except for math fact recall. They have mastered several sets, but with math facts being all that is left to go, classes would definitely swing to the repetitive side. So I am trying to decide if I will just go a head and take them into the second grade curriculum. It too will work on the math fact recall, but they will be able to get into the new material for that grade level as well. I love making the onlline classroom slides and games.

GOAL 3: Chemistry - Work on Module 5 slides. I had started setting them up last weekend, but I need to finish them.

GOAL 4: Get caught up on VoiceThreads. I VoiceThread the class lecture material for the kids (and parents) so if the kids end up missing a lesson or two they can link to the VoiceThead and catch up. THe site has been in Beta until last weekend. They are now moving to it being a pay service. There is a classroom option that I am trying to find out if we qualify for. If so, I will be able to continue making VoiceThreads for free. If not, it will cost me about $12 a year. That isn't more than I am willing to spend, but I sure hope we can  get it for free still. With the site change and their new interface being buggy at first, I didn't get to VoiceThread the lessons for this week's materials. A mom dropped in to the online classroom today asking why she couldn't see the past ones so I guess until I pay or get approved even my old ones are locked. I hope they respond quickly to my query about our official status.

GOAL 5: Sleep in if I can or at least get to bed early a few nights next week. I have been in the online classroom by 6:30am every day now for many months. There is lots to do and I am full of energy in the mornings. I definitely don't need coffee. I have natural morning adrenaline. However, I do feel like I have been falling behind on rest. I definitely want to catch up a bit while the schedule is lighter.

That is enough to keep me happily busy while still allowing a break.