Category Archive for 'Annoucements'

Updated ways to contact me

Thursday, March 19th, 2009

I’ve updated the Contact page with new ways to contact me.

As always, you can email me from this website. And you can call (810) 341-2112 to speak to me in person or leave a voicemail. But here are some new options:

  • You can send a text message from your cell phone to (810) 341-2112. You could previously send a message from the website, but now you can text me from your phone.
  • Your voicemail messages will get transcribed and sent to my phone, so I will receive them faster.

I can also send you a text message back. This is an option if you are near your cell phone more than your computer, or don’t have an email address at home.

Novel Writing Project

Wednesday, March 11th, 2009

Here are important details for our Novel Writing Project:

Our piece due March 27 will be our final fiction project of the year. Students will write a novel. You read that right. Each student will write their own novel, with a word goal minimum of 1,500-3,000 words, based on their reading level (each student’s minimum writing goal is equal to their reading level multiplied by 500). The novels will be written in Google Docs (docs.mrhowd.com) to make use of the word count feature. Final novels will be uploaded to lulu.com and published as paperback books, which can be purchased for reasonable prices. So yes, students will actually write and publish their own novels. This project is based on the National Novel Writing Month Young Writers program. Here are more details:

  • We will start this project in class on March 9 and it will be due on March 27; however, students can begin early.
  • This is our final fiction project; the novel can be any type of fiction story (mystery, science fiction, fantasy, realistic, historical, etc.)
  • We will be working in the computer lab most days, using docs.mrhowd.com to type the novel. Students can also work on this from any internet-connected computer outside of school.
  • Students might want to start thinking now about how they will use a computer after school if they need to, and if they will go to the library, use a home computer, or use a friend or family member’s computer.
  • If friends and family would like to order a paperback version of the book, we will upload the final texts to lulu.com. Most books will cost between $5 and $10.
  • A big portion of this grade will be if students complete their own, personal word count goal.

Practicing decimal addition and subtraction

Friday, February 27th, 2009

Our last MiniQuiz showed that the class would benefit from some extra practice in decimal addition and subtraction. Here are a couple of resources:

Lulu, not Hulu

Friday, February 27th, 2009

If you’ve been reading on our blog lately about our Novel Writing Project, you’ve seen that students will be publishing their novel as a paperback book. We will be publishing at Lulu.com, not Hulu.com, as our website has been stating for the last week or so. I’ve made the corrections. I think those Hulu commercials about turning brains to mush are working!

Check out Lulu.com to see how students will be publishing their own novel.

Holiday Wishes from our Grand Blanc Administrators

Thursday, December 18th, 2008