The Classroom Chronicle

Well, here we are: the last week of school. I can't believe it. This year has been a roller coaster of highs and lows but we made it. The first half of the year was traumatizing and heartbreaking for everyone; chaos became our new normal and we never knew what was coming next. What got me through all of that, what kept me coming back day after day, was my students. I needed them and they needed me. I am so proud of everyone for how they persevered through this year.

Many of my students know, but I will not be returning to Washington next year. I am moving to the Des Moines area in June and have accepted a position at Winterset Junior High teaching 8th Grade ELA. While I am excited for this next chapter, I am incredibly sad about leaving my WHS family. The students and teachers I've had the privilege to work with these past three years have impacted my life in ways I never knew possible or knew I needed. Washington, both the school and the community, will always have a special place in my heart, no matter where I go. Go Demons! 🧡🖤

Reminders: Friday is a 1:10 dismissal

Activities:

Monday: Boy's Golf @ Vinton-Shellsburg, Boy's Soccer @ HOME vs Hillcrest

Wednesday: Girl's Golf @ Oskaloosa, Girl's Soccer @ Central Lee

Thursday: Boys/Girls Track @ Drake, Boys Soccer @ Keokuk, JV Baseball @ HOME vs Oskaloosa

Friday: Boys/Girls Track @ Drake, JV Softball @ Eddyville-Blakesburg-Freemont

Saturday: Boys/Girls Track @ Drake, V Softball @ HOME

Welcome to Creative Writing! This is only my first year teaching this class but I absolutely love it. It is so great to allow students the creative freedom to write about whatever they want (within reason, obviously...) and to get to know them on a deeper, more creative level. It's so fun to see what everyone comes up with. I also love to write so it allows me to work on my writing along with my students.

This class does include a lot of writing, hence the name, but most of it is done in class. I provide lots of in class work time for students to complete assignments and get help from me. If work is not done in class, it becomes homework.

Here is a break down of this week:

Monday: Work on genre choice

Tuesday: Work on genre choice

Wednesday: Genre choice reflection, introduce final portfolio, finish project - DUE @ 11:59pm

Thursday: Erasure poetry on journals, work on portfolio

Friday (1:10 Dismissal): Work on portfolio

Welcome to English 10! This term we are stepping things up a bit and requiring a little more work outside of class. We have a lot happening this term so it's easy to get behind. This term we have 3 units going at any point. The first one is vocabulary. This is different from last term. Students will get the list on Monday and will have three assignments to practice the words (antonyms, synonyms, and sentence completion) that are due at the end of the week. These assignments can be done as many times as needed until the due date. NOTES ARE NOT TO BE USED ON THE QUIZZES. There is a bit of a learning curve with this but students who do the three assignments throughout the week instead of not doing them or just doing them all at once typically do much better than those who don't. I also have an extra credit practice game that students can play each week to get more practice.

The second unit that will go through the whole term is our reading of The Book Thief. We will be reading this as a class throughout the term. Students are responsible for following along and filling out reading logs. We will also have three student led discussions over the book.

While all of those are going on, we will also read the Shakespeare play "Taming of the Shrew", learn about persuasion, and write a research paper.

I know this is A LOT so please talk to me if you get behind or have any questions

Here is a break down of this week:

Monday: The Book Thief, Fact table #3

Tuesday: The Book Thief, outline paper

Wednesday: The Book Thief, work on paper

Thursday: The Book Thief, work on paper

Friday (1:10 Dismissal): The Book Thief, work on paper

• Packing up my room for moving
• Attending a family wedding

Hello! I am Ms Skoog! I am an English teacher at Washington High School. I teach American Literature, Creative Writing, and English 10. I went to college at the University of Northern Iowa and high school in Cedar Rapids. While at UNI I was in the Panther Marching Band, a member of Sigma Alpha Iota (women's music fraternity), and a founding member of Alpha Sigma Tau sorority. In my free time I enjoy reading, writing, and taking painting classes, but most of the time, you'll find me watching "Parks and Recreation" or re-reading my favorite books with my two cats Laika and Deja.

Email: askoog@washington.k12.ia.us
Website: instagram.com/sleepyteacher19
Twitter: @msskoog19