Mission: Possible

My mission for this year, which I have chosen to accept, is to get my students to read, write, think, speak and listen in a manner consistent with post-high school readiness.

It's a good thing I'm not afraid of the Big Bad Wolf. At ALL.

We begin Romeo and Juliet on Monday (not my first choice at all, but there has been some unattractive snafu with book ordering. I REALLY wanted Lorraine Hansberry's A Raisin in the Sun), and as of this moment, I am in no small amount of denial that has caused me to put off planning--not to mention my desire to enjoy what amounted to a rather pleasant Saturday. ANYWAY, the time has come; I must go big or go home, and the latter is not an option at all.

So for Monday, all I need to do is:

• Plan an air-tight week of lessons to get 6 girls and 36 boys on the same page as we embark on a quest to discover how identity (my chosen theme for the year) seems to impact the motivations of the Montagues and Capulets and similarly, the motivations of my very students;
• Plan such that I can achieve this air-tightness with or without technology. This is important because as of this moment, I have not yet received a laptop with which to use my absolutely magnificent SMARTBoard, which is mounted very conspicuously over the EXACT portion of the good old-fashioned chalkboard that I would love to be able to use in the absence of digital technologies, which I would also love to use. (On Friday, the AP said he'd like me "to use the SMARTBoard every day." I second that motion.);
• NOT become unglued thinking about the many ways the above two bullets can go wrong.

Sounds do-able.

P.S. Like my poster? Two of my kids (not students, biological) helped me color it by hand. Coloring never gets old.