it's almost friday...

I've been working so hard this week. Manifest Destiny is not easy to teach. And for as much as I'm enjoying my school year, these kiddos sure aren't academic. They have little curiosity and interest. I would have thought they had studied this concept somewhere in their career. But they are learning for the first time. And I guess that's one of the reasons it's been so tough this week, it's all new concepts instead of reinforcing or going into depth with a familiar concept.

Today I introduced the pieces of their assessment--an alternative to a traditional test. It's hard to gauge if they understood the directions or not. I mean, looking at their faces, they seem to get it. But then they seem to have a hard time getting to work. It's hard to say, though, and I suppose we'll find out when everything's due on Tuesday.

Maybe it is because I know when I'm done this unit it's build up to the Civil War. It fascinates me to teach the Civil War. Every year I seem to get deeper and deeper in my own understanding of the conflict. This is a topic they usually are interested in studying. And I have a few activities that hit every ability level and learning style, so everyone gets to shine.