Lots of planning.

I apologize to my critical friends for putting off posting for so long, but I've felt somewhat overwhelmed lately. As I stated in my previous post, i just started with two new classes this semester. On Monday I just started a new unit with my junior American Lit class (Bless Me, Ultima) and I've been busy planning. I began by giving them an assignment where they research both sides of their family to explore the differences and similarities. They are supposed to interview parents and do internet research in order to find specific details. I hoping this assignment will help them relate to the main character in the book who often feels torn between both sides of his family. most of the students seem to be on task today in the computer lab; I hope that is a sign of their interest.
My freshman class is still not completely mine. My master teacher wants to finish the Romeo and Juliet unit before I take over the class completely. I'm glad we're team-teaching at this point; I hate teaching Shakespeare. I'm supposed to be planning a unit for Ender's Game. It's going slow. Many of the boys in the class seem really interrested, the girls, not so much. Hopefully I can find some ways to keep them both engaged.