Think Positive!

Now that the school work and studying for tests have taken over all the free time for students, I have noticed a negative atmosphere. Grumpy comments and the audible sigh when returning papers or assigning homework.

SO- to combat this attitude, I have been asking students to say 3 nice things about each other, or their day! It seems to be working! I am so happy to hear students praise other students. Next time you have a negative thought think of three positive things to balance out.

Three POSITIVE things coming up/started this week:
English 11- Autobiographical Narrative Essay is DUE TOMORROW.
English 12 TP- Brown Mackie College speaker next week.
Speech- We began our "Speech of Introduction" today and everyone did great! I can't wait to see what the rest of the class has to offer the rest of the week.

Also- start checking on your course pages for information specific to your course.

Getting into the groove.

All classes are getting comfortable in their roles as students. Each class has had one set of tests or quizzes and can now understand what I am looking for and what I expect.

Upcoming events:

English 11 - Narrative Essays will be due next week.
English 12 TP - Finishing up our unit on "Conflict" and looking into a creating professional portfolio.
Speech - We have finished the chapters that lead up to our first speech!- Next week "Speech of Introduction!" See outline and dates on the Speech Page.

Hope everyone is ready for our first home game tomorrow- GO TIGERS!

Hit the ground running!

We made it through our first Monday! The classroom communities are really coming together- I see more smiles and hear even more chitter chatter. So far just a few reminders for all the classes:

English 11: Be sure to bring your journals to class! We will be setting up our blog accounts next week. Our first unit test will be this week over "Myths" and we will have our first Vocabulary Quiz on Friday.

English 12 TP: Great discussion and personality tests today! Looks like most the class is "Orange" while I am "Blue and Gold"- Ask your child to explain. Be sure to bring journal and book tomorrow as we will begin Beowulf.

Speech: Talkative class- good thing the course title is "speech". We will dive into Chapter 1 notes and assignments tomorrow.

Have a wonderful evening!
Mrs. Burman

Education is not preparation for life; education is life itself.

Welcome to a new school year!

My name is Amanda Burman and I will be teaching English 11, English 12 TP, Mythology, and Speech at Bluffton High School. I created this website as a window for students and parents. This will help parents stay involved and students stay current. You can follow this website by entering your email on the right- this will send you an email each time I update the home page.

You can also browse through the class pages. Currently, you will find a course description, class rules, expectations, and more! As the year continues, I plan to have students in English 11 blog about an assigned novel, and in Speech I plan to post due dates and examples of speeches. This website will also give parents insight as to how the school year is going.

Some information about me:
Name: Amanda (Berhalter) Burman
Classroom: B-08 - Bluffton High School
Email: aberhalter@bhmsd.k12.in.us
Phone: (260) 824- 3724  ext. 7208
Other Titles: Girls Varsity Swim Coach and Tiger Dance Company Director

Please feel free to email, or call anytime.
Mrs. Burman