I, Joy Kirr, am a middle school teacher, author, and speaker. My 7th grade ELA (English Language Arts) classes are working to improve their lives through student-directed learning - without marks throughout the year. This is a log of my learning experiences... Want to have me speak with your staff or facilitate a workshop? Here is my PORTFOLIO.

Tuesday, September 18, 2012

Yesterday in Genius Hour, we were forced to watch Caine's Arcade part 2!! Because of Caine's arcade there is a cardboard day and we discussed what we could do on cardboard day. Mrs. Kirr threatened to execute us if we left, guarded the door with an evil looking helmet on her head, and eyed us suspiciously. "Please Mrs. Kirr spare my life," We begged. The only good thing that happened is that we got iPads (5/6 only). We also watched a video about Dot Day in Mrs. Kirr's class and the activities we did. Submitted for your approval by Shane and Nick.

Tuesday, September 11, 2012

Our Second Genius Hour


The lucky kids who didn’t get interrogated had their turn on Monday.  Mrs. Kirr tied us to our chairs and forced us to watch a video about how fiction inspires people.  In 2/3 Billy presented his book about gravity and zip lining. He created a zip line in class, shown here. The last thing we did was have our bottoms glued to the cold metal chairs and we read.  ~Fondly submitted by Shane & Nicholas



Wednesday, September 5, 2012

Yesterday, in Genius Hour we read books. Cici read The Host by: Stephenie Meyer. During reading, we had a 1 on 1 conference with Mrs. Kirr. She called us over 1 by 1 beckoning us with her pointy jagged finger. "Come here child!" she said in an ominous voice as the frightened and helpless child nervously staggered toward their doom! The "interrogation" was about where our reading level is and how much we read on a daily basis. It was also about our reading goals.

This dreadful message w as brought to you by Shane and Nicholas "Nick Nac".

                                                         SAVE YOURSELVES!!!!