Do you know what happens when you give a procrastinator a good idea? Nothing!

That's just a little push for those of you who like to put off tomorrow what you can do next week.  We give out report cards on Friday -- that could be a wakeup call for some of you who let things go.  Resolve to stay on top of things this semester and you'll feel a lot better about everything.  Last week I brought home all your journals with the intention of marking them over the weekend, but the bin sat in my car most of the time.  If I had pulled them out and marked them on Saturday, I would have felt like I deserved the rest of the weekend for a lovely relaxing time, but they were at the back of my mind the whole time and I had to knuckle down and mark them on Tuesday and Wednesday of this week.  I hope I learn my lesson.

Here are your journal topics for this week.  (You can email me your response if that's easier.)

Grade 8:  Are you good at working as a member of a group?  What skills do you have that make you a good team-mate?  How can you improve?  Are you a good leader?  Explain why or why not.  Write about an experience you had as a member of a group.  What did you learn from the experience?

Grade 9/10:  Write your "heritage" story.  Take some time to speak to your family members about any  stories they might know about your family history.  It can be about a holiday your family took, or about how your family got to Canada.  Unfortunately, most families have some war stories (make sure you find out the circumstances of the war, if you use a story like this.  We are all familiar with the World Wars, but in some cases, the war your relative fought in might not be as well known.)  Many families have stories about marriages and births and even deaths.  It can be a funny story, or a sad one or a romantic one or something scary or dramatic.  Give as many details as possible.

Theatre production:  We have decided to include the "wishing tree" idea and the "gondola" idea in our Love Boat experience.  Describe how we can create a "tree" for people to put their wishes on.  How will we decorate the car to make it romantic?  Give details.  We will do the Love Boat experience on February 22.  Next week, we will work on setting it all up.

Directors:  Write a brief "love" scene, like the one we worked on in class yesterday and today.  It should be short and open to a variety of interpretations.  Also, which scene of the ones you directed did you think was the most successful?  Explain why.

Acting 11/12:  What is the most romantic performance you've ever seen?  Why do you choose that performance?  Why do you think it's so hard for actors to play romantic scenes?  Do you find it difficult?  Explain your answer.