Thursday, May 29, 2014

Final Grades

Currently I have final grades ready for A2 and B1. I will continue to update as more exams are taken. Please see me before school, at lunch, or after school. 

Tuesday, May 27, 2014

Russian I - Helpful Resource

Russian I Students -

Here is a link to a very useful resource for explaining and practicing Russian grammar.  You'll have to look at all chapters to review what we've done in class.  If you see topics which were not covered in the course of the year, overlook them, the program at UCLA uses a different system.

I hope this is helpful as you prepare for your exam.

Exams Begin!

All Students -

Please make sure that you follow the exam schedule and attend all required review sessions.  My review sessions will be especially helpful in AP and Russian since I have written those exams.  For English II and III we will review all the needed skills and types of questions on the exams to prepare.

If you have missing work or things to be completed you must finish by Friday the 30th of May.  This is the day that I will finalize my 4th Quarter Grades.

Thursday, May 22, 2014

The Last B Day of the Year - 5/22/2014

Honors English II

All grades have been posted for the quarter with the exception of a few websites which were given extensions.  Please make sure to finish your site by the approved time so that I can grade it and finish my work for the quarter.

Our review session for the EOC will fall on Thursday the 29th, beginning at 11:06.  If you are exempt from the morning exam (A2 class) you are expected to be in class for our review.  It's important to be at the review since we have not seriously done deep review for the EOC.  Our exam will be the next day, Friday morning.  Be to school on time.  If you miss the beginning of an EOC you may be asked to come back on a make-up day.

ESL English III

Our review period will fall on Monday the 2nd of June, beginning at 11:06.  With your exam happening the very next day, Tuesday the 3rd.  Again, be on time, have all of your materials, and be well rested!

If any of you have textbooks you must turn them in before the review period.  I will be issuing fines for any missing texts at the review session.

Wednesday, May 21, 2014

News

I didn't win for the district but I still feel accomplished! Thanks y'all! See you in the morning.  

A-Day Student Homework - 5/21/2014

This is it - our last class on Friday is really just an extra day for us to tie up some loose ends.

AP English III

Come prepared on Friday to have some fun, it's character cafe day!  Bring your supplies, feel free to drop off in the morning before school, and then we'll eat, drink, and be merry.  Some of us will end up dead on the ground by the end of the class, but that's okay - as long as the rest of us get out of the way of that speeding car, right Myrtle?

Exemptions have been announced - if you think you should be exempt and are not, please see me.

Return all books or materials which are mine - you know who you are.

Russian I

You should be studying nightly for your final.  See me if you have individual questions or concerns - I'll have your letter grades posted as soon as I can.

Tuesday, May 20, 2014

Homework for B-Day Students - 5/20/2014

Honors English II

Please begin turning in your books.  After our presentations on Thursday I want to run through and check to make sure that all textbooks have been accounted and collected.  If not, I will issue fines and letters stating how much you will owe if the book is not returned.  Feel free to turn in the books early if you need to.

Next class we will be presenting our websites - make sure that they are thoroughly completed as you will be assessed during your presentation.  Make sure that you use the rubric and identify your two focus questions so that I know where to weight your grades.  Ask for help if you need it, but be aware that we are on the last minute related to this project.

Remember to make sure that you've shared your website to mrmillerjhs@gmail.com -- to make sure you could also e-mail me a link, but I prefer you just share.

ESL English III

You will have your final quiz on Night next class.  Be prepared for that by studying through your notes - it will be a short answer quiz so that we can prepare for our NCFE which will have short answer questions.  Study and prepare!  It's our last grade of the year.

Monday, May 19, 2014

Homework for A-Day Classes - 5/19/2014

AP English III

Your homework for tonight is to spend time working on your Character Bone Structure sheets.  Know that these will be collected on Friday as your final grade and will be half of your participation in Friday's Character Cafe.  This is your main goal.  I'll give out exemptions to the exam as soon as I can.

Russian I

Today we reviewed the different topics which will be covered on the final exam.  I hope that this was useful for all of you.  In addition, we spent some time going over the different cases and their functions.  Next class you will have your final writing assignment.  Be sure to have your index card with necessary vocabulary on it to compose your letter.  This is your final grade of the year before the final exam.  Make it count.

Saturday, May 17, 2014

Homework for the Weekend - B Day Students

Honors English II

This weekend you should all be preparing for your final major assessments in class. Your final quiz on Night will fall on Tuesday with the presentation and assessment of your websites on Thursday. I'm more than happy to help you with your websites. Send me emails or come meet with me to get on my calendar. 

In addition I would start to look over things in preparation for the EOC. We will discuss this more as it draws nearer. 

ESL English III

This weekend you should all continue reading Night. I would also study and review your multiple choice practice questions as we keep doing more. Consider the correct answer and try to understand what makes the answer correct over others. 

Thursday, May 15, 2014

Homework for A-Day Students: Final Weekend: 5/15/2014

AP English III

For this weekend I want for all of you to begin preparing for your final exams by making a study list of texts we've read this year, authors, and significant characters in each.  Go all the way back to Steinbeck for this.  For those of you planning on taking the exam, this will be highly fruitful in organizing your study of these different pieces this year.

In addition, we'll be having a bit of a writing workshop on college admissions essays.  Try to look at the applications for schools which interest you and find essay prompts.  Bring those with you to class on Monday so that we can begin to talk about effective strategies for compiling and completing these essays.

In addition, here is the link for the AP Summer Scholars Camp hosted by DPS - A good opportunity for those of you in town this summer to develop your AP skills before next year.

http://cia.dpsnc.net/advanced-academics/advanced-placement

Russian I

No homework this weekend as you had a test today.  Make sure that if you have missing work that you get this turned in.  I'd also recommend studying a bit for your final - we'll start review on Monday with the introduction and chapter one.  Don't forget as well that we will have our writing assignment on Wednesday and Thursday in class.

Wednesday, May 14, 2014

B Day Homework - 5/14/2014

Honors English II

I hope that today's brief conversation helped you all to see the larger point that Wiesel is making about himself and a lot of survivors from the camps after World War II.  We'll continue to look at the text as a whole next class before we have our final quiz on Tuesday of next week.  For tonight, I would suggest continuing to review the text as well as work on your websites.  You have your rubric for completing the websites, so make sure that you are moving forward with that final project.  In addition, make sure that you email me or contact me in some way to ask for help with these sites.

ESL English II

We began reading chapter five today in class to see more of what life is like in the camps.  Next class I'll be giving back your project drafts so that we can revise those before our final few classes.  Continue reading forward in Night.  Watch how Elie's character is continuing to change and how his relationship with his father is shifting too.

Remember to get all missing or make-up assignments in to me by Friday.  If you can't get your work in by Friday, let me know so I can expect your work.

Tuesday, May 13, 2014

A Day Homework and Announcements - 5/13/2014

AP English III

I applaud all of you for your argumentative letters today.  If you need to finish a draft or make some tweaks, please do that tonight so that I can put our letters in the mail on Friday.  I've enjoyed seeing your approaches to this idea of banning books as well as the clear and thorough approach you're using in speaking to the school board members.  Continue this type of writing, working and thinking.

For tonight, make sure that you have read Flannery O'Connor's "Good Country People" - you have my annotations to help you though the text as well as good questions to consider to help you break down the text.  Read and analyze thoroughly so that we can have a productive conversation on Thursday.

Russian I

Next class we will be having our verb exam.  You'll need to be able to conjugate verbs in the present, past, and future tenses.  Make sure that you have studied the One-Stem Verb Resource Sheet which outlines particulars to each conjugation as well as the different stems and conjugation patterns controlled by those stems.

In addition, continue working on your drafts of your letters to your Moldovan host family.  We'll continue working on this in class in preparation for Wednesday/Thursday's completion of this writing task.

Finally remember that all make-up/revised work is due by Friday.  If you will not be able to make this deadline please see me in advance.  

B-Day Homework - Super Late - So Sorry - 5/12/2014

Honors English II

Incredibly sorry that I didn't get this posted.  I had a presentation which threw off my afternoon and this just flew out of my mind.  I'll also blame cutting the grass since I was too exhausted to do anything after that.

To those of you who submitted your papers yesterday, thank you.  The resubmission window is open and Friday is the last day to submit those items.  Friday is actually the last day for all items for everyone.  For tonight finish reading Night.  We'll be taking our final exam on Wiesel's narrative on Tuesday the 20th and then present our website projects on Thursday the 22nd.  The extension for the websites is due to the technical problems we were having in the labs.

With the website projects, remember to use e-mail to communicate with me on those.  If you've shared with me I can get in there and help you to format and incorporate things.  Also remember to use images and videos, but to cite all sourced information.

ESL English III

I was happy that many of you performed well on the practice multiple choice.  We'll be doing more of those in the days to come.  For tonight, continue to review those questions and strategies.  If you got a question wrong, look at the right answer and try to ask yourself why the answer you selected isn't as good as the one labeled correct.

Next class we will have our (hopefully) last day in the library and you'll be printing all of your items for submission.

Friday, May 9, 2014

Homework for A-Day Students and a Few Announcements

AP English III

You have something very rare this weekend - nothing to do for our next class.  Enjoy this weekend.  Enjoy the fact that you've taken your AP Exam.  I hope that you all felt confident and prepared!  Next class we'll start to have some fun with our final five classes together.

Russian I:

Your Verb Conjugation Unit Exam will fall on the 15th and 16th.  Next class we will continue to review and practice some of our new vocabulary on numbers (which will not be on this exam) as well as a few more conjugation drills (which will be on this exam).  In addition we will continue to work on our final letter drafts for the 21st and 22nd - the day we have our written examination.

For tonight/this weekend continue to study and prepare.  Complete the additional translation assignment if you would like to submit that for extra credit or make-up credit for a previously missed homework/classwork assignment this unit.  If you have no missing assignments I will apply extra credit to a previous assignment.

All Students:

Remember that all missing work needs to be completed and submitted ASAP.  Nothing will be accepted past next Friday the 16th for any classes.  If you don't know your status in regards to missing assignments, see me.

English II Honors:

I'm going to move your quiz on Night back to the 20th so that we're all done with AP Exams.  This will also allow us to finish the novel before the quiz.  Please make sure that your parallelism assignment is ready for me next class.  You should also be ready to begin constructing your websites!

Thursday, May 8, 2014

Homework for the Weekend - B Day - 5/8/2014

Honors English II

This weekend you all will be doing some textual analysis between chapters two and six focusing on the idea of parallelism.  Your goal within this activity is to investigate the similarities in order to see the underlying differences.  First, set up your paper:  Create four columns (item/chapter two/chapter six/analysis).  For the items, you must analyze Elie and the group/community, you may then choose two other items you see as parallel.  With each chapter, find a quotation which helps you to see the parallelism between the item in chapter two and in chapter six.  Lastly, analyze and explain the larger difference you've identified.

This is a high level activity in analysis and pattern recognition.  Great skills to develop before our EOC.  Also, remember that paper resubmissions are coming due.  If you would like to resubmit, get that settled.

ESL English III

Make sure that if you have a native language to English dictionary that you bring that with you to class so that we can work on strategies for using that tool effectively.

Wednesday, May 7, 2014

Homework for A-Day Students: 5/7/2014

AP English III

In effect, we're done.  You've got your exam next class and that is your chance to show everything that you've learned this year.  Make me proud.  Remember to have sharpened number two pencils, a few pens, and a watch for the exam so that you can time yourselves on the essays.  I would also suggest a good breakfast on Friday morning.

Please come to my room at 7:30 so we can do our chant before you all march over to the exam.  Remember that this is an English exam; don't stay up cramming the night before - a good night's sleep will do you much better.

Russian I

Tonight for homework you need to complete exercise six which is the fill in the blanks activity.  Use a dictionary to find the word needed and then use clues to put the words in the proper tense or case.  Most of these words are verbs, so this is an excellent final review on conjugation and verb completion.  Make sure that this is complete for Friday when I will collect it and your most recent warm-up sheet for an accuracy check.

Also, you should try to begin preparing yourselves for your final writing assignment which will fall on the 21st and 22nd of this month.  You received the prompt today, take this time to prepare, write drafts, and ask for my help.

Your exam on verb conjugation will fall on the 15th and 16th which is next week.  We've been reviewing a lot so I expect good things from all of you.

Tuesday, May 6, 2014

Homework for B-Day Students - 5/6/2014

Honors English II

Tonight for homework I would like for you to complete the reading of chapter six in Night.  This runs until page ninety-seven in the "blue" books.  Tonight as you read pay attention to the relationship between Elie and his father as it undergoes a significant crisis and change.  This chapter is pretty brutal, so pay attention to the use of language as well.

On Thursday we will return to the library to finish our research.  Make sure that you are prepared for that.  Also, next Wednesday we will have a quiz on chapters one through six of Night.  Study a bit now to be prepared in advance for that assessment.

ESL English III

Make sure that you've read the end of chapter four and that you can tell me about the people who were executed at the end of the chapter.  Pay attention to the differences between these executions and how they make Elie and the other prisoners feel.

Monday, May 5, 2014

Homework for A-Day Students: 5/5/2014

AP English III

Due to the fact that we had a lot of students affected by today's AP Examinations we did not hold class and used the time as a study hall.  I appreciate those of you who were in class today who spent the time focusing on your work and being productive.  For next class, please make sure that you have thoroughly read and annotated George Orwell's "Shooting an Elephant".  This is our last text before the exam on Friday, so make sure that you approach it with the necessary time and effort.

Russian I

Today I conferenced with each of you on your answers to the questions in Exercise Nine.  Tonight I would ask that you revise these questions based on the notes I gave today in class.  For the most part here are the common errors I've seen:

  • improper use of the instrumental case with the verbs "to be", "to become", and "to work"
  • omission of prepositions
  • confusion between the prepositional and accusative case for places
  • errors in verb conjugation
  • improper conjugation of the second verb in a chain
  • improper use of possessive pronouns
Look over your errors and make corrections.  Also, be aware that our verb conjugation exam will likely be changed to the 15th and 16th as no students will be affected by AP testing on these days.  Prepare for that.  We will have plenty of days to review in preparation for this exam.

Friday, May 2, 2014

Homework for the Weekend - B Day Students: 5/2/2014

Honors English II

This weekend I want all of you to focus on your research projects since we will not have time to go back to the media center until Thursday the 8th to continue working on those.  This weekend you should aim to finish answering three of the five questions about your country.  Make sure that you have citations for all of your information.

With this project we will concentrate on having all of the notes and content collected first before we begin building our websites.  For now, concentrate on collecting information and images to help you make your websites complete.

Make sure as well that you have finished the reading of chapters one through five over the weekend.  We will move through the second half of the novel starting next week.

ESL English III

For the weekend I would like for all of you to finish reading chapter four.  Continue to build on what we were discussing today about life in the camp for Elie as well as how he is changing as a person.  We will continue working on our research projects in class, next week.

Thursday, May 1, 2014

Homework for A-Day Students: 5/1/2014

AP English III

Well kiddos, it's about time to start your dancing season (AP Exams start next week!).  Looking at the list of who will be taking what it looks like most of you will be out on Monday and Friday for exams.  So, the work below will be due for Wednesday, 5/7/2014.  For Wednesday's class I would like for you to read George Orwell's "Shooting an Elephant."  This text is available in 50 Essays or at this link.  Read this piece carefully as we will spend a fair amount of time analyzing it as our final preparation for the exam on Friday.  In addition we will do some work with Multiple Choice with this piece too.

For Friday, I would like to see all of you before the exam.  Please come in around 7:40 am so that we can do our "This is my pen..." chant one last time before you go in to the exam.

Outside of that we will be looking at some short stories to finish our year.  I'll post those next week so that you can start reading.  Please make sure that you use your progress reports to get caught up.  Some of you are missing assignments from absences and need to get these things settled by the middle of next week at the latest.

Russian I

To prepare for our final writing assignment I would like for you all to complete exercise nine tonight and write sixteen Russian sentences which answer the questions asked of you.  Be sure that you are using a dictionary only to look up individual words.  Use the structure of the question to help you to create your answer.  Practice with your verb usage and check yourself using your notes.  This will be collected on Monday for a grade - please complete it and see me in advance with questions.

Be sure that all of you also use your progress reports to make up any missed or missing assignments.  The due date for any late work is Monday the 5th as I have to begin to prepare for final exam.  Please meet this deadline.