31 August - End of the Month!

English 10

Wonderful work today everyone as we engaged as a group of listeners and watchers. We watched a few TikTok videos from a wonderfully hilarious Nigerian woman and then listened to another Nigerian woman tell us about "The Danger of a Single Story". I look forward to reviewing your answers and thoughts on her speech. 

Next class we'll spend more time in Africa, but in another country - South Africa. We'll focus on South Africa for a few classes, I hope you'll enjoy our focused study of that country.

30 August - Tuesday and Back to School Night

AP Language

Good day today in AP Language land. We went over the process and resources we have for completing vocabulary this year before having time to finish up what we needed - either the diagnostic exam or the vocabulary set. You'll have your exams back to you next week and we'll review the feedback. 

For tonight, the best thing to do is to complete your vocabulary cards. Next unit we'll have some articles to read and those will be posted for you to read and annotate. If you'd like to get ahead, feel free to pick one of those to read and consider.

AP Research

What a day! We are really getting in deep with our problem statements which are the foundation of our eventual research. I loved your conversations today related to the Nobel Prize winners and the realizations that you were able to make around their work and the work that we'll be doing in this classroom.

I want to remind you of one of the most important words of the class - recursive. The work we're doing right now is building on itself. As you spend time with the databases, keep going back to your problem statements - the data you find in the sources should help you to further refine your problem statement and eventual research question. I would recommend rewriting the problem statement as you find new information.

For tonight, continue to work with the databases. Log your articles and sources. Revise your problem statements. Consider your questions. I'll see you Thursday.

29 August - Monday Monday...

English 10

Great day today everyone. Lots of talking, thinking, and reading. We started our day with a quick grammar overview and lesson on apostrophes. I hope you find it helpful. From there we did a four corners conversation before moving into our study of "About School". The recording is posted for you. If you need to finish your questions for homework, please do so, and turn them in next class.

The syllabus has been posted. Please review it with your parents and sign the form at the end. Next class we'll start with our study of South Africa. I'm excited to take you there.

26 August - End of Week One

AP English Language

Our first long winding slog is complete! Huzzah! Now mine begins as I read and evaluate your first timed writings with the AP rubric. We'll review feedback and the skills of the class later next week. Remember, all of these grades will go in the gradebook - but with a rolling gradebook they'll be quickly replaced. You're not expected to know everything at the beginning of the class. Of course not! But, it's good to see where we need to be at the end, and where we are now, so we can figure out how we'll get there.

Over the weekend, take it easy and recover from your three-day baptism by fire. Our next class will be focused on vocabulary, provide some extra time on the exam if needed, and give you your first working day.

AP Research

We pushed through today in order to discuss the disciplines of study as well as the foundational work for this class. Understanding Research versus research and the importance of the problem statement as it relates to your research question. The slides for today's class are very crucial and helpful - I'd suggest downloading the specific slides you need. We also completed our first reflection - keep those together in your Weekly Work folder as we keep moving through the year.

Over the weekend you have a few things to work through. First, complete the Nobel Prize Research assignment and submit that to Schoology by Tuesday. Follow the instructions in the document posted. You should also find additional sources for your research interest. Now that you know about problem statements, you may want to restart your quest, but you can also feel free to use the two you already have. The databases are your friends! Get friendly.

See y'all Tuesday!

25 August - Thursday

English 10

Another good class in the books. You all are proving yourselves to be quite the wonderful group of scholars. Today we spent some time getting to know each other more with a survey (be sure to submit it if you didn't during class) - it is for a grade. From there we spoke a bit about our concept for the year before we learned a bit about our culture in the classroom through our rules and procedures. 

We ended our day with some work on our goals for the year. I'm excited to see what you all are attempting to achieve for yourselves this year. Your goals are a part of your culture, so knowing them help me to know you.

Enjoy the weekend! I will see you on Monday.

24 August - Wednesday

AP Language

Today we finished our MCQ diagnostic and moved into the FRQ. In the FRQ there are three essays to write - the synthesis (with sources), the rhetorical analysis (you read and explain a text), and the argument (you argue your point on a topic). Most of you worked through Question 3 today, which is what I recommended given the timing constraints.

Next class we will finish our diagnostic exam. You will have completed your first timed essays of all types and seen questions. Be sure that you've collected about FIVE vocabulary words from the exam, you'll need them next week for vocabulary cards. As always, reach out with any concerns or questions.

AP Research

Great day today, y'all. We did some great thinking and working around key concepts in our classroom. It's important that we shift our ideas and perspectives on some words and concepts so that we can work through our class with our heads on straight. We also spent some time with our Academic Paper Rubric - understanding this and the importance of the research question to your success on the rubric will help you to frame the early work that we are doing.

The second part of class was for us to set-up, share, and populate our PREP Folders. Be sure to follow the instructions in the folder under Current Lessons. Most of your work will be logged in the PREP and we will fill all our folders through the year. Most of your work right now will be in Weekly Work. 

Your first homework assignment is posted. It's due next week. Follow the instructions and complete your research on a Nobel winner of your choice. It's a great way to show your understanding of the essential vocabulary from today.

See you Friday!

First Grey Day - 23 August 2022

English 10

Wonderful day today, everyone! I very much enjoyed working with you and getting to know you all. We took time for names, arts and crafts, and a bit of an overview of our year - world literature. I loved seeing the way that you worked together, showed up for class, and respected our environment.

For tonight, think about our concept of the year - culture. What would you say is part of your culture? What's important to you? This is a great place for us to start our conversation this year. 

AP Language

I'll make the posts on the Blue Day for this class since that's its first meeting. Be sure to check the post above for your reminders/information.

Kicking Off 2022-23. Monday, August 22

AP Language

Welcome everyone to the new school year! I'm very excited to be your English teacher and work with you all as you improve your skills as a writer, reader, thinker, and communicator. Today we did a quick overview of the class, but we spent the majority of the time working through our AP Examination Diagnostic. Next class you'll have time to finish another section of the MCQ and begin on your FRQ questions. We should have the diagnostic finished in three classes.

Continue to collect vocabulary from the exam - you'll need it for your next assessment, vocabulary cards. For tonight, there's not a lot to do. You can join AP Classroom by entering the code you can find on Schoology for this class. You can also check out our Course Resources and Materials. If you have any questions or concerns, feel free to reach out.

AP Research

Welcome researchers to the 2022-23 year. I'm very excited to work with all of you as you explore your interests and develop your skills as critical thinkers, readers, and writers. We'll be doing a lot of big work in this room this year, and I can't wait to see what you produce as we work. Today's class was a general overview, timeline, and some basic information. I'll have a formal syllabus for you once it's approved.

For tonight, you should join our AP Classroom space with the code found on Schoology. After you've done that, feel free to poke around a bit on Schoology. Eventually I'll want you to find the FHS Library Page and navigate to the databases. Select a database and start to do some looking related to the topics and interests we explored today in class. I want you to have TWO potential sources. You will want to download the PDF to your Google Drive. Remember where you found it - a citation helps!

See you all on Wednesday!