30 September - Happy Friday!

AP Language

Easy peasy, pumpkin squeezy as we round out September and kick off October! Today was our end of Unit 2 working day. There's a few goals that we have as we close out, so let's review:

1. Do you have a missing project? I'm working through grading and should have them finished by the middle of next week. Be sure to submit if missing. I'll give back rubrics with feedback to guide revisions if needed/wanted.

2. Vocabulary is open to be collected. Remember that words should come from class readings or resources (like the tone word sheet). If you don't know why you lost points on earlier vocabulary cards, be sure to reach out and ask. 

3. Our seminar is next class. Be sure that you have finished your choice reading and annotated it for the author's message and elements of the rhetorical situation. How does the author convey an argument? What stands out to you? What connections can you make?

4. Your final project for this unit has been assigned and reviewed. I'll be giving you some more time over the next classes to work on this further. For now, start by considering your examples and your thesis. What is America to you? How can you prove that? What's the counter argument?

Reach out if you need me!

AP Research

Lovely Friday! We took our time today to read a Level 4 paper and understand some of our key elements that are at play in the paper. From there, it was off to the mines as we are writing, finishing work from Unit 1, or completing reflections on our work so far.

Next week will be a lot of time for you to write your Annotated Bibliography. Don't be afraid of being repetitive. Use the templates and support that you have to complete this work. It may seem daunting to write twenty five entries, but the supports are there to help you do it.

Enjoy the weekend. Your Annotated Bibliography is due Week 8 - that would be October 14.

29 September - Grey Thursday

English 10

Easy day in English 10 today. We took our WorkKeys writing diagnostic and traveled to the library to check out our first choice reading books. Over the weekend, you should complete any missing assignments from Unit 1. Some of you are missing the reading diagnostic or possibly your project. Get these things finished so that I can finalize your grades.

Next week we'll be starting our unit on Asia. I'm excited to show you some of the cultures in India, China, and Japan. Be ready and enjoy the weekend!

Wednesday the 28th of September

AP Language

Absolutely fantastic, y'all. We began our reading of our choice texts today as a means to understand the essentials of rhetoric and argumentation. These texts have a lot of connections between them especially around the ideas of language and identity and you can use them for your final projects, which makes them even better.

Next class is going to be our working day for the end of Unit 2. Be ready to read, work on your project, complete any missing work, or complete vocabulary. I would recommend using Lion Time this week or after school if you need it. I'm here to support you at the end of the unit. Your readings will be due next week as will your vocabulary cards. Be ready to finish this unit and move on to our first novel, The Great Gatsby.

AP Research

Today was our working day to begin Unit 2. You'll have a lot of time during this unit to write, so most of your work should happen in class with your cohort. Remember that this is a time that it is good to work with your peers and at times better to work with them than to work with me.

By the end of this week, you should be complete with all Unit 1 tasks. All reflections are complete. All assignments are submitted. Our goal at this time is the completion of your annotated bibliography to support the creation of your introduction of your academic paper.

Next class we'll take some time to read another high scoring paper and time to write entries. It'll be a bit of a rinse and repeat model for the next few classes, but it's a bit of what we need right now. 

27 September - Happy (Jewish) New Year

I'm back recharged and refreshed from my days on the Appalachian Trail this weekend. What a great way to celebrate the new year, in nature, with my thoughts and time to reflect. Here are your reminders for tonight.

English 10

Today we began our process to end Unit 1 - our investigation of culture. We reviewed the final project and I went over my exemplar for all of you. I hope that you enjoyed learning a bit more about me today and my family. Next class we'll be taking some time to go to the library and select our first reading books of the year for our reading raffle - we'll also complete our writing diagnostic (don't worry, it's scored based on completion).

Now is a good time to check SIS for any missing assignments. If you see something marked as NHI or M, focus on making that up. Some of you need to complete the reading diagnostic - it's currently marked as missing if you were absent the day we took it.

23 September

Sorry for the delay. The blog was blocked so I couldn't run an update. But it looks like we're back in business.

AP Language

A bit of a rushed day today, but we still got a lot done. Be sure to go back and check the letters between John and Abigail. I'd recommend rereading as you now have a bit more of a framework for reading. Over the weekend you have a few priorities. Let me outline for you here:

1. Be sure that you apply your feedback from today's gallery walk and submit your final project. I'll begin grading on Tuesday, so have it in by then.

2. Select and begin to read your choice article. You don't have to finish it, but be sure that you've started. We'll start to work through these next class.

3. Vocabulary is going to be due soon for the unit. The space will be opened soon. Be sure that you apply feedback from round one as you complete these assignments.

AP Research

A fast class today, but a good class as we kicked off Unit 2. This unit is designed to help you write and refine your ideas to develop your introduction of your academic paper. The first step to this is to submit your Source List - the firm due date is Tuesday for this. This will lead you to the Annotated Bibliography which is your first major writing assignment.

The lesson today and the slides are crucial in helping you do this work. Use the templates. Use the samples. Ask for help as you need it! Over the weekend, be sure to complete your Source List and submit. Begin to write your entries - having a few done for next week would be a great way to start our conferences. Lastly, be sure to complete your Week 5 Reflection in your PREP.

22 September - Grey Day

English 10

Really lovely day today in English 10 as we finished our last reading for the unit - Neil Gaiman's "Credo". This is a great text for you to use for your quotation response, slide five of your project. After we finished reading, we took time to focus on our projects.

Your project is due at the end of next class. Next class is our unit catch-up day, working day, and finalizing day. We'll be transitioning to a new unit next week where we'll study Asian literature and culture. If you're ready, you can turn in your project early, but I would recommend waiting until our writing workshop next class.

If you celebrate - enjoy the holiday weekend! L'shana tova!

21 September - Blue Wednesday

AP English Language

Solid work with one of my favorites today - Mr. James Baldwin. As a queer, African American thinker and writer in the 1960's and 70's he faced a lot of criticism but he never wavered in his beliefs. His passion is apparent in the letter we read today. Keep in mind that everything we're doing right now is geared toward the project - put this forward into your work.

For tonight, you should complete your slides for your gallery walk. The project is due on Friday. Use our practice in class recently as you write and determine the rhetorical situation for your text of choice. Be sure that you include citations. Lion Time is a great time to work on the project together. 

You'll also need to read the letters between John and Abigail Adams on page 250. Annotate for argument. Use the technique from today if you'd like.

AP Research

This is the end my friends, of Unit 1. We finished our conferences - which were fantastic by the way - and we spent a lot of time revising and thinking. A few important reminders for all of you:

1. You can't talk to anyone - asking questions/surveys/interviews - until you pass IRB in December. 

2. Don't worry about making your phrasing exact right now. Let your research question be gangly. Make sure it has all the parts. We'll revise later. Let's make sure our boat can float before we buy curtains for the portholes.

3. Keep using your databases and your question at the same time. If you have words in your question that need to be defined or pared down, use the BoK. Use a keyword term to search for the term in your field. How do people measure "unity" or "addiction"? What is meant by "mental health"?

4. Always remember feasibility with your question. What do you know? What can you discuss? You're not a trained psychologist, so what can you comfortably and knowledgably discuss related to anxiety or depression or belonging? How can sources help you do this work?

Unit 2 begins next class. We'll be focused on writing and our sources.

20 September - Grey Tuesday

English 10

Today was a lovely start to our week together as we wrapped up our work on South Africa. We did some grammar to review titles and punctuation, worked to complete our AECS South Africa reflection, and then reviewed our project requirements for the end of the unit as well as resources to help us do this work.

Next class we'll be reading our last text for the unit and having time to focus on our projects. I'll have your paragraphs graded and back to you next week and we'll do some revising work if needed. Remember to talk to your families tonight for your project work - they're kinda the experts in a few places. 

19 September - Blue Day

AP Language

Today we did a lot of analysis and practice geared toward our project called "What's the Situation". I was very glad to see the thinking going on as we worked together to understand Mario Cuomo and Abraham Lincoln. The most important takeaway is that if there are multiple audiences, there are often multiple purposes and arguments. Keep track of how the message is geared and crafted toward the specific audiences. This is one of the main tasks you have in your project.

Tonight, take time for your projects. Spending time on those is the best thing that you can do. They're due at the end of the week! Be sure that you have completed your reading diagnostic as well - AP Classroom remains open for practice.

Let me know what you need - Lion Time Thursday is a great time to work on your project with me. I'm also after school on Wednesday and Thursday this week.

AP Research

We are closing out Unit 1 this week and moving on to Unit 2. Today and next class are our final working days for Unit 1. During these days I'll be conferencing with each of you about your research questions and work with your sources up to this point. Be sure that you log these conferences, I mean to help at all times.

Remember that your categorized source list is due this week. On Friday, we'll have our lesson on the annotated bibliography and writing. I'm looking forward to that. If you have any work to finish up for Unit 1 including reflections, quizzes, or other tasks, now is the time to complete them.

End of the Week - 15 September

AP Language

Great day today for our first official working day. There are a few things that have been announced today - the recording is a great recap. Generally we:

1. Set up our writing notebooks/portfolios to be used through the year.

2. Reviewed the first mini-project of the year, the template, and the resources to complete it as well as the rubric.

3. Understood the reading diagnostic, how to access it, and how it will be used.

4. Reviewed AP Classroom, the joining process, and how Progress Checks will be used this year.

The majority of class was spent working independently. Over the weekend, you should complete your reading diagnostic if you didn't in class. There is also a reading assigned for next week. It's a speech by Mario Cuomo. There's a PDF, it's in the textbook, and there's a video of him presenting the speech. Annotate for tone. Use your tone words sheet. Notice especially where the tone shifts and how he demonstrates that shift.

AP Research

A pretty straightforward day today in AP Research land as we reviewed our CRAAP test for sources and the College Board Policy on Falsification and Plagiarism. From there, we took some time as we need to work through our source list, reading log, reflection questions, or research question development. At this point in the course you should be finalizing your research question. We can of course continue to make edits, but you should be locking in some of your decisions now.

Over the weekend be sure to complete your newest reflection question. It's a POD question you could get at the end of the year. Next week we'll start to transition out of Unit 1 and into Unit 2. Be ready for a lesson on your next major assignment - the annotated bibliography.

See you Monday!

14 September - Grey Wednesday

English 10

We started our work with Desmond Tutu's speech and will finish our work with it next class. We'll also be saying good bye to South Africa next class, so be ready for that too. Our work in class today focused on the idea of identifying claims and the evidence that supports that claim. I like that we were able to find some key claims and the support for them that Tutu uses. It's great to see the way that authors build their ideas; we'll be doing similar work, so using their work as models for us is very helpful.

Be ready for writing next class. We'll be doing some instruction and then I'll ask you to show me what you can do! 

See you Friday!!

13 September - Tuesday

AP Language

Sorry to have had to abandon you in the photo line. Unfortunately the line was long and the class time was short. I will get you your student ID's next class. 

Class was lovely, but fast. We did a lot of work related to the rhetorical situation. It's a great framework for breaking down a text and understanding the way that the pieces work together to function and create meaning. We also worked on a method to analyze pieces of a text called DIDLS - remember that these two frameworks work together to help you read, write, and think. Use them.

For tonight remember that you should be working through your vocabulary regularly. Collect and work on words daily. If you haven't submitted your first five, be sure to do so. There's also our choice reading. Next class you'll need your laptop for our workshop day. You'll also need to bring your spiral notebook which you'll leave behind. Prepare accordingly.

AP Research

Lovely day in AP Research today as we took some time for what we needed and then gathered together to do some active reading and annotating. We'll continue to come back to this paper as we move through the year - it's our benchmark of a good paper. This one got a FIVE, and I think it's clear to see why.

Right now, we're focused on the introduction. It's important to recognize how the student uses sources and how the sources that the student uses are used to frame their work and lead to the research question. This is your paper - so annotate it and use it.

Keep working with your databases. Use new key words as you work with your research questions. Keep revising and paying your work forward. Try to fill new gaps daily and to continue using your sources and your databases to do that work. 

See you Thursday!

12 September - Monday

English 10

Good day today everyone, we didn't have that much time to work through our day, but we got started, and that's what counts. I appreciate your attention and work today during the reading diagnostic. We'll take that same test a few more times this year to track your growth. 

We started with our final South African author - Archbishop Desmond Tutu. Today was our introduction to him and next class we'll read through his speech. At the end of the week we'll get started on our first project of the year. I'm looking forward to seeing what you all create. 

Friday the 9th of September

AP English Language

Time spent with Thomas Jefferson today as we worked through "The Declaration of Independence" and understood some of the keys to annotating in this class. I enjoyed your attention to our work related to topic, audience, and speaker. Remember that texts will often have several audiences, so speakers will tweak their approaches in order to address a specific audience. We saw this as Jefferson had slightly different arguments to his various audiences - the colonists, the representatives, and the king.

Over the weekend, you should start in on your next set of cards. If you haven't submitted your first set, be sure to do so as soon as you can. Grades will be updated next week. I would also suggest starting one of the three choice articles - Anzaldua, Apess, or Sedaris' "Go Carolina". These are available as PDF's on our course page or in the textbook.

AP Research

A day where we give and get feedback is always a lovely day in AP Research. It gladdens my heart to see you all so engaged with each other and with making each other better. I'm also enjoying seeing the development of your ideas - using your sources and your building Body of Knowledge to develop your ideas are key right now.

Our work today focused on learning how to test our sources for credibility and then getting some work on our research questions. Use the feedback from your peers to revise your research questions. This is so important. Also use the feedback and gaps on your organizer to go back to the databases. Keep building your reading log and source list. Lastly, your new reflection question has been posted for this week - be sure that you add your answer to the running list.

8 September - Thursday

English 10

Lovely end of the week in English 10 today. We finished our first short story, "The Train from Rhodesia" by Nadine Gordimer. I like this story as a first one due to its interesting ending, the conflicts, and the use of detail in the story. It's an interesting look at how what people do can tell us a lot about them - especially if we consider the husband's actions. 

We'll stay studying South Africa for a few more classes. Be ready for a reading diagnostic next week. Enjoy the weekend! I'll see you on Monday.

7 September - Blue Day - Wednesday

AP Language

Great day today in AP Language - we reviewed our diagnostic exam (I'll have the scores in soon) and then got started with the main thrust of our class, "What is America?" Throughout the year we'll be exploring the concept and working to define it using our various texts and authors through the year. We're starting with our first reading tonight - Thomas Jefferson's "The Declaration of Independence". Find it in your textbook, or the scanned copy in the folder, and annotate for purpose and audience (consider that there are multiple audiences and the purpose will shift for each one). Keep your textbook at home, but have your notes in class!

AP Research

We continue to build our research question by refering to the work of others in our field. This is the first and likely one of the most important steps of our whole process this year. Working with our Body of Knowledge is key to ensuring success in this class and the work that you'll be doing through the year. 

Continue farming the databases, ask the librarians for help, and begin to work with your classmates who are in similar fields or disciplines. You are your best help in this process. Building your source list will help you to check for holes in your QUEST - if you find them, plug them. And let me know how I may be able to help.

See you Friday!

6 September - Grey Day

English 10

Good day in English 10 as we began our study of South Africa. We'll be focused on this country for the next few classes - reading different pieces and understanding different points of view. Today we started with Nadine Gordimer and her story "The Train from Rhodesia". We got through most of it and will finish next class. We'll have time next class to focus on vocabulary and prepare for our next text from South Africa from Archbishop Desmond Tutu.

Hey September - Blue Day - 1 September

Happy Labor Day Weekend!! Remember there's no school on Friday and Monday. See you Tuesday and Wednesday!

AP English Language

Today was our day to discuss grading. I hope that you understand that this year you'll be graded in a different way than you have before. Grades reflect learning, and learning changes, so grades will change. Be sure to review the syllabus and the recording below as you work with your parents to complete the syllabus signature form (linked in the PDF). 

Our work in class looked at the FRQ rubrics and sample responses. I hope you found it helpful to understand the final goal of the course in terms of writing. Over the weekend, complete your vocabulary cards. Remember that you can use the texts posted in the Unit 2 folder to find vocabulary words if you haven't found any from the sample exam.

AP Research

Lots of great thinking and working today in AP Research as we understood the importance of the recursive process and revision. Keep using the qualities of a "good" research question as you continue to think and revise. Remember the process with the Disney research question. Keep asking yourself questions like, "Who cares?"; "What do you want to know?"; "How will you measure this?"; "Can you math?"

Over the weekend spend your time with the databases. Keep searching and hunting your rabbits. Remember to track your progress on the Reading Log. Keep revising your research question as you find papers that align with your interests. Keep reading and logging this weekend - next week I'll ask to see a reading log with fifteen sources logged. You also need to complete your second reflection question. See the document in Materials for this and the others as they populate.