17 March - Happy St. Patrick's Day!

English 11

Today was a really fun start to the week in English 11. You all gave me a lot of energy to recover from almost no sleep last night. Now I can go home and crash out on the couch. The class for today was all about poetry, poetic devices, and the way in which authors use them to shape messages. We did some learning around new literary devices (use the slides and recording to review) and we practiced by looking at some songs. I looked over your work and updated scores - if you didn't have the chance to finish during class, please get your chart and/or discussion board post in as soon as possible.

All of this practice and collaboration will take us forward into Wednesday and Friday. On Wednesday we're going to do a replacement of the quiz we took last week. A few of you who missed it will get the chance to replace the missing score, others will raise their scores, and some others will confirm mastery before the test on Friday. Friday's test is almost all multiple choice. It's meant to be very similar to the SOL. In order to prepare, study your devices and practice with theme statements.

We ended the day with vocabulary and choice working time. Remember that presentations and book projects are due by the 25th. Make your appointments, submit your tasks, and let's get everything settled with style. We'll take a bit more of class on Wednesday to work on these major grades. The vocabulary words are all posted in the slide, sorry for missing them with the recording. We won't take the quiz on List Six unitl April.

As always, reach out with questions. I'm here to help!

22 October - Happy Tuesday

English 11

Happy Tuesday, everyone! Great day in English 11 as we started our day with vocabulary and then got into the process of deep looking and understanding non-print texts. Today we looked at a painting called The Problem We All Live With by Norman Rockwell. This painting was paired with an interview in which Ruby Bridges, the girl in the painting, explained what the day was like. This was a great lesson to help us understand the importance of looking at several texts about the same topic. Keep this in mind as we work through the research and development process for our projects in this unit.

Another part of today's class involved feedback on reading tasks. Remember that the goal by the end of the year is that you can display your skills in all of the ways. Right now, you have two ways to demonstrate your reading skills - the test and the project. At this point you can either retake the test to raise your grade, resubmit the project, or stay where you are if you're happy. I'll have all grades updated by Friday so that you can make the best decision for the last week of the quarter. I would put in a Lion Time pass sooner rather than later if you want to do a retake or revise your project with me.

Next class we'll be testing. You'll have independent working time after you test. Come to class with a charged laptop, please. Be sure to complete any last assignments for the end of the quarter.

29 February - Happy Leap Year Day!

AP Language and Composition

Solid day today in AP Language as we investigated allusions in Chapters 11 and 12. Allusions are so important in a text because they are a chance for an author to add deep meaning and connections in their texts. Also, in a complex text like Invisible Man allusions can provide a lot of clarity. Identifying and explaining the purpose of allusions can be a great route to solid analysis on the AP Examination. Today we explored allusions to The Bible, Greek Mythology, and music. These allusions helped us to understand the end of this transition moment in the text and where TIM is in his journey to understand and create his identity.

At the end of class, we looked at two final articles. These articles could be helpful for a lot of you in your research work. Add them to your research write-up. Remember that you should be working on this project daily as it is a big project with lots of pieces. For the weekend, focus on reading Invisible Man and preparing to do another writing task. Some of you have already revised, and that's great, we're going to have another chance to demonstrate our skills soon! Be ready!

11 January - Looking at Langston Hughes

AP Language

We had a really lovely day today in AP Language with another fantastic Harlem Renaissance voice - Langston Hughes. Today we got to hear his voice both as a poet and as a social critic; it's interesting to notice how he's saying the same thing (his argument) in various styles. Today's class was a reading, writing, and thinking day -- our essential skills in AP Language! We'll continue to reflect on this essay next class. Be sure that you've completed your discussion board post and submitted your annotations document. Note that the annotations document won't be graded, just the discussion board.

Next class we'll be focused on some writing skills and argumentative writing. There's no reading for next class. Use the time to get into Invisible Man. You'll want to be ahead in the reading so that we can really focus on comprehending and interpreting skills in class.

9 January - Zora Neale Hurston

AP Language

We spent a great class with Ms. Zora Neale Hurston today in AP Lang. She is definitely one of my top ten writers, probably top five if we're just looking at American literature and writers. We didn't quite finish our work at the end looking at Hurston's piece through the frame of an argument, so I'd recommend finishing by reflecting on those questions tonight. How does she use evidence and commentary throughout her essay to support her thesis? In what ways does she create clear organization between sections and ideas using her main argument? How does she develop and employ an engaging voice throughout the essay? All of these are key questions in FRQ 1 and 3 - the argument questions - so it's important to see how authors do this so that we can too.

Next class we're looking at Langston Hughes. His text is pretty difficult, so we'll work through it in class - no reading necessary for next class. Use this time to get into Invisible Man - use the audiobook, YouTube playlist, and other resources. Don't forget to check in with your motif tracker as you read - it's a great tool too. We'll be working through Chapter 1 next week!

1 December - Gatsby Assessment Day

AP Language

Today was our assessment day on The Great Gatsby. In today's assessment you curated your own passage from the novel and explained the way in which Fitzgerald creates meaning through language and motifs. I'm excited to read your essays and see the way in which your skills as a reader and writer have progressed. Remember that in this class, everything is practice for our eventual final exam - the AP Examination. On that test, you'll be asked to write an analysis as well, but it'll be cold. So you need to develop the process now in order to do that. 

Over the weekend, spend your time completing your visual representations of the motif and the connected questions explaining your art. Remember that you're just talking to me as you answer these questions, so feel free to be colloquial in style. You may also want to spend some time on AP Classroom preparing for the MidTerm. I've unlocked a few more MCQ Progress Checks to help you.

I'll see you next week - not on Tuesday since I'm at a conference - but Thursday to begin our MidTerm Exam! Tuesday is a preparation and reflection day for you. I'll look forward to reading your thoughts, but more on that later.

29 November - Ending Unit 3

AP Language

We crushed it today. My goodness. We had a fantastic seminar on Sullivan's "What Are Homosexuals For?" and considered key connections back to our larger unit on The Great Gatsby. I was glad to hear connections to the idea of fantasy versus reality, truth, identity, and the power of the past and society to dictate a person's actions. Sullivan's piece is one to keep hold of as we move on into our next novel unit. There will continue to be productive connections and conversations to be had.

We ended our day by looking at our last writing assignment and feedback. It is important that you dive in deeper to your analysis of language in your selected passages. Explain small details, show what they mean, and explicitly connect them to other pieces to show how everything builds on the argument. Revising your writing assignment from Chapter 8 is a great way to prepare for Friday's timed writing! Use the sentence frames provided in the slide deck for today's class.

For Friday, have your passage ready. You'll have to copy and paste the passage into your essay document on Schoology. You will have access to the passage as you write your essay. The passage can be one that we looked at before in class - this may be a great support for you! Consider the work we've done with our precis, formative writing assignment, and discussion board as support. Remember that your visual and artistic questions will be due next week on Tuesday.

19 October - End of HoCo Week

AP Language

Wowza! What a day in AP Language as we discussed Chapter 2 of The Great Gatsby. I loved the depth of your analysis and your reading and the way in which you reflected that in your discussion. Keep in mind that everything we're doing right now is about strengthening your analytical reading and writing skills. This is the key work to do in order to improve the skills assessed in your rhetorical analysis - FRQ 2. This is also a great skill that will apply in your other classes; remember, it's always about close reading and deriving patterns. Apply our reading strategies as you read on your own to deepen annotations and remember more of what you read. Annotating is making your thinking visible, so do it!

Over the weekend, read Chapter 3. You're going to get into your first party at Gatsby's house. Look at who comes and what happens. Pay attention to the imagery, the words, and the choices. Keep developing your list of big ideas in the back of the book and see how these ideas are developed in the body of the narrative.

If you're struggling with analytical writing, come in to Lion Time next week. I'm here to support you and provide more practice and feedback with your skills. We'll discuss more feedback and reassessment options next week!

17 October - Away at a Conference

AP Language

Sorry to be "away" today, but learning calls! I'm spending the first part of the week at an Instructional Coaching conference. It's been a good opportunity to work really closely with Mrs. Hanson and to get more into the learning part of my new role in the school. I'm looking forward to seeing you all on Thursday in class and to see the fruits of your labors from today.

Today's class is focused on Chapter 1. You're working totally focused on Chapter 1 today in order to understand the structure of the chapter, the way in which tones fluctuate, and key elements of the narrative like conflicts, setting, and character. At the end of class, you're focused on analysis of a Chapter 1 Key Passage. As we go through this book, we'll be doing a lot of analysis of key passages. Focus on using the given sentence starters and the earlier conversations to put together a deep and focused analysis. Use the sentence starters I've given you! You're struggling with depth of commentary, and these will help get you there.

If you missed the timed writing, please schedule a make-up. I'll be hosting a session on Wednesday after school. As always, reach out with any questions or concerns. Enjoy Chapter 2 for Thursday's class!

28 September - End of the Week

AP Language

Today was a great day in AP Language as we explored Mario Cuomo and the process of writing a precis. The precis is a compact writing task in which each paragraph has a key purpose. There's overlap between each sentence and clear alignment. Be sure as you review the task, you identify these points and exploit them. View the instructions as a checklist. Sentences three and four are definitely difficult, with practice you'll get there.

For tonight, engage in review of our unit. Look through the slides and the recordings. What have you enjoyed so far? Not enjoyed? Build connections between authors and be prepared for some review as we begin to close out the unit. Be sure that any final projects are turned in so that I can get grading and feedback back to you. Can't wait for next week! Enjoy the weekend.

3 May - Where's Spring?

English 10

Rainy and chilly Wednesday. Ugh. Where is spring? I want us to have more outside classes and reading time. Oh well. Today we opened our class by looking at two suras from The Qur'an to understand more about Islam and Muslim values and culture. This is a great thing for us to do to understand more about the characters and lives we see in Persepolis. 

From there, we went into our chapter study for today's class. We discussed "The Party" and "The Heroes" and the arrival of a new, important character. Be aware that we're hitting the mid-point of our book! We should be done with it by mid-May. We'll take our test on the book and then look at our final projects. After that, it's the final examination portfolios.

If you are missing your writing assignment or any other assignments, be sure to get those in ASAP. See last class's recording to review the steps to the writing assignment. You've got an outline, sample paragraph, and great earlier activities to help you.

1 May

Happy May Day!

English 10

Today in English 10 was our day for writing. We found an important panel from Persepolis and analyzed elements of language and art to show how Marjane Satrapi is creating meaning in the text about the situation in Iran, herself, and the citizens of the country. I'm looking forward to reading and reviewing your responses. If you were absent, please see me for a Lion Time pass so that we can complete this together OR complete it at home if you feel able.

Next class we'll take a bit of a side quest with our reading and look at the Qur'an. We'll also take a look at our next few chapters of Persepolis to understand the way in which the revolution is progressing in the country. Don't forget that we will have a vocabulary test on Friday. Get in some Membean training to prepare! After today, we just have 13 more classes until final exams. Stay ready! Stay woke!

25 April

English 10

Kinda a strange day because of the assembly this morning. Second period, we didn't really have class today. We'll get regrouped on Thursday and complete the majority of our lesson from today. We'll also have our end of year grammar test on Thursday through NoRedInk. It's just a completion grade, so don't stress on your accuracy, just do your best.

In ESOL English 10 we were able to have class which was great. We took time to read, getting caught up or ahead, and then looked at our upcoming writing assignment. We'll complete this assignment next week on Monday.

The EdPuzzle has been put in the gradebook as a zero if it is missing, be sure to get that taken care of before your next graded assignment.

24 February - End of the Week

English 10

A simple day to end the week in English 10. We did a bit of grammar to review some of the issues I saw from your letters that you wrote, then it was some quick time with devices for Membean. We ended our day by looking at our first key idea - the doppelganger - in an episode of The Twilight Zone called "Mirror Image". We thought about literary devices, techniques in the episode, and then wrote about the concept for today's graded assignment.

If you have missed your chance to write your letter, please schedule a time with me next week to complete that. We only have Lion Time on Tuesday of next week because of Early Release on Thursday. 

23 February - End of the Week, Blue Day

AP Language

I saw lots of engagement today in AP Language land. We were using our group meeting to build our argumentative tool box - this is a great thing to do for the AP Exam. You'll need to be able to think fast on the exam and pull out great examples to support your argument. Using these articles and sources we've worked through all year as you write your timed essays for the exam will help to raise your Evidence/Commentary and Sophistication score.

Over the weekend, make your SourcePack and your Annotated Bibliography your focus. Having your SourcePack complete would be one of the best things that you can do to prepare for next class. We'll be doing an activity to finish up SourcePacks and check them. Keep in mind that your AB is due soon!

AP Research

Wonderful day in AP Research for conferencing and working to end the week. We're finding ourselves in different places, but as long as we keep moving forward then we're doing what we need to do. Remember that you have a major assignment due on Monday - the BoK Analysis. Download the document, complete it based on your power source, and then submit it to the space. Be sure that you're thorough in your completion of each section.

There's a new reflection question posted - be sure to complete it in your PREP Folder. We'll be assigning some final drafts of paper sections soon, so be ready for some writing focused work next week.

15 and 16 February - Moving on Through

English 10

Today was a choice day! We had the option to complete missing assignments for this unit, revise earlier assignments, review letter examples from the unit, or prepare for writing by completing vocabulary and grammar practice. No matter what you chose, I hope that it helped to prepare you for Friday.

On Friday we'll have our in-class writing. We'll start with an outlining and planning activity, and then we will write. The letter will be worth FIVE total points - two for grammar, one for organization, one for tone, and one for examples. Be sure to use your earlier readings, your research, and your great writing skills on Friday. I'm looking forward to seeing your letters. Next week we'll begin our study of Latin American literature.

AP Language

Good day in AP Language land as we had our fourth group meeting focused on Passage 3 and the patterns, themes, and motifs that you're discovering in your book so far. This is a great way to reflect on the usage of your book in your SourcePack and in your overall conversation in your research paper. Remember that you'll have two more group meetings to discuss and finish your work as a team. March is focused on the writing. 

From there, we talked about the Style Reading assignment for this unit. We're looking at jargon both in language and style. Go back to your sources - you could hopefully find one source to provide all this content for you. 

Next class is our whole class writing workshop focused on the Annotated Bibliography. We'll have the rubric posted and time to conference on the entries you've written. You'll have ample time to keep writing. The due date is posted. Use your resources and complete your task to show your skill!

AP Research

Today was the last day of our week focused on data collection. This is one of the last steps of your method, so it's a great time to check in on the previous steps and make sure that they're ready and aligned. There are a few important tasks to be completing right now:

1. Complete your BoK Analysis. This assignment is aligned to your PREP Reflection this week, so they work together really well.
2. Check in on your draft and finalize your earlier writing. You should be finalizing your Introduction and Literature Review. 
3. Collect data. Next week we have a lesson on data and visualization, so hopefully this will help out as you're working through the process.

As always, keep striving and working. Use your time wisely and avoid procrastination. I know that college is on the brain, but that is completely out of your hands - AP Research is completely under your control. Enjoy the long weekend and see you Tuesday!

9 and 10 February - End of the Week

English 10 - 9 February

Today was our Course Selection Day - so a bit of a nothing day for us. Next class we'll have our last day to study and review letters and a writing workshop. Wednesday is going to be our catch-up date and on Friday we'll write our letters. If you were absent today, be sure that you meet with your counselor during Lion Time in order to get your registration complete.

AP Language

We took a trip to look at some art today in AP Language in order to understand the means by which we extract evidence from non-print sources. We learned two methods today - Deep Looking and the OPTIC method. We looked at two paintings and applied the methods to each in order to determine claims, evidence, and possible uses for our research. We also took a look at two sample Annotated Bibliography entries to show you the means by which to construct them. Follow the models and remeber to be a STAR.

You should have two AB entries written by the end of today's class/this weekend/this evening. You should have an idea for a potential non-print source. You should be actively constructing your sourcepack. These items can run in conjunction or isolation, but you need to be completing tasks. Remember, each class you should have a record of your work to take you to the next day. Next class you'll have ample time to write and work with your sources.

Any questions or concerns? Please see me at Lion Time or after-school next week. Annotated Bibliographies are due on March 8/9.

AP Research

I'd say it's an easy day in AP Research, but that's not really true. Now is when we hit the major work of this course, which is the data collection. Without the data, you can't answer the question, and collecting the data can be an arduous process. It is important that you set daily goals and meet them. Have alternative plans. You may even need an alternative method, just in case. Track your progress. Track your changes. Consider your hypothesis and what's borne out from the actual data.

Your next major assignment is your BoK Analysis. Complete this and submit it by February 27. Next week you'll have both classes for working time. You should be writing, collecting data, and considering the fact that everything is due by May 1 at 11:59 PM. That gives us TEN weeks to complete this process. I hope you can see the urgency of each class.

19 October - Grey Wednesday

English 10

We almost finished Spirited Away but got caught by the last ten minutes, oh well. We'll finish it up on Friday. Friday is going to be a working day for us - there's going to be time for finishing the viewing guide and then we've got two online assessments to take care of - vocabulary and grammar. These two assignments are completion based, so get them done and get your A. These are also going to likely be the final grades for the quarter. Finish strong, raise your grades, show your skills!

17 October - Beginning the Week

English 10

Today we started our viewing of our major text for this unit Spirited Away. It's a great film from Studio Ghibli which really brought Japanese animation to America. We focused on the characters of Haku and Chihiro and the establishment of the plot and conflicts that will drive the film.

Next class we'll be viewing to finish the film. We have a bit more than an hour left in the movie. The viewing guide is going to be a major assignment for you - so be ready to finish strong. We'll do some writing about the movie after we finish it and start next quarter with our final project on the unit. Be ready for a strong finish!

Thursday the 6th - Grey Day

English 10

In class we were focused on Japan and the concept of Zen. This concept we saw at action in several Zen parables today in class. We discussed irony and paradoxes as well as the difference between topic and theme. We read in order to understand and completed a short analysis activity related to the reading.

I won't see you again until Tuesday. On Tuesday, we hopefully won't have any more power outages, and will look at some other religious texts from across Asia. Have a lovely weekend!