26 May - Into the Weekend

AP Language

Really fantastic day today in AP Language. College essays are one of my favorite things to teach, read, and advise on, so today's lesson hit me in all of my happy places. I hope that you enjoyed. Please submit your Active Reading Task before we see each other next class. Next class we'll be writing about ourselves and taking a foray into personal statements and college essays. This is the second part of your final exam tasks. We'll also look at the instructions for the last part.

AP Research

Hooray for the last day of class. Make sure that any items that you need to submit for Wednesday's presentation are in on Schoology. Your presentation on Wednesday is a pitch of one of your item. Your goal in your presentation is to sell your item to me to be used in next year's class. Remember that you'll have a maximum of five minutes. Bring snacks! I'm excited to see what you do!

Notes for B-Day: 26 September

AP Literature

You all were fantastic today at UNC. I hope that you enjoyed Native Son, definitely a lot to think about and process. Tonight, I would encourage you to sit, think, and consider the usefulness of the story to your projects. How could you use Bigger's story? How about one of the female characters? How does this help us to make a statement about oppression?

For Monday we have a short story by Graham Greene - It's called "The Destructors" and it's available in the Perrine books.

Please remember that outline resubmissions are due next week and college essay revisions should be turned in. If you have any missing assignments, be sure that you are settling those up!

AP Research

Today was the first of two workshop days. We should all be working diligently on developing our source list further (speaking with our Media Specialists will help you with this a ton) and you should be writing for your Annotated Bibliography.

The final source list is due on October 2nd. Remember that this is also your resubmission of the original source list. Use the Purdue OWL for help - I can't stress that enough. Following that we'll have the annotated bibliography due after that.

Homework for the Weekend - B Day - 20 September

AP Literature

If you did not finish your FRQ practice paragraphs in class you must finish them today. Be sure to submit when you have finished your work. We will score it and discuss trends in the scoring before doing our first timed writing with these similar skills. Over the weekend the reading is in Perrine and it's Flannery O'Connor's "Good Country People". Be on the lookout for everything in this text. No detail is too small. Irony is super productive. Watching the video on her would be helpful for you too.

Remember as well that we are revising both parts of the summer assignment. Outlines and essays. You can conference or submit these as you like. Essays should be finished and resubmitted sooner rather than later.

If you're missing anything in PowerSchool and are unsure of what to do, please let your teachers know. The end of the unit will be soon, and all work must be submitted by that time.

AP Research

Great work today revising, listening, and giving feedback to each other. I also loved hearing you celebrate each other as you shared gold medals. Over the weekend we need to keep working forward so you need to be sure to:

1. Log today's class on your task log and begin to note your conferences. Write down who you talked with, what you talked about, and your next steps.
2. Complete Reflection 3 which is actually POD Question 1.4. Be sure to write clearly, specifically, and cite sources! Show that you know that some sources are better than others and why.
3. Submit your Source List check to Google Classroom by Sunday at midnight. Remember that this is just your citation for the source (full, end text) as well as the category for the source.

Keep revising upward. Keep building!

Homework for the Weekend - B Day - 12 September

AP Literature

We had a bit of a quick class today, but we focused on the essentials of irony which is one of the key targets of Shirley Jackson's "The Lottery". We're going to keep looping back to irony and its uses throughout this class, so think of today as just the beginning.

This weekend for homework you have a few things to be attentive toward:

1. Be sure that you read the first chunk of "Bartleby the Scrivner" by Herman Melville. You'll read until paragraph fifty. As you are reading pay attention to the character of Bartleby and the narrator. Notice elements of characterization as well as the way in which the narrator tells the story. See if you can find any irony.
2. You have five vocabulary cards due on the 20th from Melville. Collect words as you go. 
3. College essay revisions are due on Monday. Be sure that you submit the original as well as the old one so that we can see the improvements. We will continue to work on these essays moving forward as much as you would like

AP Research

Today in class we discussed how to CRAAP and why CRAAPing in AP Research is really the key to a successful QUEST. Be sure that you go back to the work you have already done and evaluate it in the context of our new model for testing and evaluating sources.

This weekend you have your second reflection to complete. You should also be actively working through your task and reading log. Update everything! Track all your changes! Let's be ready for a productive working day next class as we start to determine our preliminary questions.

Homework for B-Day - 10 September

AP Literature

Congratulations on exploring Marxism today in class. One thing that I appreciate about the critique is that it allows us to see a lot of these texts really boil down to a fight over power and control. That helps us to navigate a lot of these texts and cut through the noise.

Tonight you have Shirley Jackson's "The Lottery". As you read, consider our discussion today, and the way in which the decisions are made for the characters. How would we see Marxism help us to understand and interpret the text further?

We'll have your outlines back to you next week and we will begin the revision process then. I appreciate that so many of you are working on revising your college essays - please see me or Ms. Metcalf outside of class for additional conferencing.

AP Research

Today I unveiled our first major assignment - the source list. For this assignment you should be collecting anywhere from 40-50 sources which may end up becoming part of your literature review. As you are doing this work, you should categorize the sources into discipline specific sources / current research climate / historical background sources / variety of research methods. Remember that one source may be categorized into multiple areas. Your final product should just be a list of the sources and their category. This work is a clear outgrowth of your Reading Log.

Don't forget to review your first reflections as well as the notes I've left. Don't resolve the comments. Keep them and reflect upon them.

As you work, you may also want to start writing out your question, gap, and problem statement. How are these things changing? What is changing them?

Homework for Friday - 6 September - B Day

AP Literature

The main thing for the weekend is the reading of Ha Jin's "A Contract" and the beginning of your revisions. Use the notes from today's workshop to guide your revisions. Apply what we have talked about today and if you don't know what to do, let's talk. Remember that you have the next ten days to focus on this task.

Be sure that you've submitted all of your work - vocabulary cards and summer work as well. We'll keep this party moving. Ask for what you may need as we keep working.

AP Research

This weekend we are really getting into our QUEST. So, it's time to develop the reading and task log. Are you finding sources? Are you developing your Body of Knowledge? Does this work help you to define variables? Terms? Get ideas for method and data points? As you work, log your work on the Reading and Planning Logs. Keep track of everything you are doing.

Begin to draft and revise your question. Are you taking it through multiple iterations? How is it changing? Why?

AP English III Summer Assignment Help Sessions

Upcoming students of AP English III.  I am teaching summer school this session and am making myself available to help you with your summer assignments.  I am on campus from 8:00 am to 12:30 Monday through Thursday until August the 5th.  Please come in and ask for whatever help you may need completing your assignments.

To my former AP English III students, know that I can help you with your college essay drafting and revising process if you've already started on those.

Homework for Tuesday/Wednesday - 18th/19th of December

We're almost to Winter Break!  Don't let yourselves slack until the bell rings on Friday afternoon at 2:30.  All of you have something to prepare for your last day of class in 2012.

Freshman Focus

Next class we will be having our skits of examples of positive and negative interview experiences.  I hope that you and your group mates have prepared today during class in order to present these skits tomorrow.  After each skit, the audience will critique the positives and negatives.  Beyond this, remember that you have essays due for me on Thursday/Friday of your college essay.  Remember to turn in your rough draft with your final draft to get full credit.

AP English III

Next class we will have time to meet in our website groups in order to set goals and procedures for working over Winter Break.  The important thing to remember is that these websites should begin to look more complete by the end of break.  As a rule, your analysis, annotations, citations, and introduction pages should be done leaving only the synthesis left to complete.  Make sure that you are communicating effectively in your group and meeting your goals while you keep everyone accountable.

Furthermore, make sure that you have read to the end of chapter thirty-three by your next class.  There are some really amazing things for us to discuss and we'll be changing the structure of our conversation a bit to change things up a bit.  Look forward to that.

English IV

By this point all classes should have a clear understanding of what they are doing in their essays.  Your goal is to finish your draft by the time you return from break.  This is an expectation for all of you.  Next class we will have our second grammar test and finish watching V for Vendetta.  Feel free to bring snacks!

Homework for the Weekend and Monday

And now it's time for the last week before Winter Break.  Pay attention below so that you're prepared for our final days of class. 

Freshman Focus

After today you should have notes on your first draft of your college essays.  If you did not have your essay today in class remember to see me on a B-day at lunch so that you can get your credit made-up.  For homework this weekend you will need to finish your answers on question four related to the film Akeelah and the Bee.  Remember to answer in a complete paragraph using clear details from the film to support your ideas.  I'll collect your notes and responses in class on Tuesday/Wednesday.

AP English III

Today we went over some important information related to your satire projects.  I'm putting that document here so that you can refer back to it as you're working.  The document also has the website address for the mock-up that you should be using to create your final site.

Over the weekend you should be putting in some work on your personal rhetorical analysis and some other work in your collaboration.  On Tuesday/Wednesday you'll have your final timed writing for 2012 and we will discuss a lot of The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn - please make sure you're to the end of chapter twenty-eight.  Also be aware that I will be checking your vocabulary bookmarks again.  Have at least fifteen new words on your third bookmark.

English IV

Over the weekend you should all be working on your essays.  Remember that rough drafts of the essays in their complete form will be peer edited the day we return from break.  If you need any help, please e-mail me or speak to me so that you can get yourself on a good page.  The assignment that you have due on Tuesday/Wednesday asks you to reflect on the author you read today in class.  Your question to answer in a one page response is:

What would _________ say about the living conditions in 1984?  Why?

Be sure that as you answer this question you draw on your knowledge from the speech as well as your knowledge of the novel.  You should focus on your author that you read and studied.

Posting a Day Late

All,

As the A-day students are aware I was out yesterday.  I hope that you time with the substitute was productive and that you got a lot of individual work completed.  For the most part, the feedback I received was generally positive.  Here are some notes and reminders for all of you moving into Friday/Monday.

Freshman Focus

On Friday/Monday we will be finishing Akeelah and the Bee as well as having a draft workshop on our college essay assignment.  Please make sure that you have your rough draft done and that you bring it with you to class in order to get credit.  You will only get half credit if you just participate in editing with no draft.  Final drafts of the essays will be collected on the final day of the quarter before Winter Break (Thursday/Friday).  Don't miss any deadlines.

AP English III

I hope that the opening of Gone with the Wind has made a bit clearer the antebellum Southern society which Twain so mercilessly satirizes in The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn.  We will not watch more of the film due to the fact that it is about five hours long, but I do invite all of you to finish it as it is a really great movie.

For Friday/Monday I would like for you to be to the end of chapter twenty eight in The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn as well as having finished the analysis guide on Anzaldua's "How to Tame a Wild Tongue".  We will be discussing both texts thoroughly in class as well as reviewing the answers to the multiple choice questions.  You need to have already finished answering the questions before coming into class.

Lastly, we will have some time to discuss the project more.  I think that after I review the requirements with you a bit more thoroughly that you all will see what you need to be doing now.  Remember that I expect most of the work on these to be done over Winter Break as you'll have finished the book by that point, but you can go ahead and begin sooner, rather than later, which is always the best option.

English IV

Next class we will be working through a discussion of the major points that Liveley makes in her story "Next Term, We'll Mash You" as well as drawing connections to the larger work related to human rights that we've been doing.  Please make sure that you've thoroughly read the story, answered the questions, and that you've completed your vocabulary log.  We will also move forward with our study of Desmond Tutu and Aung San Suu Kyi by looking at excerpts of two of their speeches. 

Lastly, you should be working on your body paragraphs at this point.  Rough drafts of the essays will be checked after we return from break and this will be your task for the holiday.  I would suggest that you spend some time this weekend getting the essay put together so that you have nothing to do over the break for class.

I think that does it!  Enjoy your afternoon, see you all Friday.