9 and 10 March - End of the Week

English 10

Thank you English 10 for your work yesterday while I was away. I appreciate that when I came back I had a folder full of work from you all. I'm excited to see what you put together for me. Next week we're going to look at some poetry before we begin ending our unit on Latin American literature.

AP Language

Today was our final writing workshop to prepare for submission of the annotated bibliography. This assignment is now due. I love that people have already submitted work and received feedback. This makes all of our lives easier. Remember, you can resubmit this assignment - just remember to give me back the rubric. 

Next week we're going to start moving into the writing and planning phase of this assignment. We'll be focused on outlining, writing, and giving peer feedback. Having a complete or nearly complete SourcePack is essential, so be sure that this corollary assignment is nearly complete!

Have a great weekend. Please come in for Lion Time if you need additional help!

AP Research

Today was a great day in AP Research land because it was a day for peer review. This is becoming one of the most important parts of the class because remember, I can't give you direct feedback. I can ask you plenty of questions to help guide you, but if you want to know what to do, then you have to go to each other. Thankfully you're all well trained and able to provide amazing feedback to each other. Today is an example of that.

Work with your revisions. Move forward and polish your work. We'll do another run of this after Spring Break as we consider our Data/Findings, Analysis, and Conclusion. Keep writing. Keep building. Every little bit counts. We'll begin next week in Unit 5. Be sure to complete your PREP reflections so that they are ready to be checked.

7 March - Tuesday's Reminders

English 10

Easy day in English 10, a bit, as we studied our final two texts on the concept of the doppelganger, and then we took our Membean vocabulary quiz. I was really happy with everyone's attention today as you were plugged in to close reading. Remember that this strategy is great when you're reading a short text for a clear purpose. Ask yourself questions while you read. Dig into the text. Always go back to the text and lock in to support your answers.

Next class we'll have an in-class project to show what we've learned about doppelgangers. I'm excited to see your work.

2 March - Happy Long Weekend

English 10

Great day in English 10! I love "The Night Face Up". It's a perfect example of great imagery, mood, and the way that a great ending can really make a story complete. I hope you liked this first reading about the doppelganger, and our second text focused on the concept. We have one more story to look at which will happen on Tuesday; it's probably our strangest one, but it's also super short. 

If you are missing your letter, be sure that you make an appointment to get that done next week at at Lion Time or after school. We'll be doing a major assignment next week to cap off our first part of the unit. Be ready for some arts and crafts to display your knowledge!

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. 

22 February - Latin American Kickoff

English 10

Ole! Solid day in English 10 as we began our study of Latin American literature. We reviewed key literary devices and began to learn a bit about our first two authors - Cortazar and Borges - as well as the first concept, the doppelganger. Next class we'll start our first text on this idea. We'll also have time next class for some vocabulary training before our next vocabulary assessment.

If you haven't written the letter from last unit, please be sure to make an appointment to get that done. We can do Lion Time this week or next. Remember that you'll get the better of the two grades, so you want there to be two to choose from!

22 and 23 March

AP Language

Today's class looked a bit like a reality show. We had a quick challenge followed by several rounds of conversation around our articles for class. I was happy to hear your outcomes and conclusions related to Tannen, Steele, and Sullivan. It's wonderful to see the way that you are all seeing elements of the veil and double consciousness at play.

Next class is a substitute day. I'll be on campus, but won't be with you because of some other responsibilities. You'll have a working and reading day. Keep in mind that the quarter will end next week. Any resubmissions of research papers or other late/missing work must be in by the end of the day on March 31 to be scored. Your work right now is relatively light, so focus on catching up or getting ahead as you need to.

English 10

Today we took time to finish our work on the concept of the doppelganger. We finished reading Cortazar's "The Night Face Up" and then worked through an episode of The Twilight Zone called "Mirror Image." I think that each of our texts has shown the concept of the doppelganger in an interesting way which has power in its own way. 

Next class will be our day for our end of year grammar diagnostic. This won't be for an accuracy grade, just completion. If you have any zeroes in the gradebook, now is the time to submit late work. I will not accept any work past March 31, so the time is now! If you have any questions about anything, please let me know. 

16 and 17 March

AP Language

Great day today, everyone! We worked through WEB DuBois and did a wonderful job understanding some of his main ideas including education, power, stereotypes, double consciousness, and the veil. We're going to encounter these ideas throughout the novels we're reading in this unit, so this is a good formative piece for us to begin with. Continue to reflect on the text and his ideas, especially as they apply to you.

Tonight you should complete your personal reflection. If you know the book you want to read, then you can complete the form as well. Next class is our full MCQ to prepare for the AP Examination. Any time you have after the MCQ is for working on this unit's tasks which are due. Don't forget about your MCQ and FRQ on AP Classroom which will lock on Sunday night.

English 10

Today's class was our foray deeper into the concept of the doppelganger. We read a short story by Jorge Luis Borges called "Borges and I", and we applied the strategy of close reading to understand the complex text. At the end of class we took time to complete an extra credit opportunity or complete our projects and vocabulary from Unit 4. Keep in mind that projects and vocabulary are now late, but still will be accepted. Please turn in your work to earn your points. We only have a few classes left in this quarter, so it's important to turn in all of your assignments now.

As always, please ask for any help you may need. I'm here for you.

14 and 15 March

AP Language

Today was a really wonderful day to start a new unit, which is exactly what we did! Unit 5 is our exploration of ignored American voices. In this unit we're going to explore various communities that have been marginalized for whatever reason in our country. There will be a lot of self-direction and choice in this unit, so I'm very excited to see what you all come up with.

Your first assignment for the unit is your personal reflection which is due on Friday. Follow the guidelines and reflect on the various communities to which you belong. By understanding this, you'll be able to select a novel which is a window on another world. You'll submit this electronically to Schoology on Friday.

Next class we have a seminar on our first core text from the unit - WEB DuBois From the Souls of Black Folk. You'll be reading Chapter One. Be sure to use the reading guide posted to understand each paragraph in the chapter. We'll work through this text together as a group next class! Be sure to read and annotate!

English 10 

We took time at the beginning of class today to work through the last part of our projects from Unit 4 on Russia and Eastern Europe. Be sure to complete these projects tonight if you haven't done so, remember you can't get back your points if the work is late.

After that, we began on our newest unit - Latin America. We went over several concepts that we'll study in this unit, the countries, and our first key concept - the doppelganger. We explored this in ourselves by creating our doppelganger and considering how they're similar and different from us. If you didn't turn this in at the end of class, be sure to get it to me as we start next time.