31 January - The End of the Month

AP Language

Solid day in AP Language as we got our feedback from Exam 2 in all of our essential skills. The tools that you have on AP Classroom for feedback are really essential in this process of developing goals and being accountable to yourselves for your learning. Use the feedback to chart a course forward. As you read, consider the skills in which you see a weakness and apply it to your books. There are also several Progress Checks unlocked for you to practice. For the FRQ checks, come in during a Lion Time and we can review it together and I can explain your grade as I score. This is a great way to improve your writing skills.

The second part of class looked at our Synthesis SourcePack assignment. This is a crucial completion task. Remember that you're cobbling together your sourcepack to include your prompt and five to seven sources with citations. Use the examples provided in AP Classroom (Exam 2, Question 1 and Progress Check Unit 6) as well as the Synthesis Prompt PDF in Current Lessons. These are great examples of your final product. I'm also here to help. Failure to complete this assignment will mean that I choose your prompt for you.

Keep working through the research process. This is the week in which you should finish developing your question. The SourcePack Template is the most important task to complete now. Use the earlier work to complete this essential task.

AP Research

I love days like today in AP Research. They really are some of the best days. I was very pleased with the presentations we saw today for our second round of elevator pitches. We'll continue to pitch on Thursday with another round of four presentations. Remember that we're at the point in the class where the work that you see each other do and the relationships you form in this class are among your most powerful tools. I can't tell you what to do, but you can tell each other and give specific suggestions.

Continue working to collect data, write, review sources, and do the work that you need to do. Remember that you'll have a graded assignment each week to help me get grades for you this quarter. Your next graded assignment will be your plan for Unit 4 and Data Collection. Next class after our presentations we'll look at another major assessment for this unit - the BoK Analysis. Have your best source selected for next class - it'll be a great help.

23 January - Closing out Semester 1

AP Language

Wonderous work in AP Language as we're starting out the development of our research topics and questions. This week is all about this work so that we are ready to move forward when the second semester begins. Remember that your goal is to find five to seven sources which you can use to argue your position on the topic. If the issue is a debate or conversation, then what can you use to explain your position in the issue. One of your sources will be a counterargument - remember that this may be another approach to the idea or issue, and not just an opposite idea. Consider the nuance that many of the sources provide to your issue. One source will need to be a non-print source. One source will be your book.

You should use the Research Question document and the Research Write-Up document to track your progress and topic development. Talk to your group. Use your book! This will be due in approximately two weeks. Remember to have something made from each class to take you to the next.

AP Research

We're all continuing working on our end of quarter tasks in AP Research today. I'm working to read and review your work up to this point and provide feedback. Please check your documents for feedback. Remember that next class we'll have a Early Release - so we just have an hour together. We'll start our next unit on data collection. Be prepared to lay out your plan to move ahead and be ready to meet with your participants (if applicable) to generate your data! Be sure that your final two assignments are submitted to be reviewed!

19 January

AP Language

Wonderful day in AP Language to end our week together. We took our second group meeting to discuss passage one and work as a group to understand some of the main ideas and elements of our books. Using the Google Doc to track your progress and work is key - remember, we want to have made something every day. As you read and work - keep thinking about research questions. The document to help you develop these questions is posted, and next week we'll really be focused on that work. 

The second part of the class focused on reading skills - Claims and Evidence Reading and Reasoning and Organization Reading. Remember that these are only skills that improve with work, and the way that you work them is by reading. Apply these same questions to your books as you read and discuss.

Over the weekend, focus on reading. Get ahead in your novels. Many groups may be resectioning and segmenting because you have more time before your next meeting - that's totally fine. Be sure to keep space so that everyone in the group can be successful. 

AP Research

Today was our first of two working days to end the quarter and semester. As a reminder, you have two assignments due to end the quarter. Be sure that you submit your PREP reflections for the second quarter. This would be questions for Weeks 11-20. Have thorough responses, clearly cite sources if applicable, and be precise in your writing. Remember that some of these questions may be asked of you later in the year. If you haven't submitted your draft of your introduction and literature review, this is past due. Remember, an outline is acceptable - I need to see forward progress on your paper.

We'll continue working next week and begin Unit 4 - Data Collection - on Wednesday. The pitches will begin on January 31. Use the recording from the 17th to find the key questions to answer. Create sentence starters for yourself. Also, this is a great chance to start making your slides to begin the process of your POD. Lock in your edits and show me what you've got!

17 January

AP Language

Really lovely beginning to our week in AP Language today. We were focused in on what the synthesis question is, what the prompt pack looks like, and what a high scoring sample looks like. I also took us through a bit of a revision activity so that we could focus on tweaking some of the content in order to clarify the content and especially the commentary. We ended our day with some time in our books to prepare for next class.

Next class is Meeting 2. Review the unit plan to see what you'll be doing. Remember that if you're responsible for bringing Passage 1, then you should have that selected in advance of the group meeting. Keep reading. Get into your books. If you have any work to complete from the AP Exam, it needs to be settled this week.

AP Research

Wonderful day in AP Research to start the end of the unit on method development. Today, since we're getting back into a focus on our presentations skills, we watched a POD. I hope that you enjoyed seeing the student's work and understanding the essential elements of the POD rubric and assessment. From there we talked about the elements of Elevator Pitch 2.0 and looked at some sample questions and work to help us put that together. 

Next class is a working day for us focused on the Elevator Pitch. We'll be writing, thinking, and crafting. This is a great chance to start putting your eventual slides together too. Remember to submit your drafts and your reflection questions. These are your final major assessments of the quarter. Be ready to pitch next week!

Thursday the 20th of October

AP Language

Solid day today in AP Language land. We discussed Joan Didion's "Keeping a Notebook" and focused on the ideas of truth, memory, and accuracy. I loved the outcomes that we came to related to the purpose of truth and the way in which it can be modified as needed. I also really enjoyed the conversation around credibility and irony. The thinking is getting pretty high level, which I enjoy. Keep in mind connections to The Great Gatsby as we are working through parallel texts. 

Over the weekend there are a few things to settle up - here they are listed out for you:

1. Complete your Unit 2 Tasks. You have a project due. Some of you are still missing vocabulary. All assignments are due so that I can complete your grading for first quarter. 

2. Select an article from the folder and read this weekend. Annotate for the ideas of power and privilege. These articles are all written by African American authors, a population absent from The Great Gatsby. We'll be having a seminar on these texts next week.

3. Begin tracking your color from The Great Gatsby. This novel exists as a PDF, so find that and use the find feature to find your color easily. Use the tracker posted and begin to track your color. I think that white, blue, green, yellow, and grey are really productive colors.

AP Research

Easy day to end the week this week in AP Research as we are in a working day. To end the quarter, you need to submit your Annotated Bibliography and your Quarter 1 PREP reflections. There will not be an additional question this week to give you the chance to get caught up. Today we spent our time in class writing, practicing our pitches, composing our posters, and/or reflecting on our research up to this point. 

Next week we'll have a short week due to Diwali - Happy Festival of Lights! We'll see a College Board lesson on turning our AB into a Literature Review and have additional time to write. Your posters and pitches will be due the week of November 1.

18 October - Tuesday!

AP Language

Today's class focused on a recap of the major ideas in Chapter One and the key changes to Chapter Two. We discussed characters, first impressions, Nick's tones, and the importance of Nick's actions in framing the narrative we have. We did some close reading in class as well with some key passages of Chapter Two and noticed the key similarities and differences between Chapters One and Two. The more things change, the more they stay the same, right?

Tonight we're taking a break from The Great Gatsby. Be sure to complete and submit any Unit 2 tasks like vocabulary or your project. I look forward to reviewing your work. You'll also want to go back to Chapters One and Two and begin your color tracker. Follow the directions in the assignment on Schoology. Tonight you're reading and annotating an article by Joan Didion. Focus on the ideas of memory, truth, and accuracy. This is a great way to contrast Nick and consider the ideas of honesty and reliability with narrators.

AP Research

Today was our second AP Research lesson from College Board devoted to our presentations of our research. Our next major assignment is going to be our Research Poster version 1.0 and our Elevator Pitch. This will be our summative assignment to show the completion of our Unit. I hope that you can all also see the connection between the poster, elevator pitch, and your eventual introduction of your paper. In effect, the poster is the outline of your introduction.

Your AB is due. Be sure that you submit no later than Thursday so that I have time to review your work and get you feedback. This is one of your last major grades of the quarter. I'll also open up a space to submit your reflections up to this point. These will be reviewed for thoroughness of thought and apparent effort. I'm sorry that I missed some elements of our work today, I wasn't very good with the recorder. I hope the slides help.

Closing Week 19

AP Research

Great work today everyone! I hope that you enjoyed the TEDTalk on data visualization. As I was saying in class, I think that it's important to think about our data and what we're trying to show through the data before we get too far into our investigation. This will allow us to plan as we go and have procedures in place for what we have ahead of us.

Today we created some skeleton slides for our POD based on what we've seen in the rubric as requirements. Next week we'll be presenting and pitching a bit to finish out this unit. I look forward to seeing what you'll come up with, as always. Remember that we'll meet for class on Friday. Wednesday will be available for you to work.

Grey Day / Veterans Day / Early Release - 11/11/2020

Reminders and homework for AP Lang and English 10 are the same as posted below. Continue reading, thinking, and contributing to the success of the group. Reach out with any questions or concerns. Also, do check in on missing assignments - there are a few of you who are missing vocabulary cards, written reflections, or in-class assignments.

AP Research

On Friday we'll be meeting another major milestone as we complete our first elevator pitches and present our research posters. Like I said today in our quick meeting - we're making choices now which we'll later need to defend with our proposal. All of these assignments work together and support each other - I hope that you can all see that. 

Keep in mind that as you work to complete your poster/pitch, there's also the Annotated Bibliography floating out in the miasma. Keep using the templates and go back to our slides related to constructing the AB. Use your source list and focus on essentials. As always, reach out with any questions or to ask for any help. I'll provide what I can.

End of Week 9 - Grey Day - 6 November

Reminders and announcements for English 10 and AP Language are posted below. Be sure that this weekend you complete the asynchronous assignment from Day 16. There are also final projects you can begin to think about and plan, but remember we'll have more time on Wednesday to complete tasks such as the group contract (AP) or the brainstorming (English 10).

AP Research

Happy Friday/Working Day Researchers. Keep in mind that you should be focused on your three essential assessments in this unit. There's the Annotated Bibliography, the Poster, and the Pitch. These assignments are all connected to each other - so, I hope you can see the usefulness of working on all three at once. 

Remember that you have templates to help you with all three assessments as well as the rubric for the Annotated Bibliography. During today, I hope that you took time to work, collaborate, and practice pitching with Ms. Greeves or the librarians. 

I've posted your new reflection question in the document on Google Classroom. Be sure to take a look and answer this weekend in your PREP folder. This is also a great time to continue writing and planning. Our next step is to complete our proposal form!

Kicking Off Q2 - Grey Day - 11/4

Since we didn't have a Blue Day yesterday, today is a bonus day for Grey Day English classes. I hope that you enjoyed the new class setup today. As always, I appreciate and welcome your feedback.

AP Language

Today we had an enrichment day to reflect on the quarter, talk about some test taking skills for future exams, and hopefully have some time to work with our classmates and get to know each other better.

Next class we'll be focused on our reading of The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn. You've got Chapters 11-16 (a bit of a transitional section with some mini-adventures). Pay attention to symbols and big ideas as these will be the focus of our work on Friday. We'll also be discussing the final project for this unit and beginning our task with it. Don't forget that you should submit the Amy Tan Reflection (Day 16 work) and Vocabulary Cards.

English 10

Today in class we took some time to read in Persepolis, work as groups to learn more about each other, and reflect on our vocabulary and in general on Quarter 1 of the year. I know that there were some quirks to our first stations day; hopefully next time we do this it'll run a bit more smoothly.

Take a look at the asynchronous work from last class if you haven't yet. You may want to review the assignment tonight and do some reading to prepare to complete the work. We'll practice a bit with this skill next class as we examine several important scenes in Persepolis.

AP Research

Today in AP Research we had a quick lesson to review the components of the first research "poster" and pitch for class. Keep in mind that one of the key functions of this work is to check and ensure the ever important idea of alignment exists between all of the areas of our work. Go back into the work that you've done so far, especially as it relates to your research question and consider how you can repurpose some of that work for this new task. 

Next class you'll have a full day to work - spend it practicing your pitch with each other or Ms. Greeves. There's also AB Entry writing or developing the poster. Next week we'll present our work and review the elements of the Inquiry Proposal form in order to submit our proposals for review and authorization.

Homework for the Weekend - B Day - 31 January 2020

AP Lit

Today we began our work with Shakespeare's Twelfth Night! I hope that you appreciated your time at the beginning with one of Shakespeare's sonnets. There will be more work through this unit with sonnets as we continue to flex our ability to analyze older poetry.


Over the weekend there are a few tasks for you to accomplish. First, read Scene 3 and 4 of Twelfth Night. Use our note taking structure to work through the play - track Who? Where? When? What?. Take good notes/annotations so that you have them if you lose a coin toss. Second, complete four vocabulary cards - two should be from Scene 1 and 2; the other two should come from Scenes 3 and 4. Lastly, review your Companion Reading and select a text for this unit. We will have two assessments on this choice text - find something you enjoy!

AP Research

Today we shared our Elevator Pitch 2.0 in which we reviewed our questions, goals, methods, steps and hypotheses. I was happy to see some great work and some wonderful pitching and catching. The notes at the end for the good of the group are important as we build forward to our final PODs. We also have the content that we need to do Reflection 17, which has been posted.


See the slides for your reminders, notes, and calendar for February and March. It's time to collect, analyze, and write! Be done by Spring Break!

Homework for the Weekend - 30 January 2020 - A Day

AP Research

Today we shared our Elevator Pitch 2.0 in which we reviewed our questions, goals, methods, steps and hypotheses. I was happy to see some great work and some wonderful pitching and catching. The notes at the end for the good of the group are important as we build forward to our final PODs. We also have the content that we need to do Reflection 17, which has been posted.

See the slides for your reminders, notes, and calendar for February and March. It's time to collect, analyze, and write! Be done by Spring Break!

Russian I

I am so impressed with your skills and abilities to translate and work in Russian. Great work everyone. Monday is going to be our final day to review before the examination on Wednesday. Be sure that you have fully learned your case endings and your Chapter 1 vocabulary. Review all of your old tests and quizzes as you'll see a lot of those questions on this examination.

If you haven't finished your project, be sure that it is turned in by the end of the day on Sunday. They'll be marked as late after Sunday at midnight. Remember to have one sentence per slide and a picture that goes with the slide.


Be sure to use the slides attached as you are studying and reviewing! Have a great weekend.

Advanced Russian

Today in class was our final day to learn new content before the assessment next week. The quiz will fall on Wednesday and will cover the four main verbs of motion that we have learned (to walk, to go by transit, to carry, and to transport), the A, B, C concept and related grammar like cases and prepositions.


Over the weekend complete your practice exercises and study your cards. We'll be watching an episode of Орёл и Решка and talking about their travels - great practice for Verbs of Motion.

Homework for B-Day Students // 29 January 2020

AP Literature

Today in class we had an assessment on poetry - a free response/analysis and some multiple choice questions. I was happy that some of you were able to get all twenty points on the multiple choice. We'll review the three commonly missed questions on Friday. I should have your essays returned to you early next week.

There is no homework to complete for class tonight. You should read and annotate your poems for your project (now that you've determined your rough thesis). The poem should be heavily annotated as it is half of your poster. Also, we will be starting Twelfth Night next class - make sure that you have a copy of the text to use.

AP Research

Today was our working day in preparation for Elevator Pitch 2.0 on Friday. Be ready to present to your peers on Friday. You should have slides in Assessment Task Drafts and you should have cards/a script if needed. Remember that we are building the final deal - try to make sure that things are in alignment with our rubrics, and that the paper matches the presentation.

I look forward to dropping in to some of your presentations. We'll also have our reflection for the week on Friday before we go on to Unit 4 next week!


I've also included a really helpful resource on statistical tests from Ms. Saveliff on Google Classroom. Please direct any questions to her!

Homework for A-Day - 28 January 2020

AP Research

Today was our working day in preparation for Elevator Pitch 2.0 on Thursday. Be ready to present to your peers on Thursday. You should have slides in Assessment Task Drafts and you should have cards/a script if needed. Remember that we are building the final deal - try to make sure that things are in alignment with our rubrics, and that the paper matches the presentation.

I look forward to dropping in to some of your presentations on Thursday. We'll also have our reflection for the week on Thursday before we go on to Unit 4 next week!

I've also included a really helpful resource on Google Classroom on statistical tests from Ms. Saveliff. Please direct any questions to her!

Russian I

Today in class we finished our crazy cartoon and really focused on being able to analyze our cases as they are used in questions, answers, and various constructions. Our other key focus was on the different triggers for cases that we see in Russian. Remember that knowing the triggers, the jobs, and the endings is one of your major learning goals for this unit. Hopefully the repetition has helped.


Your projects are due at the end of the week. You should have a slide for each question and then a photo that goes along with it. Don't forget to finish the rest of your sentences on the homework. Put the words in order and make the changes that you need to make to them.

Advanced Russian

Today in class we spent a lot of time with exercises and with translations. As we do this work we are really trying to learn the way to think through these situations. Is it an A, B, or C situation? What's the tense? Is the effect of the action still there? These questions will help us to get to the proper verb.

Tonight you should complete the exercises we did not get to today - the odds. Add your notes. Determine if it's an A, B, or C. Find key words. Use your cards. Hopefully you are studying the cards regularly to learn this vocabulary.


You'll have a quiz next week on our first four verbs of motion. It'll focus on vocabulary mostly and some grammar. If you're studying the cards daily then you'll be set for the assessment. If you were absent, be sure to check the slides.

Homework for B-Day - January 27, 2020

AP Lit

Today in class we had some time for independent and small group study of poetry so that we could really compare and contrast the stylistics of poets in order to discover the period and other related elements of the author. This is a great skill to have as you are working with poetry - especially with the FRQ. Having the ability to discern and discuss these elements of poetry really differentiate a good essay from a great essay.

Tonight you should be focused on preparing for your assessment. On Wednesday we will have multiple choice and a full length essay. The assessment should take you one hour to complete. Any remaining time will be for you to work on your analysis and criticism projects. Hopefully if you didn't select a poem today, then you will on Wednesday. We'll begin Twelfth Night on Friday! There are also two more vocabulary cards to complete and add to your collection. Remember to include the quotation with the word as poets tend to use words in a non-traditional sense.

AP Research

Today in class we watched a POD presentation on sleep, cognition, perception, and placebos. I hope that the POD was helpful for you all in the idea of how to design your presentation in such a way that you hit your main ideas and guide your audience through the development of your conclusion.

The main task for us to work on right now is the work on our Elevator Pitch 2.0. This is a good time to do this as you have solidified much of your foundational work; having this work complete will give you the time you need to complete your data collection/analysis and the writing you have ahead of you.


We'll be presenting Elevator Pitch 2.0 this week on Friday as a major assignment. I hope that you are all beginning your process to collect and analyze your data. It's important that you are using this time to get what you need to answer your question.

Homework for the Weekend - A Day - 24 January

AP Research

Today in class we watched a POD presentation on sleep, cognition, perception, and placebos. I hope that the POD was helpful for you all in the idea of how to design your presentation in such a way that you hit your main ideas and guide your audience through the development of your conclusion.

The main task for us to work on right now is the work on our Elevator Pitch 2.0. This is a good time to do this as you have solidified much of your foundational work; having this work complete will give you the time you need to complete your data collection/analysis and the writing you have ahead of you.


We'll be presenting Elevator Pitch 2.0 next week on Thursday as a major assignment. I hope that you are all beginning your process to collect and analyze your data. It's important that you are using this time to get what you need to answer your question.

Russian I

Today in class we did a lot with our cases and a bit with a strange Russian cartoon. I hope that our summary of our notes on cases was helpful for you so that we can put everything in one place as we are studying and reviewing for our examination.


The exam for this unit will fall in February at the beginning of the month. It will focus on Chapter 1 vocabulary and grammar. Be sure that you are reviewing your quizzes and returned work. I'm also available outside of class for anything that you may need. As you work this weekend, be sure that you are completing the sentence building activity and actively studying. We'll also finish our projects next week.

Advanced Russian

I'm very interested to read the sentences you all put together related to Vladimir Putin and his travels around Moscow/the world. Remember that as we are working right now our goal is to learn our new verbs, the ways that they work (A, B, C actions), and the related grammar with them (prepositions and cases). I hope that the examples and the translations were helpful.


Over the weekend you should continue to actively work with our verbs of motion and related grammar by completing the activities on your worksheet. Read, annotate, and answer questions. Complete the fill in the blanks based on the item you see, and then, do some free writing. Where do you go? What do you do? Practicing and learning this system of A, B, or C is one of the best ways to understand verbs of motion.

Homework for B Day Students - 23 January - Beginning Semester Two!

AP Lit

Slides for today's work have been posted for you on Google Classroom. Remember the idea that the structure of the poem can lead you to ideas of the content in the poem. If you see a lot of structure (no matter when it was written) it probably has something to do with more traditional topics - or it's being ironic. We practiced today with Shakespeare, Drayton, Donne, and Soyinka. By doing this, we set both ends of our timeline, and next class we'll fill in the very large gap.

Tonight, as you read five additional poems, consider where they fall on the timeline. The poems are in your Perrine's book, except for Akhmatova who is posted below. We have vocabulary cards as well - they'll be collected as a set of ten at the end of the unit.

AP Research

Solid workshop today everyone. It was a day to work through our edits, apply what we've done, and make sure that our PREP folders are in a good place as I look at them this weekend.

The main focus right now is the collection of data to answer your questions. If you have been finding barriers to collection, then what can you do to solve them? Do you have the tools that you need to organize the data for answering your question? How can you work with your classmates or others in the community to accomplish the work?

Now that you've created content (your introduction) it's a good chance to remind yourself of the tools on DigitalPortfolio. TurnItIn Originality Reports can help you to find possible plagiarism in your papers. Make sure that things are cited. Use your access to the PurdueOWL if you need it. There's also an infographic posted on plagiarism and the various types.

Keep writing. Keep collecting. We'll be doing a second round of elevator pitches on January 31 with slides. Be ready for this - it's a good jumpstart on your POD. The instructions for Elevator Pitch 2.0 are on the final slide posted.