Mid-Week Reflections - Wednesday

Today has been a day focused on grading for substitute teachers, and let me just say that I am feeling pretty brain dead today. I had such a pile of classwork for Latin; I only got through one class worth. I'll devote more time tomorrow to the other class and will finish it up on Friday. I wrote a letter to send home in lieu of a progress report, so at least the parents of the students in those six classes will know that work is being assigned, graded, and learning (of some sort) is happening.

The PSAT has now become a day for just testing. We're going to create a schedule for just tenth and eleventh graders to come to school and test. I think that this going to make planning the day a lot easier. Now if I could just get all of the accommodations processed, I'd be in a good place. There's not too much I can do there, so I'm trying to keep it out of mind in order to stay present where I can have some impact.

I'm going to spend time for the rest of the day preparing for next week's professional development focused on activating strategies. I think I'll focus on a few approaches to opening up class and creating high-interest attention grabbers. I've got a post-observation conference during the last block of the day as well as a conference call. It'll be a busy end to the day. I'll be glad to leave my computer on my desk, run by the grocery store on the way home, and then go for a run.

Ok. I took my time. Back to the mine.

End of Week 1

The first week with students and second week with teachers is now complete. I've learned a lot. I'm still sitting at my desk as I write this because I know that traffic is a mess out there right now. And I parked in the front lot, so I won't be able to get out until closer to 5:00 anyway. 

So, I'll sit and reflect and think my week away to move into the weekend ready for Tuesday.

First, I love it here. A friend of mine commented that I sounded really happy when describing my work, and I am. It's great to be back in a place that feels a bit like home. It's wonderful to work with people who are warm, caring, and want to work with me. I've already had so many positive contacts and some of them related to coaching. Heck, I've already been a contributing member to several teams already. I feel like I'm having the opportunity to do what I wanted to do, which is to make a larger impact beyond the walls of my own classroom. 

I'm supporting substitutes. This has been a side of my responsibilities that I didn't really foresee. Some departments and teams are supporting better than others, but it does give me the chance to be a bit more connected to classrooms. I'm looking at three piles of Latin work and three folders of English III and IV work on my desk for my review. That's for next week. I think that the students who saw me appreciate that someone is going to be reviewing their work and giving some feedback. It appears that departments and substitutes are happy for my support. I might have stepped on a few toes in my forthrightness to provide assessments and lessons for students, but I think that I was diplomatic and apologetic enough in my follow-up that those parties understand what my intentions were.

I've also been enjoying this administration team. It's a small team, and they clearly work well together. The meetings with them run a bit long, but I do a good job of finding my way to excuse myself when it feels as though I don't have anything left to contribute. Again, they're happy for my contributions and see me as a partner. I've been getting consistent feedback and answers to my questions. What more can I ask for.

Next week is a quick week for me, but it's going to be packed. Monday - Labor Day. Birthday week kickoff! Friday - Birthday! I'm 41 and going off to gamble and eat steak. Tuesday - Faculty Meeting. I'm delivering testing training. Wednesday - Planning Period PD for the staff. I'm delivering a session on goal setting and supporting the beginning teachers in their tasks. Thursday - Support Day. Working with a teacher through a day of observation, reflection, and personalized learning.

It's going to be a great week! I also got paid! Everything's coming up Milhouse!

14 November - It's Tuesday!

AP Language

We had a fantastic day today discussing the importance of Chapter 7 in The Great Gatsby. I think of this chapter as the fulcrum of the whole novel, everything rests on this. Past this, the conclusion is pretty much baked in, so we'll move quickly to the end of the novel. I liked seeing the engagement that you all brought to our opening conversation to track changes. I also appreciated all of you trying something new with me today with our annotations assignment. 

We paid all of this reading and thinking forward to start understanding Fitzgerald's main arguments to us at the end of the novel. This is key for your project. The arguments have been building the whole time, so now it's time to show and explain how that happened. Next class we'll be doing a graded assignment to see where our skills are as we're wrapping up and preparing for our projects. For tonight, read and annotate Chapter 8. Pay attention to Gatsby. Understand what happens to him and what it means on a symbolic level. Remember, he's not a real person. Be sure that you have also responded to today's discussion board post from the work we did today in class. 

Always excited for tomorrow! See you Thursday!

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.

16 September - Grey Day

Today was a Grey Day, but it was a pretty great day in my guest room (aka A132, for now). The homework posted below for the Blue Day sections is pretty much the same for us today. Remember our discussion today on grading - I view this as a class where you should resubmit, and where you should turn in things late. Remember that I grade by standards, and that there is often much more to a piece of work than if it came in on time or not.

AP Research

The next few classes will find you working independently to build your Body of Knowledge. I'll be available in our meeting space if you need me for anything, but you've also got plenty of other support. Keep reading to build your reading log. Look for the elements of an effective research question that we discussed today. 

I've also posted your first weekly reflection. You will have a question every week. Be thorough and thoughtful in your answers - some of these will also be POD questions, so it gives us good practice for the future.

As always, everything is available for you in Google Classroom. If you've got a question or concern, feel free to email me. I'm continuing to score your assignments right now and hope to have your work from this week back to you by the end of Monday.

31 August - Homework for the Weekend - A Day

We're done with August and done with the first week of school! Hooray! See the information below as you prepare for our next class.

AP English III

In class as we were leaving I handed out the questions to go along with Section II of In Cold Blood. Over the weekend, I would like for you to outline your response to ONE of these questions. I direct you to certain parts of the text in the questions - use those areas as a starting point. Remember that at its core an outline is a plan. We should be able to read your outline and have an understanding of what your answer will be and how you will use evidence to clarify and explain that answer. You are outlining a response of around a paragraph in length.

Further, there's a piece called "The Ways We Lie" by Stephanie Ericsson that I would like for you to read and annotate. It's available in some editions of 50 Essays and at this link. As you are reading, pay attention to the idea of honesty versus lies. Is Capote using any of these "lies" in his text? Are any of the characters? How does this piece help us to better investigate the idea of author credibility in the text?

Lastly, this weekend your scores for the Summer Outline will be populated into PowerSchool. Remember that you will have the chance to resubmit this work as we go through our writing and revising process. Class on Wednesday will focus on proper outlining procedures and expectations, so the revisions will begin then!

English IV

No real homework to complete over the weekend since we got through much of what we needed to do in class today. Do keep reviewing all of the new vocabulary (aka literary terms) that we learn on a daily basis so that we are able to keep moving forward!

Enjoy the long weekend and take it easy if you can!

Grading Update - AP English III

At this point I have gone through the work on Google Classroom and the few that were shared to me via Google Drive. PowerSchool is down this weekend, so I've filled in rubrics; I can't fill in grades at this time. There were several students missing work on Google Classroom - please go back and submit your work so that I can access it. You can also share it to me.

Final Grades Submitted - English Students - Goodbye from Mr. Bernhard

It has been a total pleasure working with all of you this fall. I can't have asked for better groups of students to help me begin my journey as a teacher in Durham. If you ever need anything, have questions, or just want to say hello, reach out via email at sam.bernhard@gmail.com. Good luck this spring!

English IV

Your final grades for Q2 and the first semester are officially submitted to PowerSchool. I am very proud of the work you collectively did in the time we worked together this year, and will miss you all while I'm student teaching at DSA in the spring. Make sure you continue to develop your skills throughout the spring with Mr. Miller; I can't wait to see how you all are doing later in the semester when I come back to visit. Have a great long weekend, and good luck!

AP English III

I have gone through and graded the Gatsby synthesis projects. As I have said to a few of you, I wish I had built in more time to go over instructions with you and developed a better way to keep everyone on track. I take full responsibility for any confusion/stress you may have had over the course of completing this assignment. With that said, I am very impressed at the quality of work most of you demonstrated in your shared documents. Over the last few months, you have collectively developed into a group of sophisticated and skilled readers and writers. I hope you're able to see that as clearly as I can see it in you.

Your final grades for Q2 and the first semester are officially submitted to PowerSchool. Keep grinding away through the fall, and you will continue to grow and succeed. I can't wait to check in with you again sometime this spring. Have a great long weekend, and good luck!

Back from the long/birthday weekend...Homework for 9/8/15 - A-Day

Remember:  Each and every day makes us older and hopefully wiser, too.

Russian II/III

Thursday we will begin with our writing conferences which we cut today in order to work on phonetics.  Make sure that for Thursday you are fully prepared with a paragraph that has all nouns, pronouns (of all types), and adjectives translated into Russian into the appropriate case.  Your paragraph should reflect all six cases.  If you use a translator/dictionary for a word, indicate that so that I can give you another, easier word or reference my dictionary.

For verbs, put your verb analysis chart at the bottom of your work.  Verb in English with tense and subject (for II and III) followed by aspect and directionality (III only).  As we conference we'll go over the individual verbs you need.

Bring your textbooks - we'll use them in class during conferences.

Russian I

Looking at your handwriting packets I see that a few of us will be having a working lunch to correct some mistakes and misunderstandings.  The grades are already posted in PowerSchool - if you have B lunch, you could come to lunch on Wednesday instead of waiting until Thursday to earn your credit back.

For tonight's homework, study your alphabet and your new vocabulary.  I encourage you all to make flashcards which will help your handwriting and memory.  Study the main words, not really the whole phrases.  Also, continue to practice with your phonetics packet - we'll have more phonics work on Thursday.

English II

I've updated PowerSchool to reflect missing assignments including the vocabulary work.  If you want to, please turn in your work tomorrow to me or Ms. Ginocchio and we'll fix the grade as soon as we can.  Remember that missing work must be turned in by Friday to be eligible for full credit.

For tonight you will be writing your first of three personal reflections to a text - remember that you will keep this until the end of our unit on Russian literature when it will be collected for a full quiz grade.  For tonight, you will reflect on Chekhov's "A Problem" - your prompt is:

Do you agree with Sasha's final thought at the end of the story that he is "indeed a criminal" or not?  Why do you agree or disagree?  Use one clear example from the story to support your opinion.

Remember to follow your rules for good paragraph writing and build complexity by talking about a story.

Homework for the Weekend - Spring! 3/15 and 3/16

Students,

As we move forward into spring and all that it offers, remember that we're quickly coming to the end of this grading period and the beginning of the final grading period of the year.  Continue doing all of your assignments and doing them well, don't allow yourselves to fall behind.  If you are behind, catch up.  See me for help.

AP English III:


We're a bit off right now between the two classes, but we'll be back together next week.  Over the weekend, everyone will need to make his/her way to the end of chapter twenty-two of Invisible Man.  Keep up your motif charts and continue to analyze and interpret the text as well.  We are moving to the end of the novel and I am so excited for us to finish this circle.  This section will provide a big change in the character of Brother Tod.  Pay attention to the narrator's reaction and your reaction as a reader.

I plan on giving you all progress reports at the end of the nine weeks as well as a list of any remaining assignments.  As a head's up - I would expect a timed writing in the final week of the quarter.  And now that we're discussing writing, let's talk about papers.  Research papers should be into the drafting phase.  You must conference either tomorrow or next week.  If you haven't signed up or seen me about an alternate time, you will be at the whim of the schedule.  When you conference, you must come with all required documents.  Failure to do so will not be tolerated.  Do not miss your conference time by any means necessary.  Use your smartphones smartly - program a calendar reminder and then make that thing go off.  You have to foresee any potential conflicts.

Sorry to harp on this, but I'm a stickler about scheduling and punctuality.

English I:


We are moving to the end of our study of Romeo and Juliet - I hope that you all enjoyed what we've been seeing and learning in our study of this play.  Over the weekend, those of you who haven't done your presentations yet will want to get highly prepared.  As with the Juniors, I'm fully booked this week and all of you are scheduled.  If you can't go on your day, you will be docked points and you will be expected to go on the next day.  Remember that everything is due the day you give your speech.  Anything not submitted when you present your speech will be assessed with a late penalty.

Special congratulations go to the students who presented on the very first day.

I am a machine...

At this point I have graded all completed English I tests and vocabulary exams.  If you have not finished either of these two assignments, please try to come tomorrow (Thursday) at A lunch to finish.

Tomorrow I'll be collecting A-day papers from all of you.  All of you have the rubric that I will be using to grade your papers.  Please take a moment to have a parent, friend, or sibling (same age or older, preferably) read over your final draft and score you using the rubric.  You may find some final areas of improvement.

When we begin the next quarter (Tuesday/Wednesday) I'll be handing a lot of work back to all of you and we'll take some time to organize our portfolios and reflect on the first semester.  Reminders about turning in papers are in the post below.  Please follow those guidelines.