17 May

English 10

Solid day in English 10 as we read two more chapters of Persepolis and continued to track Marji's development to adulthood. We ended our day by focusing on our memoir assignments and brainstorming key moments in our life that we can turn into a graphic novel. Remember that with this assignment the goal is to focus on ONE important moment. Think about the book we're reading, right? She's really telling us about major moments, not about everything. Try to do the same.

Next class we'll finish up with our movie tasks. Be ready to do a bit of writing. Remember that if you have any missing assignments (vocabulary, paragraphs, videos) that those assignments are due by May 30. No work will be accepted after May 30 except for the final examination and portfolio.

9 May - Victory Day

English 10

Great days continue in English 10. Next class I won't be here with you, so be sure to follow the substitute's instructions. It's an easy day you have to end the week. Today in class we read another two chapters of Persepolis, continued to track Marji's changes and developments, and then ended by looking at our final project for this book.

Be sure that if you have missing assignments that those are turned in here - there's not a lot of time left in this unit or in the fourth quarter, really. We'll be finishing up the book next week, getting into our project, and once we finish, we'll take a look at another corner of the Middle East before closing out the whole unit.

Check in on Thursday to Schoology to review your tasks and access your Reading Test.

AP Language

I certainly hope that all of you felt prepared for today's examination. I'm looking forward to seeing the results when you all do in July. We'll be reflecting on the exam in the next few classes. Focus on completing Choice Board items for our conferences. 

Remember that I'll be out on Thursday and Friday, of this week, so we will have time all next week to complete conferences and raise scores in SiS in light of new artifacts of skill.

Week 15 - The End of 2020

AP Language

Good day all around today everyone! I was happy to see a lot of forward movement with our website task and to see the amazing amount of collaboration to improve your work and make each other better. Keep in mind that finishing this task is going to be our key focus for this week. Be sure that you take time to post your materials. If you need additional help, let me know. We'll meet together on Thursday and, possibly, quickly check out based on where we are and what we have to do.

As always, reach out with anything I can do to help!

English 10

Today we took time to read and analyze an important chapter for us as we consider how people and relationships change over time. Your PD Takeaways on Google Classroom have your notes. There are also the slides posted for the questions and key panels for analysis. In "The Horse" we looked at Marji and her mother as well as the irony at play in their developing relationship. 

From there, we took time at the end to work on and submit projects. Remember that projects need to be turned in this week. If you've finished your project, then you should watch the movie for Persepolis. Everything is posted for you in Google Classroom under Classwork.

Closing Week 14 - Friday the 11th

AP Research

Happy Friday! Today we used our return period to complete our quick assessment on ethical practices. Class time today is our final working session before submitting our IRB paperwork. The main task that you have ahead of yourselves at the moment is compiling and gathering your materials to submit for IRB approval.

There is a space on Google Classroom for you to submit your work. Be sure that you submit your proposal and any/all tools that you will use to gather data and complete your method. The team will meet on Monday afternoon, review your work, and give any feedback. We'll go through this on Wednesday as we continue moving forward.

Next week we'll also take a look at some PODs and become more familiar with the POD rubric. I've also posted a new reflection question for you - it relates to the work we're doing now on method development.

AP English and English 10

Keep in mind that we have final projects due next week. My goal in collecting them next week is so that you will have a break that actually is that - a break. Be focused on your tasks, check in on any missing assignments, and submit your work. I'm available on Monday during Office Hours for any support or help you may need.

Wednesday - 9 December - Grey Day

AP Research

We'll meet as a group on Friday for a working day together. This will give me the chance to check-in and conference with each of you so that we can make sure that everything is going in a good direction for submitting proposals and tools. Don't forget that we'll also have a small assessment on Friday related to ethical practices. 

Keep developing your proposal and tools. A quick email or meeting can help save you a lot of time and energy. This is also a good time to check in with your reflection questions and Body of Knowledge - you've got a lot of answers and resources there as well. As always, let me know what you'll need, and I'll do my best to provide it.

AP Language

We got through the activity today! Thank you to the classes yesterday for struggling through it and giving me feedback to make changes for today. Remember that you have a quiz on Friday on The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn. Prepare by reviewing your notes, our slides, and other resources. The quiz will focus on identifications, quotations, and short answer.

Don't lose your project work while this is going on. If you haven't drafted your rhetorical analysis - be sure that you do now. Remember that the goal is to show how the author makes their argument clear to you via the choices they make. Our next step is the group essay, which is very simple. You should be able to complete everything in advance of the due date.

English 10

Good working and thinking today as we began our work in Persepolis, Part 2. We'll keep seeing how Marji responds to her new life in Austria and the new potential she has. We'll finish this part of the book pretty quickly, as you'll see next class.

Beginning Week 14 - Tuesday the 8th

AP Language

Hey crew. I appreciate your efforts today. I'm taking what I learn from working with you all every day and applying it to our future lessons. I'm sorry that you all end up being my guinea pigs since you're the Blue Day group. Be sure that you have uploaded your work from today to the shared slide deck/FlipGrids so that you can get your points from today's activity. I think for tomorrow I'll be removing the recording part of the assignment; it seems like that's where the major speedbump is.

Review the other slides for today's class and from the other groups. There are some beginnings of sample short answer questions as yes/no samples - using those yes/no statements are a great way to prepare for short answer questions on your quiz on Thursday. There's an outline of the quiz and tips on how to prepare in the final slide.

Don't forget that you also have your rhetorical analysis for your project. It should be complete. I appreciate that so many of you met with me or set up times to meet with me later this week. Our next step is the group essay which we'll settle next class - it's pretty straightforward and should be a simple writing task.

English 10

Today's class was a reading day to get into Part 2 of Persepolis. As we read, we spoke a lot on cause and effect and the mixed bag that comes with immigrating to a new place - the way that the expectation doesn't usually line up with what we expect.

We finished the day with a bit of choice - looking at a lesson on NoRedInk and the requirements for our project. Be focused on finishing your project right now. It's due on Monday and is a lot of points. If you're unsatisfied with your quiz score, you can email me for a retake or to use rubles for extra credit.

Ending Week 13 and Looking Ahead...

AP Language

Good day filled with collaboration and support for each other. I was happy to hear that you were able to work together and get goals accomplished. Keep in mind that this weekend is a key weekend for writing. Focus on completing your rhetorical analysis. Keep working with your peers. Remember that I'm available on Monday for help with individual editing and review if you need it.

Outside of finishing the draft of your analysis, be sure that you complete Vocabulary Cards #2 and your reading of Huckleberry Finn. We'll have a quick assessment on Thursday to see your understanding and knowledge of the text.

Keep in mind that we'll have everything due for this unit BEFORE we go out for break. That way the break will really be a break instead of a chance to do work. I've attached a video from today's class to help you with your process.

English 10

Today we took time for our first quiz and then to finish up any loose ends. Next week we'll be focused on finishing our projects and our study of Persepolis. We'll be reading some important chapters in Part Two before we take a look at the film version of Persepolis to compare and contrast the two. I hope that all of you felt prepared for today's quiz. I'll have them graded and returned to you ASAP. Remember that you can cash in rubles to raise your grade, or you can redo the quiz if you'd like to improve that way too. 

Make sure that you have finished the earlier parts of your project and that you are moving into the creation phase of this work. Next week you should be drawing and writing so that you can turn in your stories on Monday, December 14. Keep in mind that you'll turn in a photograph of your page(s). There's also a quick video that you'll post where you explain your work. When you turn it in your story, you'll see the link to record your response. 

Beginning Week 13 - Blue Day

AP Language

If you weren't able to finish the reading of Toni Morrison's piece of literary criticism, I highly suggest that you do. Remember that the main goal is to find ways to open up our own perspective on a piece of literature and see new things to consider. I appreciated seeing your own reflections on her article and what you were able to understand. 

Moving forward to Thursday, your focus should be on your individual analysis. Come to class with a good draft of that on Thursday so that you can work with your group through class to provide feedback and move into the final phase of the assignment.

Next week we'll be finishing TAoHF, so complete the reading of the final chapter set and your second set of cards. As a reminder you can choose words from Tan, Sedaris, Twain, and today's essay from Toni Morrison.

As always, reach out with any questions or concerns.

English 10

I included the link to our class review game on Google Classroom so that you can further review the questions before our quiz on Thursday. On Thursday for the quiz you'll be able to use your book, notes, and study guide from today's review game as you work. I hope that you enjoyed the chance to do something a little bit different today.

Outside of preparing for our quiz, it's a great time to finish any of your work with your project. Start drawing and putting the story together. Remember that you can use no more than two pages, so you might want to focus on the most important part of the moment/story. You'll turn in the project by December 14 by turning in photographs of your work to me. Be sure that any of our planning or earlier work is turned in so that you're ready to move forward.

Blue Day - 22 October - End of the Week

AP Language

Good analysis today with Equiano. I've left the documents there as a great example of tracing tone and active annotating around a shared purpose. This was a great practice toward rhetorical analysis - our writing skill for this unit. In this type of writing our focus is to trace the author's argument through the explanation of their choices. We focus on literary/rhetorical devices to organize ourselves and draw connections.

I've uploaded the recording on rhetorical analysis for you to review as needed. For this weekend, be sure to take fifteen minutes for your Multiple Choice Practice on AP Classroom. The main task is to read! Enjoy Huckleberry's adventures! Don't forget, there's the chance of an assessment based on your reading next class!

English 10

Today we had our guest speaker, Ms. Anne Nolan, who went over some of the nuts and bolts of graphic novels and elements of their construction and style. The notes and recording have all been uploaded. We put a lot of this into practice as we read and studied Chapter One of Persepolis - "The Veil". 

Over the weekend there's nothing to do except to finish and submit your Unit 1 Projects. If you have any other missing work, it should be turned in to be scored. 

Next class we'll be reading more of Persepolis and doing some research into the text. I'm looking forward to it!

Homework for A Day Students - 18 January 2017

Almost the end of another week. Amazing how fast time is flying by right now...

English II:

I'm very proud of the work that so many of you did today during our class workshop. Many of you left with a clear idea of what you need to do to finish your projects up. No matter what that is, make sure that your projects are complete next class. We'll collect them then. Remember that these projects count the same weight as your test.

Russian I, II, III, IV

Next class we have our semester exam! Be ready! Be studied. Be prepared! You should have a full idea of what will be on the test. See the post below for your reminders.

Homework for B-Day Students - 17 January 2017

AP English III

If you have anything left for the monologues or Drama Project - that needs to get turned in ASAP. If you didn't do your monologue (2B) because of the time constraints, please make sure that's settled today or tomorrow.

Tonight we need to keep reading. Take the learning we've done around transcendentalism and apply it to Dr. King's "Letter from a Birmingham City Jail." You can find it in 50 Essays or at this link. As you read, look for the five tenets of the philosophy. Look for how Dr. King is appealing to his audience. Rip this piece apart - it's really productive.  It's pretty long too - make sure you've read through to around paragraph twenty for next class.

We also have our previous readings (Truth and poems). We'll touch on those as we discuss Dr. King.

English II

Hopefully with today's workshop you're feeling finished or near finished with your graphic novel projects. We're going to collect those next class, so make sure that if you didn't get it done today that you have it ready for us next class.

Also, since we started a new unit it's important that you study your vocabulary and notes every day!